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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2020 15:16:09 GMT -5
Tell Me a Story By: John Blase
Click on this link for the audio message
He did not say anything to them without using a parable.
Mark 4:34
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Mark 4:26–34
Once upon a time. Those four words just might be among the most powerful in the entire world. Some of my earliest memories as a boy contain a variation on that potent phrase. My mother came home one day with a large, hardcover illustrated edition of biblical stories—My Good Shepherd Bible Story Book. Every evening before lights-out, my brother and I would sit expectantly as she read to us of a time long ago filled with interesting people and the God who loved them. Those stories became a lens for how we looked at the great big world.
The undisputed greatest storyteller ever? Jesus of Nazareth. He knew we all carry inside us an innate love for stories, so that was the medium He consistently used to communicate His good news: Once upon a time there was a man who scattered “seed on the ground” (Mark 4:26). Once upon a time there was “a mustard seed” (v. 31), and on and on. Mark’s gospel clearly indicates that Jesus used stories in His interactions with everyday people (v. 34) as a way to help them see the world more clearly and understand more thoroughly the God who loved them.
That’s wise to remember as we desire to share with others God’s good news of mercy and grace. The use of story is almost impossible to resist.
Reflect & Pray
How could you weave a story or parable into your conversations this week? Maybe something like, “Once upon a time, God answered my prayer in a surprising way . . . .”
Jesus, You’re the Wonderful Counselor and the Great and Mighty God. Give us creativity in the ways in which we share Your love with a world that still slows down to hear a story.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The word parable comes from the Greek words para and bolḗ, which mean “placing side by side.” Parables are illustrations taken from common things, or day-to-day life situations, which compare a known truth with an unknown truth. The four gospels contain more than forty parables.
Jesus often used the sower-seed metaphor to illustrate the kingdom of God. In Mark 4, Jesus taught three parables—the parables of the sower (vv. 3-20), the growing seed (vv. 26-29), and the mustard seed (vv. 30-33). The seed is the Word of God (v. 14; Luke 8:11). When planted on “good soil,” or the receptive heart (Mark 4:20; Matthew 13:23), the life-bearing seed grows steadily and produces grain without any human effort (Mark 4:28-29). This is the unseen work of God—a work of grace. Only God makes the seed grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). K. T. Sim
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Mark 4:26-34
King James Version
26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?
31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:
32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
33 And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.
34 But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
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Post by John on May 16, 2020 15:22:50 GMT -5
A-men. There was no greater story teller than Jesus Christ, and His stories have spiritual truth. I encourage everyone to carefully examine the parables of Christ. One thing I enjoyed was going through all of them in our weekly Bible study.
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Post by joseph on May 16, 2020 15:28:17 GMT -5
"Jesus of Nazareth. He knew we all carry inside us an innate love for stories, so that was the medium He consistently used to communicate His good news"
The story tellers, the actors on the stage of life, use interesting or compelling or persuasive type stories to woo the listeners,
but Jesus never did.
Jesus never chose a medium, nor determined in Himself what to say or to tell, nor how to,
apart from the Father Directing Him Personally, Intimately,
same as with the Apostles later, when they learned to know the Father and to know Jesus in spirit and in truth, not after /in/ the flesh.
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Post by John on May 16, 2020 15:32:25 GMT -5
"Jesus of Nazareth. He knew we all carry inside us an innate love for stories, so that was the medium He consistently used to communicate His good news" The story tellers, the actors on the stage of life, use interesting or compelling or persuasive type stories to woo the listeners, but Jesus never did. Jesus never chose a medium, nor determined in Himself what to say or to tell, nor how to, apart from the Father Directing Him Personally, Intimately, same as with the Apostles later, when they learned to know the Father and to know Jesus in spirit and in truth, not after /in/ the flesh.
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Post by joseph on May 16, 2020 16:00:22 GMT -5
Jesus always did the will of the Father, so everything He said was in agreement with the Father, but I have no scripture to go by that says "Jesus never chose a medium, nor determined in Himself what to say or to tell, nor how to..." Lets suppose this is true. What are you trying to say through this?
Do not suppose, nor assume it is truth. Prove it true, or not true. Jesus did nothing of Himself. (He Says) Jesus relied on the Father , relies on the Father, always, for His entire life, for all things, as He tells us (ekklesia, born again, permanent disciples) to do. He did not "figure out" as if "how to persuade" people, no! He Always Spoke/ Speaks the Word of the Father, as He Instructs all His permanent disciples to learn and to do. |
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Post by John on May 16, 2020 16:04:01 GMT -5
Jesus always did the will of the Father, so everything He said was in agreement with the Father, but I have no scripture to go by that says "Jesus never chose a medium, nor determined in Himself what to say or to tell, nor how to..." Lets suppose this is true. What are you trying to say through this?
