This has been an excellent book so far for me to read since I am trying to learning what it means to be a servant in my new place of ministry where God is placing me! This book goes into detail about what it means to live out God’s calling to serve others and love them in the way that God loves every one of us! This book review is some small thoughts that have impacted me as I read this book. I just finished chapter 9 in the book!

“Methods are many, principles are few; Methods always change, principles never do.” -Wiersbe

One of the first things from this book that I found impacting was the fact of what Wiersbe says about Principles and Methods. It is certain that Methods change and that Christian use different ways in sharing God’s love with others, but one thing that must never change is the Principle behind what people do. A lot of times in my own life, I do or don’t do certain actions in my life because I was always taught that it was right to do, or that it was wrong to do. But the fact that is being pointed out here is that it doesn’t matter that much What is being done, as long as the Why behind it! For instance, I could go to a homeless shelter and help out and serve there faithfully for years, but if I am going for say a reason to honor myself in the eyes of others, it would be doing the right thing, for the wrong reason. A great teacher once taught me that “it takes 2 rights to make a Light!” A Light, is a person who is shining from God’s power, and illuminating the way for others! So, in order to be a Light in the world for others, there needs to be both right actions, for the right reason!

Ministry is based on principles and not methods! Philippians 2:13 says it best. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. A great question that was asked me once not to long ago was this: (Pick one)

(1) Mission with a Church

(2) Church with a Mission

Naturally my first inclination about a year ago would have been to chose number 2. However, I think it is easy for us to get so engrossed with the church that we forget about what God’s Mission truly is! So, for me it has been good to think more on what God has done in the past, present and future, Genesis-Revelation, and particularly God sending His Son to earth for a particular purpose. Then I am able to think better about what my role is as a Christian to follow and come alongside with what God is doing!! By thinking this way, for me, it has been helpful to keep my sites set on God and His Word more instead of trusting in traditions or focusing on just 1 aspect of the Kingdom of God, instead of others as well!

“Ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.” -Wiersbe

Acts 3 is a very good passage that talks about how God uses us, his Kingdom servants to fulfill God’s purpose! Peter heals a lame man who was begging, when the normal response of a person would be to give the beggar money, which he was asking for! If Peter had been so focused on what the beggar wanted instead of what God wanted to do, he would have missed out on being used by God to perform an incredible miracle!

So how do we become loving channels for God?

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Ezekiel 3:15, Hebrews 4:15

To be a loving channel for God does not mean that we are passive Christians who simply let God go through them! God wants to do things in and through us! However, most of the time in our lives being a loving channel means sacrifice, and a change that will occur in our own life when God is trying to do a work in us! For instance, if God wants to change a person’s heart to hope:) and depend more on Him, He might allow abilities to be taken from a person, so that they are left with no choice but to look to God for help in all areas. Or God might put us through specific trials and struggles so that we are able to relate to people who have gone through the same thing we have! That is what Jesus did for us! He came and went through the same struggles, trials, problems, difficulties, and pain of our sinfulness, without sinning, so that He could relate with us. So that He could know us better and what we needed from Him, to help us.

So, maybe being a loving channel for God, might mean that we need to be put through an intense trial or struggle, so that we can relate with a particular person or person’s so that God can give us compassion, mercy, grace, and ultimately love for them! Therefore, being a loving channel, might be the hardest thing God calls us to do, in which we are called to be like Jesus, and willing to suffer for Him, so that we can bear the message of Love that we are called to share!

 

Jesus Tells Us What His Heavenly Kingdom is Like

Matthew 13:1-58
Jesus Teaches in Parables

1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.
2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. 3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 “And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 “He who has ears, let him hear.”

