Perseverance: Don't Settle For Second Best...

Discover the transformative power of love over politics and power as we explore the profound essence of the kingdom of God. What if the foundation of an eternal kingdom isn't authority or might, but rather an unyielding This episode emphasizes the driving force of love within the kingdom of God and the importance of understanding God's presence, even in quiet times. We discuss the parable of the growing seed as a metaphor for spiritual growth and rest, encouraging listeners to trust in God's unseen work during periods of silence.

• Exploring the role of love in the kingdom of God  
• Addressing feelings of absence and distance from God  
• Understanding the parable of the growing seed  
• Emphasizing the importance of trust during quiet moments  
• The significance of rest in spiritual growth  
• Encouraging community engagement and shared experiences

Chapters

• 0:56 Kingdom of God
• 18:23 Growing in the Kingdom

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:56

Howdy folks, I want to welcome you to another episode of Life Around the Fire. My name is David Huttari and I'll be your host today. We are a podcast that is devoted to spiritual growth, and what we mean by spiritual growth is this growth in our relationship, first and foremost, with God, then in our relationships with one another. What I'd like to do today in this episode is continue on with this topic concerning the kingdom of God, and we've been looking at love being the real driving force in the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, it's not so much just raw power, like a military power, that is the great driving force of the kingdom of God, like it was with Alexander the Great. He had a very intimidating and vast army and he would conquer lands and building an empire as a result of the military prowess. Even though there is a military element to the kingdom of God, it is not the primary driving force. Nor is it a political kingdom that has within it great laws that are the driving force of the kingdom. Yes, there are laws. There are laws in every culture and the kingdom of God has culture, but it's not the driving, motivating force. Love and relationship are the two elements that make up the driving force of the kingdom of God His love and his commitment to having relationship with us, a real, loving, healthy relationship that is eternal. That is eternal where the security that's found in his love isn't going to change. It's not going to be here and then one day it's absent, even though there may be times where it feels that way. And so that's what we're going to be talking about in this episode. Is that those times where it feels like God has removed himself and it can leave a question mark as to what that's all about.

Speaker 1: 3:53

But before we do, what I'd like to do is take a moment and pray, because we all live in a very busy world and because of that we have information coming at us from all angles, and it can become difficult at times to focus, to even catch your breath, because there is so much going on, so many changes happening, is so much going on, so many changes happening? But we believe that what we behold and who we behold is what and who we become like, and we want to become like Jesus and citizens of his kingdom, and so our focus is, without any question, devoted to that. But I need help, and I'm sure that we all could say we definitely need help, because it's a challenge to keep focus, but God is faithful. So let's take a moment and pray and just invite him to help us focus in on Jesus. Father, once again, I thank you for who you are, how you're doing things, why you're doing things, why you're doing them. I love you, god. Help us move beyond performing things and trying hard to do things when you've already accomplished him, and help us focus God so that we can really truly behold Jesus, experience him, get to know him, understand that his love is demonstrated for us, understand that his love is demonstrated for us. So, holy Spirit, I ask that you would be like a shepherd and shepherd our thoughts like sheep and cause them to rest, to lie down, to settle down and to be fed by your goodness, so that we can become more and more like Jesus. And I stand here in his name and pray and declare it to be so in saying amen, amen, amen, amen. Right On On.

Speaker 1: 6:41

In preparing for this podcast episode, I was just kind of thinking about some of the times in which the overwhelming sense of God's presence and his love would just consume everything it would bring me to. Sometimes it would bring me to a place of not being able to speak other than to just weep, just to cry, because I felt so loved, so secure, so right, that everything was in right order. And I felt his power, his strength, the fact that he's strong and that he isn't angry at me. It's not like I have to try to do things to appease his anger. Holy Spirit has shown me that that's what Jesus accomplished on the cross, has shown me that that's what Jesus accomplished on the cross, and then he overcame it through the resurrection, and now he's seated at the very right hand of God and we have a position there, ourselves Powerful.

