What do the eyes of Royal sons and daughters see that others cannot (and that we cannot expect them to see)?
By what appearances do we experience God on earth?
And why does God use a different appearance than the one He will reveal in the final days of glory?
Tell Daughter Zion,
“Look, your King is coming to you,
gentle, and mounted on a donkey,
even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” (Matthew 21:5 HCSB)
I think that for many of us it's hard to imagine that someone riding in a beat up used car would roll up to us claiming to be rich. We'd all probably laugh and think "yea right." Because appearances hold so much power in our physical worlds. The physical upholds the physical, and that's one way we might see something for what it is, namely its physical appearance. A King riding up on a donkey is just as strange as a billionaire riding up in beat up used car.
We look at clean clothes and think "comfortable, stylish, beautiful, clean." Whereas we look at hobos on the street and think "uncomfortable, ugly, dirty, and marginal." This is all true from the physical appearance.
Therefore by physical appearances we desire that which is good and not bad. We would all prefer clean clothes as opposed to those on the backs of hobos, would you not?
Understanding that there is a powerful meaning to what physical appearances do to us is important because it gives us wisdom to understand what spiritual appearances are up against. Don't miss the point and let your minds shut down the further thinking process by merely concluding that we all need to wear hobo clothes and drive beat up used cars. Don't be an idiot. It has nothing to do with physical appearances in and of themselves, but rather it is about understanding the spiritual appearance better so that as sons and daughters of the King we hold on to the truth of living by the Spirit and not by the physical appearances. It's not so much about not living by physical appearances as it is all about living FOR the spiritual appearances. We tend to want to shift our focus off of the physical by sheer will power, but the only way to fully pull your focus off of the physical is to set your focus onto the spiritual.
Perhaps you see a lot of the physical, and perhaps that is how you live day to day. You see something bad or uncomfortable or dirty or sinful and you try to be in Christ, repenting and receiving forgiveness, in order to be clean. That is a part of the process, but the real meat of living Royal spiritual lives is not in the repentance, but in the ability to see beyond the physical.
"a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.
And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”
But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me."
(Matthew 26:7-10 ESV)
This woman saw Jesus for who He was: a royal person, and not just some man of honor or power or wealth. Jesus, the donkey rider, had very little physically, but this woman came and poured her most expensive perfume on His head. The disciples saw this and thought: "ahhh! What a waste of money that could have been spent doing (physically) good things for the poor who are (physically) suffering!" It's like...going to Africa to build a church when your two kids are suffering from a fatal disease. It would appear ridiculous and wrongful, UNLESS, God had revealed it to you that going to Africa was His plan for you. In that case the death of your children would no longer be your concern, because spiritually they do not belong to you but to God. I know that's hard to swallow, and it may even come off as another black and white scenario, but before you decide to abandon your kids or abstain from helping the poor keep in mind that Jesus also said:
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?" (Matthew 25:35-39 ESV)
In other words, when we feed the hungry or help the poor it is more than just doing a physically good deed. It is doing a good deed TO Jesus. He is the hobo on the side of the freeway, the crying child at an orphanage, the murderer sitting in his cell all day in wrinkled orange clothes, and the newcomer at church who is socially awkward. There is Jesus. Not physically, but spiritually.
We all naturally want to follow up on our physical appearances. Good deeds, good looks, good days. The moment our physical world starts to crumble we consider that to mean our spiritual world is crumbling as well. However, instead of defining our spiritual by our physical we should be shifting our focus on the spiritual defining our physical.
So then, this is a brief introduction on what it means to be a daughter of spiritual royalty while living in a physical world. I am writing this out to help myself and others shift their focus onto the spiritual richness that precedes fullest richness in every aspect in the Kingdom we inherit. In other words, I am writing this from the glass half full perspective rather than from the ways in which we suffer physically. While we all do indeed suffer physically, the perspective of Christians that see this life as a glass half empty, I want to shift our view of God from that to the Royal lens. I want God to open the eyes and ears of the Royal ones because seeing our treasure is the best way to leave behind our trash.
A few questions to think about:
What does is mean, AS CONCRETE AS POSSIBLE, to be a son or daughter of God? Without being vague or passive, think about what specific truths belong to your identity if God is your real Father and you are His real heir to the throne. How much exactly do you get? How powerful does that make you exactly?
What does it mean, in as much detail as possible, to one day own the entire universe and rule it? What exactly will you be owning? What sort of things will you be ruling?
What does it mean that God loves me? What is so good about being loved by God? How much exactly does God love you?
What is it like to be God's daughter? What does that say about your worth exactly? How valuable are you? What sort of rights does a princess have over her kingdom? What belongs to the heirs of the universe?
