PARABLES - WEEK FOUR - DAY TWO
Hello and welcome to your Daily Devos, following our Parables series at 29:11!
Take some time today to read through the provided scriptures, meditate on the lessons we’ve learned this week, and journal your prayers. Have an amazing week, 29:11 Church!
THEME SCRIPTURE:
Parable of the Mustard Seed
31 Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”
33 Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
- Matthew 13:31-33 NLT
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20 NLT
REFLECTION:
In doing some research: 2.4 Billion people proclaim to be Christian out of the 7.9 Billion people in the world. Based on these stats that means that just under 1 out of every 3 people in the world say they are Christian or we can look at it as 2 out of every 3 people still don’t know Jesus. Now not to be super critical, but according to Pam Wasserman in an article called “World Population by Religion: A Global Tapestry of Faith,” 50% of Christians identify as Catholic, 37 percent Protestant, 12 percent Orthodox and 1 percent “Other”. Looking at these numbers I think it would be fair to say that 1 to 3 ratio is really starting to look a whole lot smaller on who actually knows and believes in the absolute Truth about our God, but that is the power of YEAST. Even though there was “only a little yeast… it permeated every part of the dough.” When Jesus talks about every part of the dough, He means the WHOLE LOAF, the WHOLE WORLD, our WHOLE COMMUNITY, and our WHOLE LIVES— each one of us and every part of us! For ANYONE and for EVERYONE who will believe! The Kingdom of GOD moves and affects every part of our lives.
THOUGHTS TO PONDER:
“The point and promise of the Parable of Leaven, like that of the Mustard Seed, is not that the whole world will be converted but that the whole world will be reached.”—Bruner, Frederick Dale. Matthew: A Commentary: The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28 . Kindle Edition.
In a hurting, broken world, and even in each of our lives God “hides” his church and invites us to be ‘mixed in’ to the world so that He, like yeast does to dough, can bring LIFE and RAISE US UP his Church!
He wants to move in YOU but have you chosen to let him be mixed in and permeating every part of you? Where in your life have you seen God move the most? Why? How? What’s an area of your personal life that you haven’t let Jesus permeate yet? What is one practical step you can take to invite him into that area of your life?
Take time to reflect on where God has “hidden” and “mixed” you into his church and this world. Who is one person you know that doesn’t know Jesus? How could you continue to grow and impact those around you for the sake of the Kingdom of God?
