Good News 2.0

Ei, please allow me to share some insights I got from my quiet time, are you cool enough to read thru?

⁷ Some other seed fell among thorny weeds, which grew and choked the good plants- Matthew 13:7

And what is the seed that fell among the thorny weeds? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching but lets worries about this life and the temptation of wealth stop that teaching from growing. So the teaching does not produce fruit in that person’s life. - Matthew 13:22

This is true to some of us.

We accepted the Word, believed Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.  But the worries of living–  food on the table, tuition fee for kids, payment for mortgages and other bills prevented us from experiencing the fullness of God’s goodness.

Please allow me to illustrate,  the ideal lifestyle of  a Christian should have the following:

Daily Quiet time with God (Reading of the Word and Prayer)

¹¹⁴ You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. Psalms 119:114

³⁵ Early the next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus woke and left the house. He went to a lonely place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

Weekly Corporate gathering (Sunday Services)

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another— and all the more as you see the Day approaching Hebrews 10:25

Weekly group gathering (Connect or cell groups)

When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Acts 12:12

Ministry Involvement (Service to the body)

Then Joshua said to the people, “Now respect the Lord and serve him fully and sincerely. Joshua 24:14

Tithing (Honor God)

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Malachi 3:10

Lifestyle of Giving/ Generousity (Gifts to God)

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:11

Now think with me, how many times have we skipped any of the above because of the demands of work and business? Or the attention needed by kids? Or because of tight budget, the tithe was “borrowed”?  With our actions, it looks like this promise is not real

Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well.- Matthew 6:33

Little did we know that such behavior will prevent us from experiencing the fulfillment of God’s promise. Look at the Israelites during the time of Moses as example. We all know that God’s promise to Israel is to occupy the promise land. It took God 40 years to fulfill it. Why?

They kept wondering on the dessert because they put little value on what God promised, instead they magnified their needs, the ” worries of living” and ignored God.

¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? Heb. 3:16-17

³⁹“But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. ⁴⁰They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’

Only after all the unbelieving generation has died,  and the new generation of Israelites led by Joshua entered the promise land. Moses did not enter too, he only saw the promise land from a distance.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said to them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ I have let you look at it, Moses, but you will not cross over there.” Deut 34:4

I don’t know about you, but I guess we need to take action to fulfill God’s promise. I don’t want to just “view” or look at God’s promise from a distance, neither miss it. I hope God touched your heart as he touched mine.

Kuya Son Quiet Time Worth Contemplating