Jesus Is Better

A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you. [Psalm 84.10-12]

No wonder Jesus taught us to pray:

May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. [Matthew 6.10]

Our job is to bring the conditions of heaven to earth. Otherwise Jesus' instruction for how we should pray is meaningless. But if we do not understand how it is in heaven, our prayers then are also meaningless! 

The Psalmist indicates that, whatever it is like in heaven, is far better than it is here on earth. And furthermore, he indicates that "good things" are not withheld from the faithful (those who trust in Him). Before that, the Psalmist does more than imply that God is our giver of life (our sun) and our protector from all that would adversely affect that life (our shield) and, that He gives us grace and glory.

Jesus withheld no good thing from those whom He encountered. The Bible indicates that Jesus healed all the sick people He interacted with. The Bible even goes so far as to reveal that Jesus met financial needs as chronicled in accounts of overwhelming catches of fish, miraculously feeding of thousands and even pulling money from a fish's mouth for taxes. These were all "good things" that the Psalmist said God does not withhold from those who trust in Him. These are all "good things" Jesus did and they are "good things" Jesus' true followers should be doing.

So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. [John 5.19]

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [John 14.12]

Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” [John 20.21]

There is no mistaking that what the Father was doing in heaven - establishing good things including health, wealth, and general wellbeing - was what Jesus did on earth. AND, there is no mistaking that what Jesus did on earth is what WE ARE TO DO on earth.

There was obviously no disconnect when Jesus prayed, "May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." As Jesus saw the Father working, Jesus worked in likeness. There is no blindness in heaven because God is there giving sight - so Jesus declared sight to the blind on earth.

We are tasked then to understand why there IS disconnect when we pray, "May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," when our results are NOT like Jesus' results.

The Palmist may give us a clue in the first part of the passage noted above: A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. 

Perhaps we are not truly looking to Jesus (as He looked to the Father) with the understanding that His way is the only way! Do we really look at a single day being in Christ as better than a thousand elsewhere? Do we genuinely believe that being a (low class) gatekeeper in God's presence is better than being royalty outside of God's presence?

The Psalmist very possibly gives us the "connection" (as opposed to the "disconnect") in our task of bringing the good conditions of heaven to replace the bad conditions of earth: we simply must first truly believe heaven is better. I am not so sure (regardless what we say) that we believe heaven is better than earth.

How do we then grow in our belief that heaven is better than earth? It starts with our education in God's Word. However, education in God's Word is insufficient without something else:

For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ [Matthew 13.15]

The context of this passage in Matthew is that those who actually listened to Jesus would see, hear, and understand, but that those who refused to listen to Jesus, even though they might have been experts in the Word (as were the Scribes and Pharisees) would never see, hear, and understand. The differentiating factor is listening to Jesus. We will not understand that heaven is better unless we first understand that Jesus is better!

I have engaged in a discussion here that is overwhelming. I am in need of revelation. I am in need of JESUS!

Father, show me Jesus today as I consider my disconnect in effectively bringing the conditions of heaven to earth...