Matthew 18: 1 The Twelve disciples, after a long discussion, came to Jesus from Peter's wide-open house in Capernaum, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Wonder which disciple froze within awaiting His nod--- hoping Jesus would call his name. Instead, calling to Himself a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Who serves Him best? What do I have to offer Him? My name is known by just a few. My story is read within walls contained by friends. My little life is a drop in the seas of almost 7 billion sets of eyes. What is greatness in our America? Our businesses, our sports teams, our entertainment industry, our medical arts, our education----isn't it all about being the grandest, the greatest? If there is anything that I value more than the Love of my Christ, anything, then I must turn and become like a child. A child who has no authority over anyone. The owner of not much; the dependent on just about everything. A carefree child in the face of friends and fame and fortune. Little ambition. Immense capacity to joy! A screaming child: "Pick Me" ---just for the joy of it all. A screaming disciple: "Pick Me" --- for his life depended on his own greatness.
"The surest work of true conversion is humility." J. C. Ryle
I'm teaching Paradise LOST today and I have LOST some students. The complex syntax is based on Latin grammar and so difficult to understand. Suffering makes you desperate to listen to even epic poems you don't quite get. These teens have been through so little suffering (at least some have). Milton became blind mid-life and felt his uselessness. I became jobless, homeless, late life and feel my uselessness. SONNET XIX by Milton, lines 7-12 so give light in my darkness. "Does God exact day labor, light denied? ... God does not need either man's work or his own gifts; who best bear his mild yoke, they serve Him best." And so we read in our Bibles today that it's a little child, a mild yoke---that attitude serves Him best. That's the greatest in His Kingdom---not accomplishment or achievement, not status or success.
ReplyDeleteSigned: Considering how I am spending my darkness over here---looking for the humility of a child.
"Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." I really need a whole weekend conference to get this one in my stubborn brain. I get tripped up on the wording. "Bind" & "Loosed". Today I really want to shake Pride out of my life for once and for all!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to having more time to stay on top of these readings with you all... soon!
xoxo
There is so much in this passage today, I am always stunned when I read:
ReplyDelete8 -9"If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You're better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell."(Message)
I believe when we are "picked" we are given a great responsibility. The awareness to do right comes with the decision to follow. How precious is the knowledge we are on this journey together.
Matthew 18:18 -20 "Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."
I am thankful for the opportunity to read the New Testament with the Pearls. We on this journey together, committed, courageous, ready to learn, grow and encourage each other. With childlike faith, we hold on to the promise of His message.
Thank you for all your prayers yesterday. Things didn't go as planned. We're trying again this morning at her work. Not sure how I feel about this, but I'm asking God to show her it is her ticket. It's much worse than we thought, not just prescription pills most likely. And oh the lies. Hurting so many. The pain she's caused and her own pain. And so today I ask again for your prayers, for wisdom, for her to take the Hand reached o ut to her to be whisked away to safety.
ReplyDeleteMat. 18:19 ~ "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven."
Matt. 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
ReplyDeleteThis verse blesses me...knowing we are reading this scripture together and seeking God's presence. Bev, Angie, Jan and Annette each of your comments I relate to. Thank you for the words you give me to express to the LORD today.
Jesus help me come as a child today to worship you, trusting as a child trust His/Her parents to provide for the child's every need. Help me distinguish between my need and my desire. At this point in life I have created some big needs yet I know nothing is too hard for my LORD, Jesus Christ to accomplish. Praise God for His Amazing Grace, Mercy and Peace today.
This is a song I must Sing. Sylvia
I don't know where to begin in today' s passage. From knowing I need to humble myself as a child and being so thankful when 2 or 3 are gathered, today's reading hits home.
ReplyDeleteAnnette H
Bev, praying for you today. That He would shine some of His glorious light into your darkness and be the lifter of your head. Annette,prayed for you and your friend...that His light would penetrate her darkness and she would see His outstretched hand and take it and hold on for her life. What struck me today was my fear of being or even becoming a stumbling block to anyone around me and/or especially to my family, who sees me warts and all. He knows the desire of my heart is to NOT be a stumbling block to anyone.
ReplyDeleteThe next thing that struck me, is that He is continually searching for the lost....ALL concern Him and until the last one is saved, He will keep on searching. Oh, how grateful I am that He found me.
May He meet each one of you exactly where you are today and may He answer you above and beyond anything we can, think or imagine.
Oh Annette, I am so sorry. Little by Little, that verse comes to mind. Praying for you and your friends. I was so deep into drugs and alcohol when I was 25...and one day, God drew me to Himself...no other explanation...I literally overnight walked away from the drugs and drinking but I couldn't walk away from the fear overnight. It took time. Little by Little. He comes to change me, even this day. I am so hoping He changes me. Something big backfired on me last hour---you know the feeling. The adversary of my soul rears up, and I bump up against the sin of others. And now I have several really disappointed in me...and I was just trying to be kind and overlook a fault. Then my kid shows up, disappointed in me. Again, just treating a situation "light." Backfired. Bumped up against sin again. So what will I do with all of this. Same as all of you this day in any given moment. I stood at the window peering into motionless air. And He whispered to me---"Who Do You Say That I AM?" Just when I think I can't take anything more, I'm blindsided by work and home. Oh, Where is that Lifter of My Head. Psalm 3:3. In a faint distance, I hear joy bells ringing. God, save me from myself! I'm so hard on Bev.
