13:6 - God, thank you for your patience. I know there have been times you have come to me and found my fruit lacking...thank you for giving me time...thank you for building me up. God please let me continue to grow ad mature and bear fruit for your kingdom.
13:15ff - God, please never let me be a leader in your church that has the arrogance to put a dogmatic theological obsession before actual human beings. As a leader it is my job to guide people towards your truth..not try to bludgeon your children over the head with my understanding of your truth.
13:19 - Father, please take the tiny kernel of faith within me and make it grow. That can only happen through your power God...I am too doubtful...too fearful...I can only grow if your Spirit is within me.
13:24 - God give me the strength to walk the narrow path. It is hard, but to be in our presence is worth it.
13:34 - God, may we lead our church so that you never have to lament over us like you lamented over Jerusalem. Let us be a house of your truth - where you unadulterated truth can be spoken and accepted, even when it hurts. Let us be a home where you flock can gather to be built up and spurred on towards Christ-like living.
4 comments:
There is this one part around vs 22 in the Message where Jesus says "Put your mind on your life with God."
Surface - it seems like a contradiction – Jesus telling us to focus on our life rather than others. Deeper – if you focus on God in your life, you will want to have a loving relationship with Him through Jesus and the Spirit in your life. Out of that relationship of love, you will want to love and serve others.
Most of the time, when parents focus on their relationship with God, all relationships are better – their spouse, children, family, friends, strangers.
And why not – look at who is in charge of their life.
Peace,
j
I read it..
The Kingdom of God is like parables still confuse me
could the mustard seed be kind of like the same seed Paul describes in one of the Corinthians when he is describing the resurrection body?
I believe that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed in that it starts out small within us - our young immature faith and flawed understanding of what God's kingdom looks like lived out on earth...but through time and the work of the Holy Spirit the kingdom of God begins to pervade every area of our lives which in turn starts to impact the lives of the people around us. The kingdom of God is a picture of godliness being lived out on earth and it spread like wildfire, because when truly lived out it is almost irresistable. Just a thought.
The thought of yeast and a mustard seed used to describe the kingdom of God is very encouraging to me. To use such small, powerless, and insignificant things to describe me give me hope that I can be useful for the Kingdom all while understanding that I am weak. It is in Him that I find what we need to make His kingdom grow on earth. Thank you Father...
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