All things have meaning only in relationship to God. Therefore, let all of our conversations and questions stay focused on Him with the thought, “all roads lead to Calvary” You see as we join Jesus on his mission our personal focus should always be on the end of the road. It was especially helpful when I was a coach, a teacher or in a leadership role. Ultimately as children of God, we want to direct other disciples’ minds and hearts to Christ, to help them find their strength in Him and in what He has already accomplished for us through His suffering, death, and resurrection. 1 Sam 23:16; Heb 12:2-3
What does that mean? God is most glorified in us when we bear fruit in a desert. God will put us in a hard place to shine for Him, so don’t cheat Jesus in that moment by getting emotional. Be an encouraging disciple for encourage means paraklesis, “to call by the side, a calling to one’s aid” the Holy Spirit. What you do is not as important as the person for whom you do it. Let everything you do be to the Glory of God! Nothing else matters. Thus, with God’s spirit inside us moving us using us as fellow disciples of Jesus Christ.
As I daydream during Group time my mind is on the following: When you want to have a dialogue with someone about certain passages or topic, how do you begin? Do you stand in front of that person and scream and hope they will hear you? Are you aware during those exchanges through “coincidences”? Is your conversation reflective seeing little things that stirs excitement, enthusiasm’? Or is it a deep theological conversation full of getting it right? In a sense, listening is easy — or hearing is easy. It doesn’t demand the initiative and energy required in speaking. That’s why “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” Romans 10:17.
The point is that hearing is easy, and faith is not an expression of our activity, but our receiving the activity of another. But despite this ease — or perhaps precisely because of it — we often fight against it. In our sin, we’d rather trust in ourselves than another, amass our own righteousness than receive or notice another’s views, but speak our thoughts than listen to someone else’s.
The wise Christian does not assume he or she has attained sinless perfection. Doing so is pride, which is sin James 4:6; Proverbs 16:5 We should examine ourselves continually to see if our ways please the Lord. We can pray with David, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”Psalm 139:23-24. Not on the temporal worries of this life.
He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough. “Matthew 13:33
Jesus uses this story as an object lesson to illustrate the kingdom of heaven.
1. the kingdom of God may have small beginnings, but it will increase.
2. the kingdom of God exerts its influence from within, not from without.
3. the effect of the kingdom of God will be comprehensive.
4. although the kingdom of God works invisibly, its effect is evident to all.
But the practical result of being in God’s presence is joy! Many Christians seem gloomy and dejected because they lack this sense of God’s presence.Let me explain as I talk about bread! I don’t really worry about whether or not I’ll have some to eat; the only question I face is what’s the ingredients,” I will eat”?
There’s food I suspect most of us eat at least once a day. It’s a slice of bread. I want to tell you something about a slice of bread. Looking closely at a slice of bread, do you see little holes and air pockets in it? Humm. Bread is just full of these. It’s all of these holes that make the bread light and fluffy. You ever wondered what puts those holes and air pockets into a loaf when it is baked. It’s this substance called yeast. When the baker mixes up his bread dough he always puts in some yeast. When the yeast gets warm inside the loaf of bread it starts producing gas that forms bubbles inside the loaf. This makes the loaf rise and becomes nice and fluffy. Without yeast the loaf of bread would be so small, heavy, and hard that you would hardly be able to eat it.
Yeast almost seems like a secret substance because it works so quietly that you don’t notice it. You can’t see the bread dough rising and getting bigger because it happens so slowly. Jesus says the God’s kingdom is like yeast. God’s kingdom is the good influence and control he has. It’s like yeast in that it influences people’s lives slowly and quietly.
The nature of yeast is to grow and to change whatever it contacts. When we accept Christ, His grace grows in our hearts and changes us from the inside out. As the gospel transforms lives, it exerts a pervasive influence in the world at large. As we “reflect the Lord's glory, [we] are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”. 2 Corinthians 3:18
It all comes down to this: love God more than anything, and love others sincerely Mark 12:30-31. At the judgment seat of Christ, those who are faithful to the Lord who saved them will hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” No true servant of the Lord could ask for more.
God Bless You and This Ministry!
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