Daily Devotional by Tommy Tenney, based on his book
Finding Favor with the King
The Paradise of His Presence
Intimacy with Christ is more powerful than petitions legally presented.
Finding Favor with the King, p. 66
Scripture Reading
In Luke 23:39-43 one of the thieves crucified with Jesus asks the Lord to remember him when He comes into his kingdom. Jesus replies that they will be in Paradise together.
Love trumps legalism.
Our American judicial system is based on the principle that every legitimate claimant is entitled to his day in court. In the courts of heaven however, we have no such right. Because of our sin, we have no legal standing before God. We have no legitimate claim that we can make on His blessings or favor. The only basis we have for standing before God is His grace . The only hope we have of being accepted by God is on the basis of Jesus' completed work on the cross. Legal claims will never get us into the King's throne room. Intimacy with Christ based on a faith relationship with Him will .
The thief on the cross understood this intuitively. No legal petition in the world would have removed him from that cross. Not only was he suffering the judgment of Rome for his crimes, he also faced the coming judgment of God for his sins.
In such a desperate situation, he did the only thing he could do. He asked for mercy from the only Person who could give it to him: the Man hanging on the cross next to him. Can you imagine the faith of this thief asking a dying man to remember him when He came into His kingdom? In a last-minute genuine act of faith, the thief appealed for grace and mercy—and received them. His faith overrode all legal considerations and gained him instant intimacy with the Lord and access to the kingdom of heaven.
Even in the last hours of his life, this thief recognized Jesus for who He was and made his repentant request. Humility and repentance, faith and love are protocols that gain the immediate ear of the King. His appeal permitted him what no legal petition could ever have accomplished. He found forgiveness and the promise of eternal fellowship in the presence of the Lord.
Like the thief on the cross, our access to the Father is based not on any legal claim but on the intimacy we have with Christ through our faith relationship with Him. Intimacy brings us closer to the heart of God than any amount of claiming our “rights” as children of God. Don't settle for just standing on your rights. Move in closer. Draw near to God in love and He will draw near to you. Like the thief on the cross you will discover that you too can be with Him today in the Paradise of His presence!
Prayer Father, I have no legal claim on Your love or favor. All I have is Your grace, mercy and love and they are all I need. Thank You for loving me and accepting me through Christ my Lord. Draw near to me even as I seek to draw near to You. Let me walk today in the Paradise of Your presence!
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