Our Truest and Highest Value Is Released After We Are Crushed

Matthew 13:32
It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
The mustard seed is very small.  To look at it, one might assume that this seed could never be anything significant.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  When the mustard seed germinates from the tiniest of beginnings, it blossoms into one of the largest plants in any garden.  But more impressive than its growth is its utility.  As a tree, it provides food and shelter for the birds that it attracts.  But it is as an herb that it provides its greater value as a savory delight for man.  It is important to note that the true and highest value of the mustard seed is seen only after it has been crushed.
The mustard seed parable was taught by Jesus in order to illustrate the growth, development and power of our faith.  Our faith starts out as a seed planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  It starts out small at first, but when properly nourished grows into something so large that it changes how we live and how we serve God.  In the early stages of our development as disciples of Jesus Christ, it is likely that we will draw others to us for peace and comfort.  But our greater value to them will come later as we mature in Christ.  When we have been pressed by our trials, perhaps even crushed by them, the best that we have to offer to anyone will be released.  It will be then that those who have been drawn to us will receive the full power of who we are in Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for planting a seed of love within our hearts.  Thank You for the nurturing care of the Holy Spirit in our lives that that stirs our hearts and feeds our faith   We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to nourish and care for the seed of eternal love within us.  We pray for the grace and the strength that we need to endure the trials in our lives which will press the best from us as we mature in our relationship with Our Savior.  May the world be drawn to us to savor the fullness of Christ within us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb Slain, Jesus Christ.

Obey and You Will Be Told What to Do

Acts 9:6
But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.
Paul’s writings provide the foundational truths upon which our faith in Jesus Christ is built.  But as great as Paul’s writings were, his living testimony may have provided even more valuable teachings to those who are seeking to be disciples of Our Savior.  
In Acts, we read that before Paul was given any responsibility, before he was given any spiritual task, he was simply asked to “rise and enter the city.”  If Paul had failed to be obedient in following this simple command, we would not have all the writings of Paul in the Bible.  Some other obedient man would be there in his place.  But Paul was obedient in this first dramatic calling and to all the others that the Lord issued to Him, so he became one of the greatest men in all of the Bible.  His teachings have been a blessing to generations of people throughout the ages.  His legacy continues to live on today.
The other thing that we learn about Paul is that he never sought the favor he received. He only sought the one who called Him.  So it is with us.  We will receive favor from the Lord, not because we seek favor but because we seek Him.  Let us be mindful of Paul’s example.  All the good things that we receive from the Lord here on earth and in heaven will be because we sought the Lord and we were obedient to his calling.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for calling us to Yourself.  We seek You, Lord.  We humbly come before You and ask forgiveness for all the times that we have fallen short in our obedience to You.  We pray that You will strike us down like You did Paul, so that we may see how we have offended You and so that we may turn our lives toward the path that You direct us.  May the Holy Spirit guide us, inspire us and provide our strength to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy.  May we learn to be slaves to Jesus Christ and not slaves to this world.  May Your grace be with us always.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.  

Going Beyond Our Natural Ability

1 Corinthians 2:4
And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Why is it that when we pray in public we are so concerned about how we sound?  This pride can limit the power of the Holy Spirit.  We can actually block the movement of the Holy Spirit by putting ourselves in the way.  In an effort to impress men, we can hinder the movement of God in their lives and our own.
The truth of the matter is that we will never reach our full potential as disciples of Jesus Christ if we concern ourselves with the accolades of others.  The only person that we need to concern ourselves with is the person of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.
It is part of our ongoing spiritual maturation to learn to let go of our desires to please man in all that we do.  We must learn to let the Holy Spirit help and guide us as we seek to please God first.  We must learn to trust that supernatural power can be released through us simply by following the urgings of the Holy Spirit.  We must humbly accept that all the good work that comes from what we do is the result of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  If we surrender to the urgings of the Holy Spirit, we will experience an extraordinary release of power in our lives…well beyond our imagination and certainly well beyond our natural capability. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for equipping us through the Holy Spirit to please You in all that we do.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will show us how to let go of our old nature – the desire to please men – and will enlighten us to put You first in all things.  May we see the release of fruit in our lives as we allow the Holy Spirit to inspire us to do Your good works.  We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

Trials Define Who We Are in Christ

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

It is very easy to become frustrated, concerned, depressed, or even angry, when things seem to be piling up against us.  We must recognize and celebrate that God works in all things.  He is not absent during the bad times.  He is taking every element of our circumstances and using them to sculpt who we are.  As we mature in our relationship with God, we learn to understand that the work that He does in us during the times of trial defines who we are in Jesus Christ.  Even more so as we grow in Christ, we learn to find comfort, even joy, in every step that we take under the divine care of Almighty God.