Do not suppose, nor assume it is truth. Prove it true, or not true. Jesus did nothing of Himself. (He Says) Jesus relied on the Father , relies on the Father, always, for His entire life, for all things, as He tells us (ekklesia, born again, permanent disciples) to do. He did not "figure out" as if "how to persuade" people, no! He Always Spoke/ Speaks the Word of the Father, as He Instructs all His permanent disciples to learn and to do.
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Post by joseph on May 16, 2020 16:10:18 GMT -5
Do not suppose, nor assume it is truth. Prove it true, or not true. Jesus did nothing of Himself. (He Says) Jesus relied on the Father , relies on the Father, always, for His entire life, for all things, as He tells us (ekklesia, born again, permanent disciples) to do. He did not "figure out" as if "how to persuade" people, no! He Always Spoke/ Speaks the Word of the Father, as He Instructs all His permanent disciples to learn and to do.
Should that, or any, devotional be accepted or acceptable because it is posted ? Is it truth ? It appears not to be sound to me. Without doing any research on the man who authored the devotional, without proof of his statements/ideas/ reasons/ purpose/ from Scripture, it is not accepted yet, nor acceptable, not until it is proven truth, if ever. Does not 'friend' of this forum say likewise - (whether he thought I was referring to him or not, he stated clearly today he does not follow nor promote any such teacher/ evangelist, and with faithful reasons - not the least of which is most such teachers/ evangelists have already been proven false, according to all Scripture this was already known to be happening also) .... |
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Post by John on May 16, 2020 16:23:58 GMT -5
Jesus and the Father are one, so they were in perfect harmony in all things. I still do not understand the point you are trying to make. The devotional was promoting the parables of Christ. Do you disagree with something there, or do you think it was going beyond that in some way? I am really just trying to understand what you are trying to tell us?
Should that, or any, devotional be accepted or acceptable because it is posted ? Is it truth ? It appears not to be sound to me. Without doing any research on the man who authored the devotional, without proof of his statements/ideas/ reasons/ purpose/ from Scripture, it is not accepted yet, nor acceptable, not until it is proven truth, if ever. Does not 'friend' of this forum say likewise - (whether he thought I was referring to him or not, he stated clearly today he does not follow nor promote any such teacher/ evangelist, and with faithful reasons - not the least of which is most such teachers/ evangelists have already been proven false, according to all Scripture this was already known to be happening also) ....
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Post by John on May 16, 2020 16:26:40 GMT -5
joseph, what I am trying to figure out, is are you suggesting it is wrong to use stories to share spiritual truth, unless God the Father gives it to us directly? Do you object to books like, "Pilgrim's Progress" or the way Frienduff writes his own parables to make a point? If so, what is your objection? If that is not the issue, what is it you see wrong? We may be missing something.
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Post by joseph on May 16, 2020 17:11:18 GMT -5
joseph , what I am trying to figure out, is are you suggesting it is wrong to use stories to share spiritual truth, unless God the Father gives it to us directly? Do you object to books like, "Pilgrim's Progress" or the way Frienduff writes his own parables to make a point? If so, what is your objection? If that is not the issue, what is it you see wrong? We may be missing something.
"We may be missing something" is kind of like saying .... well, I cannot even think of a good example right now... Suffice it to say, most posters on most forums seem like they know neither Scripture nor the Power of Yahweh. Just as hurthead cannot produce truth and evidence and source for much or all of what he/she/it posted so far, so also the source of most threads and posts, overwhelmingly, is over 95% in error, over all .... (all threads/ posts/ forums considered)..... Having some truth, some substance, some good things from the Father is COOL! and RARE!!! Anyone who goes along with the world council of churches is , for present (today on forum) example , according to Jesus, accursed. The sources are not only important, but critical: life, or death... From the Father in heaven, or from anyplace else. |
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Post by John on May 16, 2020 17:18:57 GMT -5
joseph , what I am trying to figure out, is are you suggesting it is wrong to use stories to share spiritual truth, unless God the Father gives it to us directly? Do you object to books like, "Pilgrim's Progress" or the way Frienduff writes his own parables to make a point? If so, what is your objection? If that is not the issue, what is it you see wrong? We may be missing something.
