Trading Up – Matthew 13:44-46

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“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!” (Matthew 13:44-46, NLT)

In order to obtain the treasure field and valuable pearl, the field worker and the merchant first had to liquidate everything they had to raise enough capital to purchase their respective treasures.

In following Jesus we must divest our lives of all self-interest with the same totality of purpose as the man finding the treasure in the field and the merchant finding the pearl of great value.

The moral ground on which we form a relationship with God is to give up, surrender, relinquish, or abandon our own self-interests and self-will in favor of God’s will through faith in Jesus.

In other words, eliminate competing priorities.

The reason for this required sacrifice is because self-will and self-interest is the basis for sin and separation from God and hinders us from receiving God’s care and provision.

While giving up the right to self is comprehensive, in the parables of the hidden treasure and expensive pearl the totality of the sacrifice did not leave the main characters without means or substance.

God permits us to trade up!

By the very act of giving up something of less value, a fortune is secured! In His Kingdom, God invests His life in people who abdicate the kingdom of their own self-will and self-interest and make their priority doing God’s will.

Following Jesus costs you all of the only thing you really have—your right to your own self.

When you make the trade, your natural life is replaced with His Kingdom life, your destiny fulfilled, and your life possessed with immeasurable value and eternal significance.

Growing Wheat in a Field of Weeds – Matthew 13:24-30

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“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. The landowner’s slaves came to him and said, …. ‘So, do you want us to go and gather them up?’… ‘No,’ he said. ‘When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but store the wheat in my barn'” (Matthew 13:24-30, HCSB)

In this parable, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a man who sowed wheat in a field but is sabotaged by his enemy who sows weeds among the wheat.

Now, that’s not really the way we envision the Kingdom of God, is it? We sort of understand the wheat field, but the weeds don’t really fit into our understanding of the Kingdom of God.

So, the servants of the owner of the field want to pull up the weeds, but the owner commands the servants to let the weeds grow with the wheat and then he instructs the servants to separate the weeds when they harvest the wheat.

This parable demonstrates the sovereignty of God over His creation. “Evil” coexists with “good” for a period of time.

Then, Jesus interprets His own parable and explains that the sowing of the weeds in the wheat field is unquestionably the work of Satan, the Devil (vs. 38-39).

But God is Almighty and His Plan is Supreme, even to the extent that He can use the evil actions of people and even the Devil himself to work His good purposes.

God is able to grow and harvest wheat in a field full of weeds!

God remains undaunted by evil in the fulfillment of His good purposes. Although the evil one is working throughout history and even the circumstances of our lives to disrupt God’s plans and purposes, God is active in this present world but He is not necessarily reactive to evil.

So God works through the circumstances of our lives to declare Himself and His redeeming love to us.

God is resolute, intentional, and deliberate. He has a plan and purpose and is actively pursuing His plan of building His Kingdom in our lives.

Sometimes our lives may seem to us more like growing wheat in a field of weeds. But Jesus assures us in this parable that our life is really a field of wheat with some weeds growing in it!

We are God’s wheat field! And God is the master! He wants us busy growing wheat, not pulling weeds! 

“A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance” (John 10:10, HCSB).

Kingdom Entrepreneurs – Matthew 13:23

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“The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” (Matthew 13:23, NLT).

The parable of the sower is the first recorded parable of Jesus in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In the parable of the sower, Jesus told about a farmer who was planting seed for crops:

  • Some of the farmer’s seed fell along the path and the birds came and ate it.
  • Some seed fell on rocky places where the soil was shallow and the plants sprang up quickly but soon withered because they had no roots.   
  • Some seed fell among thorns and the weeds didn’t allow the plants to grow. 
  • Some seed fell on good soil where a crop was produced that was many times greater than what was sown.

Jesus explained the parable of the sower to the disciples saying that the seed represented the message of the good news of the Kingdom of God—the gospel.

The farmer or the sower was, of course, God, and the different locations where the seed fell characterized the manner in which hearers of the gospel believed and received the Kingdom message.

The first category of hearers refused to believe its message while the other three categories of hearers received (and believed) the message of the gospel but responded in different ways.

Some received the message with joy but it didn’t get “rooted” or “grounded” in their lives. Some received the message but didn’t make it a priority and other obligations consumed their time and money. Yet, others heard the message and it was a life-changing experience!

Three different categories of people received (and believed) the message, but only one of the three was productive for the Kingdom of God.