This supernatural joyful comfort that we come to experience in the face of the pressures of the world defies the emotion that our flesh demands.  Through our trials, our faith carries us and builds us up where carnal men lose hope and are broken down.  We come to learn that God has allowed us to be where we are and even though we cannot see it at times, He is controlling all things in our lives.  Ultimately, regardless of what external ministry to which He may call any of us, He calls each of us by His special grace from darkness to light and from bondage to liberty according to the eternal purpose that He has set aside for us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your sovereign rule over our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that we can find peace in You when the world is offering us none.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will will strengthen us when the world tries to weaken us.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will turn us back to the light of victory when the world is trying to turn us to the darkness of defeat.  We pray that through it all our trust in You will be complete as we are delivered into Your will and plan for our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Mighty in Battle, Jesus Christ.

We Have Become Debtors to All Men

Romans 1:14
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
Paul was inspired by his view that Jesus Christ was his spiritual creditor.  He was constantly driven to impart all that he had received from Jesus to the world around him.  It was impossible for him to contain what he had been given through grace.  So it should be with us.
Redeemed by the blood, and converted by the grace of the Lord Jesus, we are altogether His.  For His sake we are debtors to all men.  To serve all men is our duty.  We should readily impart to others what God has trusted to us.  We should rejoice to make others joyful.  We should take pleasure in communing with those who believe the same things with us.
We cannot contain what has been poured out upon us.  We should prepare ourselves to be founts of living water.  We must let the love of Our Savior spill out from us to the world.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You providing Your Son, Jesus, to cleanse us of our sin debt for all eternity.  Inspire us, Lord, to understand that through the gift of salvation we have become debtors to all men.   Show us how to repay that debt through the services that You call us to do.  Teach us how to impart the joy that You have given us.  Equip us to share the good news with those who You bring into our lives.  We pray that it may all be done for the honor and glory of the Blessed Trinity.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Glorious Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Only One Vision Holds Substance and Value

Isaiah 6:1
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
As we read in this scripture, Isaiah had a vision of the Lord after the death of a major figure in his life, King Uzziah.  We, too, often get visions that are brought on by life changing moments – passing of family members or close friends, brokenness in personal relationships, challenging financial times or significant injury or illness.  It is natural for us to question our direction when these life altering events occur.
Too often we try to rebuild our lives based on our earthly vision of our work, our family or some particular passion (maybe even a ministerial one) that we have for this world.  All is for naught until we realize that there is only one vision of substance and value – the unique vision created by Almighty God that aligns with His will and purpose for our lives.
Only when we cast our visions through His focus, can we become truly fruitful.  We must go to the Throne Room and seek to learn God’s perfect plan for our lives. Until then we are building stacks of stubble and hay.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing events in our lives that force us to seek You first.  Help us, Father, to keep our eyes on Your Throne and Your Glory.  May the trappings of the world never again form the foundations of our visions.  May You alone be our blessed hope and assurance.  We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

Living in the Fullness of the Promises of God’s Holy Word

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
God’s Word contains literally thousands of promises waiting to be claimed by faith.  Everyone of them are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and everyone of them can be fulfilled in our lives as we come into agreement with Our Savior. 
Each of the promises of God are meant for our good.  All of His promises are waiting for us to discover and claim in His Holy Word.  Each promise as we find them, delights us and strengthens us.  Yet within the thousands of promises, we are sure to delight most in the seven promises below which might be regarded as the cornerstones of our faith.
  • God has promised to supply every need we have. Phillipians 4:19
  • God has promised that His grace is sufficient for us. 2 Corinthians 12:9
  • God has promised that His children will not be overtaken with temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13
  • God has promised us victory over death. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57
  • God has promised that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully. Romans 8:28
  • God has promised that those who believe in Jesus and are baptized will be saved. Mark 16:16
  • God has promised His people eternal life. John 10:28

The Body of Christ, resting on the cornerstones of faith, is made alive through all of the promises and power made available through Jesus Christ.  As we cling to Our Savior, all of the promises of heaven pour out on us and we become a living vessel created to deliver on the promises of Almighty God.
Let us use what God has given us to contribute to the Body of Christ.   Let us receive from the Body of Christ what God has prepared for us.  Let us live in the fullness of all that has been set aside for us through Our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that all of Your promises to us have been secured by Your Son, Jesus.  We ask that the Holy Spirit may inspire us to search Your Holy Word for all the promises that have been set aside for us.  We seek to wield the power of these promises in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  May the Holy Spirit show us how to claim our eternal privileges by proclaiming Your Holy Word.  May the Body of Christ be truly alive because we are alive in Christ.  We ask all these things in the name of the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

