Regarding predestination, my view is that God  predestined a number of people in the Old Testament to be called to play a part in preparing the way for the work of redemption that he promised to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:14-15) . Some of these included Noah, Abraham and the patriarchs, Moses, Joshua and the Judges of Israel. Also he called and chose Samuel, king David and the other prophets.  From the foundation of the world the Word was predestined to be made flesh in the man Jesus (John 1:14-17), who came to redeem mankind to God . He began his ministry by resisting the temptations of Satan, the serpent who had outwitted Adam and Eve, by fasting 40 days and calling upon his Father for inspiration and strength (Matthew 4:1-17). He was successful and thus qualified to have the government of the world placed on his shoulders (Isaiah 9:6-7) which is scheduled to take place at his second coming.

Next he called his disciples according to their natural abilities, gave  the spiritual commandments of the New Covenant, lived a sinless life in the Father’s power, was crucified and resurrected, and began to build his church. Prior to his ascension, he gave the Commission to his disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), who became apostles on Pentecost (Acts 2:36-38). The church began to grow rapidly from that point on (Acts 2:39-43).

Acts 2:39 says – “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” There are several predestination theories concerning how God calls people to his church and salvation, which are beyond the scope of this article.  I will consider the idea that God may either call a few people  or calls everyone and only a few people respond  at this time (John 3:16-17). At any rate I believe that those who respond to God’s voice are chosen to be connected to him and walk along the narrow way of salvation at or about the time they respond.

Romans 8:28-30 comes to mind which says – “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified”. NKJV.

I  believe God predestined that he would have mercy on certain people and call them and open their minds to believe and  understand the gospel, but I am sure each person has the choice to comply or not as implied in the parables of the talents and the sower and the seed – depending on their circumstances. I don’t believe God  forces anyone to be saved or condemned. Jonah was given a strong push to comply with God’s command to warn Ninevah about their impending doom, but he wasn’t pleased that God spared them when they repented.

Romans 9:14-15 says – “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!  For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion’.”

Regarding waiting upon the Lord, it seems common for sincere and well intentioned Christians to think of ways to promote the gospel and plan how to do a project  and then afterward pray that God will bless their efforts ( “stepping out in faith”?). God may or may not back them up as evidenced by the fruit produced.

We should ask God in prayer ahead of time for inspiration and help to choose and plan a project that is in line with His will, which may involve telling others about his unconditional  love and plan of salvation.

Ideally parental love should also be unconditional and independent of what we do, good or bad.  Personally I grew up doing what I thought I needed to do to please my parents and was unaware that I was actually trying to earn their attention, acceptance and love. There was a lot of competition for attention in my rather large family. I think I developed attention getting devices in that family setting.

How could that be pertinent to my Christian life today? Well we need to develop ways of giving attention to others equal to our own need to receive attention.

You may not have a problem of devising ways to manipulate others for selfish reasons, but it does point us to Jeremiah, who said that the heart is deceitful and almost impossible to understand.
Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? ” NIV

We not only deceive each other but we can also deceive our own selves.
When following the urge to be helpful, we need to heed the advice given above and seek God’s will and input beforehand.

God loves everyone on earth equally, even though only a minority of people seem to respond to obey him and do his bidding. We cannot earn his love by trying to do whatever we may think of to please him, because he loves us already – as much as he can. We just need to love him in return. If we don’t know how to love him we are encouraged to ask him.  It reminds me of the song in Jesus Christ Superstar “I Don’t Know How To Love Him”.

We need to ask, seek and knock. We may need to ask what it means for us, as  unique individuals, to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness in our lives.

If we want to make a contribution to God’s work we need to pray, and wait and listen for his inspiration and guidance.

Isaiah 40:30-31 says -  “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:  But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;  they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

At my age I am thinking in terms of spiritual running and flying as regards learning to practice God’s way of life.

