Burunche’s Blog

Matthew 21:33-44

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-18)

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.

When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.

Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?”

“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was speaking about them. Although they wanted to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they considered Jesus a prophet.”

Jesus, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO? Jesus has just told the story of the two sons, describing the one who has given lip service to obeying his father, only to fail, while the second has eventually obeyed his father, spending a hot dirty day in the vineyards. At this point, the scribes and Pharisees are fuming! One story told against them is bad enough, but now Jesus is following up with a second story, just in case any of his listeners have failed to get the point.

The professional religious people have spent centuries debating the coming of the Messiah-what will he look like? How will he behave? How should they welcome the Messiah? What place will they have in the Messiah’s kingdom? Now here comes Jesus, exploding all these lovely theories. Surely, surely, surely, Jesus can’t be the Messiah-he doesn’t come from the right place or the right family. Jesus isn’t saying any of the things these men expect the Messiah to say. But what are these men to do with Jesus’ stories?

Jesus is effectively saying that everything these men have treasured for so long is wrong, that they have wasted their lives in arguing over picky points of theology while they discourage common people from following God. These men think they have been looking for the Messiah, but now Messiah has come and he doesn’t fit their preconceived notions.

“When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.” The dirty secret these religious professionals refuse to acknowledge is the abuse, torture, and murder of multiple prophets. Later, Jesus will weep over Jerusalem because of these murders. For example, righteous Isaiah was sawed in two by wicked King Manasseh while the professional religious people remained silent.

“Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”  Now the scribes and Pharisees are really incensed! How dare Jesus imply that they would fail to recognize God’s son and that they would kill him? Perhaps some of the rabble listening so intently to Jesus might do something of the sort, but they would certainly never make such a terrible mistake. We know that Jesus is not merely telling a story but also predicting his eventual death at the hands of these same religious leaders.

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.” By this point, the crowd is fully engaged and is screaming for those horrible men to get the punishment they so richly deserve. The religious leaders, on the other hand, are beginning to wonder if they need to make a strategic retreat.

“Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was speaking about them. Although they wanted to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they considered Jesus a prophet.”

Jesus is referring to himself as “the stone the builders rejected.” Nobody has to tell Jesus what the religious leaders think of him; he certainly knows and that is why he is telling this story. But Jesus is also trying to reach out to these same men, warning them to re-think their whole view of him.

One of the amazing things about Jesus that we may fail to understand is that Jesus loves those sneering religious leaders just as much as he does everyone else in the crowd. Jesus realizes that some of these men truly do want to know God, that not all of them are simply indulging in religious one-upmanship. All the time Jesus is telling these stories, he is hoping and praying that something he says will penetrate their preconceived notions, catching them unawares and prying them out of the hardened carapaces of beliefs in which they have imprisoned their hearts and minds. Jesus hopes that somewhere in that group, those who have been searching for God’s presence will experience a sudden moment of enlightenment and think “Aha!”

The question for us is simple: what kind of vineyard tenants are we? Are we willing to accept Jesus as the son of God, accept what Jesus has done for us, and follow hard after God for the rest of our lives? Are we willing to allow Jesus to turn our cherished beliefs upside down?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, thank You for sending Jesus to die for our sins. Thank You, that You will give us the power to follow hard after You if we only will ask. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

MATTHEW 21:28-32 The Parable of the Two Sons

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.”

Well, there Jesus goes again, offending the religious establishment big-time! Unless you understand the context of this story, you won’t appreciate its full impact to those following Jesus. Jesus has just made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem and has immediately thrown the money changers and sellers of animals out of the temple. The religious teachers are incensed-after all, THEY know what should be happening in the temple and THEY have never seen anything wrong with turning it into a miniature Noah’s ark! There’s also a strong possibility that these same men have been quietly pocketing part of the profits from the sale of animals for sacrifices and the changing of regular money into temple money.

Matthew 21:23-27 tells the story. “Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”

And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

It is after this exchange that Jesus tells the story of the two sons. When John the Baptist came preaching repentance, prostitutes, tax collectors, Roman soldiers, and all kinds of other socially undesirable people swarmed to John, repenting and being baptized. These people never flattered themselves that they were anything other than abject sinners in need of salvation. Those who repented went away with heaven in their faces and changed lives; meanwhile, the religious leaders stood at a distance, mocking them and criticizing them for their failure of doctrinal correctness. The common people KNEW that John was a prophet while the religious establishment refused to accept John’s ministry because they didn’t think he wasn’t one of them. Never mind that John’s father Zachariah was active in the priesthood at the time of John’s birth, for these men, John was a shameless renegade. 

The moral of the story of the two sons is obvious: obedience is better than any amount of words. Centuries earlier, the prophet Samuel informed King Saul that obedience was better than sacrificing lots of perfect animals. The tax collectors and prostitutes and other sinners who repented under John’s ministry are represented by the son who first refused but then obeyed. The second son represents the religious leaders who have given lip service to serving God but who have really been serving themselves and their prejudices instead.

