December 13, 2012 Like a mustard seed and yeast…

Then Jesus said, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched on its branches.” Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Luke 13:18-20

     In my spiritual and religious journey, I’ve often heard the story of the mustard seed in relation to our faith being like a mustard seed, but I don’t remember the mustard seed also being used as a comparison to the Kingdom of God, so this verse stood out to me today.

In the second part of the verse it mentions the kingdom of God being like yeast mixed into flour, and since we don’t have a lot of choices for getting fresh baked bread on the island, I have become more of a baker lately, making my own bread, and this part of the parable was particularly fascinating. So, the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed and yeast. What if our faith was like that, always growing and seeking to grow. Yeast likes to eat until it can eat no more.  If we sought God and His word as yeast seeks to devour and grow, then how much wiser would we be?!?! I like that thought…Heaven grows and becomes what is needed to supply the needs of its occupants. It provides for the birds as well as all of us who seek God with all our hearts. It is more than we could ever imagine or need. It is God’s home, and if He could make us such a wonderful home here on earth, how much better must His heavenly kingdom be!!  I want to be a part of this home someday, so I will do my best to make my faith like a mustard seed that will continue to grown until the day of my entrance into heaven.

December 12, 2012 What do you treasure?

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12: 32-34 

     At the very beginning of this journey through the book of Luke, I talked about the verses where Mary treasured up the things of her son, Jesus, in her heart.  Now comes this verse connecting the two again, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I see these verses as a bit of a caution sign.  We need to consider what we are treasuring up in our hearts and ensure it is a treasure that will last forever.  Are we holding onto and treasuring up bitterness from difficult past experiences in our hearts?  Are we treasuring all the things we possess and hanging onto those tighter than we should?  None of these things will matter in the end, our anger, bitterness, money, possessions…they will all disappear from us when we pass away, so why hold onto them?  We need to work to build up new treasures in our hearts, such as the smile on your friend’s face when you help them out with something they’ve been struggling with or the accomplishments of the children God has blessed you with. Treasure up positive experiences and add to them by reaching out to others, making your “purse” one that will not wear out and can feed 5,000 instead of just one.  To me, building up a treasure that can go to heaven with you means treasuring others above yourself, treasuring love above all else, treasuring God and all he has to teach us.  What do you treasure? Is it something you can take with you?  I hope so….

December 10-11, 2012 The one thing that’s needed…

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:27-28

     Sometimes we are Martha, and we simply grind away at all the things that seem important at the time, but are not really needed, and other times, we are Mary, choosing what is better and making the most of it! What I am finding as I read through Luke, remembering all the familiar stories and discovering “new” ones I hadn’t fully taken in before, is that the message of Jesus is the same one he has been reiterating over and over again through various parables, stories, and real life experiences he is going through during his time on earth. His message is quite simple. The one thing that is needed is to choose what is better, choose to follow God. He has provided us with His word, which contains instructions for life, so if we will simply choose to hear His word, obey it, and put God first, all the rest will fall into place.  I know it is not as simple to live this truth as it is to write it down, but I also know that as human beings, we complicate our lives much more than they need to be, just like Martha. She was so worried about being a perfect host and serving Jesus, making a complicated meal and fussing over everyone, that she missed what was really needed, to simply spend time with her guest of honor.  We become so busy trying to follow all the societal “rules” and keep up with all our friends and family in terms of our kids, our homes, our activities outside of the home, etc….that we forget what is most important, spending time with our family, investing in our relationship with God and others. Quiet time…how often do we slow down to listen, to hear our heart’s desire, to make room for the one thing that is needed…stop and do that today.  

December 8-9, 2012 Making the least the greatest…

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him. “ Luke 8: 17-18

Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all-he is the greatest.” 

     The common theme here is that what we as a world generally ascribe to: that those who have the most money, power, religion, fame, etc…are the greatest, but in the eyes of Jesus, according to his words above, those who are generally considered least among us are greatest.  Those who have much will have it all taken from them because it’s not about the stuff. It’s not about the power; it’s not about the fame or how much you know about God or how well you think you practice religion; it’s about your heart, your motives, your love for God and others.  What do I hear Jesus saying again and again….His love comes from a place of grace, not works. His love is unlike any other a human being can express or really even fully understand, where the least of us are the greatest, where being a humble servant is more important than being popular and powerful.  His love, His grace is bigger than we are. 