The New International Version says “those who hope in the Lord”
The New Living Translation says “those who trust in the Lord”
The Message version says “those who wait upon God”

So we need to wait, hope and trust.

I am confident that if God has had mercy and called us, he will answer and inspire us to use our  talents and gifts to benefit others in the community where we live. Let us continue to follow the way of loving God first and doing whatever he leads us to do in response to his love.

God has given us free will to choose to believe and follow him or not. Deuteronomy 28 lays out Blessings for Obedience and Curses for Disobedience – and urges us to choose the way of Blessings. It is not God’s will to make the choice for us by predestining how we might decide. We must take the initiative and ask for wisdom to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 12:1-2 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” NKJV.

Someone said that the problem with living sacrifices is that from time to time they get off the altar.

Our physical bodies don’t actually suffer any harm in the process, but it is the sins which we confess – and in effect place on the altar before God – that get burned up and taken away. When a sinner repents there is joy among the angels in heaven and the  sacrifice of our living apart from God is a sweet-savour to God.

So let us be circumspect concerning our interactions with people and if  something comes to mind that convicts us of wrongdoing, let us bring it before God and offer it to him on the altar, asking for forgiveness and consider how to make amends if necessary.

Romans 12:2 says – “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

People in general  appear to have been depending more and more on materialism as their main source of happiness.  As the gap between the rich and poor widens the number of disadvantaged people is growing and the benefits of materialism are becoming out of reach for them. The Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement of 2011 were mainly motivated by people wishing to air their financial grievances and to make them known to the public and authorities by protesting.

One study concluded that the happiest people in the world live in Nigeria, which has long been a center of political strife and poverty. There appears to be a belief there that the best things in life are free, which used to be much more prevalent in the so-called first world.

Jesus advised in Matthew 6:33  – “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”.

Jesus had been referring to material things in the Sermon on the Mount and it also applies to what Paul was advising Christians to do – to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” – that you may discover the will of God.

In the Lord’s prayer Jesus taught  that we should pray “Our Father in heaven, may your named be hallowed, your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. (For a short meditation on the Lord’s Prayer click - Here.)

David gave thanks to God in Psalm 23:1-3, saying – ” The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake”. (For a short meditation on Psalm 23 click – Here.)

God’s will for people is to repent of relying solely on our own talents and abilities, to connect with him and  believe the gospel – the good news about God’s free gift of eternal life by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. He wants us to develop a love relationship with him and to set our priorities with him in first place.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,900 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 32 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

The origin of Advent is uncertain but it possibly goes back a thousand years.  It is a four week  preparation for the celebration of Christmas which commemorates the incarnation of God in the baby Jesus, and points to his work in and through people today, as well as his second coming.

John 1:14 says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He is Jesus who was and is and is to come – the  I Am.

The Advent wreath has 4  candles that are lit on each of the four  Sundays before Christmas and some have a fifth which is lit on Christmas Day. The candles symbolize hope, peace, joy, love and Jesus which are  emphasized in the church services throughout the month.

I would like to draw attention to the love that God has for all people and how believers and  followers  may become connected with him and experience his love, joy and peace.

John 3:16-17 says – ” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (NIV is quoted throughout)

The gospel message has been summarized as the good news about God’s free gift of eternal life by his grace, through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. The faith to trust in Jesus and allow him to rule over our lives is also a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:6-9)

Mark 1:14-15 says – “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ^‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ ”

After Jesus was resurrected, Peter proclaimed on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:36-39 – ” ‘ Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.’

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’

Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.’ ”

The way to be connected with God is through repentance, forgiveness and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit binds us to God and will never let go – as long as we agree. The choice is ours.

We might say that repentance is also a gift of God – as Romans 2:3-4 indicates – “So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

Forgiveness of sins came with a price – the life of Jesus as our Passover Lamb who, when he was the Word, planned to give his life from the foundation of the world. Also in the Lord’s prayer believers are instructed to pray “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  In a sense the price we  pay for forgiveness from God is to love, respect and  forgive others.

