choose well

A verse or two

"Moses said to the people: “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom.”  Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Spiritual Walk and Musings: Choose well.

Having the Vanuatu students stay with us was insightful at times as I think we overloaded them with choice. Their mouth dropped with amazement when walking into a huge sport store. Walking around the supermarket they were stunned with the variety and choice – but also astute enough to say how expensive many of the items were and it would be better to choose the simple things.

A reading I came across this week included Moses speaking on behalf of God offering the people a choice; life and prosperity or death and doom. They would receive life and prosperity if they loved God and obey his commandments and death and doom if they turned their hearts away from him. It was simple and not complicated. What is interesting many of the commandments for them to follow included some of the most ethical care for the needy and environmentally sensitive legislation ever set out for any nation. It is not like God’s guidance was a kill joy. Today we all know too much rich food creates a problem – simple unprocessed food works out healthier – and we have the freedom to choose.

This is the first Sunday of Lent; a kind of heads-up to prepare for Easter in six weeks time. Another reading I came across this week reminded me of the coming Easter weekend; “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Luke 9:22) May Christ’s actions which dealt to the Old Testament law giving us freedom of choice, inspire us to choose well.

God Bless,
Jon

To Ponder and Pray: Lenten thought.

“[Jesus said to his disciples] “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” ” (Luke 9:23)

Are you giving up anything this Lent? As it brings slight discomfort may we never forget the cost paid for us by Christ?

an upside down kingdom

a verse or two

“Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ” Matthew 4:10 

Spiritual Walk and Musings: The Kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom.

This week at Presbytery the moderator explored Jesus’ temptations in the desert. How after forty days of fasting and being alone the devil then temped him. What is interesting is each time Jesus responded, he gave a kingdom of God like answer. 

Jesus was staving and he was tempted to turn stones into bread, his ministry could be simply a popular social worker by satisfying the physical needs of the crowd. Yet we live by more than bread alone and hence the Kingdom of God is wider than social work.

Jesus was taken high on the temple, he could have put on display a great miracle by being saved when falling down. Hence he could have wowed the crowds proving to be a famous wonder miracle worker. Yet Jesus didn't limit the Kingdom of God to only supernatural things or by giving himself credit. The kingdom of God includes humility, restraint, common sense and trust in God's ways – Jesus was supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural. 

Finally Satan tempted Jesus with rule over the world – Jesus was tempted as to which way to follow. God's way or Satan's way – do the ends justify the means? Power and authority verses the way of the servant. Jesus chose the way of the servant. The kingdom of God chooses the way of the servant – it is completely back to front and upside down to the world's way of seeing things.

To Ponder and Pray: A servant prayer.

“Speak Lord, for your servant hears. Grant me ears to hear, eyes to see, a will to obey, a heart to love. Then declare what you will, reveal what you will, command what you will, demand what you will.”

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894

Ddifferent Compartments

A Verse or two

[Jesus] told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.' Matthew 13:33 (NRSV)

Spiritual Walk and Musings: different compartments 

Our lives seem to have many different compartments. Some of these compartments we freely let God into and other aspects we keep God out wanting self to rein. But for bread to be as it should be – the yeast needs to work throughout the whole loaf. And so it fits that for us to be as we should be, we need to allow God permission to rein in all the compartments of our lives. And then, as a few grains of yeast work their way through an entire batch of dough, slowly transforming it, changing it, so we allow our faith in God to permeate our whole lives. Letting God change the way we live, how we shop, the way we prioritise, the way we treat our enemies, how we treat our loved ones, how we treat ourselves, the way we think about the whole world (including our attitudes towards places like Haiti – both pre and post earthquake) and so on and so on.

Let us all allow the kingdom of God to flow through every part of our lives – public, private, work and play.

God Bless
Jon.

To Ponder and Pray: Some stories to ponder on:

This week why not spend time reading some of Jesus’ words on what the Kingdom of God is like:

The Mustard Seed Mt 13:31-32
The Yeast Mt 13: 33
The Hidden Treasure Mt 13:44  
The Pearl Mt 13: 45-46
The Dragnet Mt 13:47-50
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant MT 18:23-35
The Labourers in the Vineyard Mt 20:1-16