There’s a story about a little boy who misbehaved and whose mother ordered him to go sit in a corner to think about his misdeeds. As the boy hauled a chair over to the corner and plopped down on it, he proclaimed, “I MIGHT BE SITTING DOWN ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT I’M STANDING UP ON THE INSIDE!”  That child was so bent on getting his own way that no amount of discipline was going to change his mind. Perhaps he felt entitled to misbehave. In the same way, many of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day are so bent on doing what they want that when God sends His long-awaited Messiah, they reject him because he doesn’t fit their preconceptions. For these men, their minds are already made up; don’t confuse them with the facts.

And now the question for us: Are we obedient or disobedient children of our Heavenly Father? When God asks us to do something, do we obey or do we argue, finding every excuse in the book to avoid anything unpleasant or difficult?

Many people are familiar with the story of Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission; however, fewer people realize that Taylor began training himself quite early to live by faith. When Taylor was apprenticed to a doctor in Liverpool, the doctor frequently forgot to pay Hudson promptly. Hudson learned to trust God to remind the doctor. During that same time, Hudson also trained himself to live on food that was nourishing but not appetizing so that when he reached the mission field, that adjustment would not be difficult. At the height of the China Inland Mission in China, there were 1500 or more mission stations plus untold numbers of Bible men and women circulating throughout villages. CIM focused on training believers rather than erecting big buildings. When the Communists took over China, many of those trained by CIM continued to quietly spread the Gospel, despite all opposition.

God never asks us to do something difficult or nasty for Him without promising that eventually there will be a blessing. But we must be willing to be obedient children. The son who went to the vineyard got sweaty and dirty and tired while the one who stayed in the house remained cool and clean. But which son did the father appreciate more? Certainly the son who obeyed gladdened his father’s heart while the son who stayed in the house disappointed his father.

Throughout the world, there are those working for God who may suffer and even die while completing their duties. We had a doctor friend named Sister Veronika Theresa Rakova, a Catholic nun. In the spring of 2016, Sister Veronika was working in Yei, in southern Sudan and had just used the clinic ambulance to send a laboring mother in critical condition to a local hospital. As Sister Veronika was returning to her small clinic, drunken soldiers saw her vehicle and shot at it several times, severely wounding Veronika. Sadly, Sister Veronika died from those wounds four days later. When Veronika left for the hospital that night with that patient, she knew she was taking risks, but for Veronika, the will of God was far more important than anything else. For the people of that area, Veronika is now regarded as a martyr, someone who graphically demonstrated God’s love while laying down her life.

When we do God’s will, God will give us His peace. We don’t know what Sister Veronika thought during those four days she lay dying, but we do know that she loved God and was willing to be obedient. May we all be willing to obey, even if it costs us our lives, remembering that God is the One who keeps the records and He is the One who can reward our obedience.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives, no matter the cost. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.  

Luke 18:1-8 The Persistent Widow

“Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men. And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God or respect men, yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests.’”

And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge. Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help? I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

It’s an age-old question: Why doesn’t God answer prayers immediately, or at least quickly? Why do we sometimes pray for years without seeing an answer? Is it really worth it to continue to pray? Evidently, somebody has asked Jesus those questions, and now Jesus is telling this story in answer.

As soon as judicial systems began developing, unjust judges began appearing. Some judges respond only to money while others respond to political influence. For Jesus’ listeners, unjust judges are a fact of life, as are widows. In a patriarchal society, widows without sons to protect them are among the most vulnerable group possible. Every village has a few widows living a bare existence on the fringe of society, and for women, finding themselves in such a marginalized group is a living nightmare that they hope never to experience. But here is Jesus telling a story in which a humble little widow lady gets the best of a haughty corrupt judge.

We don’t know the issue the widow is fighting but whatever it is, she refuses to give up or give in. Daily, this lady shows up at the court, reminding the judge of her need for assistance. The first few times, the judge scoffs at this woman and orders his servants to escort her out of the court. But this widow, sweet as she is, simply refuses to give up. Every morning, as soon as the judge arrives, this lady is at the court, greeting him and reminding him that she needs help. If the judge goes out on the street, the widow is there greeting him politely and asking when he is going to settle her case for her. If the judge’s wife goes out in public, the widow is there, greeting her respectfully and asking her to remind her husband to settle her case. The situation reaches the point that the judge’s friends are beginning to make fun of him, questioning why he doesn’t simply settle the widow’s case. Perhaps religious leaders are getting involved as well, asking similar questions.

Finally, the judge has had enough. While he doesn’t fear God or respect men, he wants this widow lady off his back. The judge calls the lady in and settles the case in her favor. What has led to this success? Persistence! This humble little lady has simply refused to give up or give in and has worn this wicked man out. But why does Jesus compare those who pray with this happy lady?  

“Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart..”  Jesus wants his followers, including us, to realize that we NEED to pray at all times. Remember that this widow hasn’t simply shown up at the court every morning, but has also kept appearing anyplace she knows the judge will appear. There may have been days when this lady would have liked to stay home, but she has kept at it. There may have been times when this lady’s friends have mocked her or criticized her or even tried to discourage her. “Mariam,” they have asked, why are you still following that man? Don’t you know that he doesn’t care and he’s going to keep ignoring you?”