We strive to attain the same desire to forgive as Jesus did, which sustained him  through his suffering on the cross in order to provide us with forgiveness. Hebrews 12:2 says – “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (KJV)  Jesus could see beyond the crucifixion to the joy he would experience back in the heavenly realm with his Father and then working  to share his hopes for us, and his peace, joy and love with us.

In turn we are to love God and others as he loves each of us – with unconditional love.

We need to ask God to create in us a heart to respect, love and forgive others and to be reconciled with him and each other.

We need to take this information to heart  and connect with the hearts of family, friends and others in the community in this Advent season.

In Mark 10:17-27 the Bible says – “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’   ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ ^{” NIV}

This appears to be a formula for us to follow in order to be saved, however  it is not the whole story; which includes responding to God’s call to repentance and  faith, which are necessary to obey  in the spirit of the law.

I don’t recall anyone asking Jesus a similar question regarding healing, such as, ‘what should I do to be healed?’

There are several examples where people asked Jesus for healing  and others where he asked them if they wanted to be healed. He had compassion  and healed them. After Jesus was resurrected the Apostles healed the sick and afflicted by the power of Jesus which worked in and through them.

The Apostle James wrote in his letter to the twelve tribes of Israel who were scattered abroad in James 5:13-18, which by extension was written to all believers around the world today –   ^“14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” NIV

I believe James, a brother of Jesus, answers the question ‘What should I do to be healed?’

A sick person is urged to pray in faith and call upon an elder, as a representative of his church, to pray over him in faith and  anoint him with oil by the laying on of hands. The oil does not heal, God’s answer to the prayer is where healing comes from. The elder may also include in his prayer a request for  guidance for any  medical personnel involved in diagnosis and treatment – and may it all be done according to God’s will.

James goes on to say “If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”

Sickness is not necessarily a result of a personal  sin, but believers know that they all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It is good to continually have a heart to forgive each other.

1 John 3:21-24 says – “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” NIV.

Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep or wake up in the night and have trouble going back to sleep. I usually find myself reviewing past events over and over that were disturbing and where mistakes or sins were involved. Eventually I remember that I have confessed these things to God previously and have been forgiven. So I can  have a clear conscience and should not continue to condemn myself. I adopted a kind of motto – What’s done is done. All is forgiven. Peace of mind will return. I believe this is a kind of emotional/spiritual healing.

Another way of stating verse 24 is that we need to have received the Holy Spirit in order to love God and each other unconditionally as he commanded.

In order to receive the Holy Spirit we need to repent and believe the gospel – the good news about God’s free gift of eternal life, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Psalm 103:1-5 says  – “Praise the LORD, my soul;   all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the LORD, my soul,  and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins   and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit   and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” NIV.

Forgiveness and healing are spoken of together as blessings from God. It is important to remember that healing comes from God as an answer to prayer. God hears all prayers, however his answer may be Yes, No or Not Yet (we will all be healed in the resurrection). Never the less we are urged to submit our lives to God and trust that he has our best interests at heart.

After becoming a Christian we may be confronted by the commission that Jesus gave to his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’.” NKJV

It is widely believed that the great commission was given to the church  to preach the gospel in all nations and to make disciples of those who believe. Christians, those led by the Holy Spirit, need to pray for success for the church’s efforts worldwide. This involves evangelism, missionary work,  the financial support of many people and the personal example of believers who are living godly lives.
Jesus said to pray for more laborers for the harvest.
We also need to  pray that government and church leaders will call upon the Lord to seek his will in carrying out their responsibilities as his stewards over their part of the creation.
Ideally Christians should all be servant leaders who communicate with God each morning to seek his will  for the day.

