Category: Devotional

And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Mark 4:30-32 (ESV)

The parable Jesus tells here is of the growth of the Kingdom of God on the earth. What starts out, in what seems to be an insignificant manner, eventually becomes so influential that the entire world is under its sway. So much so that the forces of evil, the birds of the air, find places to make their habitation within the structures that society has erected based on the principles of Jesus teachings.

Let’s break this down. Jesus’ teachings in their day were absolutely iconoclastic in their scope and substance. For example the in Sermon on the Mount Jesus takes the Jews’ already high moral law and goes from mere external observance to heart intent.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 5:21-22 (ESV)

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:27-28 (ESV)

Jesus teachings were so radical and so at odds with the society of the day that it brought him into sharp conflict with the political forces of the day and eventually led him to his death on the cross. And that would have been the end of the story if he had not been raised from the dead . His disciples took up the message and practice of the Kingdom that Jesus established and within 30 years had transformed the society around them. So much so that when Paul and Barnabas went to Thessalonica they caused an uproar in the city and the indictment was that they had “turned the world upside down”

And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

Acts 17:6-7 (ESV)

Christianity has, for the last 2000 years, been a disruptive influence in the societies where it has been preached, and the entire world has, through the centuries, had opportunity to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom. It is the defining foundation of our current western society. “Judeo/Christian values” are what all of the current democratic societies look to as the touchstone of their laws and societal norms. Ideas like equality and social justice spring out of the ideals of sanctity of human life that Christ preached. Care and concern for the environment come from the understanding that the earth is God’s creation and has inherent worth. “Do unto others what you would have done unto you” and the idea of “fairness” and a “level playing field” and “free speech”, all springboard from Christian teaching that all human life has value.

But we now see those very values being weaponised to demolish the foundations from which they spring. The enemies of freedom, individuality and peaceful free societies are using the institutions and ideals built on the basis of Christianity to destroy the fabric of the society which embody those very ideals.

The current situation in the USA is a prime example of this. The BLM movement utilises the ideal of free speech and free association and freedom to protest to vandalise and wreck private and public property and to bring anarchy in the name of a more equitable society. In western society we have seen an eroding of the previous high moral values to an “anything goes” morality based upon the ideals of personal freedom and expression.

Sexual immorality now is the norm rather than the exception and the idea that I might be doing myself or others harm by my uncontrolled lust for another is no longer even considered. We have children and young adults viewing porn, violence and addicted to all other kinds of destructive behaviours. We see the rise of governmental control of society far beyond what would have been accepted in times past, in the name of “public safety”.

The “birds of the air” certainly have made their nests in the shadow of the mustard tree. These are signs of the times that Jesus foresaw and predicted. One wonders what will be the resultant outcome of these signs? What sort of society will we be leaving to our children and grandchildren?

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:1-8 (ESV)

Recently I was thinking about the headlong rush to save the planet by moving to renewable energy sources. I was musing on the ludicrous hypocrisy of those who demand that we all stop burning “dinosaur squeezings” and embrace wind and solar as the alternate means of powering our lifestyles. I mean most of those calling for these changes live lives built around the usage of either coal or oil or both. Most of the devices we use today are made from products sourced either directly or indirectly from oil based products and from energy from coal or gas fired (or nuclear) power stations. For example; the devices we all communicate with are made with precious metals and plastics and other exotic materials all made or mined or developed by (in the main) countries that do not use the more exotic forms of “green energy”. To make matters worse we demand that we live lives of extreme comfort. We want to turn the liveability dial up to 11! So we have homes and businesses and cars that have to have air-conditioning and heating and all our appliances and furnishings and clothes etc all need to be the latest and greatest. Our manufacturers all outdo each other in bringing out yearly offerings all for our consumption and pleasure. We no longer see it important to make things that last – we live in an age of planned obsolescence. And we love it to be so. Our world wide travel industry uses a massive amount of fossil fuels to enable us our lifestyle choices for work and vacations.

So what to do about this ? How to change the way an entire planet lives and change the aspirations of everyone on it?

Into these mainly depressing thoughts, an idea hammered away at my consciousness trying to rise unbidden to the surface of my mind. What if the answers were not to be found externally? What if no amount of behavioural change could fix the planet?

What if it was our moral choices that affected not only the world, but the entire universe?

In the beginning that was the original choice. To choose life in obedience to God or knowledge of good and evil and become our own “gods”.

What if the entire sweep of history was God returning the entire universe to that original premise? The premise that it is mankind’s choice to live in obedient relationship to his creator God that is the primary factor deciding the fate of the entire universe.

If so, that changes everything. Yes, sure we still will need to make changes to how we go about managing the planet. But by far the biggest issue will be, how do we live our lives, morally? How do we determine right and wrong? What kinds of people should we be aiming to be? How do we communicate this radically different idea to everyone, everywhere? How can we do it?

C.S. Lewis

Some thoughts on my listening to this today:

Time itself is one more name for death

Heaven itself is a state where the former things have passed away..

Me…

Hell then? A state where the former things – the corruption of life is allowed to go to its fullest end. The sadness, the grief, the horror and the brokenness is complete. 

The lie of the spiritualist – “the happy past restored” 

“Why are they so sure that all anguish ends with death?” 

