Small Mustard Seed

"Then Mary said 'Behold, the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel of the Lord departed from her."

Luke 1:38

I have control issues. Anyone who knows me, knows this to be a true fact. I like to do things the way I like, in the order I like and to always get the results I like. It used to be nice, having my way all the time, but as I am growing, how I view this "trait" is changing more and more every day. It starts to control me, to take over my day and not allow for the flexibilty that makes my life an adventure to remember. This is not what I desire and it is certainly not what God desires for me. From an earlier post I showed that God wants us to have an abundant life, free from the trappings of this world.

Paul speaks in Romans about being either a slave to sin, or a slave to righteousness. Being caught up in what the world offers and in what you can accomplish for yourself is sinful behavior and puts you in bondage to the world and sin. When you are tied to this world and all that comes with it, there is only one hope, only one way out. Anything that makes you desire things of the world is NOT what God has planned for you.

The verses below really make me think about my proiorities and wonder if I'm really willing to let it be, to me, according to God's word. Hopefully they will paint a picture in your mind of what God intends, of the only thing that gives your life meaning and purpose. For truly, there is nothing the world can give you, and there is nothing the Lord is not able to provide.

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God."

1 Corinthians 2:12

"Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

James 4:4

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

1 John 2:15-17

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

Romans 8:32

"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith."

1 John 5:4

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free'."

John 8:31-32

"For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28

John 3:17

When friends of mine who do not know the Lord think about being a Christian, they most often think of needing to follow rules or not wanting someone to tell them they are bad. It's really sad how this impression of Christianity came about, but really, it is our own fault. We are to rebuke other followers who are living in sin and claiming Christ, but we certainly aren't supposed to rebuke people of the world who do not yet know the Lord. Aren't we supposed to share Christ's love with them, speaking God's truth and show them the light?

In none of the Gospels does Jesus condemn the sinners He meets. In fact, He is often rebuked for eating, speaking and visiting with them. He only spoke the truth; to repent and follow Him. For in Him is the fountain of everlasting life, that if we drink of it, we will never thirst again. Jesus spends all his "rebuking" on the Sadducees and Pharisees for claiming God as their King but acting as lawgivers and judges. These groups of people talked about being good and following the law, but their only intention in doing so was to make themselves appear to be the highest and most righteous Jews of all.

I am often shocked at how the church often treats others in similar ways the Sadducees and Pharisees did. I've never been mistreated at the churches I've been, and I don't personally know any friends who have really seen the worst of Christians, but I saw proof of it existing last night. I was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and the crew was building a home for a single mother who had adopted a few children with HIV. The crew had also decided to build a new rec-center for a camp for kids with HIV and AIDS. Afterwards, the kids were sharing stories around a campfire, speaking of how grateful they were for Camp Heartland.

One girl, somewhere in her early teens, told just a part of her story of being persecuted for a disease she has no control over. I don't know how she contracted it, but she's has it since she was a young girl. The pastor of their home church actually asked them to leave the church family since her disease was causing other Christians there to complain. Let me ask, what could there possibly have been to complain about? That a member of their church was still healthy despite terminal illness? That as church members, the might have to offer help if she was to get really sick? If anything, the family would have things to complain about, but instead, they left quietly. She didn't mention God or say much of what they did afterwards. I wonder if that pastor has any clue of the damage he caused in that unjustified act.
I guess all I'm trying to say is that we should take Christ's message as our own. It is His words we should spread - that all can be saved by His grace. That no one should be condemned to death but that all should see the light, while welcoming everyone we know to drink from His fountain. We should not be ashamed at Christians, and we should do all we can to keep others from being ashamed or embarrassed by association. For if Christ did not condemn the world, how can we? Christians are to speak the truth in love, after all, Christ came to give us the most abundant life we could imagine in knowing Him.

John 10:10b

There is not one soul on earth that should not be included.

John 3:6

I've heard before that it takes the work of the Holy Spirit for someone to really know God and see their own need for Him. And I guess I believed it, but today it started making more sense.

