The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matt. 13:31, 32; Mark 4:30-32 )

Luke 13:18-21

18 ¶ Then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 “It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

The Parable of the Leaven (Matt. 13:33 ) 20 ¶ And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21 “It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” ——— In these two parables Jesus attempts to help the disciples understand what it means for something to start small as a seed, like a mustard seed, which is so small you cannot really see one seed, it needs to have multitudes to see them, and have it grow so huge, like the mustard tree. In this He is answering the question asked of him, “What is the kingdom of God like and what can I compare it to in order to understand it better.” This illustration is intended for us to see that when we first learn about the Lord, like when we are young, we only can see small portions of the Lord.

We cannot grasp all the fullness of who He is until over time and with much learning, fellowship and growing, praying and spending daily time with Him in His Word, slowly grows us in understanding of the Lord and His kingdom.

It really is a subject that will never be completely grasped, this side of heaven, but one day you look up and realize 28 years have gone by and you really have grown in the past 28 years and you really do know more than you did before and just see the blessing in that! The next illustration was Jesus’s way of saying, “I see blank looks on faces, let me explain it another way to help you understand it better.

So think of a lady who is baking bread and while preparing the dough the lady put in 3 measures of meal or yeast and the whole batch was soon leavened or given air or lift so the bread was lighter and less dense. So as the kingdom of heaven is spread through our lives like yeast and our lives expand with the kingdom of heaven on earth. The more you understand of the kingdom of heaven, which is eternal in focus and not earthly means, the more you become kingdom followers and not following the things of the world. Kingdom of heaven life is not built on a rushed church visit and hurried prayers before you eat at least very well, it will not expand at any exponential rate if the focus is growing your stock portfolio, catching the cutest guy or gal, living in the best home and all that the world says that is what we need. Not that those cannot be had, but where is the focus - eternity or retirement. This is just a message from Jesus to the disciples to the multitudes, to the Christians to us. The kingdom of heaven is desiring to be known and grasped by us and when we let it, it can just expand into every area of our life. Praise God.

CALL HIM

By Lidia Hu

Call Him.

He who made the earth

Call him

He who formed the earth

Call him

He who established the earth

Call on the Lord

For he makes everything new

Call on the Lord

For he repairs everything broken

Call upon the Lord

For he establishes everything in place

Call him

He who makes newness 

Call him

He who remolds brokenness

Call him

He who sets everything in place

He will answer you

And tell you great things

Even unsearchable things

Things you do not know

By the way, his name is Jesus

He answers all who call on him

Go ahead, give him a call

You’ll be in awe of his answer

“This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name:‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:2-3

Picture used by permission by owner Lidia Hu. 

LET’S PRAISE THE LORD’S GLORIOUS NAME

Picture and post by Lidia Hu

“Praise be to you, Lord,

    the God of our father Israel,

    from everlasting to everlasting.

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power

    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,

    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;

    you are exalted as head over all.

Wealth and honor come from you;

    you are the ruler of all things.

In your hands are strength and power

    to exalt and give strength to all.

Now, our God, we give you thanks,

    and praise your glorious name.”

I Chronicles 29: 10-13

~ ~ ~

With and in

Every sunset

I see you,

My Lord

With and in

Every sunset

I sense you

My God

With and in

Every sunset

I feel a pull

Towards you

With and in

Every sunset

You send

Amazement

With and in

Every sunset

You reveal

Grandeur 

With and in

Every sunset

You provide

Hope

With and in

Every sunset

You reveal

Your heart

Like a rainbow

Sunsets reflect

Promises for

Our tomorrows

~ ~ ~

Lord,

When my

Eyes fail me

May my lips 

Praise you

When I feel

Your sunset

 

When my lips

Can’t utter

The words

May my

Face reveal

My gratitude

If my face

Can’t express

My emotions

May my tears

Be droplets

Of pure joy

For my heart

Will remember 

The sunsets

You allowed

My eyes

To see

Brenda Connors Devotionals With My Blue Thread Sisters

Devo. 4/23/22

Luke 5:12-26 

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

 (Matt. 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45 )

12 ¶ And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

13 ¶ Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him.

14 And He charged him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.”

15 ¶ However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.

