kingdom off God

What is Your Treasure?

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” Matthew 13:52 ESV

It may surprise you to learn that I began Bible story telling, not with my special friends at nursing home, but with 5-8 year old boys at church. Royal Rangers was a program similar to the Boy Scouts, that our denomination offered and one day I came to sign our son up for class. Now I am not the parent who just drops his kiddo off, so I stayed to see what was going on. The man who leading the group was so delighted to have another adult around to help, that he disappeared on the third week and ta-da, I became their new leader!

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

Needless to say my transition from, hey I want to help, to “Whoot there it is!” you’re in charge, was rough. Kids climbed up walls, bounced off each other and in general made me crazy. But in the midst of the mayhem when I was getting ready to tear out my hair, God began to teach me how to get and keep their attention with stories. In today’s scripture, Jesus gives us the inside scoop on how to teach others about His kingdom, and He calls it giving away our treasure.

So what makes something our treasure, and who are those scribes instructed in the kingdom? Now, I’ve been to college and have a piece of paper somewhere that will prove it, but what I really treasure is those lessons learned from when God answered my cries for help in the storms of life. He seems to specialize in using our problems as His classroom and in each one He gives us a treasure of grace to share with others. Also notice that Jesus points out, we need both new and old treasures. So don’t get too comfortable where you are because life is rarely smooth sailing for long. The Biblical weather forecast is for new storms on our horizons because each one offers us a new gift of God’s grace. So whether you are trying to keep the attention of a classroom full of eight year old’s, or are having a zoom session with seniors who can’t seem to figure out where to click so they can see the video, God wants to use you in ways to spread His treasure around. So what is your story? I know there are lots of great teachers out there among my readers, so why not share one of your treasures with us today?

What is a Father?

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

As I was growing up a father meant three things. First there was the invisible father who had disappeared and I couldn’t remember. This one seemed mysterious and of doubtful character. Then there was the suddenly appearing father. He was always right and quick to correct. He taught me many good things but was fearful to know until the day he also disappeared. Last came a nicer gentler father who was kind to us for a few years. He was interesting and funny however he also followed the others out our door.

Over a lifetime of looking back and remembering those men I realize that in some way each taught me something about God.

God is indeed mysterious and invisible like my real dad seemed. As a young man I was fortunate to finally meet him and we formed a friendship that lasted a lifetime.

My stepfathers both struggled as all of us do with a fatherhood that was suddenly thrust on them. From Arthur I learned the love of music though I hated everything about music lessons. People call it a gift but it is a gift that only grows in the discipline of practice. Last came Rudy the artist who caught us in our angry teenage years and still instilled in my sister and I the amazing idea that we had value beyond our performance.

Last of all came a father who I didn’t realize was pursuing me. My heavenly Father continued to call down through the pathways I ran. He never gave up in search of my heart and never turned away in spite of my sin. He is truly our Heavenly Father and the most wonderful good news is that it is His good pleasure to give us His kingdom. We cannot come by figuring him out. We can never be good enough to win him over by our abilities. We do not have strength great enough to hold on to Him. Our part is only to stop running long enough for Him to catch us on the pathway. Then He will take our hands in an eternal grip and joyfully lead us safely home to Him!