In the same fashion, we are to press our concerns to God in prayer regularly and repeatedly. “Why must I keep pestering God?” you might ask. “Is God deaf or indifferent to my pleas for help?” No. God is neither deaf nor indifferent; however, we are not praying in a spiritual vacuum. Satan is alive and well and working to destroy anything good and beautiful in the world, and he is the one who can hinder the answers to our prayers. The prophet Daniel, living in Babylon, interceded for his people. Daniel had studied the scriptures and realized that the time of exile should end soon; however, nothing was changing in Babylon.  The Book of Daniel tells us that Daniel prayed three times a day for his people.

Late in Daniel’s life, he had a vision and prayed for three and fasted for three weeks without any explanations coming from God. Then an angel appeared and gave this explanation: “Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.” (Daniel 10:12-14)

Nothing was wrong with Daniel’s prayers. God was pleased with Daniel’s prayers; however, Satan was opposing those prayers. What if Daniel had quit after two weeks, or even after twenty days rather than persisting for twenty-one days? It was Daniel’s prayers that released heavenly power to overcome massive Satanic opposition.

George Mueller was a man of enormous faith who founded orphanages in Bristol, England that eventually served more than 10,000 orphans at a time. Mueller depended on God for provision and there were many stories of the orphans sitting at the breakfast table with no food, only for milkmen and bakers to suddenly turn up with sufficient supplies for their needs. One of Mueller’s friends had a son who rejected God and ran off to Canada to escape his father’s godly influence. Mueller prayed for that man’s salvation for many years. Long after Mueller’s friend had died, Mueller continued to pray for the son. Eventually, Mueller himself died, and it was when the son read of Mueller’s death in a Canadian paper that he came under conviction of sin and repented, giving his life to Christ.

What did George Mueller and Daniel have in common? They prayed and refused to lose heart, no matter how daunting the circumstances appeared to be. Perhaps you are in a situation like that of Daniel’s. You are in a place that is not of your choosing, longing for restoration and reconciliation. You have prayed for decades for the salvation of your loved ones but have seen little evidence of change. Don’t give up! For all you know, the answers to all your prayers may be right around the corner.

When I was a child, both my grandfathers were alive. One grandfather was a Christian while the other was a cynical unbeliever for whose salvation I prayed with childish faith. Eventually that grandfather walked out into a wintry night in his sleep, going outside his house and falling, fracturing a hip. My grandfather lingered ten days in hospital and then died. Later, God revealed to me that it was during that ten days that my grandfather finally repented, fulfilling those prayers I had prayed decades before.

No matter your circumstances, God knows your struggles and your trials. God is neither deaf nor sleeping. Hang on! Don’t give up and stop praying on day #20 when the spiritual battle might be won on day #21! This quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt advises to tie a knot at the end of your rope and hang on. I would add, “Tie a knot at the end of your rope, hang on, and PRAY!!!”

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to be constant in prayer and persistent in prayer. Help us never to give up or to lose heart, realizing that You are the One who will cause things to happen in Your time. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 18:21-35 “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!

Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing ten thousand talents. (A talent was worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer.) Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.

Then the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’

His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him.

But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. (A denarius was customarily a day’s wage for a laborer.) He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me.’

So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’

But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt.

When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master.

Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed.

That is how My Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Here’s Peter, posing a theoretical question and thinking that he is really doing well. After all, Peter is suggesting that he forgive his brother seven times; isn’t that quite a lot? Certainly, Peter has a real situation in mind and is seeking to justify himself. Peter is probably standing there, preening and thinking how magnanimous he really is when Jesus tells this story, knocking the props out from under Peter’s self-satisfaction and complacency.

The story is quite simple. One man owes a very wealthy ruler an incalculable amount of money. Why and how has this guy run up such a ginormous debt in the first place? Doing the math, this man owes the equivalent of 200,000 years’ worth of salary for a working man. Why the ruler has allowed this man to borrow this much money is a mystery; however, the ruler forgives that entire debt. Poof! Debt gone, just like that. Then this same man refuses to forgive a fellow servant a debt representing 100 days’ wages, little more than three months’ debt. By now Jesus’ listeners are becoming incensed. How can this wicked man get away with this? Doesn’t he have any sense of decency?

Having grabbed the attention of the crowd, Jesus now delivers the stinger in the story: “In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed. That is how My Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

OUCH! Jesus! What are you doing to us? What are you demanding?

Notice that Jesus doesn’t criticize either man for going into debt. Evidently, borrowing money is a common practice and everybody in the audience knows it. Jesus deliberately constructs this story by describing the first debtor as owing so much money that he can never possibly repay it. The second debtor owes a significant sum; however, this amount might be doable. But what is the point of this story?

Each of us is a sinner and we owe a sin-debt to God that we can never possibly repay. As sinners, we offend a holy and righteous God many times a day. Compared with our debts to God, anything our fellow human beings do to us is miniscule. In the story, the ruler originally is going to sell the first man and his family along with his belongings to recover a small part of the debt. When this man refuses to forgive his fellow servant, the ruler hands over the ungrateful servant to the jailers to be tortured, not merely kept in prison. The lessons are clear: God has forgiven us debts that we can never repay so we too should forgive all those around us, no matter how many times we have to do so. If we refuse to forgive, we are choosing to imprison ourselves spiritually and opening ourselves up to satanic torment.

