too small…

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” (Matthew 13:31-33, NRSV)

Have you ever been told you are too small to do something?

Well in Jesus’ day the mustard seed was the smallest of all seeds. Yet when planted the mustard plant would take over the location in which it was planted. It could grow to be 8 to 12 feet tall. It is also very prolific and not easy to get rid of.

Like the yeast in the second parable, just a little bit goes all through the whole batch.

So never think you are too small to have an impact for the kingdom.

Don’t ever think your gifts are insignificant.

God gave you the talents you have and made you the best for what He has in store for you!

No one can take your place, even if you are small, you are not too small. Because the mustard is small too but it will over take everything, just like the kingdom of God.

So follow and know you are bigger than anyone could ever see!

flourish

It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep! The dullard cannot know, the stupid cannot understand this: though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever, but you, O LORD, are on high forever. For your enemies, O LORD, for your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap, showing that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalm 92, NRSV)

The palm tree will flourish…

What does that mean?

Well to flourish is to grow well, to be healthy, to be very successful, to do very well according to m-w.com.

So then I thought about where palm tress are usually planted. In places where there are hurricanes. And when the storms come through, the trees bend and sway, but they stay where they are planted. That is because they have a very deep and wide root system that allows them to grow very tall and stand very straight, but also hold on and bend in the storms. They flourish because they are deeply rooted and will not be moved.

That is how we can flourish, to grow well, be healthy, do well and be successful, be rooted deeply in God and then we will sing His praises!

obvious

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:16-26, NRSV)

I was struck at my readin gof this passage with obvious…

Now the works of the flesh are obvious…

Really?

Can you look at someone and know they are a fornicator?

Can you look at some one and know they are impure?

Can you look at someone and tell if they are licentious?

Can you tell if someone has idols by looking at them?

Can you tell by looking at someone they are a witch? (you have to see if they weigh the same as a duck…)

Really only the last 2 listed drunkness and carousing can be seen by looking at someone, and the second one here could be a judgement call.

These might be obvious things that are works of the flesh, but they are not obvious to detect in people. And if all of us are honest we all possess some of these qualities (if not all) some of the time! We all live in the flesh and therefore the works of the flesh are a part of our life.

We need to look beyond these though and seek after the fruit of the spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love and the rest are attributes there of…

So love the world God created and put you in to be His witness to that love. Live in the Spirit and not the flesh!

pleasing

pleasing godFor this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14, NRSV)

Paul is telling the Colossians that he has prayed they will be filled with knowledge of God’s will with all wisdom and understanding so they may lead lives that are pleasing to the Lord!

How many of us lead lives pleasing to the Lord?

Paul would be the first to tell you he had fallen short.

I would be right there with him in that. There are so many times we look to others for approval and to see that we are doing what we need to in life.

Yet there is really only one person we should seek the approval of, and there is nothing we need to do to get His love!

He loves you as you are, and He is there to tell you how much of a treasure you are.

He endured the cross with patience, and prepared you for a life that will not always be easy, but will be soaked in His love. He is always with you, and approves of you, even when the world does not.

But whose approval is more important? Stop worrying what others say, and live for God!

time

Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand! Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. (Revelation 14:14-16, NRSV)

The earth was reaped…

What does that mean?

Sunday we heard the story of the weeds that grew up in the wheat, and here in the book that so often is taken as telling us the end times we read, “and the earth was reaped.”

Everything was reaped, weeds and wheat, all types of plants, it was all cut down…

One who appeared as the Son of Man came riding on a cloud with a crown on Hos head and a sharp sickle in His hand… Not really the way we picture the Grimm Reaper is it?

Not the ominous black cloaked figure that comes to bring death…

The harvest is ripe, and ready so harvest, and reap and bring the end…

For the time is now.

And the earth was reaped…

abide

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. (john 15:4-8, NRSV)

We are to live in Jesus as He lives in us!

You see the branches of the grape plant are connected to the vine. The only way they can produce fruit is to be connected to the vine. If they do not stay connected they do not get fed and they become dead and will be pruned away and thrown into the fire.

So just as the grape branch apart from the vine can do nothing, we can do nothing apart from Jesus, we must ramain in Him as He remains in us!

spiritual fruits?

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20, NRSV)

I always have a hard time with this passage, but it is one that can be used by many who say Christianity is wrong to prove their point…

You see Jesus says here that you can tell a tree by its fruit, and that any good tree will bear good fruit and any bad tree will not bear good fruit. So if you are not bearing fruit you need to be cut down and thrown into the fire. For we can know a tree by its fruit. And they will know we are Christians by our love…

But are we good at showing love?

We love things as humans when we get something from them or they are just like us. But if they push us to rethink our understanding or to move beyond our comfort zone, then it is not right and should not be tolerated.

All of us can love those who are like us and are nice to us and who love us. Jesus said that, even the tax collectors do that. But we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard, not because we are better, but because we are His hands and feet. We are the barometer by which the world measures Christianity. We can not be good sometimes and bad others, and expect people to see God for who He is. We need to be loving all as God first loved us. Not judging people, but loving them.

It is not our job to separate the wheat and the weeds, but to love and serve where we are. So do not be a wolf in sheeps clothing, and do not judge others, but show them your spiritual fruit, and follow Jesus. Loving the world as He first loved you!

not yet…

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen! (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, NRSV)

How many of us has this happened to? We go out and plant a garden, and there among the good seed we planted, up comes this other stuff!

I mean come on I didn’t plant that stuff. Why are those other plants growing where I sowed my good seed?

And here we would go out and pull the weeds. We want to get rid of the other plants so the seed we planted will get the nutrients, and grow and produce the fruit for which we planted it.

But what is a weed? And how did it get there…

Wally Armbruster in Noodles Du Jour raises this question: “Is a weed a flower that’s the victim of prejudice? (Does God think more of a rose than he does of crab grass?) Are you sure?”

Does God think more of a rose than a thistle?

Why does the master in the parable not have his servants (slaves) pull the weeds? Because in doing so some of the wheat would be pulled up as well, and rather than risk the harvest, you let the weeds grow…

And maybe the weeds are good plants that need more time to mature…

And if we take this to the next level, which are we? Are we wheat or are we weeds?

Yes. The answer is yes! We are both wheat and weeds. As we are both sinner and saint! And if we take out the weeds, we may just be removing us.

You see it is not our job to separate the good from the bad, we are to let it go and be who God has planted us to be, and let the angels sort it out in the end.

So not yet, it’s not time to separate, just be who God has made you to be and go on spreading His love.

prospers

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1, ESV)

This psalm is wonderful because it tells us that the tree that feeds off of the life that God gives it will prosper!

Planted by streams of water and feeding off of that it will give fruit in it’s season and be what God created it to be.

This is just like the man who meditates on the law of God day and night. I preached on the text last week and my youngest daughter asked what it meant to meditate.

Meditate means to focus on, to have that be the center of your life. How many of us have God’s law as the center of our lives?

If we do this, we will prosper but if we don’t then we will perish.

So watch were you get your council from, and who you are delighting in. Delight in the Lord and have Him to be the center of your life, and you will be like a tree that prospers!