An Explanation

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;4 You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; 15 For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.’ 16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Sower Explained

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the 1word, immediately he falls away. 22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

Tares among Wheat

24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 “But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”

The Mustard Seed

31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like ba mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” The Leaven 33 He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three 1pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

The Tares Explained

36 Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the 1end of the age. 41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Hidden Treasure

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

A Costly Pearl

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,
46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

A Dragnet

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” 52 And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

Jesus Revisits Nazareth

53 When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that cthey were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his 1hometown and in his own household.” 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

What is the Kingdom of Heaven like?

I believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is perfection of Truth and Light from God Himself. I believe that the way God views things are very much different then the way that we view things here on earth. All things have been created by God for Him! So God knows exactly how all things function and how they should be working to perform properly. God knows what is truly true and what is false! So, when we think about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like, we need to try and come at it from God’s perspective, and realize that all Truth is held in the hand of God, the supplier of everything that’s true and good! In verses 13-14 it talks about God being the one who allows a person to understand His mysteries, and to know the Truth of God. -I think that in our lives sometimes, it is very easy to think that once we realize that we have saving faith in God, we then can go off by ourselves and display our faith to the world! However, that is not the case. A Christian lives on every word of God, and can only perform real Truth of God in their life if they are constantly seeking after His Word, and asking for power to fulfilling His Kingdom!

What Resources Do Christians Have?
(Matthew 7:7-12)

7 “1 Ask, and it will be given to you; 2 seek, and you will find; 3 knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! 12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Ask, Seek and Knock” I believe that a Christian has the responsibility to receive from God in order to give to others! A Christian’s Faith, for instance is something that comes from God. So, in order to receive that resource from God, a Christian must be Asking, Seeking, and knocking on God. 1 We need to Ask God, because He is the only one who can provide for us real Truth. 2 We need to Seek after God through His Word, because God will show Himself to us if we are dedicated to constantly looking for Him! 3 We need to Knock, because a Christians life requires physical bold actions in our lives that reflect their seeking attitude. The Knocking is actions that come from the power of God from His abundance and wealth from His Kingdom in Heaven, to ours on earth!  The Comparison of 2 Different Worlds (Heaven and Earth)

(Matthew 6:25-34)25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single 1hour to his 2life? 28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be 3added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. 2Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I like this passage because it shows the contrast of the 2 different worlds of heaven and earth and how earth is seen from God’s eyes! The earth and the people that live in and according to the world, seek after themselves and things that are not REAL but instead, futile. Then, in opposition of this is God’s Kingdom, which is full, and perfect not lacking anything, and it is for those who ask, seek and knock on God’s door, realizing that every good and perfect gift comes from God and God alone! We cannot create Truth in ourselves. Satan, who people think is powerful, cannot create something in himself. He can only take that which God has already taken and pervert it! Only God is the true Creator. So, all humans have the choice to look to God’s perfection in their lives, or their choose their own futile attempt to create something Real, in and of themselves. Sometimes we can think that we are creating something real in and of ourselves, but it is simply us taking what God has already created, and perverting it into something unreal, and fake. And in the end, it turns out that God will separate and destroy all unreal, and fake creations that man has tried to make in and of themselves–according to Matthew 13:24-30.

So, why do I share all these random thoughts on these passages?

Because in my life, God has recently been showing more of Himself to me, since I have recently been forced to slow down in my life! I have recently come from a setting where, at times, I believe I forced myself to try and create ministry on my own. And now, looking back, I have seen these areas as places where I looked to myself instead of God and where I tried to make something work instead of looking to God’s power to perfect me in Him first! So, I guess one thing that God has shown me, is that I need to stop trying to create, and just (be) the person that God is molding me into, as I continue Asking, Seeking and Knocking on Him! (ASKING) to me, means that I must continue speaking with Him through prayer and working on my communication relationship with Him! (SEEKING) Him, means that I must continually spend time in His Word so that God can speak back to me! (KNOCKING) is actions that are risking everything to live out God’s power in my life!

God is the God of the universe, who is the only supplier of Real Truth, and everything that is Good and Perfect, which will last forever. God is full of wealth and not lacking anything!