December 7, 2012- Unconditional Love…

“Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven-for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7:44-47

     Once again, this chapter of the book of Luke was jam packed with so much good stuff!! Every story speaks to me in one way or another, but the one above about the woman who went to the Pharisee’s house when she knew Jesus was there just because she wanted to wash his feet with perfume and show her love to him in this way is the most touching to me.  It’s a similar lesson to my previous blog about Jesus hanging out with the tax collectors and sinners because once again he is welcoming those who are seemingly unworthy in the earthly society we live in, and he is questioned because of it.  You would think the Pharisees would have learned where he was coming from by now…but like children, we often have to hear the same words and directions over and over again before they really sink in, and we can practice applying them to our lives.  When questioned by Simon concerning if Jesus knew what type of woman he was allowing to kiss his feet, he answered with the verses above.  In a sense, Jesus is telling Simon that this sinful woman loves Him more than the Pharisee or others who have not been so much a part of the secular world, so to speak.  I don’t know anything about this woman except they say she had lived a sinful life.  So, she probably doesn’t know all the laws of the Jewish religion, as the Pharisees did, and she most likely didn’t follow them as they would have expected her too. She may have been a prostitute or engaged in a lot of inappropriate behavior for a woman of her time, but she had experienced life from another perspective than the Pharisees. She had experienced how rough it could be, and she appreciated Jesus and all He stood for even more because of those experiences and because of the varied perspective she had gained on life. Does that mean we go out and seek to sin and experience all the “pleasures” of life as King Solomon did when he was trying to find the meaning of life and wrote about this in Ecclesiastes?  No, it means that no matter what you have done up to this point in your life, God doesn’t care. It’s all forgiven through the sacrifice Jesus made.  How does this apply to our lives today?  Well, I know many friends who stopped going to church because they felt judged and surrounded by hypocrites.  I understand where they are coming from…I have felt that too, but I go to church for God, not for those other people, so how does this verse help me in that context? It reminds me that no matter what someone else thinks about me and whether or not I am worthy enough to be teaching Sunday School or attending church with other very “religious” people, no matter whether or not they are hypocrites themselves or if they really are just very good people trying to bring others to God without really understanding how best to do so, I know this, ALL my sins are forgiven, and because I have many, many sins in my past and even in my present life, I know my love for God is greater than if I had never sinned at all. I love God because of His love for me, and I appreciate Him more because I know how undeserving of it all I really am. I’m not under the illusion that I am somehow better or more deserving than anyone else, but I am still a child of God, and unlike the human creatures he’s made, God’s love extends equally to all of us, without judgment or condition.  Praise the Lord!! 

December 6, 2012- What Plank??

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Luke 6:41-42    

     There’s so much meat in this chapter that I couldn’t choose just one verse. I feel like the bulk of what Jesus stood for and what he was about is very well illustrated through his reactions to the persecution he suffered from the Pharisees in this chapter as well as through all of the teaching he did with the Apostles in Luke 6. The illustration I like best is about the “plank of wood.” Unlike some of the other verses I’ve written about the past few days, I know this verse very well. I’ve completed and taught Bible studies based on this verse and “judging ourselves first.”  I can’t think of a better way to describe what we do as humans than the speck of sawdust and the plank of wood. If you think about it, every time we gossip or talk about another person when they are not present, whether it is a frustration with a co-worker or employee or even complaining about a spouse or a slight we felt when we ran into an old acquaintance or former close friend, we are judging them.  When we talk about them, we are pronouncing our judgment over them by pointing out the speck of sawdust in their lives.  How often do we stop in the middle of these conversations and consider whether or not we have our own speck or even worse, a plank?  Do we see the planks in our own lives?   I try to, and sometimes if I am honest with myself and with God, I see them and decide to ignore them.  Hey, I’m not perfect and never claimed to be, but I don’t want to ignore the faults in my life forever, although I usually have to take them and work on them one at a time.  What I have learned is that if I ignore the planks too long, I will become blind and unable to understand and resolve things in my life that require me to look back at myself and see where I was at fault.  It’s important to stop now and again and analyze life from that perspective. When there are underlying frustrations between you and a spouse, friend, or family member, if you can look at yourself first, asking questions, such as “why does this upset me so much?” and “how can I respond differently to this problem?” or “what could I do differently and how have I contributed to this problem?” As you answer these questions, you will begin to see the problem from the other side. You can begin to see how the other person must feel and where they are coming from. Then, all of a sudden, you may feel a pang of regret… “why did I judge that person so harshly? I shouldn’t have done that. I should have taken the time to consider why they reacted as they did or what might be going on within them to cause them to behave in such a way.” I believe that guilt or regret is often why we ignore those planks in our eyes because it’s painful for us when we look at ourselves in the mirror and attempt to remove them.  But, I believe it is a very necessary and important part of our growth as human beings and of our journey to becoming more like Jesus.  Love your enemies, pray for those who mistreat you, do not judge…these are not easy things to do, but Jesus never said life would be easy. He did say that his plans for us are good, to bring us hope and a future, but first we must be willing to listen and able to not just read the words and understand them, but to put them into practice. Do you have any planks in your eyes that need to be removed today? I know I do…time to get to work, but before I go, let me leave you with one of my favorite verses in the Bible, the one that gives me hope when I am unsure of the future, when I wonder what’s the point of working so hard as I will never be perfect, so why even try?  This is why… “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 11-13 J If God can care that much about me and want that much for me, shouldn’t I at least give him all I’ve got in the time he’s given me on this earth? I think so…