Mustard Seed part 1
A little bit of something goes a long way. And, as you might surmise from the title of this Rant series, we're going to look at how a little bit of FAITH can go a REALLY long way. Matthew 13:31-32 puts it like this, "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the brids of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." And here's the point I want to make for today: The seed GROWS. Faith, as they say, is like a muscle; the more you use it, the more it grows. According to Romans 14:17, "...the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The Kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy. And the Kingdom is like a tiny little seed that grows and grows. It almost seems like we would rather keep trying to get into the Kingdom than believe that we are already in the Kingdom. That we ARE the Kingdom. Because the Kingdom is the realm where the King rules and reigns. Jesus, the King of kings, rules and reigns in us, and through us, and as us. So instead of waiting for something to happen--and using our mistakes and failures to disqualify ourselves--we need to know what already happened. We do not need a move of God. God moved 2,000 years ago on the cross. What we need is a revelation of Jesus. We need to know what happened when God moved. And one of the things that happened is that the Kingdom of Heaven came to earth. Revelation 21:2 says, "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." That's what Deuteronomy 11:21 spoke of when it told of, "...the days of heaven upon the earth." Its not something that needs to happen, its something that already happened. But, again, even though we ARE complete in Him, sometimes it takes baby steps in order to mature. To understand our completeness. So thinking, "If the Kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy... but I'm not feeling particularly righteous, peaceful, or joyful today... so I must not be in the Kingdom..." that's not right. It starts small and grows. Making mistakes doesn't disqualify you. Learning and growing is what the maturation process is all about. And we learn more from our failures than our successes. So if you have a day where joy is severly lacking... that DOES NOT mean you're out of the Kingdom. Its not like plucking flower petals, "He loves me, He loves me not," and hoping to God you end up on "He loves me." Its something that starts small. Finding a little bit of joy in the midst of the mess. And then it grows. Because the Kingdom--righteousness, peace, and joy--is not just what you have. Its who you are. And you are who you are whether you act like it or not. Its knowing and believing who you are (FAITH) that ALLOWS you to act like it. Because what you do flows from what you believe. If the Kingdom has BEEN established (and it has) but it also continues to grow ("Of the increase of his government and peace ther shall be no end..." (Isaiah 9:7)), then you can believe that you ARE compelete in Him, and YOU can also continue to learn and grow. To BE who you are by LEARNING who you are. By learning who JESUS is in you!