“Why should the separation which is so painful to  the lover left behind be painless to the lover who departs?”

“She is in God’s hands, if so she was in God’s hands all the time and I have seen what they did to her here.” – subtle lie of the enemy. He was the one in who hands she was and who stole her life from her. 

“In the only life we know he (God) hurts us beyond our worst fears and all that we can imagine.” 

Again another lie – it is not God who hurts us… we ourselves have formed the instrument of torture. It is the whole sin filled world that is the instrument of pain and death and we have contributed and participated in the construction and maintenance of its edifices. WE are the ones who ultimately hurt ourselves and each other – our sin nature and our sinful acts perpetuate the system by which we ourselves and others suffer. We naturally followed the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air (the devil) and the passions of our flesh (Ephesians 2:1-3) and by nature were destined to God’s wrath, condemnation and judgement. 

But GOD – being rich in mercy has delivered us from this “body of death” (Romans 7:24) and made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:1-2

Jesus’ words here sound a warning to everyone who tries to do good in the world. There is a massive temptation when giving aid or helping others, to do so for the recognition and sense of pride that rightly comes from such acts of generosity or service. When such giving or acts of service are done with the express purpose of raising one’s profile in the eyes of others the entire meaning of them is robbed from them and they have amounted to nothing in terms of helping the giver’s heart to approach God. That is not to say that the recipients of such acts or giving are not helped, there may well be good done to others and much blessing received by them.

Jesus makes the point that if we are to receive a blessing in the giving we should be careful to hide from others those acts of service or gifts. If our purpose is to move closer to God by using them as acts of worship and service to him then we are to forego the worldly accolades and look to the Father for any reward and recognition.

And Jesus promises there is a reward for those who approach God in such acts and gifts. Which reward are we seeking?

John 1:4-5
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:9
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

John 3:19
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

John links the light of the Word of God with the eternal life of God. They are inseparable. Through all eternity before time, space and matter began LIFE! was – is. And that life, which gives rise to the incredible variety and vigour of all life on this planet, is the Life and the moral light by which mankind lives. The light reveals and gives form and substance to all that is darkness. The light defines goodness, wholeness, and the light exposes and overcomes all that stands in opposition to it.

Darkness. Darkness is the lack of light, is absence of life, is chaos. Quite possibly the saddest verse in the whole Bible is John 3:19. “and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (NJKV) Evil is defined by Good. Evil is all that stands in opposition to the One true God and is exposed as such by the light of the Word of God.

“Only in silence the word,
Only in dark the light,
Only in dying life:
Bright the hawk’s flight
On the empty sky.
—The Creation of Éa”
― Ursula K. Le Guin

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Isaiah 55:11
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Genesis 1:3
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

God does nothing apart from His word. The word of God exists with God. God’s word is God! God’s word is God’s will, it not only accomplishes God’s will but it is the complete expression of God’s divine will and purpose. God’s word is unstoppable and cannot be thwarted. Because the Word of God is actually a person, God’s son Jesus Christ, all of the attributes that pertain to God himself, pertain to his word.

God’s word is:

• Eternal – Psalms 119:89 Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
• Pure – Psalms 119:140 Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it.
• Right – Psalms 119:172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.
• True – Psalms 119:160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
• Imparts Wisdom and Revelation – Psalms 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

Psalm 19 sums it up very well,

Psalm 19:7-9
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

Philippians 1:12-18

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Many of us view contrary circumstances in our lives as inconveniences and roadblocks to an imagined future that we ourselves have planned and hoped for. Here is Paul chained in prison with guards on either side, cheerfully telling the Christians in Philippi that this has, in fact, resulted in advancement for the Gospel. How does he come to this realisation and perspective? Paul’s perspective is based on the kingdom, he views everything from the viewpoint of how it affects the advancement of the good news of Christ to the world. But he also is concerned for the lives of those around him and the brothers who are encouraged as they see the grace of God working in and through Paul.

Paul acknowledges that people have different motives when it comes to the proclamation of the Kingdom. We should remember this when are confronted with persecution and opposition, even from within the church. Our over-arching concern and focus should be, like Paul, that in every way Christ – the KING -is proclaimed, and in that rejoice.

Philippians 1:9-11

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Here is a prayer that expresses the life of a citizen in the kingdom of God. It has several distinct elements.

• Love that abounds more and more
• an increase of knowledge and discernment
• an increasing approval and pursuit of excellence
• a focus on purity and blameless living
• filled with the fruit of righteousness – that is the fruit of the spirit
• a life lived to the praise and glory of God

Romans 11:29

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Alexander Dowie was called to proclaim the gospel at age seven. He said in his biography that the call never left him. Before the call come the gifts. Without the gifts the call is impossible. Without the call the gifts become self-indulgent.

The church needs people with the gifts and call of God to step out in faith to minister the love of God to others.

Ephesians 4:7-8

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”

The gifts have been given. The calling is to preach the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20) and has never been rescinded. It is up to us, the church, to use the gifts and fulfil the call to proclaim the gospel and see others enter the kingdom of God.

Mark 12:18-27

And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

Whenever we or someone else disputes Jesus words we must remember that these 2 issues are going to be the root cause.