While the church has the primary responsibility to fulfill the commission given by Jesus, individuals can play an important role in their local communities. In the previous post we considered some steps that new Christians need to take, with God’s help, in a private way; after which they may feel a strong urge to share their experience  with family and friends.  Caution is recommended when relating their stories of how they became enlightened to non-Christians. Indiscriminate zeal of new Christians may do more harm than good to existing relationships, especially if they are not open to hearing and discussing the gospel.

There is a need for wise counsel at this potentially unstable time to give understanding how example and actions speak louder than words. Patience is needed to allow the new way of outgoing concern to grow and mature and become well ingrained – without any expectation of influencing others to become Christians.

We need to understand how to apply cautionary scriptures such as James 3:1-2 – “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.  For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”NIV. – Jesus is the only perfect human so far.

It is good to desire to teach others about the benefits of the faith, but we need to be sure we are being led by the Holy Spirit and not our own desires for power and influence over other people.  James 1:19 says – “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” NIV. We need to listen to others to determine their interests, lifestyles and opinions about religion before engaging in spiritual conversations.

Also 1 Tim 3:6-7 – “An elder must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.” NLT.

It sometimes takes a long time  to build up a good reputation with those around us and to mature in the faith. Patience is needed in this process, which fortunately  is one of the fruits of the Spirit; however, as a rule  it doesn’t come overnight. In other words we have to be sure that we are practicing what we would like to preach, before we begin to preach it to others. When we are confident and  secure in the Christian way of life, then we know whereof we speak.

The following is written  for those curious about the Christian faith and the hope it offers, as well as a review for those already committed.

I believe God’s will for us is to develop  a love relationship with him and to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness by calling on him for the power to do it. Jesus urges us to obey his law, which is set out in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew chapters 5-7).

Matthew 22:34-40 says - ^“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’

Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’ ” NIV

These two commandments summarize the ten commandments; the first four of which describe how to love God and the last six describe how to love neighbors.

Jesus expanded the second of the above into a new commandment for his disciples  in John 13:34 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” NIV

Also in John 15:9-17 – “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

¹² My (new) command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (God has unconditional love for friends and foes alike.)

¹³ “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.” NIV

This is essential information for a person who believes in the power of love and desires to spend eternity with Jesus in the Kingdom of God. Where does such a one begin? While I don’t profess to have all the answers, I can point to some scriptures that I hope you will find helpful.

The rich young ruler and the widow’s mite.

Luke 18:18-27

“Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’
So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’
And he said, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth.’
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, ‘How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’
And those who heard it said, ‘Who then can be saved?’
But He said, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God’.” – NKJV

Let us unpack the story a bit. I believe Jesus said it was  impossible for a person, who relies on wealth for their prestige, authority and power, to give up relying on physical things, as if they were all there is to life,  and rely on God to provide all their physical and spiritual needs; as they serve him and his people. However, if such self reliant persons sincerely desire to inherit eternal life they are welcome to call on God for what it takes to follow him.

The Widow’s Mite in Luke 21:1-4

“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, ‘ Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had’.”

The widow decided to put her trust totally in God and to rely on him to provide all her needs – physical, spiritual, mental and emotional.

You may be saying, “How can I, a human being, love other people like God loves them?”

Well I can understand how to love and respect other people’s right to live, because I love my own life and love having freedom to live the lifestyle of my choice. However, God loves all people equally and unconditionally, which includes his enemies who hate him.”

The answer lies in taking up God’s offer to give believers a part of himself, the Holy Spirit; which makes it possible to respect all people and to not only do them no harm, but to promote their well-being in thought, word and deed. Things such as that are possible only with God’s help.

How do people receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Peter said in Acts 2:37-39 - ^“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’

Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call’.” – NKJV

Jesus said in Mark 1:14-15 – “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ^‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ ” NIV.

Repent means to reverse your position from disbelief to belief in God and the gospel, which is the good news of God’s free gift of eternal life, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

This is the place where we must decide whether or not to take these steps and then, if we do, to see how it changes our priorities in life and opens our mind to grow in understanding.