These were the Kingdom entrepreneurs!

Kingdom entrepreneurs have been transformed by the message of the gospel to the extent that God uses them to effectively transact the business of His Kingdom.

God causes His Kingdom to prosper abundantly in their lives so that their profitability for the Kingdom is increased to amazing proportions! They produce a harvest of souls that can be even a hundred times greater than the seed that was planted in their lives!

As a citizen of God’s Kingdom, you are faced with some very important business decisions during your lifetime.

And, in the final analysis you must either be productive or else your service to God’s Kingdom may not be required: “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29, NLT).

Examine the Fruit – Matthew 12:33,35

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“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad…A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.”  (Matthew 12:33,35, NLT).

Goodness is a quality that is only attributable to God.

And God’s redemptive purpose is not to create good people, but to establish His goodness in the human heart.

So God’s plan for you is not just to clean you up, but to shape and form the character of your being for eternity.

God wants to do an inside job on you!

He knows that it is what is on the inside—your character, your heart, your soul—that determines what you will do with what is on the outside—your words and behavior.

According to Jesus, it is relatively simple to determine what is on the inside of a person.

You examine their fruit!

When you purchase fruit at the store, you pick it up and look it over before you place it in your shopping cart. It’s the same way with people.

You hear what they say and see how they behave: “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions” (vs. 7:20).

What you say and do are indicative of what’s in your heart.

What do people hear and see coming from your heart? Do you  pass the fruit exam? Are you a tree that bears good fruit?

Let the words you speak and the way you live demonstrate that Jesus lives in your heart!

“So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone” (James 2:24,NLT),

Adapted from The Kingdom Order: Living for the Future in the Present, by Steven C. Mills

Lavished With Grace – Ephesians 1:7-8

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“We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:7-8, HCSB).

This year I started a new book project. It’s a project that’s been on my heart for sometime and one that I sensed that God wanted me to begin writing this year.

The subject of the book is Christian discipleship. It’s about spiritual formation through the practice of spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, and Bible study.

Now, what’s ironic about me writing this book is that I’m not a very disciplined disciple. And that’s a concern I expressed to God.

Why would God want me, an undisciplined disciple, to write a book about discipleship?

And while I was questioning God on this issue, I had a couple of other questions: Why would God assign me to be a single parent to two grandchildren when I never really was that good of a parent, even with the help of a wife?

And, why would God even show His favor to me in the first place, someone who is so self-referenced, self-focused, and self-sufficient? Isn’t that a lot of grace for God to give when there are so many other people without these severe spiritual limitations?

Why does God choose us hard cases, the down-and-outers, the unyielding, to become His children?

Here’s the quick and short answer: GOD IS MAGNANIMOUS!

I suppose it would probably be more theologically sound to say, GOD IS MUNIFICENT, but that’s not a word most of us understand.

So, let me explain what I mean about God’s magnanimity.

Have you ever seen a field of wildflowers in full bloom and tried to take it all in? You can’t. There’s too much beauty there for your mind to comprehend.

Jesus, in describing such a field of wildflowers, said that “not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these” (Matthew 6:29, HCSB).

And what about all those fields full of wildflowers that nobody ever sees? What use are they?

Jesus went on to say about this field of wildflowers that God clothes the grass of the field with this beautiful coat of wildflowers, but it is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow (Matthew 6:30).

And what about the universe? Wouldn’t the Earth and the Sun have been sufficient? Okay, then maybe one solar system would have been enough. Or one galaxy.

But no, God created a universe with untold numbers of planets and stars and solar systems and galaxies that is so expansive that we have to talk about its expanse in terms of millions of light years.

What use is it all? Is God wasteful?

God can’t help Himself! He’s magnanimous! He’s munificent!

When God creates, He does so in abundance, generously, lavishly. That’s His nature.

And it’s God’s nature that when He shows mercy, He does so generously, exceedingly generously!

So God finds people like me, the hard cases, the down-and-outers, the unyielding, to lavish His grace upon!

And then it’s God power at work in me: “To Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to [His] power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20, HCSB).

So how can I write a book on discipleship, be a loving parent to my grandchildren, or even become a child of God?

Because our magnanimous God meets me at the point of my need for Him–my innate need for Someone bigger, greater, and more powerful than my own self to help me tell His story, to be a better parent, a better person!