16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

——

I wondered after processing through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, that it would be difficult to find something new in a story I have already heard two “other times, but different writers, different perspectives and it is so interesting. I read a book by these three ladies who I know and love one of them, Linda Reinhardt, so incredibly much, and they told the same story of three sisters from each of their perspectives. Such a beautiful story, it is called Like a Bird Wanders and the other two authors are Sharon Bernard Smith and Rosanne Croft. This is how I read the same story three times and get so much out of each telling.

Jesus has just called the first 4 of His 12 disciples and I put myself into the story as new disciples, following Him with a different mindset. Before they followed because they loved to hear Him teach, but now they are following Him because He told them He would make them fishers of men. So this first encounter is like going to discipleship school on the fly. No ink or scrolls to learn from, just an on the job training. Jesus goes from filling their boats with fish to healing a leper. It’s a kind of quick let Him learn as you go job and boy did they jump right into the deep water.

So as Jesus was in a certain city, the Word does not state which one, a man with leprosy fell down on his face and cried out for Jesus to make him clean. Leprosy was a horrible disease that was highly contagious and not able to be cured. . A person who had this disease was considered unclean and they had to cry out “Unclean, unclean” whenever people were around so they could run from him/her. Kind of like the last 2 years with the pandemic, avoiding people became the norm. It was a death sentence and it made this man desperate for help. He said to Jesus, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean”.  This man had such desperation, but such faith. He didn’t ask if Jesus could heal him, he asked if He would be willing to. Jesus said, “I am willing”, and he touched the man and the leprosy left immediately. We all know from the Word so far Jesus could heal someone with a look, when he isn’t even with the person, and now, despite the absolute taboo for anyone touching a leper, Jesus touched this man. Such love, it might have been years since anyone showed him any love and Jesus touched him. 

Jesus told the man to go to the priest and let him see that you are healed and then make an offering. Basically following the plans laid out in the Old Testament. He told him to tell no one, but I am not sure I could have done that because once you are in a putrid state where you are literally falling apart and then you are free from the incurable disease you believed was going to kill you so slowly and painfully. I am not sure that I wouldn’t just shout it from the rooftops as this man did. It isn’t that Jesus didn’t want anyone to know, He just knew that the crowds would grow exponentially after hearing this. When word got out of this healing, it became a mob scene with various infirmities brought to Jesus. When He became overwhelmed, He went to a deserted place to pray and find His strength.

It doesn’t have to be a disease that makes one feel lonely and unloved, with the pandemic there are so many people who are desperate for human contact. He is willing to put His arms around you and me and touch our souls to remind us we do matter to Him. 

Randy’s appointment was very good, there is no more cancer than the prostate. ‘,

Now we meet with the oncologist to determine the best course of action. 

It is funny how sometimes one of you will comment that it is awesome how these message are and I laugh remembering falling asleep and my hands still are on the iPad keyboard and awake to find all kinds of things I have written in my sleep. Because He can even bless me and others with these words despite me!

Brenda Connors Devotionals With My Blue Thread Sisters

 Devo.. 4/21/22

Luke 4:38-44

Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed

(Matt. 8:14, 15; Mark 1:29-31 )

38 ¶ Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.

39 So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

Many Healed After Sabbath Sunset

(Matt. 8:16, 17; Mark 1:32-34 )

40 ¶ When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.

41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

(Matt. 4:23-25; Mark 1:35-39 )

42 ¶ Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them;

43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

44 And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

——

No where in any of the other Gospels, Matthew Mark or John did Jesus heal Simon’s (Peter’s) mother-in-law before we knew who Simon was.  

It appears the only reason I can come up with this switch is that Luke was showing where Jesus was fulfilling that verse in Isaiah. He was using illustrations of the places that showed this, like the man filled with the demons.

Jesus seemed to be eager to get to it, after the encounter with the demon being thrown out of a man in the synagogue, He goes outside and right to Simon”s mother- in-law’s house where He found her very Ill with a high fever. 

Her family asked that she be made well so Jesus rebuked the fever and it left her. She got up and made them all something to eat. That was amazing because usually when someone gets well it still lingers and strength comes back slowly, but Jesus healed her of the fever and gave her strength to rise up and serve them.

Then when word got around town that people had been healed from their various ailments a crowd of people gathered at sunset, which was the end of the Sabbath, with people who were in need of healing. He laid His hands on them all and they were all healed. Demons also came out of many people and as they began to proclaim who He was, He shushed them and did not allow them to speak.

Wonderful start to His ministry. It is important to not take away from this that Jesus finds demons in every sick person or that healing people physically is all He does. He meets people right where they are in His ministry. 

