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April8 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:25:14-30 DELIVERED UNTO THEM HIS GOODS - The picture is of the servants responsibility with the Lord's goods after He leaves. A considerable amount is given to even the least according to his particular ability. Paul explains it as "grace given" kjv@Romans:12:6 "the manifestation of Spirit given to each man to profit withal" kjv@1Corinthians:12:7 "stewards of mysteries" kjv@1Corinthians:4:1-2. Peter says "minister the same one to another as stewards of manifold grace of God" kjv@1Peter:4:10. The fact is that He has given us His goods, spiritual gifts/ability and opportunity, this with any type of investment compounds with interest. It is not usury per se, not at the expense or misuse of anybody, it is natural and beneficial growth of the Kingdom. Withal implies the common good of all as does one to another. By the one man burying the grace given and not making diligent profitable use of it, he is accusing his Lord of reaping where He has not sown, profiting on the back on others, hardness in the ways of business. He is also burying it away from the profit of the collective. His own ability has been ceased by his mis-understanding of the Lords intentions/rights and by implication his association to the larger group. What he has been given is then to be taken away and given to those whose faithfulness has been proven. The faith of our Lord is in increase. He has given His grace; the Holy Spirit and it's manifestations, spiritual gifts to be ministered one to another for to profit withal and for all. What good is such an uncommon privilege if not faithfully executed as a good steward.

May17 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:4:30-34 AS THEY WERE ABLE TO HEAR - When they were alone then He expounded. Don't you wish that they would have recorded these teachings? Saved us all a lot of trouble? That tells us two important things right off the bat. One, there is much to take in, too much for one parable/session/three year apprenticeship. Two, Jesus does not mean for just anybody to know because not everyone spiritually discerns it. Despite the huge amount of time He spent publicly/privately, I believe that it can be shown that not even the disciples discerned the message spiritually until after Pentecost. Not because it is too heavy intellectually but, because the mind always tries to discern it intellectually which leads to counterfeiting and approximation and various interpretations. It is almost as if Jesus is investing His teaching forward to the future. He is depositing into their memories knowing that these teachings will not take hold until after they become spiritual. For the moment it is a tiny seed, there is some potential/benefit, what it is though is not what it will become. There is process, there is nurturing, there is husbandry. Take the Kingdom message, He plants it now, He expounds it to those who will carry it forward after Him, they invest/devote themselves to seeking it/Him out, He infuses the seed/their efforts with Spirit, there is miraculous growth. The mind resists this, it bypasses the essential steps and determines the meaning that serves itself best, it universalizes the teaching with other teachings that it can come with on it's own. The mind wants/expects a kingdom of much different design on much different terms. Ask yourself, is this a seed of intellect, a seed of self growth and determination, or is it a seed of spirit, a seed of Heaven on Earth, ever lasting redemption? The faith of our Lord is in big plans and changes in the hearts of all men, a faith where the things of this carnal world are not much more than fertilizer for a much greater thing. That we so easily/readily confuse and contradict spiritual process even as believers by resorting to the present intellect such ethereal matters itself is every indication of the types of things Jesus is up against. The other thing to see is how several parables are meant to interact together as a whole to stimulate/compound growth and yet to protect growth from diseased carnal influences. It will be a substantial and healthy enough end product that the angelic community will be able to be mixed back into it and cohabitate with it as well.

September29 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:19:11-27 WOULD NOT THAT I SHOULD REIGN OVER THEM - The purpose of this parable is stated right off, some thought that the kingdom should appear immediately. What we have then is an prophecy/illustration of what will occur until He returns in the future. The first note of importance is that the nobleman Christ will leave to a place where He will receive His kingdom. In His absence ten servants receive ten pounds each from Him to investment. This differentiates this parable immediately from the parable of the talents where three servants receive three different sums for the same purpose. Second, the citizens here of His kingdom have rebelliously declared that they do not will for Christ to reign over them. This describes the general sentiment of the people/world all around us to this day. So we have the picture of a limited number of servants given the identical amount of resource (could be the gospel message whole as opposed to the varying of individual talents) being invested in a world where the majority of citizen are in outright rebellion. It would be natural to expect the return on investment to vary given differences in location and time, level of risk and engagement, etc... What we are shown however, is only two of the ten having any notable return and at least one of the ten not having invested the given resource at all. We are not told the end of these servants from whom what they had was taken away. We only know the end of the remaining rebellious citizens. So if you are a servant and if you are expecting the kingdom to appear immediately, it may be best that you ask what return on investment have we made in this interim. If you are waiting for the mood of the citizens to improve, don't. If you are of the mind that serving this Lord is bitter and course and that only He unfairly profits, don't. The faith of our Lord is not in finding the favorable conditions for investing His word, He is a sower that sows His word even on the wayside. Because we tend to think that the kingdom is right here or just rounding the corner home we tend not to serve (invest His gospel into the darkness) any more than need be. Because we tend to think the push back and effort required harsh and unrewarding we tend to hold to the gospel for ourselves and not invest. The Lord feels that He has given each of us equal resource. Along with the resource He has given us the time to put it forward. If the resource were to be taken away what would you then do? Would you go back to being a citizen?