Smallest Seed

In 1933, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created a fictional hero perfect in strength except for a peculiar weakness when exposed to Kryptonite. If folks like them could imagine such perfect strength, so much so should Jesus believers do--they have the power of the Holy Spirit to keep them from spiritual powerlessness and sin. And that power is real, unlike Superman's. The principle behind getting genuinely strong in Christ is getting genuinely weak in this world. Paul disclosed the secret in these words--God's power is made perfect in weakness. What kind of weakness is this? Is this what you hear some church folks say about not being able to do this or that when assigned a church ministry? Is it the propensity to fall into sin because "we're only humans" and "nobody's perfect"? I've heard this excuse before--"Evangelism is not really for me because I don't have the gift for it. I'm just an ordinary, humble Christian." Is thi

The meek will inherit the earth. This is the third teaching of my Jesus in the Beatitudes. Some versions render it gentle and humble in spirit .  Most people have this idea that being meek means docility (easily controlled or managed), extreme tolerance, and being very nice to people. Nothing short of slavery. If you're meek then they should be able to easily enslave you and order you around. Strangely, this was not how my Jesus was. He was, of all people, impossible to control or manage. Not even Herod or the Roman Empire was able to do that. And definitely, he was never Mr Nice Guy. What then is being meek? Jesus gave us a hint what Kingdom meekness was when he gave the Sermon on the Mount, talking about being poor in spirit, mourning, being desperate for righteousness, being merciful, etc. But then, talking about being merciful and peace makers, Jesus lambasted religious leaders of his time without mercy, calling them fools, hypocrites, white-washed tombs, and hin

Ransacked! If you have been successful (more so materially), you gain friends. People befriend you. You become Mr or Ms Popular. And the tickling accolades that overfeed the ego deaden your senses. Pride deadens discernment. Moreover, it weakens God's flesh on you. Success that breeds a spirit of pride is like a magnet that attracts betrayal. People befriend you for ulterior motives. It's dog-eat-dog out there, people using each other for mundane glory. You give them your hand and they gobble up your arm. The worse part is that, you'd never suspect it. Pride has this curse. Because of her success, Edom was able to form alliances with other nations. Acceptance into alliances, even today, can make you wallow in pride, because only the successful are recognized and permitted entry into them. While she was rich the alliance was secure. While she was able to offer things and grant demands to her allies, the going was great. Later, however, her "friends"

Perfection Comes from Failures Edom was enjoying the height of pride, until one day he mused: "Who has the power to bring me down to the ground?" Success has the tendency to deceive. It's better to face failures upon failures if it makes you meek and wise. Perfection comes from failures. As you fail and learn you become perfect in Christ. Perfection is not how the world views it, as Edom had once viewed it. Perfection is not an achievement (you can never make it happen); it's an endowment of grace that ever-increases in glory. That's genuine perfection.  Remember, grace is NEVER a license to excuse sin--or even a vehicle to sin less. Grace is power to kick out sin and wickedness from our lives daily [Titus 2.11-12]. The wicked uses grace for a license to sin [Jude verse 4]. Success can easily blur our eyes and make us short-sighted about our life walk. We see only the success at hand, not the subtle attacks of the enemy in the vainglory of succ

Pride in the heart is worse than pride in the mind. Heart pride may even appear meek and lowly but the superiority complex is there deep within. Pride in the mind may be noisy and talkative, but it's often shallow and reversible.  Heart pride is deadly. It is deep seated. It's a stubborn stumbling block. It's something like a pastor who is all-out for his church denomination, vowing to die for it. Does this sound familiar?  "I will die a ________ (name of denomination). These are hopeless conservative and dogmatic ideologues. No different or better from rabid communists or capitalists. They're intellectually unhealthy to be with. Well, it's different if you're unwaveringly proud of Jesus Christ, His Kingdom, and His Word. In this case, you should be rabid to the extreme, though people of man's mind will fear and avoid you. And they are among people most deceived. "Your heart pride has deceived you, you who live in caves on high mountain