And the greater our need, the greater is the richness of His grace that He lavishes on us!

God isn’t just God, He’s an awesome God.
     God isn’t just great, He’s glorious!
          God doesn’t just show mercy, His grace is amazing!
               God doesn’t just love us, He sent His only Son!

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19, HCSB).

The Righteousness Test – Job 23:10-12

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“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food” (Job 23:10-12, NLT).

Did you ever sit down to take a test in school and wonder where the questions came from?

The test questions didn’t ask for any facts or information you read about in the text or discussed in class. Instead, the test questions expected you to analyze and apply the facts and information you had read or discussed.

And, you probably thought the test was unfair and maybe even complained to the teacher or at least to other students.

That is what happened to Job.

When Job’s faith was tested by God, at first Job doubted that he could plead his case to God.

In this passage Job expresses confidence that when God tests him, he can, in fact, ask God for an explanation of the test.

In reality, God wasn’t testing Job’s faith; Satan was.

But God does use the difficulties in life that confront us–emanating either from Satan or from our own mistakes–to instruct us in His holiness and righteousness and build our faith in Him.

It’s the righteousness test!

God knows where we are going in life, and the righteousness test keeps us on the path to where He wants us to go.

And when God uses our suffering to teach us about His righteousness, then like Job we will conclude: “He controls my destiny” (vs. 14).

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28, NLT).

Singled Out – Genesis 18:17-19

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“Should I hide my plan from Abraham? the Lord asked. For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised” (Genesis 18:17-19, NLT).

One day God made a personal visit to Abraham.

Personal appearances by God to Earth are called “theophanies” or “Christophanies” if the appearance seems to represent the pre-incarnate Christ.

Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate in scripture between an angelic appearance or a theophany other than by the context. The context here seems to indicate an appearance of God accompanied by two angels, all appearing in human form (vs. 1-2, 13, 17, 22).

The purpose of the personal visit by God to Abraham was twofold: 1) to confirm God’s covenant with Abraham (vs. 10) and 2) to render judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (vs. 21) and extend His mercy to Abraham’s family.

After God confirmed His covenant with Abraham, He had a conversation with Himself about confiding in Abraham about His plans to execute judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Since Abraham was God’s chosen one through whom His redemptive plan for humanity would be implemented, God determined to reveal His plans to Abraham.

And God still reveals His plans and purposes to His people today. That’s because God operationalizes His will on Earth through people, His chosen people, those He has singled out!

Just as God chose Abraham and visited him personally, God has singled you out and visits you personally by His indwelling Spirit.

So, find out what plans and purposes God is revealing to you and then operationalize His will in your life. God will surely do all He has promised!

Resurrection Theology For Dummies – Job 19:25-27

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“But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.” (Job 19:25-27, HCSB)

This verse is the ancient voice of Job telling us that his ultimate redemption is manifested in bodily resurrection.

Job proclaims that after his death he will see God in his flesh!

Job understood that without bodily resurrection there is really no redemption and that he, therefore, needed a Redeemer to expedite it.

The Apostle Paul described resurrection as “the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23, HCSB).

Bodily resurrection means our temporal, physical bodies will be transmogrified into imperishable or immortal bodies: “We will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality” (I Corinthians 15:51-52, HCSB).

Bodily resurrection is the fundamental premise of the redemptive plan of God for human beings and for the created order.

So, you don’t have redemption without resurrection! It’s a theological premise in which even us dummies can understand, believe, and rejoice! And Job got it–thousands of years ago!

The Apostle Paul asserts in his resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, how pointless redemption without bodily resurrection would be and explains that Christ’s resurrection is the model or prototype for our own bodily resurrection.

The Apostle John amplifies this theology of bodily resurrection with this simple yet profound declaration that almost seems to paraphrase Job’s pronouncement: “We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is (I John 3:2, HCSB).

A Tenth of Everything? – Genesis 14:19

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“And Abram gave him a tenth of everything” (Genesis 14:19, HCSB).

When an alliance of kings from the north captured Lot and took him prisoner in a war with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot lived, Abram (Abraham) and his 300 fighting men mounted a surprise attack and rescued Lot and his family and recovered all of Lot’s possessions.

The king of Sodom and Melchizedek, the king of Jerusalem and a priest of God, celebrated Abram’s triumph.

Although Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he owned, he refused to take anything from the king of Sodom. Abram did not want the king of Sodom to take any credit for his prosperity because Abram knew it was God that blessed him.

