ask, seek, knock

7 “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door is opened.9 Who among you will give your children a stone when they ask for bread? 10 Or give them a snake when they ask for fish? 11 If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. (Matthew 7:7-11, CEB)

This is one of those verses when taken out of context and understanding can get us in trouble. Because this snippet of scripture literally says if you ask for it you will get it, if you look for it you will find it and if you knock on it it will be opened. Ok who among us has asked for something and not gotten it? Or searched for something and not found it? Or knocked and the door wasn’t opened? This is saying just because we as parents wouldn’t give our own children bad things, God will be a cosmic vending machine and give us all our desires. Not how this works.

Other versions of this add if it is the will of the Father. You see we can ask, look for, and want things opened for us and it may not be what we need. It is what we want, but not what we need and therefore will not happen.

So if you ask for, seek, and knock in the will of the Father it will be given, if not, maybe it wasn’t meant to be. I’ve heard God has three answers for every question, yes, no, and not yet, or I’ve got something better, or are you serious?!?!?.

Anyway, seek the will of God, and align your heart with God’s then this passage will happen.

Choice

6 But it’s not as though God’s word has failed. Not all who are descended from Israel are part of Israel.7 Not all of Abraham’s children are called Abraham’s descendants, but instead your descendants will be named through Isaac. 8 That means it isn’t the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children from the promise who are counted as descendants. 9 The words in the promise were: A year from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son. 10 Not only that, but also Rebecca conceived children with one man, our ancestor Isaac. 11 When they hadn’t been born yet and when they hadn’t yet done anything good or bad, it was shown that God’s purpose would continue because it was based on his choice. 12 It wasn’t because of what was done but because of God’s call. This was said to her: The older child will be a slave to the younger one.13 As it is written, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau. (Romans 9:6-13, CEB)

So how are you included in the promise?

Is it that you are a descendent of Abraham? According to the Hebrew Scripture that is what you need to be a part of the promise, but here in Romans, what does Paul say?

Paul says it is not because you are a natural child of God but that you are chosen and counted. And who chooses?

It isn’t anything we do or can do to get counted. It is all by God’s call. God is the one who chooses.

So rest in the promise that God has chosen you. And know you are a part of the promise.

Thank you

10 I was very glad in the Lord because now at last you have shown concern for me again. (Of course you were always concerned but had no way to show it.) 11 I’m not saying this because I need anything, for I have learned how to be content in any circumstance. 12 I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. 13 I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength. 14 Still, you have done well to share my distress. 15 You Philippians know from the time of my first mission work in Macedonia how no church shared in supporting my ministry except you. (Philippians 4:10-15, CEB)

This is one of the overused verses in the Bible and wrongly used verses. I can do all things through the power of the one who gives me strength. This doesn’t mean that you don’t need to practice or learn skills and that God will miraculously just give you the ability to do something. God will be with you through all things that happen and will help you manage what is happening around you. But God doesn’t make you a star. Paul here says he knows what it is to have enough, and he also knows what it is to be in need. Paul has lived and has been in the valley and he has been on the mountain and though it all God has been with him. And Paul has learned along the way that no matter what happens, God will always be there.

And Paul thanks the Philippians because they have always been with Paul also.

Who has been there for you in your faith journey?

Image?

30 He continued, “What’s a good image for God’s kingdom? What parable can I use to explain it?31 Consider a mustard seed. When scattered on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth; 32 but when it’s planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all vegetable plants. It produces such large branches that the birds in the sky are able to nest in its shade.” 33 With many such parables he continued to give them the word, as much as they were able to hear.34 He spoke to them only in parables, then explained everything to his disciples when he was alone with them. (Mark 4:30-34, CEB)

As I read this passage I noticed, maybe for the first time, that the mustard seed, when scattered on the ground, is the smallest of all seeds, but when planted grows into the largest of all plants. Scattered verses planted.

There is a difference between scattering seed and planting. One is done willy nilly and the other is done with care. Oh and the difference that care can and does make.

If the seed is scattered, it is just small but planted it becomes something large.

That is the care and planting that God does with each of us.

When we plant God’s word into our lives it grows into something large!

Don’t just scatter God, plant God. Be so involved and open to the moving of the Spirit that your life is large with God.