You may want to follow a daily devotional guide such as “Our Daily Bread” and pray and meditate  using outlines of the Lord’s Prayer such as  (Here) and Psalm 23 (Here).

Shorter versions of the above meditations are available Here and Here .

Bible reading and meditation helps to quiet the mind so we may hear God’s voice and be guided and directed to do his will – day by day.

I believe God’s will for us is to develop  a love relationship with him and to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness by calling on him for the power to do it. Jesus urges us to obey his law, which is set out in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew chapters 5-7).

Jesus’ Friends Are Faithful in Using Their Gifts to Benefit Others.

Last time we discussed how and why Jesus leads his followers in the paths of righteousness.
The reason is to bring glory to his name through their good example.
In this post we will consider two parables that touch on how Jesus invites and chooses people to follow him.

The parable of the sower and the seed describes how God broadcasts ‘seeds’ that may represent his word and the gospel message, and his ‘field’ that may represent people and the world. The different kinds of ground on which the seed fell may represent four different levels of the spiritual ability of people to accept and sustain the seed in their lives.

Bible Gateway says  “This parable of Jesus uses the metaphor of a sower spreading seeds as a way of illustrating that people respond in different ways to the message of the Gospel. Some hear and take it to heart; while others reject it; but the ‘sower’ continues to make the message available to all.”

Matthew 13:18-23 says “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” NIV

Why do some people fit the model of the good soil better than others?
I think preparation of a person’s heart may take place prior to hearing the gospel, that makes them more open to let the seed settle in and take firm root. They may already believe in God and have been praying  to Him for help to deal with some difficult problems in their lives, and have developed a measure of faith. The presence of God is what makes ‘soil’, a heart or anything, good.

Let’s compare it with the parable of the ten minas (or talents) of Luke 19:11-22.
Jesus gave this parable to show what his followers should be doing in the time between his first and second comings.
The minas and the seed may be considered as gifts for us to put to use in promoting our new life in Christ and the kingdom of God.
He called ten of his servants together and gave them each a mina to use in trading while he was called away and being crowned king.
When he returned he called them together and questioned them as to what the mina he gave them had produced.

The first servant produced 10 minas, the second produced 5 minas and the 10th servant did nothing with his mina and gave it back to the king.
I assume that the other 7 servants produced between 5 and 1 minas each. The faithful servants were rewarded with rulership in the kingdom of God according to the fruit of their labours.

It appears that God broadcasts his call to everyone in the power of the Holy Spirit, but not all may be open to it or respond positively;  but they may later on in life as God continues to be with them.
The hardness of their hearts may become softened with empathy as they experience the disappointments and futility of materialism and begin to place more importance on respect for people and relationships.
These parables seem to focus on the quality of the personal growth of individual Christians rather than their influence on the church or the world around them.

You Are My Friends.

John 15:13-15 – “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” – KJV

What did Jesus command us to do as his friends and followers?

The commands that Jesus gave his disciples regarding the New Covenant are in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew chapters 5-7)

Jesus said he has made known to us all things that he has heard of his Father. We don’t know exactly when his Father began to speak to him about what he was to pass on to us, but at age 12 he was about his Father’s business when his parents found him speaking with the religious teachers in the temple as recorded in Luke 2:41-50.
I was of the opinion that Jesus, being the Word made flesh, would have had free access to the memory bank that he had developed prior to his incarnation. However it seems more plausible from the above that his Father had to teach him everything that he needed to know in order to become our Messiah. It seems that his brain (mind and memory) was in the same state of emptiness as any newborn. Well it was said that he emptied himself of everything to become a human being. It is possible that a human brain does not have the capacity to contain the vast knowledge that the Word had prior to his incarnation.

Jesus chose to hearken to his heavenly Father and also to his earthly parents. In turn we need to hearken to the teachings of Jesus as the Holy Spirit leads us.