Abram recognized God was the enabler of his victory and the provider of his prosperity. Abram recognized that his blessedness was by the power and sovereign will of God.

If you want to be totally and completely in God’s will, then you can’t just give Jesus your heart. You also have to give him your money!

You can’t separate one from the other and Jesus made that perfectly clear: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21, HCSB).

Some people may not tithe because they don’t really understand how God provides and meets our needs.

God does not provide for us by giving us more and more of what we already have or think we need.

If we are experiencing financial difficulties, we think that more money is the solution to our problem.
     If our home is too small, we pray for a bigger one.
          If our car is too old, we pray for a newer one.
               If we are sick, we pray for good health.

But the biblical pattern for receiving God’s provision and blessing is for Him to extend the resources we already have to meet our needs as they are offered totally and willingly to God.

Tithing is a way of doing that with our financial resources. Tithing demonstrates that we, like Abram, recognize God’s sovereignty over our lives, especially our finances.

When you tithe, you offer the basic needs of your life totally and willingly to God and by having less resources you actually give God more space to enact His supernatural care over your life.

Then God extends the 90% to cover 100% of your needs!

I know it seems contrary to good sense and everything we understand about economics, but in the economy of God’s Kingdom, less is really more!

By having less of our own resources, we make room for more of God’s provision!

It’s a faith thing!.

When you give a tenth of everything you have to God, He makes available all of everything He has to you!

“Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure” (Malachi 3:10, HCSB).

Additional Instructions for Eternal Life – Matthew 7

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In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, much of the focus for discussion is often on the first part of the Sermon containing the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6.

In fact, the last admonition of Jesus in Chapter 6: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (vs. 6:33, HCSB), somehow seems to conclude the Sermon.

But Jesus provided many instructions for His disciples in Matthew 7 as well! The Golden Rule that we all learned as children is vs. 12.

The behaviors Jesus identified in these additional instructions in Matthew 7 were taught in the context of eternal life.

In other words, these are instructions we should live by in our present life in preparation for eternal life.

When Jesus said to treat others the way you want to be treated (the Golden Rule), He meant the criteria you apply when making judgments about other people could be the criteria God applies in determining your place in eternity.

So here’s some additional instructions from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 that will help us live a life focused on God’s Kingdom and eternity:

  • Pardon and forgiveness (Matthew 7:1-5). While these verses seem to be saying do not be judgmental or critical toward others, the real message is to be abounding in pardon and forgiveness toward others as God is toward you. If God is exceedingly merciful toward you, then you should certainly be the same toward others.

  • Discretion (Matthew 7:6). While admission to God’s Kingdom is available to all human beings, it cannot be and should not be forced either directly or indirectly on anyone. While this admonition is certainly not meant as a condemnation of any class, race, educational level, or socio-economic class of any human beings, Jesus’s disciples should direct their efforts at proclaiming the Kingdom of God to those people—individually or collectively—with whom their efforts can be productive and not argumentative.

  • Mutual loving relationship with God (Matthew 7:7-11). The basis for establishing a personal and intimate relationship with God is based on the interaction of giving and receiving. Jesus is saying that the Heavenly Father wants to give you all aspects of abundant and eternal life if you are willing to receive it. We know this is not hyperbole because Jesus says that even people who do not know God love their children and love to give them gifts. In Luke’s version of these verses the “good gifts” are the gift of the Holy Spirit—the Heavenly Father gives His Own Spirit to dwell in the His children.

  • Respect for humanity (Matthew 7:12). Known as the Golden Rule, this verse sets the universal standard for getting along with others. You have to start with a basic respect for human beings.

  • Convictions/principles (Matthew 7:13-14). Know what you believe and stand up for your beliefs because it is always easier to follow the way of evil (through the wide gate) than it is to follow God’s way (through the narrow gate).

  • Discernment (Matthew 7:15-20). Following the instructions of Jesus will sharpen your senses so that you can better recognize what proceeds from good and what proceeds from evil. A good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit (or no fruit). It is the same way with people, so determine what kind of fruit a person is bearing and you will know what kind of person he or she is.

  • Obedience (Matthew 7:21-27). By obeying the instructions of Jesus you will fulfill God’s will for your life. When the challenges of life confront you, you won’t fall apart because your faith is built on the absolutes of God’s will and God’s truth and reality.