Heaven on Earth

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10b

Recommended Reading
1 John 5:14-15

The economic downturn that began in 2008 has provided a corrective for this modern conviction: We can have anything we want, whenever we want it. That erroneous concept gets transferred to the spiritual life, especially when Christians read Bible verses that suggest we can ask for whatever we want "in Jesus' name" and receive it.

In the prayer Jesus taught His disciples (and us) to pray, there is a needed corrective to that cultural conditioning. Praying for God's will to be done "on earth as it is in heaven" is a way of aligning us with God's will, not God with our will. God's will is obviously done in heaven. If we pray for His will to be done on earth, it means that we will need to align ourselves with (conform to) His will. That means praying like this: "Father, I want Your will to be worked out on earth. If that means I need to change my life to have 'heaven on earth,' then I am willing to change. Please give me the grace and the power to make those changes." The apostle John wrote that when we pray according to His will (not our will), we know God hears and answers (1 John 5:14-15).

When you pray today, ask God to enable you to be conformed to His will so that it might be done on earth just as it is in heaven.

To obey God's will is the way to have our will.
Thomas Watson

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Proverbs 24:1 - 26:28

The one sentence in the above devotional that I believe hinders so many from living a life of joy and peace:  "If that means I need to change my life to have 'heaven on earth,' then I am willing to change."

Change scares us.  Changing my life means that I might fail at changing.  Changing my life means that I might have to give up something I don't want to give up.  Well, that's a lie that the devil is whispers to me.  The truth is, in our my strength, it is impossible for me to change and be the person God has planned for me to be; the be the person that God knows I will be the happiest being.  That's why He 'taught us to pray,' so when I ask Him, He will help me when I surrender my life to Him and His plan for my life.  He is for us and He loves us.  Father, help us to see ourselves in Your Hands and help us to trust that everything You allow in our lives happens is for a reason... to turn us to You; for our maturity; to enable us to relate to others; to prepare us for an eternity with You.  Help us to remember to praise You at all times for You give us strength and grace through our sacrifice of praise.  What is a sacrifice of praise?  It's praise and thanksgiving even when we don't feel like it. 

Just a few thoughts I had this morning as I meditated on just part of Matthew 6:10.