Jesus put top priority on the two great commandments as recorded in Luke 10:25-28 – “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘ Teacher,’ he asked, ‘ what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

‘ What is written in the Law?’ he replied. ‘How do you read it?’

He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

‘You have answered correctly’, Jesus replied. ‘ Do this and you will live.’ ”

Jesus elaborated on the lawyer’s next question “Who is my neighbour?” by telling the story of the good Samaritan.

Israelite parents had been instructed to teach the commandments to their children, so this lawyer knew how to love his neighbor as himself. However, he disagreed that non Israelites were his neighbors, even though Jesus had just finished teaching that the Samaritan considered a Jew to be his neighbor.

Jesus expanded the concept of brotherly love even further in John 15:9-14 – “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done – I’ve kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.
I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve called you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.” – (The Message)

I think loving others as Jesus loves us involves a conscious effort to separate the person from their behavior. We also have to accept and respect ourselves separately from our behavior so we can love others in the same way.

This seems to go contrary to the general way in society which tends to value a person by their outward appearance and material success, rather than because they are human beings just like ourselves.

I would like to focus on what we are worth in God’s eyes.

When we are asked what we do for a living do we answer – “I am a – - – - name  the occupation or activity – - – -.” ?
Is our identity and sense of worth based on our occupation, or position in a family or an activity?
Or do we think of ourselves as a PERSON who does ‘X’ for a living?
What if we are under-employed, unemployed or retired? Do we then lose our identity and value when we lose something that important to us?

First and foremost we are persons. In God’s eyes all people are equal in worth and equally loved by him. He says that we are worth the price of his first born Son, who gave his life so we could live and have a more abundant life. Many of our young men and women have given their lives in battle so that we could live and have the freedoms we have.

A child first encounters love from its mother and then from its dad and siblings. The quality of this love and attention sets the scene for its development of self worth and self esteem.

See “How Can We Strengthen Children’s Self-Esteem? – by Lilian Katz - Here.

The abundant life that God promises is not in the physical realm only, but in the spiritual realm as well. He is concerned that we should have a right relationship with him and respectful relationships with each other.

The main scripture is from Matthew 16:24-26 -

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your (self-centered) life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life – (that way of life) – for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?’ ” NLT. – (words in parenthesis by me)

I am reminded of the ‘bottom line’ emphasis of the ‘leaner and meaner’ global corporations whose unfettered greed led to the economic melt down a few years ago. The Book of Proverbs says that greed leads to poverty. I think the greedy get rich at the expense of others, who then become poor. Sometimes the poor get together and rise up to take back the money from the rich.
At any rate, human nature needs to have some regulations and boundaries within which to trade fairly,  for the overall good of the community.
God said it may not be easy, but even those whose value is attached to their wealth may come to him, if they let go of relying solely or primarily upon it and seek him first in their lives.

We may not be excessively rich in worldly goods, but we may have become tightly identified with our lifestyle and way of relating to other people.
I mean to say that we may be in the habit of measuring the worth of people by the status achieved in the work place or society at large.
Jesus said we need to let go of that sort of habit in order to have respectful relationships with others and with him, who made us all of equal worth.
So let us identify more with Jesus than with anything that can be taken away by changing circumstances. He promised to never leave us or forsake us.

~ ~ ~

Next let us consider how we develop self worth and self esteem.

Proverbs 22:6 says  “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” (NIV)

The New Living Translation states it  “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”

See “How Can We Strengthen Children’s Self-Esteem? – by Lilian Katz - Here.

The following is derived from some online research and from remembering personal experiences in a somewhat dysfunctional family that seems to fit the research.

The sense of self worth has been found to develop in children mainly prior to age 7, but seems to be open to modification depending on circumstances. Parents do not always provide an experience of unconditional love and acceptance for their children, probably because they didn’t experience it in their own upbringing. This produces a measure of frustration, pain and emptiness in a child’s heart.