Armor of God

10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and his powerful strength. 11 Put on God’s armor so that you can make a stand against the tricks of the devil. 12 We aren’t fighting against human enemies but against rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens.13 Therefore, pick up the full armor of God so that you can stand your ground on the evil day and after you have done everything possible to still stand. 14 So stand with the belt of truth around your waist, justice as your breastplate, 15 and put shoes on your feet so that you are ready to spread the good news of peace. 16 Above all, carry the shield of faith so that you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. 18 Offer prayers and petitions in the Spirit all the time. Stay alert by hanging in there and praying for all believers. (Ephesians 6:10-18, CEB)

We are not fighting against human enemies!

Even when it seems we are fighting humans, we are actually fighting something larger. Forces of evil and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens.

Therefore we need to be protected by God as much as possible. If we trust in the promises God has given us we will not lose our footing in God’s word.

Stay alert and hang in there. Praying for others, and know they are praying for you.

God will help us through whatever comes our way.

 

 

Wisdom from above

13 Are any of you wise and understanding? Show that your actions are good with a humble lifestyle that comes from wisdom. 14 However, if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, then stop bragging and living in ways that deny the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above. Instead, it is from the earth, natural and demonic. 16 Wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and everything that is evil. 17 What of the wisdom from above? First, it is pure, and then peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good actions, fair, and genuine.18 Those who make peace sow the seeds of justice by their peaceful acts. (James 3:13-18, CEB)

What is wisdom from on high?

It is pure.

It is peaceful.

It is gentle.

It is obedient.

It is filled with mercy.

It is filled with good actions.

it is fair.

it is genuine.

And all of these attributes must be true for everyone for it to be wisdom from above. If it is not all of these things for everyone, then it is born of selfish ambition.

So as you go through life and seek to follow after where God is leading, test what you ate thinking is wisdom and look out for the others in your life and around you.

Parables…

31 He told another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his field. 32 It’s the smallest of all seeds. But when it’s grown, it’s the largest of all vegetable plants. It becomes a tree so that the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a bushel of wheat flour until the yeast had worked its way through all the dough.” 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that somebody hid in a field, which someone else found and covered up. Full of joy, the finder sold everything and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one very precious pearl, he went and sold all that he owned and bought it. 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that people threw into the lake and gathered all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, they pulled it to the shore, where they sat down and put the good fish together into containers. But the bad fish they threw away. 49 That’s the way it will be at the end of the present age. The angels will go out and separate the evil people from the righteous people, 50 and will throw the evil ones into a burning furnace. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth. 51 “Have you understood all these things?”Jesus asked. They said to him, “Yes.” 52 Then he said to them, “Therefore, every legal expert who has been trained as a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings old and new things out of their treasure chest.” (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, CEB)

It seems from reading this that the kingdom of heaven is a hidden thing…

The Kingdom of Heaven is something people look for but can’t find. Maybe that is because they really don’t know what they are looking for.

We all have a picture of what Heaven looks like, some of that is probably from what we have read in the Bible about Heaven, and some of it is probably from what we learned in Sunday School or other places. But what is right about that?

This passage also makes me think of our current state of affairs in the United States and how we are fighting over wearing masks or not. And how much different would that and all discussions be if we actually thought of the other before ourselves?

You see the second parable Jesus told the disciples was that the kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman hid in a bushel of flour. Have you ever tried to remove yeast from flour once it’s been added? It is impossible to remove yeast from flour Once you put it in, it is leavened, and there is no going back.

Makes me think of 1 Corinthians 13:12 “Now we see a reflection in a mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I know partially, but then I will know completely in the same way that I have been completely known.” I only know partially now, but I will know everything when the kingdom is complete, now I look in a mirror, but then I will see face to face. I think Paul is saying the kingdom of heaven is all around us, and we can’t see it yet completely because of our flesh and sinful nature, but when the completion of what God is doing is here we will see what is all around us.

We need to know that God is present in everything around us and know that God’s love is needed in the world. We are the leaven, the yeast, the kindness the world needs. So don’t look in the mirror and see what people show you, look with eyes of God’s love, and spread kindness wherever you go.