The following are some personal reminders for me regarding my Royal identity. This is not to brag or boast about what I have in Christ, but to encourage and refuel the hope that that is true and in God's promises that I have in Christ--my truth amidst the physical appearances that lie to me in this life.
What does being a daughter have to do with my love for writing?
Isaiah 55:11. “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
This means that whatever I write I write with the knowledge that it is going to be for God's purposes no matter what. So throwing aside the physical expectations of "success" I look at the spiritual truth of Isaiah 55:11 knowing that It shall succeed 100% for the reason God has for it, not my own or the physical world's idea of success. Whether I get published and become physically successful, or never get published or if I get published but severely ridiculed--all of that will be a physical appearance and therefore futile to my Royal success. I win, because I'm God's daughter....and no one trumps the King's orders.
What does is mean when I fail in life (sin) as a daughter of God?
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Looking at sin is hard, but looking at Christ is harder because it requires our Royal identity to outshine our sinner one. It means we become physically appearing weak while spiritually becoming strong. Weakness does not mean we sin more and more and pile on the guilt and shame. It does not mean that at all. Weakness is a feeling and a disposition of inability and a crippled self. Weaksauce. The unable ones. Once we reach this place openly by our failure to do well, we will begin to rely on Christ alone to carry us through our failures. As a Royal child that is how we deal with failures in this life. Not by doing better or trying harder, but by getting into the strong arms of Christ to carry us. Just as when a child gets hurt on the playground and is carried by someone else to the hospital. We must live out our weaknesses royally.
Another way to deal with weaknesses is in trusting through sorrow and tears.
"Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
Yes, God could fix your problems with a single word, just as He could have sent legions of angels to grab Jesus from the men who were about to kill Him, but then how would God's purposes be done then? Your problems are not just your problems, though they physically appear to be just that, but your problems as Royalty are more so God's purposes being done.
So God could totally fix your problems, and all would be physically fine and dandy, money, looks, reputation, health, all of that could be fine and dandy, but all of that has nothing to do with your royalty and everything to do with physical appearances.
Again, with sorrow and tears...
"And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly." (Matthew 26:53-54, 75 ESV)
Dealing with weakness and failures means crying bitterly at times. Crying is a grace from God, because it actually feels good afterwards unlike a hangover or numbing addiction. Crying keeps us alert to the condition of our heart.
What does a daughter of the King do while living in a temporary place, not the kingdom yet?
"And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
Matthew 19:29-30 HCSB
They go last. They do crazy things by physical appearances when God tells them to. They don't just leave children and houses and things randomly, they do it because of the Name of Jesus. In other words, our sacrifices are not based on how much we love something or how hard it is to let go of something!!!!
Our sacrifices are based on how it will bring the Name of Jesus to a higher, brighter and more beautiful position. A Royal person knows this best because they have an allegiance to the honor of God their King, and their actions become a means of bringing God's reputation higher, regardless of what it does to their own.
This is so crucial because everyone wants to take "sacrifice" as a one size fits all, but sacrifices are the means to bringing God's purposes honor. Purposes of loving others, uniting with one another, and becoming about our Royal family. What makes you love more powerfully as a last person or weak person? That is God-honoring.
--
I don't have time to finish the rest but here are some other words spoken and given by God about our royalty lived out on earth:
"It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life — a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28 HCSB)
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. (Matthew 24:45-46 ESV)
He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. (Matthew 25:16-17 ESV)
"And Jesus came and said to them,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
(Not to the Royal sons and daughters, but to Jesus)
Go therefore and
make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
How do the Royal sons and daughter differentiate from the others?
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, (Matthew 24:48-49 ESV)
(In other words, they think this food is mine, these things are mine, and I will use them to impress my friends and gain their approval of me)
But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.
(This is the coward or the inactive person. They hide and cover what God gives them because they do not want to think about or go through the motions of what looks so physically difficult)
He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ (Matthew 25:18, 24-25 ESV)
(The one who forgets that EVERYTHING is His.)
"For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ (Matthew 25:42-45 ESV)
(This is the person who only looks at physical appearances.)
How does the Father view His sons and daughters still living on earth?
"Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my business? Are you jealous because I’m generous? ’
“So the last will be first, and the first last.”
(Matthew 20:15-16 HCSB)
All of God's Royal sons and daughters are equal in His sight. There is none better or worse, but only He is more generous and more kind than when we lack or fail. There is no competition or ranking in His sight. We all receive the same inheritance regardless of how much we have done or not done, because everything we do is what God has given us to do. So as royalty we don't look at the work of others compared to ours, but we look at the Father who loves us and gives us our work to do for Him. We have everything we need in life to live, so let's live royally.
Jmegrey
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