Have a look at a text like Isaiah 44 and see how God guarantees his own word - He will accomplish what his word has been sent to achieve! The curious point made by God is the invitation to witness him doing just that. Then turn to Romans 8 and read about God's assuring word that proclaims to each believer that you have the same Spirit in you that raised Jesus from the grave. We have resurrection power invested in us! Not only does it affirm that we are being led by the Spirit, but that we receive all that is attributed to Christ. Keep that in mind as you flip the pages over to Matthew 13; the parable of the weeds.
All the good intentions spoiled by the weeds. Jesus of course explains his own parable for us with the parallel of the good seed sown as the godly and the weeds as the godless. Notice that the disciples were keen for an action plan - 'let's pull out the weeds!' But Jesus tells them to let these two realities grow up together for the time being. When the right time presents itself, Jesus will give the angels charge to begin the cleanup job.
At church we begin every worship service with a time to confess the wrongs and rubbish accumulated in our life. That is the cleanup job that I think has a reference for us here as well. Whenever we try to get the better over our sin, it only ends in a worse situation. But, let Jesus assess the situation and we have the end result transferred to us in the present: 'your sins are forgiven!' Then the good stuff can shine without it being spoilt by the schemes of the evil one - this is what holiness is truly about: the realization that God is at work. We are all a work-under-construction. That is perhaps another definition of God's amazing grace. So be gracious to one another, because God isn't finished yet.
Rev.'D
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
02 August, 2011
Our College @ Church
Strohmeyer House will be featured through students and staff taking part at our Sunday worship service. The theme chosen by the student body is that of the feeding of the five thousand. (Trinity Lutheran College, Ashmore).
That account is a really well known as one of the highlights during Jesus' ministry where after a long day of teaching about the Kingdom of God, Jesus directs his disciples to feed the crowd. You can just imagine the reaction ... what? how? The disciples saw the crowd. They saw the problem. They saw the impossible task just asked of them. They counted up the cost and were not prepared to pay the price. Too much to ask!
Jesus showed another way of seeing what lay before them. Asking for a volunteer, a young boy came forward an offered his lunch. What took place after that has become the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Could the miracle have been that a small offer to help out others, created a reaction in other people to do something like that as well, resulting in the realization that there was ALREADY so much unrealized food right there!
When we offer even a small thing to God, under His blessing it creates a ripple effect. God attributes to give our actions a kind of momentum that blesses others and returns to us with far more than what we gave in the first place (just as it was the case with the young boy). I call it 'tapping into generosity,'
How much need is in the world!? We see it every day on the news channels. The need is overwhelming. But what about our own circle of influence? I would like to invite you to try out an experiment for yourself. Change what you look at, what you see, when we release a blessing under the banner of God's ability to do great things. That's kingdom of God thinking. That's seeing possibilities, rather than problems. That's seeing with the eyes of Jesus.
What can you give unto the Lord for His work within the Kingdom of God to make a difference in people's lives ... remember the wise saying: from little things, big things grow!
Rev.'D
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
That account is a really well known as one of the highlights during Jesus' ministry where after a long day of teaching about the Kingdom of God, Jesus directs his disciples to feed the crowd. You can just imagine the reaction ... what? how? The disciples saw the crowd. They saw the problem. They saw the impossible task just asked of them. They counted up the cost and were not prepared to pay the price. Too much to ask!
Jesus showed another way of seeing what lay before them. Asking for a volunteer, a young boy came forward an offered his lunch. What took place after that has become the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Could the miracle have been that a small offer to help out others, created a reaction in other people to do something like that as well, resulting in the realization that there was ALREADY so much unrealized food right there!
When we offer even a small thing to God, under His blessing it creates a ripple effect. God attributes to give our actions a kind of momentum that blesses others and returns to us with far more than what we gave in the first place (just as it was the case with the young boy). I call it 'tapping into generosity,'
How much need is in the world!? We see it every day on the news channels. The need is overwhelming. But what about our own circle of influence? I would like to invite you to try out an experiment for yourself. Change what you look at, what you see, when we release a blessing under the banner of God's ability to do great things. That's kingdom of God thinking. That's seeing possibilities, rather than problems. That's seeing with the eyes of Jesus.
What can you give unto the Lord for His work within the Kingdom of God to make a difference in people's lives ... remember the wise saying: from little things, big things grow!
Rev.'D
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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