Many of us have heard bitter statements such as “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” The idea there is that we can plot revenge for years and then take it, confident that we will gain satisfaction. But in God’s eyes, revenge is a dish best discarded. Our unforgiveness doesn’t generally do anything to those against whom we have grudges; however, the longer we refuse to forgive, the more we are poisoning ourselves. In effect, we are turning ourselves over to the torturers.

Years ago, there was a missionary who was extremely effective. Since the house in which she had been living was falling apart, this lady raised money for a new building while she was on leave. But when this lady returned to the field, her field director flatly refused to allow her to proceed with that building and confiscated the supplies she had purchased. This woman became so bitter that she left the mission field permanently, refusing to forgive those who had mishandled her. Later, when citizens of the area traveled to the U.S. to beg this woman to return, she had to inform them that she had nothing left to give. When we spoke with this woman, she warned us against allowing bitterness to creep in because bitterness and unforgiveness could destroy our ministry just as it had destroyed hers.

Face it, nothing anyone does to you is as bad as the things you do to offend God daily. Forgive those around you, realizing that they may be struggling to forgive you as well. Most of us have no idea how many times we wound others.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and that we offend You repeatedly each day. Please forgive us our sins and help us to forgive others freely. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)

“Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger son said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living.

After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.
Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.
Meanwhile the older son was in the field, and as he approached the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what was going on. ‘Your brother has returned,’ he said, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.’

The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.
But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
‘Son, you are always with me,’ the father said, ‘and all that is mine is yours. But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Unless we understand the cultural context behind this story, we won’t feel its full impact as do Jesus’ hearers. First, the younger son doesn’t just wake up one morning and suddenly turn into a rounder; he’s been misbehaving for quite some time.

What does the Law of Moses say about misbehaving sons? “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.”

This boy’s father doesn’t have to tolerate his bad behavior but might send him to the elders, who will stone him to death. But the father keeps hoping that the boy will improve; instead, the boy demands his inheritance as if the father is already dead. By this action, this young man is essentially wishing his father will die immediately. The elder son doesn’t protest at all but allows his father to carry out this action, making him effectively as guilty as the younger son.

Notice that the father divides his property between the two sons, leaving little for himself. The elder son is now enjoying the larger share of the property as his birthright. The elder son smugly remains at home while the younger son runs off and blows his inheritance in partying.

Eventually the money runs out and the younger son finds himself forced to care for pigs to earn a bare living. (At this point, all the observant Jews in Jesus’ audience are horrified! Few things are more shameful than caring for pigs.) Even the pigs are eating better than the younger son. It’s at this point that the younger son decides to return home, humble himself, and beg for a position as a hired servant in his father’s household. And that’s when the miracle takes place.

This father truly loves both of his sons and has grieved over the younger son’s behavior. Night after night, the father has begged God to take care of his son and to bring him home safely. Daily, the father scans the road for any sign of his son’s return. When the father sees the son at a distance, he runs to him, embracing him and kissing him while he weeps tears of joy.

When the son starts in on his prepared speech, the father brushes that aside and begins shouting to his servants to help the son clean up and then change the son’s garments for the best robe, the best sandals, and a ring. These items are always kept ready for any honored guest who might arrive, and the father is so overjoyed that only these garments will do. The father throws a big party.

Now the elder son hears music and dancing as he is coming in from the field and learns that all this celebration is for his degenerate younger brother. The elder brother is furious! All these years, the elder brother has worked faithfully for his father without being celebrated. Today, the younger brother shows up and their father is throwing an enormous party. The elder brother is so infuriated that he won’t even set foot in the house, but sits out in the compound sulking and forcing his father to come out to explain.

While the elder brother is complaining bitterly, let’s note that when the father was dividing the inheritance, the elder brother didn’t protest at all. All this time, the elder brother could have slaughtered his own goat and thrown a party for his friends, but he did not. All this time, the elder brother had the opportunity to enjoy his father’s company, but did he enjoy being with his father or was he simply biding his time until his father would die? Although the elder brother has been with his father, it appears that he has simply continued to work, never appreciating the chance to fellowship with a good and loving man.

There are not one but two prodigals in this story. There is the younger son who has partied away his inheritance and then there is the elder son who has failed to appreciate his loving caring father. The elder son has wasted much of his life feeling smug and superior to his younger brother, despising him for his profligate lifestyle. Eventually, the younger son comes to his senses when he realizes that no amount of money will make up for his father’s love. But the elder son has a far worse problem because he has been with his father and has taken refuge in self-righteousness, totally failing to enjoy his father’s love. The elder son’s spirit has dried up into a husk as shriveled as the ones the pigs were eating.

Of the two prodigals in the story, the younger son is actually more blessed because he has come to appreciate his father’s worth. The elder son has wasted long years as a workaholic, refusing to acknowledge his father’s kindness, goodness, and love. How many times has the father tried to reach out to the elder son, only to be rebuffed? How many times has the father tried to hug the elder son and tell him he loves him, only for the elder son to stiffen and turn away?

