Kingdom of God

Are you wearing the appropriate wedding garment?

The parable of the wedding feast which Jesus told in Matthew 22:1-14 gives us a preview of what everyone’s reality will be like when you come face-to-face with the judgement seat. The parable seems to suggest the main character; the king, will only greet guests who wear the appropriate garment to the wedding feast. And the rest of us, who are not in the wedding garment, he instructs his servants to cast into the darkness where there is gnashing of teeth.

Even though the parable may sounds like a fairy tale, there is a real end time message embedded in there. Further, Jesus did not tell parables because he likes them. He told them to simplify His message.

However, the main point of the parable is this: Many are invited to the wedding feast, but only few will be chosen to partake in the main course. Here is the parable:

Matthew 22:1-14 New Living Translation (NLT)

Parable of the Great Feast
Jesus also told them other parables. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

“So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

“The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Thank you Lord

The narrow way

narrowpath (1 of 1)

Jesus said: “I am the door. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures” (John 10:9). 

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many  go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

 

Father’s love letter

Happy Father’s Day!

God is not dead

clouds5 That one‘s troubles multiply daily and the list of unanswered prayers keeps growing by the minute, are not proof that God is dead–or He is a myth–or He does not care–or He is not listening. If anything, such occurrences could mean God’s timing and your timing are not in sync, or, perhaps you may have been too nonchalant in making your requests. Furthermore, the thorn you seek to remove maybe the link that keeps the chain together. In that case, God grace is sufficient for you.

We know with great certainty both from our own experiences and James’ writing in the book of the same name that the nonchalant prayer requests do not avail much: But, as James rightly puts it: “.. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). But James did not stop there. In verses 17-18 He called into remembrance Elijah’s petition for drought and rain through fervent prayer.
Less anyone thinks Elijah was some kind of a supernatural being, here is what James says: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit,” (James 5:16-18).

So, contrary to atheistic thinking, God is alive. He is not a myth. He cares, He listens, and He answers prayers. However, sometimes God’s people have to fight for their blessing like Jacob did. Other times it takes patience and faith like Job’s.