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Are you doing your part? (Luke 13:18-21) November 26, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Acts 19-20

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 13:18-21
Jesus (explaining): Do you want to understand the kingdom of God? Do you want Me to tell you what it’s like? It’s like a single mustard seed that someone took and planted in his garden. That tiny seed grew and became a tree so large that the birds could fly in and make their nests in its branches.
Do you want Me to tell you what the kingdom of God is like? It’s like some yeast which a woman hid within a huge quantity of flour; soon the whole batch of dough was rising.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We don’t talk about heaven and the kingdom in our churches much these days. We hear a lot of sermons about ethics and moral values. We hear a lot of sermons about how we should behave and how we should improve our relationships with each other. We hear a lot of sermons about the state of the world today and how we should work to improve the nature of things around us. We hear a lot of sermons about the latest topic in the news and how it affects us spiritually and how to guard against it. But we don’t hear many sermons anymore about heaven or hell.

So it’s good to stop and think about Jesus’ words today and just ponder what He says about heaven and the kingdom of God. Most of the time when we think about heaven we think about the way it looks, the streets of gold, the mansions being built for us, the brilliance of the light, the music sung by choirs of angels, the indescribable beauty of the place we hope to spend eternity. But these words give us a very different picture of the kingdom of God. It doesn’t talk about the beauty or streets or even the kind of people who will populate heaven. Jesus gives a different description for us to think about and the description involves us.

He says the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed or some yeast, so what does that mean to us? We are getting to know more about yeast as more people begin to enjoy baking as a hobby. We still do more purchasing of baked goods than actually baking today, but the hobby is growing and you can find lots of people who bake bread, rolls, cookies, pies and cakes, etc. And in a lot of those things that need a dough in their preparation, they also need yeast to make the dough rise. So many today understand yeast, but not nearly as many as did in Jesus’ day.

Not so many understand Jesus’ comparison of the mustard seed with the kingdom of heaven because most of us haven’t seen the results of planting mustard seeds. Around the area where Jesus spoke, mustard plants grew wild and in fact were sometimes considered a nuisance plant. Just that tiny seed the size of a pin head grew into a bush fifteen to twenty feet tall, tree size with branches sturdy enough to hold birds’ nests.

So we aren’t quite so familiar with these illustrations today. The point I think Jesus wants to get across is that the kingdom of heaven, like that mustard seed starts small, but grows as we let God work through us and spread the good news He gives us. Others hear His word and accept Him as Lord and the kingdom grows more. Those share the message and the kingdom continues to expand. Then like those mustard seeds that grow into tree-sized bushes, they produce more seeds that are scattered across the land and more mustard plants take root and grow. The kingdom expands throughout the area as we let God use us and work through us to do His will.

Or the kingdom is like yeast when we let God work through us. He places us in a community to do His will in that community and like yeast, the good things we do for others spreads throughout the community. Others see us and watch the transformation in our lives because of His spirit in us. They hear the message He has for them and His resurrection power changes them, too. The good news spreads throughout the community and cannot be stopped just as yeast spreads throughout the dough when it is kneaded. And what does the yeast do to the dough? It makes the dough double or triple or quadruple in size, just as the good news causes God’s kingdom to expand exponentially through those that hear it.

Today Jesus might use one of those room fresheners you plug into the wall as an illustration. The odor starts at the wall when you plug it in, but soon the smell reaches every corner of the room. Or maybe he would like the kingdom to the foam insulation that goes in the walls of new homes. A five gallon canister of liquid is shot into the space between the walls of the house and that small five gallon canister is enough as it expands to fill all the outer walls of an average house with foam.

Whatever example Jesus or you might use to explain the growth of God’s kingdom, it still in part depends on one Christian, transformed by the power of God’s spirit in you, sharing the good news of what He has done with another person. Then that person sharing with one more and so on until the kingdom continues to grow at an exponential rate.

Are you doing your part to grow the kingdom?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Will you be that candle? (Mark 4:30-32) (July 21, 2016)

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 11-12

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 4:30-32
Jesus: What else is the kingdom of God like? What earthly thing can we compare it to? The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, the tiniest seed you can sow. But after that seed is planted, it grows into the largest plant in the garden, a plant so big that birds can build their nests in the shade of its branches.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Wikipedia tells us the candela is the International Standard base unit of luminous intensity; that is, luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a point light source in a particular direction. Luminous intensity is analogous to radiant intensity, but instead of simply adding up the contributions of every wavelength of light in the source’s spectrum, the contribution of each wavelength is weighted by the standard luminosity function (a model of the sensitivity of the human eye to different wavelengths). A common candle emits light with a luminous intensity of roughly one candela. If emission in some directions is blocked by an opaque barrier, the emission would still be approximately one candela in the directions that are not obscured.

Like most other International Standard base units, the candela has an operational definition—it is defined by a description of a physical process that will produce one candela of luminous intensity. Since the 16th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in 1979, the candela has been defined as:

The luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540×10(12) hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1⁄683 watt per steradian.

The definition describes how to produce a light source that (by definition) emits one candela. Such a source could then be used to calibrate instruments designed to measure luminous intensity.

The candela is sometimes still called by the old name candle, such as in foot-candle and the modern definition of candlepower.

So why bring up the definition of the candela? Well, we don’t know much about mustard seeds like they did in Jesus’ day. But probably most of us have participated in a service or memorial or some event like the following.

The crowd is given an unlit candle as they come into the auditorium and asked to just hold it until they are told what to do with it later in the program or service. At the right time, maybe at an invitation or a commitment service, a call to missions, a light the world theme or some such event, the speaker has all the lights in the auditorium not just dimmed but extinguished. The auditorium goes black.