A young child may develop a strong desire to discover ways to satisfy this emotional hunger and to ‘medicate’ or fix the pain that was produced. This desire usually results in activities that they hope will boost their sense of worth in their parents’ eyes. Ideally a child’s worth in their parents’ eyes is not dependent on performance, but they feel  worthy just because they are members of the family. Children may be unaware of how much they are loved apart from their behaviour, unless they are told about it – and experience it along with reassurance and respect.

At the same time parents are involved in teaching their children how to do things and want to see them improve, so, depending how it is carried on, parents may be perceived as being hard to please. Children may experience frustration at this point and begin to act out negatively in some fashion. It is incumbent on parents to observe and help their children to try different things and encourage them to pursue activities that they seem to be suited for.

When we respond to God’s call to have a relationship with him, we may desire to please him by “doing things for him to see” as we did as children to impress our parents.
In this imperfect world we all have some level of heart hunger and emotional pain which we endeavour to cope with and fix by various means. The most common of these devices is to base our sense of identity on our occupation, possessions and families. Also we may pursue enjoyment in a variety of areas to ease the pain – some good, and some not so good and some which can be addictive, such as food, alcohol and drugs.

For more information about how this may affect people and possibly require assessment and correction see a video interview of Jeff Van Vonderen – in a 4 part series beginning on 24 January 2011 - Here.

The other 3 programs can be found on www.newday.org - Here. – (Scroll to 24Jan/11)

As we go through life we tend to grow until we reach a plateau and pass certain milestones, and then we may begin to lose ground.
When the nest is empty and we have retired we may struggle with identity issues and feelings of low self worth. We then pass to a transition from providing services for others to requiring services from others.
It is understandable for us to feel a bit useless or worthless at times, since we aren’t able to make a contribution as we used to.
We need to make a change from the mind-set that connects self worth with behaviour and performance.
We need to realize and believe that each person has intrinsic value as a human being.
We can respect each other on this basis and therefore care-givers and care-receivers can experience mutual respect, and develop pleasant relationships with each other. Seniors often give encouragement to care givers.

This may not be so easy to do after the fact, but it is a worthwhile endeavor at any stage of life, especially during Passover and Easter time, when we are encouraged to examine and re-evaluate the basis of our quality of life on which we ultimately base our self worth.

When we consider God to be our parent we can get our self worth from him. He proved how much we are worth to him, because he paid the highest price of all to redeem us.

~ ~ ~

Next let us consider how God provides and cares for those who are struggling with confusion in the world.

Jesus leads us to repentance and faith, then he restores and heals our broken hearts.

Psalm 23:1-3 – “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” KJV

Psalm 51:10-12 says – “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” NIV

Imagine yourself to be a lost sheep and the shepherd has been searching for you in the harsh wilderness for a long time. Finally he finds you and carries you back to the sheep fold. He begins to clean you up and put salve on your wounds. He makes you feel at home and reassures you that you are a valuable part of the herd and he is so happy to have you back. He restores you to health  and provides all your needs, so you always want to stay close to him. Other sheep will follow the shepherd or may meander off, but you will want to keep him in full view, because you remember what it was like to be lost in the wilderness.

Isaiah 61:1-3

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” NIV

Jesus proclaimed that he was the one that God would send to fulfill Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy, and he went on to demonstrate it by many signs and wonders. After his resurrection and the Day of Pentecost, his disciples began to confirm it as well, and we continue to confirm that Jesus is the Christ today, by what he is doing in us and through us.

Jesus was sent to bind up and heal the broken-hearted and to set them free from their captivity to darkness, by bringing the Light to them.
Also “to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion … a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”

In the context of the time period prior to the second coming, I believe that the Church is the Zion referred to here.
In other words the church is the planting of God in the spiritual sense and God is involved in the process of restoring souls and making us into salt and light to the benefit of those around us, as well as for ourselves.

