Luke

What is the Kingdom of God Really Like? (Luke 13)

mustard seeds

18 So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

Have you ever wondered what the Kingdom of God is really like? Or maybe you’ve heard the term, read about it even, but it still seems hard to get clear in your mind?

In the two verse above, Jesus tells us what the Kingdom of God is:

A Seed – it carries life. A seed carries within it the ability to reproduce itself. It is created for this purpose. So too the Kingdom of God is carried in seed form.
It starts small – a mustard seed is exceedingly small and easy to overlook. In fact, we are told a man “threw it”. The Kingdom of God’s true value and worth is often overlooked and discarded.
It is planted by man – I love that God chooses to use and involve man in His work. The Kingdom of God belongs to God but is for people and is spread to people by people.
The Seed’s Destiny is to become a tree – The seed of the Kingdom, when planted, does not remain a small, insignificant seed. It grows into a life-giving tree. So too the Kingdom of God, if received, grows and gives life!
The Tree Grows and Impacts its surrounds – The seed grows into a tree and the tree creates an improved environment for those around it. Branches provide shelter for birds, the canopy provides shade, sustenance is provided by its fruit and nuts, new life comes as a result of the ecosystem it produces, reproduction occurs as a result of it’s seed. So too the living active Kingdom of God!

The Kingdom of God brings life and life more abundantly! That is the nature of God and His rulership in our lives. Embrace it and partake in it today!

PRAYER: Father, thank you for your kingdom rule. I submit to your lordship today in my life. I ask you to bring about your new life in and through me today Lord. Im Jesus name, Amen.

A Religious Spirit (Luke 6)

Religious

Luke 6:10-11 says:

He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

This is a wicked spirit of religion. The spirit of religion gets “furious” and violent with anger if someone gets healed but not in the way they deem acceptable.

Anytime you encounter someone display anger at the working of the Holy Spirit to heal, redeem, deliver or restore be exceedingly wary; they may possess this same spirit.

We all have preferences, opinions and points of view on how we believe things should be done, or what is of greatest importance, or even to what we are accustomed and comfortable. But anytime we react strongly to this being crossed we risk coming into a place of opposing the work of God over our own preferences and ideals. And that’s a dangerous place to be.

In fact the stronger our reaction to things that produce kingdom fruit, that go against our accepted means, styles, methods and preferences, the stronger possibility a religious spirit is at work within us.

The true root of a religious spirit is pride. It says “I know better than God”. That is also what lucifer said in leading a rebellion against heaven. And it is why God says “I oppose the proud, but give grace to the humble” (James 4:6)

PRAYER: Father, examine my heart and enable me to re-order my beliefs according to your truth. I humble myself before you and confess your ways are perfect and I can trust them. Thank you for the work of your Spirit in my life Lord, in Jesus name, Amen.

New Wine and New Wineskins (Luke 5)

New wine

Luke 5 verse 38 and 39 says:

38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”

Wineskins are the animal hide containers used to transport and dispense wine. Wineskins are the structures, the methods and means by which the wine to given to people.

Biblically, the new wine is the new work, the new move, the new thing that the Spirit of God is doing through the new covenant of Jesus Christ. The first issue is you need the new wine! We need what God is doing today instead of living on the memory of encounters and seasons with God long since past.

With the new wine, you also need a new wineskin. The new wine of God requires a new structure and framework to stretch and grow with the new wine. As the new wine settles, so does the new wineskin to accommodate it.

BUT interestingly Jesus also tells us something important here. He says, if you give people the choice they will take the OLD wine over the NEW wine any day. Yes, that’s right the old over the new. Why is that?

In the natural, people have the view that older wine has a more mature, refined taste. It has had time to settle and the flavours become more subtle. In the Spirit, it is the same. People are more acclimatised to the “taste” of the old wine. They believe what God did then was better than what we see and experience now.

This is a mindset we all need to overcome. The shape of the wineskin – new or old – is irrelevant if we are clinging to the old wine. Wine eventually spoils. Wine does have a “good by” date.

What God has done in the past we give Him praise for. But let’s not allow it spoil our taste for what is to come, lest we settle for sipping on spoiled vinegar instead enjoying His finest of fare.

PRAYER: Father, I ask you to help embrace the new wine that you are wanting to pour out in my life. I trust you Lord and know that you are good. Thank you Holy Spirit for your refreshing in me, In Jesus name, Amen.

Preparing the Way (Luke 3)

Mountain Path

Luke 3:4-6 says:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

John the Baptist is who the above passage was written about. His purpose was as one who went before the coming of Jesus, the messiah, and prepared people for His coming.

In the same way, God is preparing His people today to be forerunners like John the Baptist for the second coming of Jesus.

If you know Jesus, one of your purposes is to be used by God so that others may also know Him. Our job is to “make ready the way of the Lord”. Why do we do this? So that “all flesh will see the salvation of God”.

How do do this? We make “crooked roads straight, rough roads smooth, low valleys will be lifted and high mountains brought low”. In other words, we remove any barriers to people being brought to Jesus.

Preparing the way for the return of Jesus requires being a bridge to people, doing the heavy ground work of prayer and fasting, humbling ourselves from self-exalted mountain-tops, lifting others from deep in the valleys of darkness and despair, and lifting the name of Jesus with our “voice calling in the wilderness”.

Jesus is coming back. We need to get ready and take others with us.

Luke

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