When the sun came up Jesus went to a deserted place to pray and be alone with the Lord. The crowds found Him and tried to stop Him from leaving, but He told them He had to preach the kingdom of God to everyone, which, He is pointing out, His main purpose in coming

Jesus knows there are people hurting, sad, lonely, in many ways and He knows that the most important thing is for people to know the healing power of Jesus in their heart. 

I have had many times when I have done things for others, big things like buy a car for them, give them money for a dance, give them jobs, but when it came time to pay back the loan, they went away, laughed in my face or ignored the fact they owed me. 

Giving people things doesn’t make them love anyone, especially if you stop giving to them. It is a hard lesson to learn for this not so proud people pleaser. People do not need things, but they do need to know Jesus. 

This is why it was Jesus’ ministry because a lot of the multitudes that followed Jesus for 3 years were in the crowd crying “Crucify Him, crucify Him, give us Barabbas, crucify Jesus”. Why.? Because they wanted Him to save them from Roman rule and when he was arrested they gave up hope in what they wanted from Him and missed what He came for really. 

I pray no one I know will miss out because of something they felt Jesus slighted them on. He is really all we need, it just takes changing our perspective to see it. Turn your eyes…

Brenda Connors Devotionals With My Blue Thread Sisters

Mark 11:25-26 (Matt. 6:14, 15 )

Forgiveness and Prayer

25 ¶ “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

26 “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

——I can tell you that distracted people don’t do well. A distracted driver can miss a car in front of them stopping and slam into them, go into the ditch, or die in a fiery crash. Once I was in Mexico and my friend from Mexico about halfway into the mission trip told me she was praying for me because I seemed “off”. I realized it was true I was interested in this guy and it had me distracted. Once she told me that I let go of the “guy troubles” and poured myself into the mission.

This is why Jesus takes a moment to share the two verses about forgiveness and prayer. Not processing forgiveness to a person is an anchor on our feet pulling us under. It is in no way resolving the situation, but taking ourselves out of the fight. I have heard it said so many times, forgiveness is what we do for ourselves, in order to clear our heart and mind from being distracted. David Guzik said it so nicely:

The forgiven heart will forgive others. If we have hard, unforgiving hearts, it calls into question if we have ever received or appreciated the forgiveness God offers us.

I know we hang onto things because we think it is our right. We have been wronged and we need to let the world know. With a rallying cry we gain others to walk this anger road with us. It feels redeeming to have others agree with you, but it is just making the stink more rank.

 Allowing ourselves to forgive this person instead of putting a hit squad together is really the only way to freedom. I have talked about anger letters and forgiveness letters, where you pour out your anger onto paper or on the computer. After it is all out on the table, you write a forgiveness letter. One of the most powerful tools there is for helping ourselves process through to forgiveness.

It really is true that this unforgiveness can seep into every part of our lives and is like drinking a lard smoothie. It is like a hot potato, get rid of it before it burns you.

The Season

I can still hear the song Turn! Turn! Turn! that The Byrds sang years ago. It was adapted from a Bible verse in Ecclesiasties.

"To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose under Heaven..." (WEB) (2)

There is a time for people to be born, to live, and to die. There is a season for joy, weeping, celebrating and grieving. There is a season for wars, and for peace.

There is a very special time when the Word (Jesus) became man and walked among us.

"In Him was life, and that life was the light of men." NIV John 1:4 (1)

"The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." NIV John 1:5 (1)

The world can have a season of darkness, but Jesus is light.

Celebrating the birth of Jesus comes once a year. The lights are strung all around us and look beautiful. Through the darkness are displays of color and light, as there is a yearly celebration of Jesus birth. A time when He came to live among His people. A time when people were face to face with His light. His love.

He showed compassion on those who were weary, outcasts, and hurting. He healed those who had sicknesses. He showed the people a new path to walk.

He still does that to this day. His love and light are still there for us to experience every day.

Even on our very saddest days. Those days when we experience loss that is so great we don't know how to get up off the ground.

He is the lifter of our heads.

He is our strength.

When we ache to the core of our being, He is our comforter.

He came many years ago and lived with His people for a short period of time. That is what we celebrate, because He left the message behind that we can live with Him forever, if we believe in Him.

Every year there is the Christmas season.

Every  day His light shines in the darkness.