For some of Jesus’ listeners, the description of the elder son must remind them of the Pharisees. While Jesus speaks of his Heavenly Father in tones of love, the Pharisees portray God as a stern taskmaster, ever ready to penalize anyone who does not measure up to the standards that they have set. The Pharisees are so certain that they know what God wants that they haven’t bothered to listen to Him in years, if ever. It doesn’t require much imagination for these people to picture the elder son as a Pharisee, pouting in the courtyard while sinners flock in and receive forgiveness and love from God the Father.

Do any of the Pharisees see themselves in this story? Only in heaven will we learn the answer to that question. But the lesson for us is simple: God the Father loves us and longs for fellowship with us. There is no sin so terrible that we cannot confess it to God, be forgiven, and be swept up in His love. Wherever this story is told, Jesus wants people to know that God the Father stands ready to forgive them and to receive them into his kingdom. All we have to do is to confess our sins, ask forgiveness, and then follow God.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we know that we are sinners and that nothing we can do is good enough to earn our way into heaven. Please forgive us our sins and help us to live for You and not for ourselves from this time onward. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Parable of the Lost Coin Luke 15:8-10

“Or what woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

Jesus has just eaten a meal with a bunch of tax collectors and “sinners.” Who are these “sinners?” Well, some of them might be local merchants who sell catfish and pork to Greeks and Romans. After all, both these items would be considered unclean. Perhaps some of them deal in things the Jews consider as unclean but the Gentiles consider necessary. Perhaps one of the sinners owns a local brothel. At any rate, as Jesus comes out from lunch, the scribes and Pharisees are waiting outside the gate of the house, ready to pounce on him and criticize. After all, THEY KNOW what God really demands of people.

As these supercilious individuals stand there fixing Jesus and his companions with icy stares, Jesus begins telling stories to explain just how much his Heavenly Father longs to see sinners repent. Jesus leads off with the story of the lost sheep, causing a few of his critics to become bemused; perhaps they haven’t been as correct as they have thought. Now Jesus is following up with this story.

In a day when electric lighting illuminates every space, it’s difficult to realize just what people in earlier ages dealt with. Abraham Lincoln is said to have read books by lying close to a fireplace so he could read by the light of the fire. In Charleston, South Carolina, many of the fine old houses have mirrors to reflect the light of candles or lamps, spreading it around the room. When we first came to our little village 31 years ago, everyone depended on kerosene lamps. Battery-operated lamps were a startling innovation. I have delivered a number of babies by kerosene lamp and I have sewn up lacerations holding a small torch (flashlight) in my mouth. When my husband rigged two twelve-volt lights on hospital bed stands, we thought we were in heaven.

Lighting in Jesus’ day consists of small clay lamps with wicks that burn olive oil. Even if you put one of these lamps on a lampstand, there will still be dark corners. According to Biblecourses.com, that silver coin is a drachma worth approximately $100 in today’s currency. (The Value of a Soul #17 The Lost Coin-Biblecourses.com http://www.biblecourses.com › material › value17)

For a poor village lady, losing such a coin represents financial disaster. Of course, this lady will go over every inch of her house, looking in all the cracks and crevices, even running her fingernails through those cracks, until she finds that coin and then calls her friends to rejoice with her. That woman’s joy and relief will be palpable, for that coin represents one-tenth of her life savings.

As Jesus is telling this story, you can see heads nodding throughout the crowd. Many of those listening have had similar experiences, losing small items and then sweeping and searching until they have found them. But what’s this? Jesus is saying that heaven rejoices over sinners who repent just as much as village people rejoice over finding something precious that has been lost. Jesus’ listeners know they are sinners. Can it be true that God really cares about sinners that much? Most of these people have spent years feeling inferior to the scribes and Pharisees, the “professional religious men.” Does the Lord God, Ruler of the Universe really care about little people to that degree? What an amazing idea!

We really don’t understand how precious we are to God. God loves us in spite of our sins but He also loves us too much to leave us in our sins. When we repent, heaven rejoices. Let’s pray.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we know that we are sinners and that nothing we can do will make up for our sins. Thank You for sending Jesus to die for our sins. We trust in Jesus and in what he has done for us. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP LUKE 15:1-7 (Matthew 18:10-14) “

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” So He spoke this parable to them, saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”

Well, Jesus is at it again, offending the religious rulers and professional religious people. This time, Jesus has DARED TO RECEIVE SINNERS AND EAT WITH THEM! The scribes and Pharisees are having hissy fits of revulsion; certainly THEY would never do such an unspeakable thing…And that is exactly the point at which Jesus tells this wonderful story.

Jesus asks those who are proudly criticizing him from a distance what they would do if they had a hundred sheep and one got missing? Jesus is asking men who are so careful about their possessions that they even tithe the dill and mint and cumin in their pantries. Some young religious ruler probably offers the answer while his elders shake their heads over the simplicity of the question. These are men who spend much of their time debating minute religious issues, bringing up points only the highly educated can appreciate. Here’s this upstart itinerant preacher talking about sheep, for goodness’ sake.

