Letting Go of Expected Outcomes

I'm still contemplating the Parable of the Sower and the thought of Sowing Kingdom Seeds.  Later in the book of Mark is the Parable of the Growing Seed:

Jesus also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.  All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.  As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”  MARK 4:26-29

Meadow flowers might serve well as an illustration.  Imagine the flowers as the result of gospel seeds that have been sown.  If you've every walked through a meadow, you know that up close it's a jumbled mess of flowers and grasses and weeds, but from a distance, it's a gorgeous array of flowers.  

There is a certain amount of chaos that exists.

All of the plants grow and deposit seed.  The next cycle begins...  Some flowers are more generous in their seed production, and therefore become the predominate variety in the meadow.  Although the meadow is not formally tended by a gardener, the seed still falls and the cycle still continues.  

A closer look reveals that there are several varieties of
plants that produce seed. Each grows to its full potential
and they don't discriminate where the seed falls.

Isn't this what the Lord has called each one of His children to do?  When we let the message of Christ dwell in us richly, it comes out of us naturally, just like the seeds of the flowers in the meadow.  
In the midst of recent tragedy, see how one man acted, prayed, and  trusted the Lord with the outcome, which was captured by someone and picked up by new teams so this gospel seed has been scattered far and wide!

It's unlikely that he will ever know the outcome of many of those seeds,

but that didn't stop him from sowing the word.  Nike's slogan comes to mind...

Just do it!

Dwelling Richly

After posting "Sowing Kingdom Seeds," I had the phrase,"...and let the word of Christ dwell in you richly," thick in my mind... so here is the train of thought that came together:
 
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  JOHN 1:1

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  JOHN 1:14

To dwell... is to tent or encamp,
to occupy, or specifically to reside.

When you take up residence in a house, apartment, condo - - you make it your own.  You organize and decorate it in such a way that it reflects who you are.  

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  COLOSSIANS 3:15-17

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly...

When reading Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby a few years ago,
he posed a couple contrasts that really made me think... 

Believing IN God - - AND - - Believing God

Knowing ABOUT God - - AND - - Knowing God

In reading the Parable of the Sower (Mark 1-20), I was struck by the simplicity...The farmer sows the Word and some seed fell on good soil were people who heard the word, accepted it, and produced a crop, some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.  

We each have only one live to be lived.

Is there room in your life for the Word of Christ to dwell richly?

Are you taking in God's grace in His Word each day
SO THAT you can sow it into the lives of others?

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly...

Sowing Kingdom Seeds

Some months ago I heard the term "gospel fluency" for the first time.  I haven't been able to get it out of my mind!  How can we speak the language of the Kingdom if we're not fluent in it?

How can someone learn a language
if they never actually heard it?

Jesus tells this parable:  
Listen! 
A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn't have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”  MARK 4:3-8

The farmer scatters lots of seed, knowing that some will be eaten, some will wither and die, some will get choked out and some will grow to produce a crop.  These circumstances don't hinder him from casting lots of seed!

Sharing the Good News of the Kingdom with others is about 

sowing the Word of God generously and lovingly into their hearts.

Jesus explains the parable in this way:
The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”  MARK 4:14-20

Speaking ABOUT the Word is not the same
as actually speaking the Word.

Think of it like learning a foreign language... at first, it is totally unfamiliar and doesn't make any sense.  The language of God's Kingdom is the same. It often doesn't make sense to someone when they first begin to hear it.    

But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?”  So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.  ROMANS 10:16-17

These words that Paul wrote to Timothy come to mind:
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.  2 TIMOTHY 4:2

Always share the Word with love.
The more it is heard,
the more familiar it becomes.

We know there are seasons when a crop will not grow.  However, the Lord asks us to share His Word, planting it withing the human heart and trusting Him alone for the outcome.  As a person hears the Word (the language of the Kingdom), and watch how it is lived out among the people of God, it begins to penetrate the soil in one's heart.  

But... once it takes root... it produces a harvest beyond measure!

Take in the Word personally everyday!

And sow "the Word of God" into the hearts of others,
generously and lovingly - - everyday!

Willing Participation

Something recently struck me at the end of the book of Exodus - - in the Lord's instructions to Moses for collecting the materials to construct the Tabernacle:

“This is what the Lord has commanded:  From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering... EXODUS 35:4-9

How well the Lord know us! He knows that His people need a visible sign of His presence, so he instructs

...everyone who is willing...

to bring the necessary items as an offering to the Lord.

In building the Tabernacle, the Lord is making Himself
visible to the nation of Israel and the nations around them.

  

The Lord is still working through a coalition of the willing!

Lord is still making himself visible to all people through His People, the church, those who are following Him - - listening to His voice - - and doing what He asks.  The way the Lord becomes visible happens through those who know Him - - Loving Him as they love and serve other people.  It's simple, though not always easy!

Are you among the willing?

Personal, Not Private

It's the day after Easter, the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and I'm reflecting on the responses to Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection as they are recorded in the Gospels.  This question comes to mind:

What is your response to the resurrection? 

