Tag Archives: The Kingdom of Heaven

The Ultimate No and the Greater Yes

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“When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.”  Matthew 13:48 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:47-52

When I was parenting my children, I made a practice of saying yes whenever possible no matter how much sacrifice or inconvenience saying yes might require. I did this for one reason—so that when I had to say no, it meant something. I believe Jesus does the same thing; He says yes way more than He says no. But when He says no it is for a very important reason.

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The Treasured

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“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, …”    Matthew 13:45a ESV1

Read Matthew 13:45-46

I am more of a realist than a romantic. I prefer to read non-fiction over fiction. I would rather watch action/adventure movies than dramas. But there is something about a classic love story that touches my heart. When a man of princely character slays a dragon of a problem to help a damsel in distress, I can’t help but be fascinated. When a man, worthy to be called noble, falls in love with a struggling woman and makes her his bride, thus, lifting her from her negative circumstances, I am inspired by selfless love. When true love breaks through all barriers to bring new life into a hopeless situation, I find myself overwhelmed with emotion.

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The Treasure

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“The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure…” Matthew 13:44a ESV1

Read Matthew 13:44

Not far from the home in which I was raised, stood an abandoned house. As a child, I often daydreamed about what was in that old house. Contrary to reason, never once did I imagine that the rundown house was home to rodents, varmints, and pests of all kinds, or dust, mold, and rotten wood, or a plethora of useless, broken items. Every time I thought about that faded yellow house with the falling-in porch, the shot-out windows, and the holey roof, I imagined that it was the hiding place of a vast treasure. I assumed that house, set back from the road and surrounded by trees, had been the perfect cover for a band of thieves who had stored piles of cash under the floorboards, jewels in the registers, and bags of gold, of incalculable worth, between the studs of the walls. Of course, in my dreams, the robbers had, for whatever reason, been forced to leave behind their hide-out and loot. If only my parents would have allowed me to explore that old house; I was sure I would have brought back a treasure that would have changed for the better the course of the lives of my family members.

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A Mutualistic Relationship

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“It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.” Luke 13:21 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:33 & Luke 13:20-21

“A mutualistic relationship is when two organisms of different species ‘work together,’ each benefiting from the relationship. One example of a mutualistic relationship is that of the oxpecker (a kind of bird) and the rhinoceros or zebra. Oxpeckers land on rhinos or zebras and eat ticks and other parasites that live on their skin. The oxpeckers get food and the beasts get pest control. Also, when there is danger, the oxpeckers fly upward and scream a warning, which helps the symbiont (a name for the other partner in a relationship).”2 Another example of a mutualistic relationship is the flower and the bee; while the bee gathers nectar from flowers to make its food, the flowers get pollinated. Jesus used this concept of mutualistic relationships in one of His parables.

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Just a Little

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“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.”  Matthew 13:31 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32 & Luke 13:18-19

Americans spend thousands of dollars on entertainment each year. Whether it be sporting events, TV, video games, movies, social media, travel, shopping, or eating out, people seem to be able to find money in their budget and time in their schedules for what they really enjoy. Nearly 10% of all Americans have a drug or alcohol addiction. And that doesn’t count those who occasionally partake of these substances or those who struggle to control their indulging in substances and behaviors which aren’t monitored. Reportedly, J.D. Rockefeller, the first billionaire in the United States, was once asked, “How much money is enough?” He answered, “Just a little bit more.” Whether what we desire is legal or illegal, necessary or unnecessary, it seems as if all humans are searching for just a little more of something to satisfy an internal longing. That is because there is an empty space in each of us that was purposely placed there and is intended to be filled. A parable of Jesus reveals that for which we are all searching.