The answer is a no-brainer; of course these guys are going to hot-foot it out and search until they find that sheep or else dispatch a servant to do so. Nobody wants to lose a sheep, for sheep are expensive. And of course, once this man has retrieved that sheep, he will bring it home rejoicing as he does so. All the neighbors are going to hear how this man suffered as he searched, how the rain fell and the wind tore at his clothing, how he nearly fell on some rocks, and how he could hear wolves howling in the distance as he plucked the errant sheep from the crevice into which it had fallen. Everybody in the neighborhood will hear these stories and share in the joy.

But the religious leaders are uneasy, shuffling their feet as they stand there. Jesus is telling this story for a reason, and these men aren’t certain they will like that reason. And then Jesus concludes, “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” WHAT??? Jesus is saying that these tax collectors and sinners are like that lost sheep? That if one of these men repents, there will be more joy in heaven than there will be over righteous religious leaders? How ridiculous! How insulting! Of course, God must be more pleased with the religious leaders than with anybody else; after all, they work so hard at their religion.

At this point, most of the religious leaders may move out; however, I would like to think that a few who have truly been hungry for God begin mulling over this teaching in their minds. It is said that there were many religious leaders who followed Jesus in secret but who were afraid to follow him openly because they feared being put out of the synagogue and “they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43)

Why is Jesus telling this story? Jesus is speaking to the “sinners and tax collectors” with whom he has been eating. Sharing hospitality and meals builds relationships, and Jesus longs for these men to truly follow God. Jesus wants these men to know just how much God loves them and longs for them to serve Him.

Let’s step out of the story for a bit. Jesus isn’t just telling this story to reach the men with whom he has just broken bread but he is also directing the story at us. Each and every one of us are lost sheep in need of a Shepherd who can save us from our sins. Years ago, Ira D. Sankey wrote a song that graphically depicts this parable.

There were ninety and nine that safely lay   In the shelter of the flock, But one was out on the hills away,   Far off in the cold and dark; Away on the mountains wild and bare, Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.

“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;   Are they not enough for Thee?” But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine   Has wandered away from Me; And although the road be rough and steep, I go to the desert to find My sheep.”

But none of the ransomed ever knew   How deep were the waters crossed; Nor how dark was the night which the Lord passed through   Ere He found His sheep that was lost. Out in the bleak desert He heard its cry— All bleeding and helpless, and ready to die.

“Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way   That mark out the mountain’s track?” “They were shed for one who had gone astray   Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.” “Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?” “They’re pierced tonight by many a thorn.”

And all through the mountains, thunder-riven,   And up from the rocky steep, There arose a cry to the gate of heaven,   “Rejoice! I have found My sheep!” And the angels echoed around the throne, “Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”   Friends, we are the sheep for whom Jesus has suffered, bled, and died. We are the ones whom Jesus wants to bring back from the wilderness of our sins and failures. If you are not certain of your salvation, ask Jesus to help you and guide you to himself, for he will surely do it. And someday in heaven, you can assure Mr. Sankey that his song has come true in your life.     PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us feel like lost sheep with no way of escape. Some of us might not even realize that we need deliverance. YOU are the Way-Maker! You are the Redeemer! You are the One who can deliver us from our messes. Lord, speak to the hearts of all who read these words, that they will confess their sins and follow hard after You all the days of their lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Parable of the Net (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11; John 1:35-42)

Matthew 13:47-50 Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the men pulled it ashore. Then they sat down and sorted the good fish into containers, but threw the bad away.

So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous, and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Whenever Jesus tells stories, he always starts with familiar scenes, and today it’s the turn of the fishermen. Fishermen in Jesus’ day go out in the evening and spread their nets all night, pulling them in when they are full to collect the fish that have swum into their nets. In the morning, the fishermen come to shore and begin sorting out their catch.

According to the Loyola Press, “The apostles fished for three main species: St. Peter’s fish, carp, and catfish. The Jews did not eat catfish because it was considered “unclean,” as it did not have fins and scales (Leviticus 11:19). However they were able to sell catfish to Greek communities on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee….The fish they caught (after they paid the tax man and their hired labor) was sold locally, or salted and preserved to be marketed in places like Jerusalem and even Greece. Fish too small to be marketed were mixed with the entrails of the cleaned fish and salted in a vat. The vats were kept in the sun while the mixture fermented. Eventually the liquid was strained off and marketed as garum, a fish sauce that was used in almost every meal in the Roman empire. Distributers of garum made the equivalent of millions of dollars each year.

Peter and Andrew’s fishing boat would have been 23 feet long and seven feet wide. It had a crew of five: four to row and one to steer and supervise the catch. The supervisor also had to keep a close eye on the weather because storms could quickly develop over the Sea (Matthew 8: 23–27).

The boat could carry a half ton of fish or between 11 to 13 passengers; it was big enough for Jesus to sleep at the bottom of the boat (Mark 4:38). The fishermen used nets made of flax or linen. Most fishing was done at night so that fish would not see and swim around the nets. In modern days nylon nets prevents this problem, and when fishing is permitted, it’s done during the day.

