Are You, "Instructed Concerning the Kingdom of Heaven"?

"Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."  (Jesus)

Much of the history of Christendom is a selective history.  By that I mean we tend to obey, "the words of God," which we want to obey, and disobey those which we do not want to obey.  This of course is no religion at all except the religion of pick-and-choose, a religion of one's own creation, a religion of convenience, a religion which is drawn upon only when I need it.  This is not, "the faith of Jesus."  This is the faith of me, "the opiate of the People."

If I am, "instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven," I will not live like this.  As one example, I will read Leviticus as regularly as I read John or the Psalms.  I will read Ezekiel as regularly as Ephesians.  Thus, I will be, "like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."  Yet for far too many there are seasons, or for some, all their life, in which they live in a sort of desperation for, "things new."  This is in some measure what Bonhoeffer was referring to in the quote I shared yesterday:  "Our quiet reflection on a section of Scripture may yield astonishingly fresh insights.  It more often yields the familiar.  This should not be seen as a problem....Hearing God's message again and again may not arouse our excitement, but it may sustain us in the walk of faith.  Moreover, the old needs to be frequently reappropriated, for it is easily forgotten or lost."

Of course we know that there is more to walking in Jesus Christ than reading the Bible, but I submit to you that life, "concerning the kingdom of heaven," begins in, "The Word of God," Jesus and His Words, "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God...."  Before man "prayed," He heard the Word of God.  Before man married, worked, before the People of God did missions, helped the poor, evangelized, worshipped, did anything, He heard, "The Word of God...Whom God has sent [to] speak[] the words of God."

Have you "forgotten or lost" anything which Jesus has sown into you?  Are there, "things...old," which have been sacrificed to, "things new," things which you need to, "bring out of [your] treasure"?

Father, in Jesus' Name, show me anything which I have neglected which I greatly need.  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

A Prophetic Word for the "Now Church"

"Then He said to them, 'Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.'" (Matthew 13:52)

From time to time my favorite "devotional" people, Spurgeon, Chambers, and Bonhoeffer, have something I pass on to you.  Today is such a day.   

The following thought from Dietrich Bonhoeffer is so timely for especially those who consider themselves "mature Christians."  And, it is a word to the charismatic community, who has for decades propagated, whether knowingly or not, the stigma of walk-only-in-the-new-and-exciting revelation.  I have noticed now for some years that even great songs which were sung as recently as 10 to 20 years ago are no longer in much of Christendom.  Old is not good.  Everything must be "up-to-date."  The same "spirit" is at work in people who rarely read the Bible.  To them, it is repetition after repetition.  No, it is not; it is the very Breath of God Himself.  I pray if you or anyone you know is in any of the aforementioned categories, you will receive a word, based on our text, from one of the great Churchman in Church History.

"It is not necessary that we should discover new ideas in our meditation.  It is sufficient if the word, as we read and understand it, penetrates and dwells within us."  (From his work, Life Together)

"Our quiet reflection on a section of Scripture may yield astonishingly fresh insights.  It more often yields the familiar.  This should not be seen as a problem.  Our life needs maintenance as much as it should experience bursts of creativity.  Hearing God's message again and again may not arouse our excitement, but it may sustain us in the walk of faith.  Moreover, the old needs to be frequently reappropriated, for it is easily forgotten or lost.  Thought: That which we repeatedly think about and embrace as truth will become an integral part of our lives." (Bonhoeffer)

Father, in Jesus' Name, keep this thought ever in me.  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

The Word of Christmas

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in thee last days spoken to us in His Son...."  (Hebrews 1:1, 2)

The carol declares that it was "on a cold winter's night."  We don't know about that, but we are eternally thankful for that night whatever the temperature.  "Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night."  Our text declares that the night time "appearing" was really a "speaking"--- and what a "Word" is Jesus.

"....At various times and in various ways," the Living Triune God had spoken to humanity.  But in the Babe of Bethlehem He spoke the "final" Word.  He was, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  Now, you and I and any of the human race who so desire Him may receive Him.  The carol says, "No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in."  Meekness is the key in our relationship in the Godhead.  "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,"----------------------- and everything which comes, "from the hand of God."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You for the speaking Babe of Bethlehem.  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

American "Thanksgiving" Declaration of a Great American President

If you have never read Abraham Lincoln's declaration of a National Day of Thanksgiving, I very highly recommend it.  For those of you whose homes are in other nations, this is the National Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America.  The following is the original declaration by the great American President, Abraham Lincoln, which made the last Thursday of November the national "Thanksgiving Day."  How I pray for another such President.

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By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.  Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2