ReplyDeleteWhere are you Deborah??? If you don't speak, I might faint. Truly. Don't ever stop writing what God stirs in you. Take as long as you want. We bow in respect before you. And I do mean you're in the Voskamp camp. And, your wisdom goes down deep and wide and long and lingers in my soul. Don't cut us short. We need Him in you.
ReplyDeleteSo much, sometimes. And I too, hear, "Who do you say that I am?"
ReplyDeleteAnother hard day from 9 until 2:30 tried again this day. She's so full of fear. She's exhausted. I just got a text from her thanking me, but still no go. She's such a sweet girl. Pray for Carey, if you feel led.
Bev, what a heart you have that falls toward Him. Sylvia, Jan, Angie, Michele--you all have BIG stuff going on and you remain His testifyer. His Glory shines.
And I agree with Bev, Deborah--A.Voskamp quality heart revelations from your comments.
I treasure each one of you. You make my day to stop in here and share your hearts so honestly and purely.
And Mary Lou, Your compassionate wisdom always speak so sweetly to me. I love your grasp of His love, and your humility. Thank you for joining us here and baring your heart. It is such a beautiful one.
ReplyDeleteBev, I would have loved to have listened to you teach that Paradise LOST lesson! "Bearing his mild yoke." Many visuals come to me as I think about that.
ReplyDeleteBut on to today's reading...
"Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
Peeking back into the other bold news Matthew proclaimed about Jesus, I see John the Baptizer...wild man preparing the way...bound in prison. Ladies, you must go to oneplace.com and listen to Beth's teaching on Prepare The Way. I just listened last night to the current and I am amazed at how she is talking to ME!
But, there John is, bound, for his moral courage to confront the sin of the ruler and the woman. Bound.
How did John bear that?
I have to tell myself over and over...Love was there with Him. The Spirit was in him, ministering...preparing...and offering him hope. Not in being rescued, but that it was time for Messiah.
Just say that word...Messiah.
What hope that word was to John and the remnant waiting in hope!
And we know John the Baptizer knew God's plan...John 3:30.
He (Messiah) must increase. I (John the Baptizer) must decrease.
And the spirit of Elijah was in John. Christ announced that to the disciples when His Glory was revealed to them on the Mount of Transfiguration.
The Son of Man rose like the sun there on that Mount and God spoke the Word...Listen to Him.
So, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Will it be those who rose to great heights of popularity here on earth?
The "It" people?
Will it be those who have long lists of credentials? Doctorates, Masters, even Fellows?
Will it be those who wear "fasting," or any other form of suffering as a picture of their holiness?
No. No. No. No!
It will be the humble, child-like, desperately sought innocent one who needs Him.
The one who loves Him...
Matt. 22:37 ESV
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
And loves the soul He has brought to your feet today needing Him...
Matt. 22:39 ESV
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
And, now, after putting all of those words out there from my heart, I've read this very powerful message from C. S. Lewis on "The Weight of Glory."
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe how it mirrors everything we are saying here in our "Starbucks" female friendship!
I pray that each one of you will take the time and the deep breath needed to read through this work. Especially the last page. We are immortals and our place of immortality can be divine or terrifying. I've never read such a beautiful and deep discourse of what I am going through right this very minute...loving someone who has cost me tears...trusting The One who is silent...listening for The Whisper of "Come, follow Me."
Annette, of all of us posting today, you are LIVING this right now. I pray that God's Spirit flies swiftly to your friend's daughter and she drinks deeply of His Living Water...
Paste this link in and drink deeply...
http://www.verber.com/mark/xian/weight-of-glory.pdf
I grabbed the link for Weight of Glory and am reading it now. Thank you, thank you!
ReplyDeleteDeborah,
ReplyDeleteThank you ever so much for providing the link to C.S. Lewis The Weight of Glory. I printed it out and am slowing reading it to take it all in. Wow!
Deborah you are definitely a bright "Twinkle" in God's Eye and bless His children as He speaks to us through you.
Bev, I continue to pray for you that God will recieve the Glory through your daily experiences as you find a way to worship through the pain.
This is a song I must Sing,Sylvia
That is one powerful sermon.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many rich thoughts to feast on.
I keep thinking about how our obedience turns to longing...
We don't just follow Him obediently, we long to please Him.
I love you pearls and I hope it ministers to a broken place only Christ can heal. The Weight of Glory. It's like touchable Peace from God. You feel Him. And it is a light yoke to carry.