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The Kingdom of Heaven is Like . . .

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like . . .      I've been thinking about the fact that for the Christian, this place is not our home.  We live here, but we belong to another kingdom - the Kingdom of God, also called the Kingdom of Heaven.  With all of the political unrest we've been experiencing lately, I'm glad that I belong to a different kingdom ruled not by a politician but by a just and merciful king - King Jesus.       In my reading through the Bible in a year plan, I landed in Matthew 13 one day.  One phrase that stood out to me was, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like."   It is used seven times in Matthew 13 as well as four times in other chapters of Matthew.  The other gospels use the phrase "Kingdom of God."        So when I saw that phrase repeated over and over, I started asking myself, "What is the kingdom of heaven like?" Matthew 13:24-30; 37-43 :  "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good ...
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What Kind of Man is This?

What Kind of Man is This?    Jesus Calms a Storm               23  And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.   24  And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.   25  And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”   26  And he said to them,  “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”  Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.   27  And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” Matthew 8:23-27 biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%208:23-27&version=ESV When our children were young, we discovered "The Donut Man" who put Bible stories to music for kids.  One of his songs was entitled What Kind of Man is This? based on the passage above where Jesus c...
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What kind of soil is in your heart?

     In February of this year we moved back into a home we had lived in about five years earlier.  When we lived here before, we had a small garden that produced pretty well so we planted a new garden in the same spot this year.  However, it did not produce well this year.  It seems that the soil is not in very good shape. It definitely needs some work.  We will try to improve the soil before we plant again in the hope that the garden will produce better next year.      I was thinking of this when I read the familiar parable of the sower in Mark 4 (also in Matthew 13).  The sower sows the Word of God.  The soil represents the one who receives the word.  Using a common farming method of the time, the sower sows the seed without first plowing the field.  The result depends on where the seed lands: along the path, on rocky ground, among thorns, or into good soil.       When the seed is sown along the ...
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Mulling it Over

 Mulling it Over Do you find that you get more out of your study of the Bible if you write down your thoughts and/or share them with someone else?  I do.  This blog is probably more for me than for anyone else.  I'm not a deep theologian.  I'm just mulling over the things I read in the hopes that my life will line up with the Word of God in tangible ways that bring glory to Him.  Feel free to join me and add your comments. Betty
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