Are you running to tell others like the women?  MATTHEW 28:8
Have you witnessed the events, yet up to this point failed to recognize the person of Jesus, like the two men walking along the road to Emmaus?  LUKE 24:13-35
Do you need a bit more evidence like Thomas?  JOHN 20:24-29

The amazing thing is that Jesus meets each person in the way that they need to be met!

For Mary, it only takes him speaking her name.  JOHN 20:16
For the men walking to Emmaus it was a meal and Jesus' action of taking bread, giving thanks and breaking it that opened their eyes. LUKE 24:30
For Thomas, Jesus allowed him to touch his wounds. JOHN 20:27

Immediately following the account with Thomas, John writes:  Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. JOHN 20:30-31

While Jesus meets us each personally, we're not meant to hold this privately.  

Jesus activity in our lives is for us, AND for others.  The disciples could have kept the message to themselves, but they told someone, who told someone, and so on... in such a way that you have, or are now hearing this message.   

Introducing people to the one who created them and loves them is pure joy!

If you find this to be challenging, I encourage you to spend more time with Jesus.  Read the gospels and begin paying attention to the places He shows up in your life.  My prayer is, just like the disciples, that one day you cannot help speaking about what you have seen and heard.

It is also my prayer as you come to know the One who created you, who loves you, who cares and provides for you, and who wants you to have life in his name.  

I also pray that you will become better prepared to share the love that Jesus poured out on the cross with other people who may not already know the love God has for them!

Jesus has risen and is calling you to share this Good News!

A Parting Example

When I think of a portrayal of mission, Jesus style, it is Maundy Thursday that stands out. During the Passover meal, Jesus demonstrated the two greatest commandments, leaving his disciples a parting example to live by: 

1. Remember what he has done - - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul
2. Serve other people as he did - - Love your neighbors as yourselves

Jesus knew the time had come to do the hardest part of the work he had been given.  During this last meal with His disciples, he demonstrated how they were to live as ongoing examples. This also serves us today! 

The evening meal was in progress...Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
...so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with a towel that was wrapped around him. 

Later he said to them: "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feed.  I have set for you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  JOHN 132A, 3-5, 14-15

Jesus already knew he had been betrayed.

He had been preparing the disciples all along

for his parting, and now the time had come.

     While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and give it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
     Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."  MATTHEW 26:26-28

Jesus' life, death, and resurrection ushered forgiveness into the world.  This final meal is a summary of how we are to live... giving thanks, offering forgiveness, serving one another... 

Jesus, the Messiah, set the example - - and He calls us to live as He did.

What would it look like if you and I lived in the absolute confidence

that we have come from God and are returning to God?

None of this is possible unless we remember!

Remember by communing with God's people - - receiving His love and forgiveness.
Remember by serving others with the same love He did.
Remember by giving thanks in all circumstances, even difficult ones,
                   ...they are the best opportunity to show the loving nature of the Father.
Remember by offering forgiveness to those who can't yet understand this kind of love.
                      While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Remember that Jesus only asks us to live out that which he lived first as our example!

Take a few minutes to worship and give thanks!

The Hard Part of Grace

Grace, the Lord's unmerited favor, is a wonderful thing!

Grace is such a joyous thing to receive
and a very difficult thing to give...

The unfortunate rub to the blessing of grace is why it is necessary in the first place.  We live in a world of brokenness.  You don't have to look very far before you find injustice, hurt, and wrongdoing at all levels that negatively impacts the lives of people.  

While grace is free to the recipient, it is costly to the giver.  

God's Grace was poured out for all humanity on the cross.  We are undeserving of such love:  
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  ROMANS 5:8

As God's people, we are called to also pour out grace.  When we withhold grace, the flow of God's love is impeded.  I am reminded of this each time I pray the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:

   Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be thy name,
   your kingdom come,
   your will be done,
   on earth as it is in heaven.
   Give us this day our daily bread,
   And forgive us our trespasses
   AS we have also forgiven those who trespass against us,
   and lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.  MATTHEW 6:9-13

Listen and remember as you pray:

Walk Humbly

Faith is simple... Believe God

“Abram (later named Abraham) believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

GENESIS 15:6

The walk of faith is not necessarily easy, yet that's what the Lord asks... to walk humbly with Him.  

Do I simply believe He is who He is?  
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”  God said to Moses,
“I am who I am.  EXODUS 3:13-14

Faith tugs at our human understanding.  Faith challenges our sense of fairness, in whatever way "I, as an individual," would define it.  Faith calls me to the unknown and unfamiliar.  

Walking humbly... believing that the Lord knows all and knows best... allowing that to shape my understanding, thinking and actions... How challenged I am everyday!

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 CORINTHIANS 10:5

Walking humbly challenges our human nature at the core!  Our desire to know, to control, and to judge according to our sense of right and wrong.  We try to make sense of it all, and yet God's ways are beyond our human understanding.  In Paul's letter to the Romans, I hear and expression of humility before a Holy God as he tries to make sense of it all: 

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments,
    and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
    Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
    that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen.  ROMANS 11:33-36

Walk awhile with Jesus in the gospels... let His life be your example.