What would our world look like if it were everything God intends? Peace, understanding, comfort, satisfaction, true abundance for everyone—everywhere?
Maybe something like that. We might never see it in our lifetimes. But in the meantime, there is this place and this moment. The kingdom is keen to break in.
MONDAY, July 21 It Starts with Love
Romans 8:38-39 MSG
I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
This week we take a look at the vast realm of the Kingdom of God. Kingdoms automatically trigger the concept of a vast realm - far larger than our sphere of community and life. But the Kingdom of God can exist on a minute single-action basis. It can involve one or many. It can be a moment in time or eons of infinity. And it all begins with the single act of God's far-reaching love. An inseparable love. The grace of love.
TUESDAY, July 22 Start Small
Matthew 13:31-32 MSG
Another story. “God’s kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it.”
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| This scribble is from the same parable in Mark! |
Eugene Peterson takes liberty with this parable! Despite the pine nut reference, this IS the parable of the mustard seed. But we in Western society associate better with pine trees and eagles. We can relate. I have never seen a mustard plant full size. I have no idea how big it gets. But the point is .... God starts where we are - insignificant and broken - and grows our love into a magnificent community. God starts with a small group of people 2000 years ago and spreads the Gospel message around the world. God starts with an individual act of compassion that can trigger a chain reaction of generosity. We can think big, but we need to start small!! Let God take it from there!
WEDNESDAY, July 23 A Lump of Leaven
Matthew 13:33 VOICE
Imagine a woman preparing a loaf of bread. The kingdom of heaven is like the leaven she folds into her dough. She kneads and kneads until the leaven is worked into all the dough.
In Biblical times yeast didn't come in a little ready-to-use packet from the store. A form of sourdough, or a lump of leaven, was saved from the previous days' dough to be used for the future. A small bit of leaven could cause many loaves of bread to rise. Modern translations use the terms yeast for this scripture, but the meaning is the same.
Just like the mustard or pine seed, a small lump of leaven or a few grains of yeast, can grow to mighty proportions. That's God at work, the Kingdom at work, when we allow it to grow in and through us. Meek to mighty with the power of God. What can we do as just one person when the Kingdom is in action?
THURSDAY, July 24 Hidden Treasure
Matthew 13:44 GNT
“The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.
Discovering a buried treasure is almost magical (is Jesus finally describing the kind of Kingdom to which we can relate - the Magic Kingdom!) I think back to this spring and the California couple who found ten MILLION dollars worth of gold coins in their backyard, or an Idaho family who discovered $50,000 in silver ingots during a home renovation. These are hidden treasures and the discoverers already owned the land!
Such discoveries make us almost giddy with excitement. To discover the depth and eternity of God's love, to realize the impact of the Kingdom of God, can electrify us as well. And just think....we don't have to buy it! It is a gift from God! But it isn't free - the cost is ourselves, our life, our devotion, our trust, our love in return. For many, that cost is too high. I have a treasure hidden within me....have I realized it? How am I spending that treasure, that gift?
FRIDAY, July 25 Pearls
Matthew 13:45-46 MSG
Or, God’s kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.
Again, the question is asked. What have I done with my treasure. I have the wealth of God within my grasp, my life is God's. Now what? Am I hoarding the pearls, the gold coins, the love and compassion. Am I spending my time exclusively in personal meditation thinking 'Oh, how great is God!' without releasing some of the goodness to those around me? Faith is great. Faith can move mountains. But faith or treasures, without action, is worthless. I'm afraid I am often guilty of hoarding my wealth. Perhaps it's time to share a pearl.
SATURDAY, July 26 Fishing Nets
Matthew 13:47-50 MSG
Or, God’s kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That’s how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won’t do any good.”
Any fisherman will tell you that unwanted fish are included in the net. Just ask the dolphins caught with the intended tuna! Jesus uses the analogy to say the unwanted, the undesirables will be cast aside. He is talking, however, to the disciples, not to the crowd. He is talking to those ALREADY IN THE FAMILY! He is talking to the good fish! Jesus isn't using this parable to frighten us into the Kingdom. He is describing what is going to happen IF WE DON'T SHARE THE KINGDOM. We can't be the dragon hoarding our treasure in a cave. We can't be the Scrooge who counts our coins without sharing. We have been blessed! Part of receiving that blessing is to use it to bless others, to share the Kingdom of God with those who don't have it yet. And we can do it one coin, one pearl, one mustard seed, at a time.
SUNDAY, July 27 Old and New
Matthew 13:52 MSG
Matthew 13:52 MSG
"....every student well-trained in God’s kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it.”
I had to go to The Message for a better understanding of this final Kingdom verse. Other translations refer to scribes and homeowners seeking old and new. Old and new what? My initial reaction is old and new kingdom theology. Old and new ways of looking at God and our relationship with God. Old and new ways at looking at our place in the Kingdom of God. We don't throw all the old out to replace with the new. There is value in tried and tested goods sometimes! But Jesus was bringing new thoughts to the people; new approaches and ideas, new challenges. All to be interwoven with their past experiences with God to form a new relationship.
It is the same for us today. God comes to us where we are, as we are. Our past is part of who we are, it can't be totally forgotten. But as we come into the Kingdom, new experiences with God are brought into that past to form a new us, a resurrected being in Christ. As we share the kingdom with others, we must remember the old and new as well. The results will produce a mighty Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven! That's some Kingdom!
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| Summary of the Kingdom Parables |
Benediction Blessing .... (d365.org - Richard Vinson)
Maybe it’s not just a romantic notion. The kingdom comes in things that are very small, but that can become something great; something worth giving everything you have to be part of it. The kingdom is something fine, worth more than we can imagine. And it is worth all the more when we share what we know about it, though we will never understand it completely.
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