The Kingdom is Like...

 

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?  How can I illustrate it?  It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”  He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like?  It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread.  Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”                           Luke 13:18-21

Speaking in parables (metaphorical messages) Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to the way God created the tendency to grow in the natural world.  Mustard seeds are tiny; they quickly grow into a tree big enough for a bird to build its nest.  Yeast causes growth to a little pile of dough. 

But wherever God has created good, evil is certain to twist in the opposite direction.  When we moved to North Carolina 22 years ago our little ½ acre was mostly untamed, with large trees – mostly pines, cedars, and poplar.  Some of the trees were already dead; wild vines had wrapped the living trees when they were smaller and sucked the life out of them.  They looked impressive, tall, and stately but they were rotted, ready to fall.

This is Satan’s characteristic stock-in-trade; it is his unchanging nature to deceive and pervert.  Satan made his entrance on the stage of world drama by deceiving Eve in the garden; that serpent has never/will never change. 

Scripture tells us he will pay the ultimate penalty for his rebellion:

This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.  Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.  For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night.  Revelation 12:9-10

In other parables Jesus taught us about life, death, and learning to live a Godly life in His kingdom.  That living must continually be awake and aware, because every good thing God created has an evil counterfeit-lure stalking us in the shadows.  This is why, with all the wonderful teaching Jesus offered of the good things in God’s wonderful creation, He balanced the picture with reality-101 – the caution we must have about the pitfalls of temptation, sin, and the Devil’s way:

Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.  So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.  Matthew 10:16

For You Today

There’s an old saying about how to be wise in dealing with others:

Trust, but Verify

As believers, we are to trust God, and test the spirits[1].  We must heed the lesson Adam and Eve were handed…Satan NEVER tells the truth!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Wikimedia Commons   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

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[1] See 1 John 4:1

Fruit of the Spirit - Part 4 JOY

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Friday, May 24, 2019

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against these things!  Galatians 5:22-23

We are looking at the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit, those qualities and characteristics which develop in people who have genuinely surrendered to following Christ.  Today’s focus is on the fruit of joy.

Images:  Pixabay.com

As with the rest of Christian experience, with joy there is a problem with counterfeits.  It comes in the form of almost, but not really.  Looking at two pictures illustrates this. 

In the first picture (which is the typical one you’ll get if you do a Google search for “joy”) we see a guy who is jumping over mountains.  He is (if you’ll pardon the woeful pun) on top of the world.  This giddy, exhilarated jumper projects that some wonderful experience is his, and he’s celebrating.  This is not the kind of “joy” of which the Bible proclaims, although this kind of overwhelming happiness can be associated with genuine joy.  

The second picture, a baby’s hand clutching the finger of a parent is relationship that needs very little explanation; there is trust, dependence and a bond that goes deeper than words.  The first picture pretty much depends on how you feel because of what you have, or circumstances.  The second only depends on who you are.  The apostle Paul has these words to help us understand the difference:

Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”  Romans 4:8

Circumstances can change like the weather, a promotion on the job, winning a scholarship grant, hurricanes that wipe out life savings and memories, a doctor’s report that says get your affairs in order, or getting served divorce papers.  But joy, in the Biblical sense, only knows change in the sense of deeper awareness.  It is that growing sense that you are truly loved with an everlasting lovingkindness:

Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.  With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.  Jeremiah 31:3

This is the relationship that brings genuine joy, not a momentary exhilaration or love affair with a new car, house, job, or circumstance that can fade and whither as all substitutes for God will produce.  Again, listen to Paul’s take on what being in the Kingdom of God as a child of the king produces:

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Romans 14:17

A life lived in the fruit of the Holy Spirit is to be filled with God’s goodness and God’s peace, and God’s joy; none of that depends on your family tree, your financial portfolio, or what the world thinks of you.  It all depends on His love.

For You Today

Let the peace of Christ dwell in you today.  Scripture finishes our devotional thought of producing Kingdom fruit:

The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life;  Proverbs 11:30a

If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.  If it is giving, give generously.  If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.  And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.  Romans 12:8

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com  
             Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©