WORK CITE

1. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Bible Gateway. WEB. (2017)
2. The Byrds, "Turn! Turn! Turn!,"The Byrds, Peter Seeger, Columbia Studios,1965,Lyrics Freak, www.lyricsfreak.com.

BRENDA CONNORS - DEVOTIONALS WITH MY BLUE THREAD SISTERS

Mark 11:12-14 The Fig Tree Withered 

(Matt. 21:18, 19 )

^{11 12} ¶ Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. ¹³ And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.

—— It isn’t that Jesus just got the fig season wrong. It wasn’t that the fig tree didn’t have figs because it wasn’t supposed to. The problem is that it had leaves but didn’t have figs. The leaves said, “There are figs here,” but the figs weren’t there.

This of course is not a message about figs but is a message about how Jesus views religious people, who appear to have the leaves of the relationship with God but have no fruit. Putting on a pretense of believing, but not believing is what Jesus is addressing here.

This is the only destructive miracle Jesus did and it is a picture of the Jewish rulers and their followers, which He will address coming up next. There were many trees with only leaves, and these were not cursed. There were many trees with neither leaves nor fruit, and these were not cursed. This tree was cursed because it professed to have fruit but did not.

These people who were religious were exactly as this tree, professing with their religious outer trappings, like the leaves, that they had a pretense of a relationship with God, but they had no fruit.

God really does want a life given over to Him, He wants us not to simply say the words of belief and then go on and live our lives the same, but not only wants lip service, but He desires that we give over our lives to Him. We let go of what we think our life should be about and trust Him to use us for His purposes.

It is easy to say, but so hard to do. It is like putting your very last coin in the offering plate and trusting God to provide.

So important for our walk to match our talk. To just do religion by rote and have no relationship with the Creator is so damaging to ourselves and others. People see leaves and follow to get the fruit but end up believing they have fruit when their lives are a tree empty of fruit. It really is a tragic thing to realize that not only have you been led astray but have been attracting others to follow you.

If any of a relationship with Jesus leads people to us instead of Him, we are a fig tree with leaves but no fruit. I never want to live like that.

Lord I pray for all of us to have a real and personal relationship with our Savior where He produces fruit a plenty with our lives.

Used with permission from one or the original BlueThreads - Brenda Connors of DEVOTIONAL SHARING WITH MY BLUE THREAD SISTERS

THE LIGHT SHINES

Many mornings incredible colors fill the sky as the sun rises to start the day. My husband is one of those who loves to take pictures of the sunrise. I don’t see the sunrise that often, but when I do it is like watching a painter mix and stroke the colors on to the canvas in a fascinating eye-catching way and then, ta-dah - it is a new day.

It is so great when the sun is shining and there are blue skies, birds singing, and it doesn’t really matter if it is cold out. A day with sunshine to light up the sky can help a day be better no matter what the temperature.

I do get to see the moon rise over the horizon quite often. I have walked in the evening looking up at the sky and tried to take many pictures of the moon and the twinkling stars. The pictures typically do not compare to what I am viewing at the time.

There is a place in our neighborhood that I have spent time just gazing up at the lights in the sky while mulling over things happening in my life or others’ lives.

 Sometimes I cry, sometimes I stand and talk to God, and sometimes I just plain admire the amazing handiwork that I see before me up in the sky.

Sometimes the clouds are so thick you can’t see all the stars or the moon. Sometimes a cloud will part a bit and I can get a peek at the lights in the sky.

Even when it is stormy, I know there are lights behind those dark clouds.

When I go inside, throughout my home little night lights are placed to guide our way when we turn the main lights off at night. If we get up at night, it isn’t completely dark. There are soft lights to guide us.

God created light for our day, and He created lights to shine in the dark of the night.

The book of Genesis tells us on the fourth day of creation in chapter 1 verse 16. “Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

This Sunday we get to set our clocks forward which will make our early evenings brighter.

In the fall when we switch our clocks backward each year it is instantly dark and dreary early in the day. The rainy weather starts, and people head indoors. However, a wonderful thing happens in October, (now that people decorate for Christmas earlier) the neighborhoods light up one by one around our city with bright beautiful light displays that have become more and more extravagant each year.

There are lists in the paper to let you know where the most exquisite light displays are around the cities. There are quite a few on that list and there are quite a few that don’t make the paper.

Just down the street from us the neighborhood puts on a wonderful Christmas display.  I love looking at the beautiful light displays so I turn on to that street quite a bit to see it up close.

