Smallest Seed

theregister.co.uk A lot of church people believe God even if they don't understand most of what he's saying in the bible. For instance, churches still hold on to their denominations even if Jesus already revealed in his prayer how God wants all believers to be completely united [John 17.23]. I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. It is commendable to believe even if you don't see (John 20.29), but God wants us all to believe and understand. It's difficult to genuinely believe and be sold out to something you do not understand. Some say we cannot entirely understand everything about God. True, but still we need to understand what he reveals to us. The revealed things belong to us and to our children forever [Deuteronomy 29.29]. And anyway, we need to deeply understand how God wants us to "have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that (we) may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ," [Colossians 2.2].

jaxfellowship.org Why are the  poor in spirit  blessed? It baffles me each time I ponder on this passage, especially today when you see almost no one in church desiring to be poor in spirit. Is there? They all want to be somebody---they want titles, degrees, positions, recognition, the most number of members, the highest church income, the mega-est church of all. You can be poor in spirit even with all the above---prestige and even riches---but the problem is, I have yet to see someone who is. Well, there's Mother Teresa. Who else? Most of us just want to talk about ourselves and what we do and have [1 John 2.16]: For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. I also wonder why Jesus made poor in spirit number one among his Beatitude teachings, considered by many as his centerpiece teaching. Wouldn't God re

velopeter.dk The least is the greatest in the Kingdom of God. Before God uses anyone, he or she must first be the greatest in the Kingdom. So that person must be the least . Being the least , especially being least in the eyes of men---this is the main ingredient before God uses you powerfully. So He takes you to the desert. Jesus was taken to the desert as soon as he came out in the power of the Holy Spirit from being baptized. After a bathing of tremendous power like that, you need the wilderness experience to keep you humble. Only power made perfect in weakness can defeat Satan in the wilderness, not positions, money, achievements, degrees, titles, or anything valued by the world. Thus, the Holy Spirit immediately led Jesus to the desert so he can remain the least . John the baptizer was son of Zechariah the priest. Being priest, Zechariah led a materially abundant life. Priests and Levites were well fed and provided for as indicated in Deuteronomy 18. They had no inheri

www.gettyimages.com I've always been intrigued by Jesus' disinterest in people. No doubt, he had compassion on them. He loved them. But he always reserved an element of detachment. Some may call it objectivity, perhaps. I prefer calling it disinterest . For instance, he just let the rich young ruler walk away. This rich, young guy was the ideal church member---dedicated to Scriptures, rich, a leader and young and idealistic. What pastor is going to let someone like that get away after coming to him to seek advice? Most pastors would entertain and grab him for membership. But not Jesus. He simply watched him walk away. He loved him, but he was disinterested about him. Interested people would have gone after him, taken his address and visited him often for follow up. That's what pastors are trained to do. And who wouldn't want Nicodemus, teacher of Israel and respected member of the powerful Sanhedrin, as his follower or even church member? Imagine an i

www.dreamstime.com You may be wondering---why do we need to receive Jesus Christ into our hearts and why does he have to enter into our bodies? Why can't God just declare us saved once we have faith in him? Jesus has to enter our bodies because he needs to be revealed in us. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. [2 Corinthians 4.10-11] How important is Christ being in us? Paul described it simply: "Christ in you the hope of glory." It's God's plan to glorify Jesus Christ in our bodies. Thus, we have to receive him, invite him to enter our bodies---our lives---so we can reveal him in these last days. The idea is to form Christ in us: My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, [Galatians 4.

Just before Jesus Christ comes back and just before the anti-Christ appears in public, what do you think is God's last move for the church? Would it be great revival or destruction of the church? As the years pass, we see more churches growing bigger and more people getting attracted to them, even among showbiz folks. A lot more people are sounding more spiritual on TV and online. Even on social media, more people are posting bible passages on their walls and more people are liking them, even typing "Amen!" to show their approval. More people are also actively commenting on Christian or theology pages on Facebook. More excitingly, a lot of new churches are popping up everywhere. Does this mean more people are turning to Christ and the Gospel is really being preached to the ends of the earth? Or is God doing something else somewhere---something totally different than the good and encouraging positive things we are seeing today? Just because we enjoy God'