The fishing industry of Jesus’ day was highly profitable, but it was strenuous work and needed major organization. In deep water fishing, two or three boats would work together to set up a net between them and chase fish into the net. This would be done seven or eight times during the night and by morning the fishermen could bring in a half ton of fish.

During the day the men were busy. The caught fish had to be sorted for sale, the nets had to be washed in the lake to remove any silt, and tears in the nets had to be mended. The nets were then hung out to dry and folded for the next catch.” (https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/scripture-and-tradition/jesus-and-the-new-testament/jesus-in-history/biblical-fishing-101-reeling-in-the-first-fishers-of-faith/

Here Jesus is telling his listeners that there are all kinds of human “fish” on the earth. Just as there are good fish and bad fish, there are also good people and bad people. At the end of the age, angels will sort out the wicked from the righteous. The wicked will be sent to a “fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Obviously, nobody wants to wind up in the fiery furnace, but how can we be sure that we are righteous? If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we sin many times each day. By rights, every one of us should suffer punishment for our sins. But Jesus has come and has died a shameful death to pay that sin debt. We have a choice: we can accept what Jesus has done for us, confess that we are sinners, and put our trust in Jesus Christ or we can refuse this gift of eternal life. So the question for each of us is this: what kind of fish do you want to be?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, thank You for sending Jesus to die for our sins. We confess that we are sinners and that nothing we can do will pay for our sins. We accept what Jesus has done for us and we trust in Jesus for our salvation. Thank You for Your promise that when we trust in Jesus, we will enjoy eternal life with You. We pray in the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

These two parables go together naturally because they are both encouragements and warnings. Jesus is encouraging us to pursue the kingdom of heaven with everything that is in us because nothing is worth more than the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is like hidden treasure and like a pearl of great price; no sacrifice is too much to gain it. In this day when we have imitation pearls, we might not realize how rare large pearls are.

How are pearls evaluated? Here are the criteria according to the Gemological Institute of America:

1. Size-The size of round and near-round pearls is expressed in terms of their diameter measured in millimeters. One millimeter is about 1/25 of an inch. Other shapes are measured according to their length/depth and diameter/width.

2. Shape-The three main categories of shape are spherical, symmetrical, and asymmetrical (semi-baroque and baroque). Pearls come in seven basic shapes: round, near-round, button, drop, oval, semi-baroque, and baroque.

3. Color-There are three components: bodycolor (dominant, overall color of the pearl), overtone (one or more translucent colors that lie over the bodycolor), and orient (iridescent rainbow colors that shimmer on or just below a pearl’s surface). Note: not all pearls will exhibit all three characteristics.

4. Luster-Luster is the intensity of light reflected from a pearl’s surface. Luster is one of the factors that give a natural or cultured pearl its unique beauty. Pearls with excellent luster have sharp bright reflections on the surface. Different pearl varieties have different standards for luster. The GIA Luster Scale ranges from Excellent to Poor.

5. Surface-Pearls commonly have blemishes or irregularities that are normally confined to the surface. Surface characteristics are judged by size, number, location, visibility, and the types of blemish. If surface characteristics are numerous or severe, they can affect the durability of a pearl and severely lower its value. They have less effect on the pearl’s beauty and value if they are few in number, or if they are minor enough to be hidden by a drill-hole or mounting. The GIA Surface Scale classifies pearls as Clean, Lightly Spotted, Moderately Spotted, or Heavily Spotted.

6. Nacre Quality-Nacre is the substance that makes up a pearl, layer after layer. Thickness is important when evaluating nacre quality to make sure that cultured pearls are durable as well as beautiful. Nacre thickness measurements are provided as optional descriptions on GIA pearl reports. However, GIA pearl reports will clearly note if the nacre coating is too thin and/or damaged, thereby posing a potential impact on a pearl’s durability. Natural or non-bead cultured pearls with nacre quality issues (damage will also be noted).

7. Matching-This relates to the uniformity of pearls in strands, earrings, or other multiple-pearl jewelry items, and is highly dependent upon a skilled grader to determine matching the other six value factors. 

The pearl in Jesus’ story must be a perfect natural pearl with outstanding size, shape, color, luster, an excellent surface, and superb nacre quality. This pearl is unique and beyond all other pearls, so there’s no concern over matching it to another pearl. In Jesus’ day only royalty owned such huge perfect pearls.

You might ask, “Fine, so what happens after you have sold everything to buy that field or to buy that pearl?” The idea is that these treasures are truly priceless as is the kingdom of God. No sacrifice will be too much to gain such treasures. Earlier, Jesus has asked his audience, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” The answer is simple: your soul is priceless. Far better to gain the kingdom of heaven than to gain the world but lose heaven. Jesus wants his followers to be heavenly minded, not earthly minded.

“But Jesus,” we stutter, “don’t you remember that I have a family to care for and a job to do?” Of course, Jesus knows all these things. But the idea is that we will fix our eyes on heaven and have heaven as our goal, allowing God to help us in these other areas. The men and women who followed Jesus knew heartache and suffering. Many of them died for their faith. But they gained that treasure, that pearl of great price. They gained heaven.