Then closer to the Christmas holiday I come home to cheery decorations that await in my house along with the Christmas tree that has its own light display.

All of this helps make it truly the most wonderful time of the year.

And then the new year begins, and we celebrate newness. It brings a sense of hope for the days that lie ahead.

Then…the lights come down. The trees are put away. The celebration time is over.

Except for a few homes there is no longer those beautiful lights causing the streets to be illuminated with color.

There is a deeper darkness to the evening, and the nights seem longer.  

Darkness is all around. It makes it so hard to see. Sometimes it can be easier to close your eyes, hide your head, or hide your heart, so as not to think about what causes things to be dark or what happens in the dark.

The news and social media plagues us with information of the virus. There has been a huge loss of lives and suffering of loved ones. It can be terrifying to have someone cough near you. People wait at home for information of their loved ones on whether they are okay or not while they suffer in the hospital.

There has been so much misunderstanding between people. Anger. Retaliation.

Drugs, sex addiction, and sex trafficking is rampant in America. It is rampant in our very area!

Families are being torn apart in so many ways whether it be by isolation from the virus, the vaccine opinions, the masks fights, different addictions, the list is long.

The homeless line the sides of the roads and freeway. Their garbage and belongings fill the grassy areas.

There is an outrageous number of children in the foster care system and there is not enough homes for them to be stay safe while their parents deal with their issues.  And there is so many burnt out foster parents, CASA, and caseworkers because of a system that doesn’t appear to be handling the overload very well. It leaves a person shaking their head with a broken heart.

Young adults are dealing with mental issues during this pandemic time.

Murders, robberies, and kidnappings are the norm in the paper. 

It seems the lights are not only put away for the holidays, but the light is gone from life itself. 

There is darkness.

And in the dark is where the mourning cries of the heart are not always heard, and hope can be lost. In the dark is where a person can feel so alone. In the dark is where it is hard to see the helping hand that is reaching out to comfort. In the dark is where it is hard to find those who need comforting the most.

In the dark is where we sometimes hold on to things that only make it darker because we cannot clearly see.

The other day I read in Genesis 1 that in the beginning of creation darkness was all around. God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light, and God separated the light from the darkness. He said it was good.

It really caught my attention that light was the first thing God spoke into creation. And He SEPERATED the light from the darkness.

It was dark and then there was light. This was the first day.

And it was good.

He didn’t leave it at that. As we read earlier on the fourth day, He created a lesser light to RULE the night.

In each day darkness does come in one form or another, but so does LIGHT. Each day there is light. God spoke light first into the day.

During the Christmas celebration Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. In John 1:1-5 – it says that Jesus is the light…

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of me. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Even after the Christmas lights have come down. Even when the nights are dark. Even when darkness tries to cover the light.

LIGHT is still there.

Even when the sun goes down each day and darkness fills the land, God put stars and a moon in the sky to keep it from becoming completely dark.

The book of John tells us that Jesus light shines in the darkness…

We need the light that shines in the darkness.

There is a cute little song from Sunday School, This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

There is a lot of pain in life right now. A lot of grieving. Believe me I know.

There is a light that shines eternally and that is the light of Jesus.

Believe me I am not just trying to say something simple. I have also experienced dark nights. A heart so broken I didn’t even know how I could smile again. I have struggled with physical things this last year like never before and the process of healing has been long. I have lost ones I love, and miss that I will not hear their voices or spend another moment on earth with them.

My family and I gave a big chunk of our lives to bring good to a situation that seems like it didn’t matter what we did.

It looks so dark sometimes, and the dark can cause a heart to feel hopeless.

Yes, it can.

I am here to say it is never, never, never completely dark.

NEVER.

Jesus is the light of the world.

Yep, there is a lot of dark, but God’s light shines brighter.

God SPOKE and there became light. A light that has never been put out since the day of creation.

And every single day that sun rises. The stars twinkle. The moon shines. And it is a complete day.

There is hope.

See the night comes, but it cannot be completely dark, even if the skies are cloudy.

And we have PEOPLE.

God’s people.

Jesus says to be a city on a hill.

There is always, always a person. Maybe they won’t solve everything, but every little good thing a person does can light up a day so bright.

The nights may be dark. The days may seem as dark as the night, but there is a light that can come to shine in your life.

Jesus’ light. It shows through creation, it shows through people.

His light shines no matter what.