But as the character of the king is, such
is the character of the ministers and
attendants, and such is the character
of the kingdom. If the devil is king, his
ministers and attendants are irrational
thoughts and ideas, and the populace of
his kingdom are false ideas of every kind,
false ideas which, by reasonings based on
fallacies and by delusions, the ministers
– whom they call wise, even though they
are insane – make to appear as true and
to be acknowledged as true.
Can the state of a person like this be
changed in any other way than by putting
away the evils in his external self? By
this the lusts connected with the evils are
also put away. Otherwise the lusts have
no exit open to them, for they are shut
in, like a city besieged, or like an ulcer
covered over. (Divine Providence 113)
The Lord wants us
to welcome Him as
king as He truly is.
He wants us to have
love to Him and our
neighbor rule in our
lives. He works with
infinite love, wisdom
and power to help us
receive Him as king.
The Lord wants us to welcome Him as king as He truly is. He wants us to
have love to Him and our neighbor rule in our lives. He works with infinite
love, wisdom and power to help us receive Him as king.
We know that the first Palm Sunday had people loudly rejoicing, laying
down outer garments and palm branches. But we also know that five days later
there were loud voices calling for the crucifixion of Jesus, perhaps even some
of the people who welcomed Him the previous Sunday. They were looking
for a very different kind of king. One who would make them powerful and
rich. They were looking for a king whose greatest concern was for their own
country alone. May we be very different. May we seek a king who loves others
as much as He loves us and calls us to follow His example.
While the first Palm Sunday can be tinged with sadness because of what
was shortly going to happen, consider that the final book of the teachings for
the New Church ends with a very different image of a king being recognized.
After the completion of this book, the Lord called together His twelve disciples, who
had followed Him in the world; and a day later He sent them all forth throughout
the spiritual world to preach the Gospel, that the Lord God Jesus Christ is king, and
His kingdom shall be for ever and ever. (True Christian Religion 791)
May we do our part to become subjects of that everlasting kingdom. May
we make the conscious decisions to have the Lord God Jesus Christ be our
king.
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