They Cast Their Nets in Galilee by William Alexander Percy

1 They cast their nets in Galilee,
Just off the hills of brown;
Such happy, simple fisherfolk,
Before the Lord came down.
2 Contented, peaceful fishermen,
Before they ever knew
The peace of God that filled their hearts
Brimful, and broke them too.
3 Young John, who trimmed the flapping sail,
Homeless in Patmos died.
Peter, who hauled the teeming net,
Head down was crucified.
4 The peace of God, it is no peace,
But strife closed in the sod.
Yet, let us pray for but one thing:
The marv’lous peace of God.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, many of us are worried and distracted by our struggles to survive and to care for those around us. Help us so that no matter how difficult things are, we will still fix our eyes on heaven as our goal. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 13:33 “Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

Very few things smell better than bread baking, and very few things taste better than bread fresh from the oven spread with butter. (I’m drooling just thinking about it!) When I was growing up, we made much of our own bread. It was always amazing to me that I could mix a packet of yeast with a little warm water and sugar, allow it to sit for a little bit, and then mix it into the bread dough. We always allowed our dough to rise twice before baking it. The trick was to knead the dough and then punch it down well enough that all the air bubbles would be gone. One small packet of good-quality yeast would make at least 2 large loaves of bread. Another thing I learned was that the yeast had to be completely mixed throughout the bread dough. Partial mixing would result in a weird loaf that wouldn’t rise well or taste good.

My Grandma Delphia made cardamom-scented butterhorn rolls for every special occasion, as well as citron-flavored Swedish limpa rye bread. (It took years before I realized that in nineteenth century Sweden, the unbleached rye flour was considered fit only for poor people. I thought it was a big treat!)

In Jesus’ day, housewives would make a great deal of unleavened bread, the kind we now call pita. Pita requires little more than flour and water. But for special occasions, housewives would create leavened bread that required yeast and sugar to make it rise properly.

What does leaven have to do with the kingdom of heaven? God is really sneaky! Give God any kind of an opening, and before you know it, He is working in your life or in the lives or your family members. God is also the Consummate Opportunist; He will use any occasion, any circumstances, any connections, anything at all to insert Himself into your consciousness and direct your attention to His kingdom. You might think that you are just attending a concert; before you realize it, God is speaking to you through the music. You think you are dropping into a meeting out of curiosity; meanwhile, God already has a plan. And once you open yourself to the leaven of the kingdom of God, watch out! Your life will never be the same again.

C.T. Studd was a physically worn-out 51-year-old former China Inland Mission missionary when he stopped by a Gospel hall in London to listen to a speaker describing the needs of the Belgian Congo. By the time the meeting was over, not only had Studd committed himself to mission work in the Belgian Congo, but he later founded the Worldwide Evangelism Crusade, WEC Mission, that would eventually work in countries around the world. Studd sailed for Africa in 1910 with no support; even his wife disapproved. Studd’s example has inspired thousands of others to risk everything for the sake of the Gospel.

Here are a few quotes from C. T. Studd:
• “Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop, within a yard of hell.”
• Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into heaven, without having blown the trumpet loud and long for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Let us see to it that the devil will hold a thanksgiving service in hell, when he gets the news of our departure from the field of battle.
• If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.
• Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill. living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
• Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible, by faith in the omnipotence, fidelity, and wisdom of the Almighty Saviour Who gave the command. Is there a wall in our path? By our God we will leap over it! Are there lions and scorpions in our way? We will trample them under our feet! Does a mountain bar our progress? Saying, ‘Be thou cast into the sea,’ we will march on. Soldiers of Jesus! Never surrender!

The question for us is simple: Will we allow the leaven of the kingdom of God to enter every part of our lives? Will we allow God to do everything He wants to in us, or are we going to try to limit God? Limiting God is as worthless as trying to keep bread from rising once the yeast has been thoroughly mixed in. But there is one requirement for yeast to work properly once it has been mixed; the bread dough must be allowed to rise in a warm place. Chill the bread dough and it won’t rise, although you can warm it later and allow it to rise. Once God is working in our hearts, we must be careful not to allow ourselves to become cold, thus thwarting the work of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray that we will be receptive to God, so that He may do everything He wants to in our lives!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to always allow Your kingdom to fully come and Your will to fully be done in our lives, no matter the cost. In the matchless and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

BUTTERHORN ROLLS (FROM REDDIT)
Recipe:
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk, scalded
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 to 4 3/4 cups flour
3 beaten eggs
Instructions:
Activate the yeast in warm water in separate container. Combine hot milk, shortening, sugar and salt; stirring until lukewarm. Add 1 cup of the flour; stir. Add yeast mixture and eggs, beating well. Stir in remaining flour.
Place the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 – 8 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, rolling it once to grease the top of the dough. Cover and let rise until double.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough in thirds and Roll each third into a 9-inch circle. Brush with melted butter. Cut each circle in 12 wedge-shaped pieces. Roll each wedge up (wide end to point)
Arrange rolls, point down on greased baking sheet. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes.
https://www.reddit.com/r/recipes/comments/dyynd9/my_grandmas_famous_butterhorn_rolls/