Smallest Seed

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'

questionsfacingmen.wordpress.com "Go tell that fox!" said Jesus one time. "Fox" is a crafty or tricky person, like how unscrupulous politicians are. It's not a good word to describe the top leader of your nation. Jesus was referring to King Herod who supposedly wanted to kill him. Not very nice of Jesus, was it? Well, not very nice of Herod, too. Jesus was frank and honest. He wasn't one to flatter people with nice but inapt words. When Jesus spoke, you always got what you deserved, although his grace made sure you didn't get it full-swing. Most pastors have been accustomed to being too nice to people, sometimes even overly too nice to the point of aiming to over-please everyone at all times. In fact, most ministries are actually PR organizations designed primarily to keep people feeling good about themselves and pampered and spoiled---so they'd keep coming back to church every Sunday. I've always wondered why Jesus was different. H

blogs.thegospelcoalition.org You can grab as many people as you want to become members of your church. But those you can actually raise up to be fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ depends on how many people the Father draws to you. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. [John 6.44] The principle applies to Jesus and all his true followers---no on can come to you to be raised up by you unless the Father draws them to you. If say, the Father draws only 10 people to you and you have a thousand church members, the 990 others will just play church. They may be very active members and "supporters" in the eyes of men, but they will never bear good fruit, fruit that God looks for in a believer. Aside from the fruit of the Spirit [Galatians 5], the fruit God looks for is this: If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing...This is to my Father’s glory, th

celebrationpublications.org There are those in church who are rich and there are those who are poor. There are rich churches and poor churches. There are rich pastors and poor pastors. Why is this? God has a wonderful plan here. If we obey his Word, no one in the body of Christ would be too rich or too poor. We see this in these passages: "However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today."[Deuteronomy 15.4] But what if there were poor people among them nonetheless? This was God's formula: "If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need." It's clear. God'