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For You to Be and Him to Do

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“[The farmer] sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself.” Mark 4:27-28a ESV1

Read Mark 4:26-29

I felt so lazy as I sat in the house while copious amounts of snow fell from the sky and a ferocious wind swirled it about. My husband was on a business trip. He asked me not to worry about shoveling the snow; he would take care of the snow removal when he came home later that evening. At first, I was satisfied with the arrangement, but the weather continued to worsen and, because of the storm, my husband’s flight was delayed. Now, no longer would he be getting home in the evening; he wouldn’t arrive until almost midnight. I felt I had to do something to help.

I shoveled the sidewalk and in front of the garage. It was heavy, wet snow, but I slowly conquered a ginormous drift and felt empowered to tackle more. I started up the driveway, but the drifts got taller, and as I began to tire, the snow seemed heavier. But I was determined; I was going to at least clear a place at the entrance of the driveway for my husband to park his vehicle and shovel a path for him to get into the house. It took me almost two hours, but I accomplished that which I set out to do. By that time, though the wind threatened to destroy my work, the snow had almost come to an end. Exhausted but satisfied, I returned to the house with a smile on my face as I imagined how proud my husband would be of me.

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Attention: Requires Discernment

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And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?”        Matthew 13:27 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43

We live in a world full of warnings. Countless things from street signs to machinery, from weapons to toys, and from controlled substances to tags on mattresses remind us to use caution before proceeding. Before I sat down to write this morning, I was alerted to several possible dangers. Caution: Do not exceed recommended dose was printed on the label of my vitamins. Attention: Very Hot Liquid was prominently displayed on my coffee maker. And even Warning: do not use if you are allergic to aspirin was printed on my tea bag. Though some of the notices that advise us to use caution seem redundant—like hot liquid coming out of a coffee maker—others are quite practical. For instance, I am not allergic to aspirin, but if I were, the unexpected warning on my tea bag could have saved my life.

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I Hear You

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“He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:9 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:10-17, Mark 4:9-13 & Luke 8:9-10

When you explain something to someone and he/she responds, “I see,” you know that person comprehends. When you share something from your heart and another says, “I hear you,” you feel understood. To see means more than having eyes that can visually discern something. To hear means more than perceiving with one’s ears a sound which is being made. When another seeks to understand or makes an effort to give us his/her full attention, we feel honored, appreciated, even loved. Eagerness to be understood isn’t a longing merely of humans; it is also a desire of the Divine.

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Who’s Your Daddy?

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“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18:3-4 ESV1

Read Matthew 18:1-14, Mark 9:33-50 & Luke 9:46-50

In my life, I have worn a variety of hats. My different responsibilities have put me in positions where I have observed many arguments. Some of these arguments have been laughable, others hurtful. Many were passionate discussions which worked out themselves; others become quite heated and needed intervention.

When working with people, it doesn’t take long to discover competition is part of the human make up. We instinctively want to be on top. We tend to assume we are right, and when there are conflicts, we feel others must be wrong. We humans continually evaluate where we fit in any given group. From the time we are children, we compare ourselves and consciously (or unconsciously) compete in attempts to be the best, the fastest, the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, etc.

An argument common among young boys takes the competition past their own abilities and focuses on the attributes of their fathers. It is not unusual, from time to time, to hear a boy exclaim, “My daddy is stronger than your daddy!” The argument need not necessarily focus on strength; maybe a boy claims his father is smarter, or richer (or any other appropriate adjective) than the fathers of those around him. But the statement is always made with the child’s confident expectation that his assertion will put him on top and finalize the argument.

Once, when Jesus’ twelve closest disciples were arguing among themselves, Jesus extinguished the heated debate by drawing their attention to the greatness of His Father.

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Who Told You That?

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He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father, who is in Heaven.”  Matthew 16:15-17 ESV1

Read Matthew 16:13-23, Mark 8:27-33 & Luke 9:18-22

What do you believe about yourself? Who told you that? What do you feel about others? Why do you feel that? What do you think about right and wrong? How did you come to that conclusion? What do you believe about God? Why do you believe that? Who do you say Jesus is? Why do you say that?

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