Here’s your sign…

38 At that time some of the legal experts and the Pharisees requested of Jesus, “Teacher, we would like to see a sign from you.” 39 But he replied, “An evil and unfaithful generation searches for a sign, but it won’t receive any sign except Jonah’s sign. 40 Just as Jonah was in the whale’s belly for three days and three nights, so the Human One will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The citizens of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it as guilty, because they changed their hearts and lives in response to Jonah’s preaching. And look, someone greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will be raised up by God at the judgment with this generation and condemn it because she came from a distant land to hear Solomon’s wisdom. And look, someone greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12:38-42, CEB)

Why do we want a sign?

Is it easier for us to believe if we see something?

When I read passages like this I am reminded of The Santa Claus 2, which has the line, “Seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing.”

When we believe something we see it. I can not explain it to you if you do not believe it and you will ask to see it so you can believe it. But you won’t see it until you believe it.

We want the empirical proof, but sometimes there isn’t any proof. That is where faith comes in. You see one of my favorite songs is Hold it up to the Light by David Wilcox. I listened to it a lot when I was trying to decide to go to seminary or not. Because there were so many reasons not to go. So many things that would keep me from doing this. But I needed to step out in faith. The song has these lines in: “I said God, will you bless this decision? I’m scared, Is my life at stake? But I see if you gave me a vision then I would never have reason to use my faith?” We don’t have to see it to trust in God.

Don’t ask for a sign, believe the promise, and step out in faith.

And here is the David Wilcox song for your listening enjoyment:

Have you kept it?

44 “The tent of testimony was with our ancestors in the wilderness. Moses built it just as he had been instructed by the one who spoke to him and according to the pattern he had seen. 45 In time, when they had received the tent, our ancestors carried it with them when, under Joshua’s leadership, they took possession of the land from the nations whom God expelled. This tent remained in the land until the time of David. 46 God approved of David, who asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who actually built a house for God. 48 However, the Most High doesn’t live in houses built by human hands. As the prophet says, 49 Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. ‘What kind of house will you build for me,’ says the Lord, ‘or where is my resting place? 50 Didn’t I make all these things with my own hand? 51 “You stubborn people! In your thoughts and hearing, you are like those who have had no part in God’s covenant! You continuously set yourself against the Holy Spirit, just like your ancestors did.52 Was there a single prophet your ancestors didn’t harass? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one, and you’ve betrayed and murdered him! 53 You received the Law given by angels, but you haven’t kept it.” (Acts 7:44-53, CEB)

The tent of meeting was put together as Moses was told, and then David wanted to build a temple for God, but even though God approved of David, he was not able to build the temple, but Solomon did, but eve then, God was not contained to it.

We want to keep God in our box, in our house, in a space where we control God.

But God is not controlled by us.

We do not see what God has sent us or follow where God is leading us. Our ancestors killed the prophets and harassed them. We betrayed and murdered God’s son, who was sent to show us the love God has for us and how we should live.

Do we follow what God has given us? Do we keep the commandments God has given us?

Do we live as we should?

How can we be the people God has created us to be?

a warning

14 I’m not writing these things to make you ashamed but to warn you, since you are my loved children.15 You may have ten thousand mentors in Christ, but you don’t have many fathers. I gave birth to you in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 16 so I encourage you to follow my example. 17 This is why I’ve sent Timothy to you; he’s my loved and trusted child in the Lord; he’ll remind you about my way of life in Christ Jesus. He’ll teach the same way as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Some have become arrogant as if I’m not coming to see you. 19 But, if the Lord is willing, I’ll come to you soon. Then I won’t focus on what these arrogant people say, but I’ll find out what power they possess.20 God’s kingdom isn’t about words but about power. (1 Corinthians 4:14-20, CEB)

What power do arrogant people have? Some people yield power through who they are and some through who they know. People will sometimes do whatever it takes to get their way.

But when we are born of God, we need to put aside our arrogance and follow after what Jesus told us to do. We need to not look out for our own needs or our own desires, but what is best for the community and others. And by doing this we will live the life that God has gifted us within the way that Jesus called us to live. We will look out for the other and will, therefore, be looked out for by others.

So don’t be arrogant, and love others as God loved you.