After Christ’s return, Zion / Jerusalem will be the headquarters of the Kingdom of God, which will bring peace to the whole earth.

Video “Who AM I?” – by Casting Crowns - Here.

I will post some scriptures on the subject and make some comments, which I hope you will find of interest.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (King James Version throughout)
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Does this happen all at once?

Galatians 6:15
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but (becoming) a new creature” (is the important thing).

Ephesians 4:21-24
“But ye have not so learned Christ;
If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
That ye put off concerning the former conversation (or conduct of) the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

Why does Paul say our conduct is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts in our hearts and minds?

Jeremiah 17:9-10 says – “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.” MSG

God is able to separate the person from their behavior in his mind. He loves and respects human beings equally and gives them equal value and worth, at the same time he may be pleased or displeased with their behavior.
People generally assign value to others based on their behavior, that has resulted in them having higher or lower position in society.
Behavior can be changed as per the following verses, however it is very difficult to do using only our own minds, which are the cause of the wrong behavior in the first place. We need to have “tasted that the Lord is gracious” or have repented, believed the gospel and received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 2:1-6
“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.(Or we have experienced the grace of God in the gift of the Holy Spirit. We cannot pass on the grace of God if we have not experienced it.)
To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

In other words, spiritual sacrifices might indicate that God wants our hearts and not our stuff, and to give of ourselves to others.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (Keep the feast refers to the spring season of Passover and Easter)

2 Corinthians 13:5
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you …. ?”

We all hope that we are in the faith and being led by the Holy Spirit, but we don’t always believe it and need the input and affirmation of others.
In computer terms, I think we might say we are being asked to remove the old program or mindset and to download a new program.
Strictly speaking we can’t change our old program in our own limited strength, but like a computer we need a superior operator and technician to do it in us.
In our case we need to pray for God’s help as we do our part in allowing him to teach us the new way and to turn away from the old way.
Our old operating system may contain devious ways that we have learned in trying to fill our human needs as best we can, in competition for the relatively scarce resource of love in our families and communities.
The spring of the year is a good time to begin examining ourselves as to how we are doing in our efforts to grow in grace and knowledge of God and in sharing the love that we have experienced in our relationship with him.

James 4:1-7
From whence come wars and fights among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
(I think James is saying that we should ask for things that will benefit others who are in need as well as ourselves.)
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy?
But he gives more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

In other words, we can only share with others what we have in our hearts. We cannot give love and respect if we haven’t received it and don’t have it. If we are pained and lonely it is difficult to give encouragement to others. So James says we need to pray according to God’s will for help to be humble, submissive to God, to resist selfish temptations and to give respect and forgiveness to others.

The difficulty of putting this into practice may be helped by knowing something about what might be at the root of our motives. We have a problem in separating persons from behavior, especially when we are children. This is the time of life when we are the most inclined to tease relentlessly other kids who look or think differently from the average.
Also it is the time when our sense of self worth is forming and actually is set by the age of 7. When we are criticized/attacked for our behavior we have to decide whether or not to take it personally and allow it to become embedded in our identity as a person.
For example an authority figure might say something like “You not only did a stupid thing – You ARE stupid.” Children tend to take everything personally, unless someone explains to them that they are loved independently of their behavior, appearance, school grades etc.
Personal attacks cause emotional pains that get stored in the memory and give rise to motivation to fix them. The mind is very resourceful in devising ways to try to fix the pain and to satisfy the heart hungers.
The deceitful aspect arises because the best efforts of the mind to ameliorate the situation bring only temporary relief and the pain remains and lives on to be “medicated” another day.
This is one of the main burdens that Jesus said we should give over to him and he will give us rest. It is a great relief when he begins to take the emotional pain away and satisfy the heart hungers.

When we realize this by experience, we may become more aware of our intrinsic value and worth as a human being apart from our behavior, which is given to us by God’s unconditional love.