As the speaker continues, one candle is lit. It’s a small thing, barely visible from the cheap seats in the balcony at the far end away from the podium, but it is visible. That one candle gives out about one candela of radiant lux, about 12 1/2 lumens if you want to measure the luminous lux. That’s it. Not much to try and conquer the darkness that engulfed the auditorium just a few minutes earlier.

Then the speaker does something you probably expected by this point. That one candle touches the candle of a person nearby, then those two lit candles touch two more, then those four touch four more, and so it goes until every candle that each person holds has that same small flame burning in the hand of its holder. Suddenly, the auditorium is no longer dark, but instead is bathed in hundreds, maybe thousands of candela as each lighted candle adds 12 1/2 more lumens to the auditorium.

In just a few minutes, that one candle, barely visible from the back of the room, becomes the single flame that fans the flame of every candle in every hand that fills the whole room with light. The darkness has been dispelled, but it started with just that one candle.

That’s how God’s word spreads, too. Like the mustard seed that grows into a bush the size of a tree where birds build their nests or like that single candle used to light others that finally engulf the whole room with light, when we share God’s mercy and grace and love with those around us, something happens. His spirit works to spread that fire not only in us, but into those with whom we share. His spirit is always at work. He leads us to people who are ready to hear His word if we will listen to His guiding voice and share when He tells us to. He knows when the time is perfect.

Will we see the results of our labor? Maybe, maybe not. It’s not our responsibility to save people from their sins. We can’t do that. We can’t even win them to the kingdom. Not within our power. But what we can do is tell others what He has done and is doing in our lives. We can act as His witnesses and tell them about Jesus and the good news of His kingdom right here for those willing to give themselves to Him. God does all the rest.

You might feel like one candle in the darkness sometimes. But remember that single candle begins to lighten the whole room. That event or service or memorial you remember with all those candles lit and providing light in that auditorium started with one candle touching another. Are you willing to be that candle in a dark world? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Heaven — the mustard seed. (Matthew 13:31-32) March 26, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Mark 5-6

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 13:31-32
Jesus told them another parable.
Jesus: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a sower took and planted in his field. Mustard seeds are minute, tiny—but the seeds grow into trees. Flocks of birds can come and build their nests in the branches.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I didn’t know much about mustard seeds or how they grow until I did a little research. There are a few different kinds of plants, none really grow into real trees, but there is one that grows so rapidly and so tall that it could be considered a tree. It grows wild in some of the most inhospitable climates as long as it has a water source. And because the seeds are so small, when the seed pods burst at maturity, the wind scatters them so they have the potential of growing wild almost anywhere.

So Jesus talks about these tiny seeds, about one millimeter in diameter. These tiny little seeds germinate in one to five days and grow large enough to harvest in 60 to 85 days. Usually, the plants grow as clumps of bushes three to five feet high, but in the right conditions these wild mustard plants can grown together into tree-like plants as tall as 20–22 feet high. It’s interesting that Jesus would use this as a metaphor for explaining heaven.

Perhaps He compared heaven to a mustard seed to share how quickly it can grow when conditions are right. Certainly they were right when the Father sent His Son into the world at just the right time to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. At no other time in history, had the world enjoyed such a wide-spread commonality in language, freedom to travel, common government, and prosperity. The Roman Empire brought together the nations of the known world at a time that made Jesus’ entrance into the world the perfect time for breaking the chains of sin that bind humankind. So His message could spread around the known world more rapidly at that point in time that at any time before or for centuries after His earthly ministry.

Maybe He compared heaven to a mustard seed to demonstrate how much it grows. Heaven starts with God. He created heavenly beings to minister to Him, then created the rest of the universe and then humankind. Each person that accepts Jesus as Lord enters into His kingdom, the kingdom of heaven and it grows by one more person. The rapid growth of His kingdom happens as we share His word and His Spirit convinces and convicts those who hear His message and come to Him in faith.

Maybe He compared heaven to a mustard seed because like the seeds that scatter from the dried pods at maturity, Christianity, faith in Him, scatters broadly as His followers carry Him in their hearts.When we accept Him as Lord, He travels with us and in us. And like at the day of Pentecost when thousands gathered in Jerusalem to worship, then traveled back to their homes, they took with them the message they heard from Peter. Those thousands who became part of the church during those early days didn’t stay in Jerusalem. They were businessmen, housewives, rabbis, city officials. They came from all walks of life and all the surrounding countries. After they received Peter’s words, gave themselves to God, and received His Spirit in them. They took the message back with them to their several countries and cities and homes. Seeds were scattered. Heaven expanded.

Maybe Jesus compared heaven to a mustard seed because it grows under some of the most difficult conditions. He probably picked up one of these tiny seeds from the ground as He shared this parable. Most in the crowd couldn’t even see it. But they understood that when this tiny seed found its place in the soil, it would grow with just a little water. It grew in rocky soil, sandy soil, dry desert climates. It could withstand drought and floods. It grew under the intense heat of the middle-eastern sun. Just so, no matter what Satan does to try to defeat or slow the growth of God’s kingdom, His kingdom not only survives, but thrives and grows fast and high and strong.

Now that you know a little more about the mustard plant and those tiny little seeds that are almost too small to even see, think about this. Heaven is like a mustard seed. Stop and consider what a great thing to be part of God’s kingdom of heaven. It grows no matter the circumstances, it scatters broadly to every nation and every culture on the globe, it grows under the harshest of conditions, it grows as fast as we share His message, God army cannot be stopped.

What a marvelous analogy. Heaven is like a mustard seed. Are you helping it grow by scattering the message, watering new believers and your heart with the Spirit of God? Are you encouraged by the fact that nothing can stop the kingdom of heaven anymore than nothing can stop those mustard seeds from scattering around the desert.

Pretty cool metaphor when you think about it! 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.