RE: Feed Back!

Matthew 17:14-20
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before Him. 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.
16 I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him."
17 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me."
18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?"
20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

I asked for some feed back on the above passage 27 days ago and was pleasantly surprised to receive a lot of good insights and different points of view. Today my mind came back to this scripture, however, and so I thought I’d add a point I have previously overlooked. It is a witness on the character and wonderful life of Jesus.
In these verses Jesus’ disciples were unable to heal a man’s son and so the man took his plea strait to the author of faith and life. Jesus responded in quite a confusing way. He didn’t say to the man “go your faith has made him well.” He responded with some harsh yet necessary words of tough love, and then proceeded to heal the boy.
Now this is the interesting point that was solidified in my mind today. Jesus still healed the boy! The disciples lacked faith at this point to heal the child and apparently their faith was smaller than a mustard seed. Yet Jesus with them remained faithful, even when they were faithless. I love to see that testimony in this scripture because that is an important part of Christ. He was/is both full of mercy and faith. When our lives doubt, or our faith shrinks in fear, Christ in us remains faithful. Christ in us heals the broken hearted releases the captives and declares the glory of our God! If our faith is weak and cannot move mountains, Christ’s Spirit in us and with us strengthens our faith and does the deeds we couldn’t yet perform. In short this passage of His word shows us how we are, in Him, made complete. With Jesus in our lives, He proclaimed that greater things we would accomplish then He did while on this earth. Not because of our great faith in God but because of our faith in a Great God. He is our King of kings and savior who is full of mercy and grace. Let us never disown His rightful place in our hearts and then nothing will be impossible to us! (That’s including overcoming a twisted nature which is prone to wonder, and even one lacking a mustard seed worth of faith)

If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself. 2 timothy 2:12-13

The Farmer in all of us!

I was doing my nightly meditation before sleep and thinking about the parable of the sower lately and God showed me something new I had previously overlooked.

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."

I have usually always previously taken the position of the seed in the soil and had often wondered whether I was the seed planted in good soil bearing fruit or that in the thorns being choked by "weeds." However, this time I saw that because of Jesus’ life giving Spirit in us, I could be the sower of the seed. Also I found it fascinating that the sower in the parable spread the word everywhere. He hadn't spent years cultivating the perfect soil or learning the ancient lost art of seed planting and irrigation. He was a farmer who simply spread his crop generously around knowing that the nature of the seed will take hold and grow as it was planned and created to function. I think sometimes we imagine that sharing the "good news" has to be more difficult and complex than Jesus had intended it to be. When all we were instructed with is the sharing of His word and gospel with those who can listen and receive it. He has made His word with the power to take root in their heart WITHOUT necessarily needing our clever explanations to be ready before we can share it, because that is the nature of His word. It is both the power and the wisdom of God to those who believe.

Hear then the parable of the sower. "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

Here's an awesome verse full of promise and hope for both the seed in us and the sower:
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1 12-13

I’m not saying I never have taken the position of the sower before but that I more frequently (I don’t know why) assume the position of the seed.

Fact for the day: Did you know that the George means farmer or "earthworker" and that George just happens to be one of my middle names. Coincidence?... I don't think so!

Extremely Shocking News!

I found an elephant in my pajamas, how an elephant got into my pajamas I shall never know! HAHAHAHAHA!

For more great jokes like the one above just watch movies like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

Now, do you want to hear a dirty joke?

A man on horseback fell into a mud puddle HAHAHAHA!

April fool!

Disclaimer: This news was neither extreme nor shocking nor news!

P.S. for more great April fools day fun check the comments portion of this blog!