In my BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) lesson we're reading in Matthew about Mary's choice to serve God and today, I was to look up some other verses which confirm the Spirit and its work in the world.

"The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."

Genesis 1:2

"The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life."

Job 33:4

I guess I never really thought or bothered to find out what the Holy Spirit does exactly. In Acts, Luke writes about the coming of the Holy Spirit and how it enables us to feel the presence of God and allows us to hear His voice. Luke shares the events following the Spirit coming to dwell among us on earth and the mighty works that were done in God's name. In John, Jesus often talks about a Helper that will come and make Heavenly things known to us and bring us the remembrance of things He has taught. But the verses above shed a new light on the Spirit's work and certainly give me a different and greater understanding God's power.

It was the Spirit of God that was sent to put Christ's life into Mary's womb. It was the Spirit that God sent to be over the earth while creating it's form and beauty. And Job shows us that it is God's Spirit which comes to give us life, to create a life inside our soul that will live eternally. From the moment we are saved, we are beginning our eternal life. It doesn't start when we die, but begins when we see the Lord clearly, and it is His own Spirit that brings this gift to us. It makes you wonder how many times in your life His Spirit has been working without you taking time to see it. It certainly makes me see how nothing in this world that causes my spirit to stir is without the presence of God.

I got a bit sidetracked from the original verse, stating that nothing of the world can be spiritual on its own. We must know that all good things spiritual are from the Lord but we should also recognize that Satan does his own spiritual work here in the world, which is not good and not from the Lord.

John 14:30

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

1 Peter 5:8

Satan will go to great lengths to make his work seem like the righteous will of God. But with the power of the Holy Spirit, the studying of God's word, and asking for discernment in prayer, He will show us the truth. We must genuinely desire to know God's Spirit and His will, and Christ says that we will find it.

Matthew 7:7-8

Finally, I'll leave with these verses from John, where Christ is speaking of the power we have in God because of Jesus leaving and the Spirit coming to us. May God enable you to discern and witness His Spirit to really see the Glory of His work here on earth.

John 14:12-14

God is able to do anything to reveal His glory, we need only recognize it and ask.

"Another parable He put forth to them, saying: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches'."

Matthew 13:31-32

This parable truly eludes me more than any other. Especially since Christ also talks about what magnificent works we can do in His name, just by having faith as small as a mustard seed. Isaiah 64:4 speaks of how we cannot comprehend what the Lord has in store for those who love Him. And Romans 8:28 says "And we know that all things work together for good, to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."

So what is with this mustard tree? How is Heaven like a mighty dwelling place for birds?

Many people speak of how we will have places to dwell and things to do in Heaven and Jesus himself talks about our actions being for the Lord and gaining eternal riches for serving Him (Matthew 6:17-18.) In chapter 6 of Galatians Paul warns us fervently what we sew here on earth will be reflected in eternity. So my earthly actions will be counted and will determine what I will be doing for eternity? Is it possible that all those small, almost thoughtless events that make up our days really effect our eternal life? When you think about it, day after day, whatever you are doing eventually turns into what you did, day after day, possibly until you die. If nothing else, knowing that my daily actions turn into the life I live here on earth, well, it makes me realize how much of my day is wasted. Which in turn makes me think of how much of my life has been wasted.

Pondering my daily activities in light of the great mustard tree and the parables of minas and talents, I can't help but see how I really am that fig tree bearing no fruit. What evidence am I showing that God is the most important thing... not just in my daily life, but EVER? Like that mustard seed, this life is just the start of a still intangible future. But with a little stillness and reflection, that distant, eternal, future-life looms a bit closer. I hope that in the days to come my future with the Lord does not "loom" but riles up in me an excitement that beams from every movement and action I take. No one can say who will begin to change because of my kind words, my peaceful patience or just my willingness to listen. All of a sudden, everything I'm doing seems like the greatest opportunity I've ever had.