HAVING A COMPASS WITH PARABLES
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
I am beginning to see the great need to deal with the parables from Jesus with great care because we as Christians have just been plain sloppy with how we have been using the truth within them. With each of these parables Jesus often starts with the words " The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto". As we heard those words again on Sunday morning it made me think for a moment...How is this like unto the Kingdom of Heaven for me?
I began to realize how very personal I need to make the parable that I was about to hear, and how was it going to fit in some way into my personal walk with God? I needed to have some kind of direction in what I was doing. With each one of these parables I needed to relate beyond just it having been a good story to hear; I had to find a way to relate what was being said to something within my own life...and at first that was hard for me to do. I needed to get real personal with some of this just as though God was trying to say something to me personally. After a long time of trying to look at the word of God as a personal love letter to me; for me to understand that these parable also had that same personal intent was a bit easier.
Is there some kind of common place where we can all come when we deal with parables? I don't think there is a grocery list we can have that always works, but I do believe for each of us there is an attitude that we need to have in coming to any of God's word. We must first humble ourselves in such a way that we are teachable by God's Spirit. 1. Even before we begin to seek answers from the word about anything we need to really take the time to meditate and cleanse our minds of the things of this world. That is a kind of way of allowing God to help us get our spiritual barrings. We all need to realize that we are coming to God out of life's "Mix Master" of a world that is doing nothing but stirring things up in our minds and hearts...we need some time to calm down! 2. We need some time to real talk with the Lord and communicate to Him and allow Him to speak to us before we buzz saw our way into the quickest way to get what we want and then run. We are asking our Father to tell us a story that we can learn from. We are asking the Holy Spirit to teach us greater understanding, so we cannot just run through a series of canned things we do with God and call it " Good Enough".
Each of these parables has a relationship with us behind it somewhere, and we need to take the time to find it. We cannot say that is impossible with God because we know that is not true. There is a stabilizing place to always go to find answers, but it always begins with attitude. It may even have to do with what parable you choose and when in your life you are dealing with it...so keep an open mind. These parables for me have often become little pictures or snap-shots of who I either am or who I have been at some point in my life that I have been able to use for spiritual growth. By now I have experienced most of these stories in some way in my life. I spoke briefly not long ago about what we experience in this life helping to teach us or prepare us to have a heart of mercy for what others are going through; we can also use experience to help us with a stable approach to understanding these parables. I will be speaking at the Gathering this Sunday morning on Hidden Treasures. Pray for me and that the Holy Spirit would speak through me in a clear way. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
I am beginning to see the great need to deal with the parables from Jesus with great care because we as Christians have just been plain sloppy with how we have been using the truth within them. With each of these parables Jesus often starts with the words " The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto". As we heard those words again on Sunday morning it made me think for a moment...How is this like unto the Kingdom of Heaven for me?
I began to realize how very personal I need to make the parable that I was about to hear, and how was it going to fit in some way into my personal walk with God? I needed to have some kind of direction in what I was doing. With each one of these parables I needed to relate beyond just it having been a good story to hear; I had to find a way to relate what was being said to something within my own life...and at first that was hard for me to do. I needed to get real personal with some of this just as though God was trying to say something to me personally. After a long time of trying to look at the word of God as a personal love letter to me; for me to understand that these parable also had that same personal intent was a bit easier.
Is there some kind of common place where we can all come when we deal with parables? I don't think there is a grocery list we can have that always works, but I do believe for each of us there is an attitude that we need to have in coming to any of God's word. We must first humble ourselves in such a way that we are teachable by God's Spirit. 1. Even before we begin to seek answers from the word about anything we need to really take the time to meditate and cleanse our minds of the things of this world. That is a kind of way of allowing God to help us get our spiritual barrings. We all need to realize that we are coming to God out of life's "Mix Master" of a world that is doing nothing but stirring things up in our minds and hearts...we need some time to calm down! 2. We need some time to real talk with the Lord and communicate to Him and allow Him to speak to us before we buzz saw our way into the quickest way to get what we want and then run. We are asking our Father to tell us a story that we can learn from. We are asking the Holy Spirit to teach us greater understanding, so we cannot just run through a series of canned things we do with God and call it " Good Enough".
Each of these parables has a relationship with us behind it somewhere, and we need to take the time to find it. We cannot say that is impossible with God because we know that is not true. There is a stabilizing place to always go to find answers, but it always begins with attitude. It may even have to do with what parable you choose and when in your life you are dealing with it...so keep an open mind. These parables for me have often become little pictures or snap-shots of who I either am or who I have been at some point in my life that I have been able to use for spiritual growth. By now I have experienced most of these stories in some way in my life. I spoke briefly not long ago about what we experience in this life helping to teach us or prepare us to have a heart of mercy for what others are going through; we can also use experience to help us with a stable approach to understanding these parables. I will be speaking at the Gathering this Sunday morning on Hidden Treasures. Pray for me and that the Holy Spirit would speak through me in a clear way. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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