Speaker 1: 7:55

We have eternal life, we have the life of God in us, in a relationship that's a covenant relationship, not a contract, but a covenant, a blood covenant, the highest form of agreement that can be made. And Jesus has cut covenant with us and has called us to be citizens of God's kingdom, no longer wandering in the realm of darkness, just trying to figure out what life's all about and oftentimes doing things that ultimately were damaging to ourselves and to people around us, and to people around us, alienated from God, perhaps not even giving consideration as to whether or not there was or is a God, but he, jesus, provides the very access point for us to have a definite, right relationship with our Heavenly Father. That's powerful, that's absolutely astounding, that's absolutely astounding. And we are called to be citizens of a kingdom, of a culture, of a way of life that's eternal. And there is, throughout Scripture, clear, clear, clear road maps for us to navigate so we can learn how to function in God's kingdom before we die. We don't have to die in order to then get into the kingdom of God, go to heaven one day. We experience eternal life by placing our faith and our trust in Jesus, and there's a divine exchange that takes place what's mine becomes his and what's his becomes mine, His life for my life, a covenant relationship In a kingdom, relationship in a kingdom. And so we really looked at this aspect of the kingdom of God being very central to what Jesus came to teach and to proclaim. Excuse me to proclaim and to demonstrate, proclaim and to demonstrate. And it behooves us to become comfortable, equipped, to become really, in a way, very, very, very settled as being citizens of his kingdom.

Speaker 1: 10:57

And one of the teachings that Jesus gave concerning the kingdom of God is in the form of a parable, and it's found in Mark, chapter 4, verses 26 through 29. And it's a parable about a growing seed. And in prefacing this parable, I think those of us who have a relationship with God can relate to the fact that there are times where his presence doesn't really seem present. We can feel very much just ourselves and it can seem rather empty when it comes to having contact with God and we can wonder you know what's what's? I know I do, I don't like it Often, I just don't like it and I wonder what? Did I do something wrong? It's kind of like my first thing that I think did I do something wrong? Because I have been taught, unfortunately through teachings in my life, that God's really not all that pleased with us. I mean, he has to forgive us because of Jesus, but it's like, well, if I have to, I have to, and that we have to now earn our keep concerning our life in the kingdom of God, and he is looking to see us do something wrong so that we get punished. And that's how we will learn. That's not the case.

Speaker 1: 12:47

And so Jesus, concerning his teaching on the kingdom of God, covers that very thing in this parable. Mark writes and he said the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow. He himself does not know how, for the earth yields crops by itself first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come Now. Quaint story, but it carries a tremendous amount of truth in it.

Speaker 1: 13:51

In it, and it's been said that Jesus would teach in parables, because if you really wanted to know what the meaning was, you would take time and follow the teacher. You would get closer to the teacher and ask him If you weren't interested but just were looking to maybe get some information, you walk away and say that was pretty good, but I have no idea what that means, and just leave it alone, snatched away, you know, gone in a moment, never to be thought of again. Except I'm not just comfortable, or even how should I say it? I'm not inclined to treat things like that, because I am more than a follower, a casual follower of Jesus, one who periodically takes time out of his weekly schedule and goes into a building and listens to a few things and pays a few bucks and then leaves and goes about life. A casual follower, I have a hunger as a disciple, a true disciple, a true disciple of Jesus. I'm one of his students and I follow him closely because he has provided for me the keys to the kingdom, how to function in this powerful kingdom, and he's teaching me what to do when sometimes things seem rather quiet.

Speaker 1: 15:45

He said, the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground and should sleep by day and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow.

Speaker 1: 16:00

He himself does not know how, when things get quiet. There are times in our walk when we are not able to see with Jesus, in our relationship with God, in which things get quiet, and it is not because God is angry with us. It's because he simply wants us to rest and enjoy what he's provided and, knowing that it's going to continue to grow, it is going to be all right. You see, growth takes place in the kingdom of God, even if we don't feel it, just like this farmer didn't know how this grain would grow, even when he was asleep. Even when he was asleep, the grain would grow, even when we're asleep. The kingdom of God is growing. The life of God is growing within us.

Speaker 1: 17:24

That's a powerful truth, that's a very important truth for all of us to grasp and appreciate and know that it's not because God is angry with us that things are quiet. It's because he wants us to know that, even when we're sleeping, growth is still taking place. It's not about performance, it's not performance orientation, it's not a way of a whip and a carrot. It's because he loves us. Even when we're sleeping, even when it's quiet, even when we can't feel him, we can rest. In fact, those are times when we are really given great, great, great permission to rest, because there's plenty of work to do.

Speaker 1: 18:24

When the harvest comes. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for showing us simple truths that have a powerful impact in our lives and help us appreciate what it is that you're doing, even when we can't feel you or sense you in any way, hearing from you, nothing but your kingdom is still growing within us, your life is still growing within us. Your life is still growing until it reaches maturity. Father, we want to be like Jesus, and so we stand here in his name and we declare that, because of your word, we will be like him. Amen, amen, amen. All right, folks, I love you. If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifearoundthefire at gmailcom, or type in lifearoundthefire and look us up on the web. We would love to hear from you. In the meantime, god bless you. Adios amigos.