We Should Never Stand Alone

Ephesians 4:13
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Paul teaches that Jesus gave His church these gifts: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers.  He provided these gifts so that the Body of Christ could be prepared to be His perfect bride.  We are all called to learn from the gifted ministers that are placed in our lives.  At some level, we are also called to express the gifts given to us so that we may fulfill our responsibilities in the Body of Christ.
God in His sovereign rule placed each of us exactly where He wants us.  He did not place us where we are to stand alone.  He placed each of us in a place that is linked perfectly with the world around us for the good of the Body of Christ.
Each one of us is called to be both a receptor of light and a beacon of light.  It is our individual responsibility to let God work in us by seeking out and receiving the ministerial gifts offered by the Body of Christ.  It then becomes our responsibility to let God work through us as we become active vessels of His perfect gifts to build up the Body of Christ . 
We must continually ask ourselves, “Am I building myself up in Christ?   Am I also building up the Body of Christ?  We will be measuring up to the complete and full standard of Our Savior when we are maturing in Christ as both a student and as a teacher.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for placing us among family, friends, neighbors and co-workers who, through Your handiwork, will help perfect us in Christ.  We thank You for giving us the opportunity to help perfect them by following the urgings of the Holy Spirit in our lives.   We praise Your name for giving us this magnificent Body of Christ here on earth so that we can learn to measure up to the full and complete standard of Our Savior.  May we live our lives for Your glory and for the good of Your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our King and Our Master, Jesus Christ.

The Abounding Comfort of His Love

2 Corinthians 1:5
For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
As the Body of Christ, we identify with Christ’s suffering on the Cross.  We are crucified with Him.  We share in the physical sufferings of Christ because we suffer for the same cause.  He endured the highest level of suffering for the remission of our sins.  We suffer with Him as we confess our culpability for putting Him on the Cross.  As result of His suffering and ours, we are given the abundant comfort of eternal life.
On a different level, Jesus Christ considers the sufferings of His corporate body to be His own personal suffering.  He identifies Himself completely and directly with His church.  So everything that we suffer in life, Jesus shares in.  This is especially true of those things that we suffer for His name’s sake.  But as we suffer with Christ, we receive the abounding comfort of His love.
Whether we are dealing with the physical or personal suffering of Jesus Christ, He provides the strength and comfort that we need to overcome the suffering that we endure.  He supplies it abundantly so that we are never asked to suffer more than we can handle.  Through His grace we are provided hope and joy under the heaviest of sorrows and suffering.  Ultimately, we are made cheerful in our suffering so that we may be made useful and comforting to others.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to comfort us in all of our suffering.  We humbly ask forgiveness for putting Your Son on the Cross because of our inequity.  We ask that we may suffer crucifixion with Jesus as we die to our old selves and take on our new lives in Christ.  We pray that everything that we suffer in life be for the glory of Our Savior.  May we always be cognizant of His personal and physical suffering.  May we suffer as He suffered for the same cause.  May both the suffering we go through and the abundant comfort that we receive result in eternal good for ourselves and for those around us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Worthy Lamb, Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s Provision for Individual and Corporate Increase

1 Thessalonians 3:12
And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word increase means to become or make greater in size, amount, intensity or degree.  It can be assumed that Paul was speaking to all these nuances held in the definition of the word increase when He was writing to the Thessalonians.
It is certain that Paul was encouraging the Thessalonians to continue to increase in numbers just as all the other early Christian churches were doing.  It was his prayer that the Lord would cause them to increase through the abounding love that they would have for one another and for the world around them.
It is just as certain that Paul was also teaching that as the Lord provided for their increase in numbers that He would necessarily provide them with an increase in the intensity and fullness of His love.  Thus these early Christians would have the increase in the amount of love that they would need to win the world for Jesus Christ.  It would, in fact, be their cup spilling over with His perfect love that would draw others to their church and to Christ Himself. 
And it would also be in accordance with all of Paul’s other teachings for him to be praying that the Lord would increase the Thessalonians in one other area.  Paul was surely praying that there would be an increase in the degree of holiness, humility, knowledge and spiritual joy that would be poured out upon the Thessalonians in the form of the grace of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Their increase as individuals was critical to the growth of the Body of Christ.
And so it is with us.  God calls us to serve Him.  He calls each of us to pour out His perfect love to the world around us so that the Body of Christ may increase.  Subsequent to our obedience, He adds to us and grows us according to His good and perfect will and purpose for our lives.  This process of individual and corporate increase is continuous throughout our lifetimes.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the good and perfect purposes that You have for our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that we will be able to continually serve You, not only on this earth, but also on into eternity.  We pray that You will show us where You are calling us to pour out Your perfect love.  Father, we ask that we never tire of the service that is at hand.  May we always increase in our service to Your kingdom.  We pray, Lord, that we may also increase in our holiness as we serve You.  We ask all these things in the name of our holy and awesome Savior, Jesus Christ.