"We may be missing something" is kind of like saying .... well, I cannot even think of a good example right now... Suffice it to say, most posters on most forums seem like they know neither Scripture nor the Power of Yahweh. Just as hurthead cannot produce truth and evidence and source for much or all of what he/she/it posted so far, so also the source of most threads and posts, overwhelmingly, is over 95% in error, over all .... (all threads/ posts/ forums considered)..... Having some truth, some substance, some good things from the Father is COOL! and RARE!!! Anyone who goes along with the world council of churches is , for present (today on forum) example , according to Jesus, accursed. The sources are not only important, but critical: life, or death... From the Father in heaven, or from anyplace else.
Back to the OP. When it comes to the devotional in this thread, what specifically do you disagree with? What percentage of it do you see as in error, and why? That is all I am trying to find out, because if I know your objection, I might agree, but I cannot consider it till I know what it is.
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Post by joseph on May 16, 2020 17:30:49 GMT -5
"We may be missing something" is kind of like saying .... well, I cannot even think of a good example right now... Suffice it to say, most posters on most forums seem like they know neither Scripture nor the Power of Yahweh. Just as hurthead cannot produce truth and evidence and source for much or all of what he/she/it posted so far, so also the source of most threads and posts, overwhelmingly, is over 95% in error, over all .... (all threads/ posts/ forums considered)..... Having some truth, some substance, some good things from the Father is COOL! and RARE!!! Anyone who goes along with the world council of churches is , for present (today on forum) example , according to Jesus, accursed. The sources are not only important, but critical: life, or death... From the Father in heaven, or from anyplace else.
Back to the OP. When it comes to the devotional in this thread, what specifically do you disagree with? What percentage of it do you see as in error, and why? That is all I am trying to find out, because if I know your objection, I might agree, but I cannot consider it till I know what it is.
I saw a very common error, it comes from one or many sources not the Father, (for example: anything in agreement with the world council of churches).. as if Jesus 'decided' to do or to say something "on His Own" ...... and/or as if 'deciding' on humanistic (emotional, fleshly, carnal/ feelings) terms what to say or how to say it to anyone (again, the most common ways of men and women and children, but not Godly, and not Directed by the Father from Heaven) .... |
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Post by Giller on May 18, 2020 9:04:49 GMT -5
Well Joseph it almost seems that you speak in parables, because you cannot come out and say what is actually wrong.
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Post by watchful on May 18, 2020 9:08:11 GMT -5
"Jesus of Nazareth. He knew we all carry inside us an innate love for stories, so that was the medium He consistently used to communicate His good news" The story tellers, the actors on the stage of life, use interesting or compelling or persuasive type stories to woo the listeners, but Jesus never did. Jesus never chose a medium, nor determined in Himself what to say or to tell, nor how to, apart from the Father Directing Him Personally, Intimately, same as with the Apostles later, when they learned to know the Father and to know Jesus in spirit and in truth, not after /in/ the flesh. Amen. Jesus never chose or decided anything, but simply followed/obeyed the leading of the Father, in submission to Him. He never even did anything but what He saw the Father doing. If we reckon ourselves dead already, what decisions and choices can a dead man make? We are to be emptied of all that belongs to our old man, and be emptied/cleaned/sanctified vessels for the Lord to inhabit and live in and use at His discretion....no longer "I" who live but Christ who lives in me.....surrendered to His will, rather than doing what seemeth right to us. |
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Post by frienduff on May 18, 2020 13:15:35 GMT -5
"Jesus of Nazareth. He knew we all carry inside us an innate love for stories, so that was the medium He consistently used to communicate His good news" The story tellers, the actors on the stage of life, use interesting or compelling or persuasive type stories to woo the listeners, but Jesus never did. Jesus never chose a medium, nor determined in Himself what to say or to tell, nor how to, apart from the Father Directing Him Personally, Intimately, same as with the Apostles later, when they learned to know the Father and to know Jesus in spirit and in truth, not after /in/ the flesh. Amen. Jesus never chose or decided anything, but simply followed/obeyed the leading of the Father, in submission to Him. He never even did anything but what He saw the Father doing. If we reckon ourselves dead already, what decisions and choices can a dead man make? We are to be emptied of all that belongs to our old man, and be emptied/cleaned/sanctified vessels for the Lord to inhabit and live in and use at His discretion....no longer "I" who live but Christ who lives in me.....surrendered to His will, rather than doing what seemeth right to us. you are right sister . And if JESUS is doing the leading , we would be HEEDING all instruction that HE gave and the apostels gave . And our bibles would be open and we would LOVE , NOT just every page , but every word even . WHEN GOD puts HIS LOVE IN US , rest assured , ITS LOVE FOR TRUTH and from that , ALL ELSE WILL FLOW . |
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