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Scripture 52, Treasure Old and New, 25Jan

I came across a “new to me” scripture – it’s unusual to have a new one that I never heard, like it was stuck at the end of so much teaching that no one gets to reading and sharing it:

“And He said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.’ ” Matthew 13:52 New American Standard

I will have to figure this one out – I want to ponder it before I read ahead in my study guide book.  Scripture 52 (I also take special notice of the number 52, that’s a long story…

This end cap parable is near the parable of the wheat harvest separated away from the weeds AFTER they were grown together, and near the parable of the good fish separated from the bad. Here Jesus talks about the end of ages, the bad will be plucked out and thrown into the fire and the righteous clearly standing out… also near the parables of the mustard seed and yeast, all about the kingdom of heaven starting small and growing large… also near the scripture discussion of Jesus telling folks that He is the one fulfilling scripture prophecy…

Old and new… yet this last scripture is DIFFERENT… it’s about showing both old and new as treasures.

Old treasure could include the saints who’ve passed away before the messiah came, and new being believers who already start with a known messiah…

Jesus is the Word, eternally old, and recorded… here Jesus being on Earth is clearly new, a new fulfillment of old wisdom that the scribes witnessed and recorded… in this scripture 52, could the treasure simply be Jesus who is new and old at the same time? And/or the treasure is that Jesus’s effect on us that is new takes on our old ways.   Treasures of stories to show, not hide. Jesus does not want us to hide stories of HIS HEALING. Jesus is all these things…  old and new, He is true.

If we are disciples, then we must show Jesus thru us. In the thoughts of scripture 52, we can show healing of old wounds. We could also show treasures of new changes that Jesus has brought in us – trading our old ways for new. We are new creations in Christ! And how better to show this than to be examples of change – His repair to our brokenness… If you have been changed then tell the world. And give credit where credit is due – bring out the changes and speak highly of the miracle that changes you.

 

As a scribe, recording the story of Jesus, there are old and new stories to tell. We can all tell stories of the amazing differences God and God’s people have made in our lives… I am glad I subscribe to this thinking and writing about Jesus… So, my thoughts are new to me, NEW, but they are of old ways of the Lord. The Lord makes each person’s faith freshly their own…. that is old and new at the same time…

So, now I will read ahead in my study guide and see what he says – hmmmm…. This author ONLY talked about Jesus instructing the scribes to be scribes… short explanation… perhaps he could have written more – perhaps he could have written a whole page – perhaps that is what I and you are supposed to do – perhaps our whole lives are to be living testaments (not necessarily written but lived) – living out the amazing treasures of new and old of Christ within us – perhaps as scribes a picture means a thousand words… and the WORD means a lifetime of treasure…

I know one of my greatest treasures is to show that I was old and now Jesus made me new (and as my own kind of scribe I am now all about feeling and knowing my newness)… Old wisdom is a treasure,  and New insight into scripture is a treasure too….

How each of us opens up to Jesus in old and new ways is worth treasuring!

and Jesus? Jesus is a treasure…

Who does Jesus treasure? YOU!

You are part of the Kingdom of God!

God wants to see you!

“Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.” KJV

Thank You Jesus…

I treasure Your kingdom because of You!

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My Roots – His Net, 20Jun 2015 reprise 2019

Feed on JESUS love and not individual human love and you will never go hungry. Look for the love of Jesus under stones, in the dark spaces, and plain as day in the open…

At first I went to church for the people and to put down my roots. I needed and always will need people, that’s who I am, that will never change. Once in my church family I followed God’s love in a unique path that I didn’t realize I was taking. God drew me near and I found Jesus along the way. In a long term plan, God was reeling me in… Slow but sure… Slow enough that my wriggling didn’t unhook me, and by using a wide hook that was made even wider by the extension of love into and from my church family, a network woven tight, built strong…

Our faith family is a network that is GOD’S fishing net, the tighter the weave, the smaller the fish one can catch, the wider the net, the wider the range of fish one can catch, the stronger the safety net behind the first net, the more fish that won’t get lose when things break…

See Jesus is a Fisher of men… Humans are the fish caught in the nets, but they must then become the nets themselves… They can be the builders of new nets, repairers of old nets, designers of new net styles, and then embed themselves into that net.

Anytime you network in Christ means more nets for His work, for Him to draw upon…

See, after I accepted Jesus, I accepted being part of his net. I know my tools, sometimes I build, sometimes I repair, sometimes I design, but all the time I network from within, by being part of that net… We are called to work in the net as well as exist in the net…  we must be networked to work within and not outside God’s workshop.

I used to go to church – “for the people”…. Jesus caught me in His net… So, I now hunger NOT for people love but for JESUS LOVE… And so I now go to be the church – “for the people”… I want to feed the people JESUS LOVE… I feel JESUS LOVE thru them…

I am here for Jesus. I am a member and a worker/builder/repairer of His Net.

Together we are the net that is made in God’s image.

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Wisdom, 13JAN

Your title means nothing,

Your recognition means little,

Your work means something…  but…

the DIFFERENCE you make means EVERYTHING…

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Be Something, 12JAN

“When it snows, she has no fear for her household”

That’s who I want to be.

By snow I don’t mean just snow, but life…. when “life happens”, I pray that I have prepared my household for dealing with life.

I fear the Lord – not by shaking in my boots, but shaking off my boots – shaking off the muds of life’s work – and preparing my boots to get back out there in the Lord’s service.  I fear the idleness,  not the work. I fear the ineffectiveness, not the work. I fear the Lord enough to know He is keeping His eyes on me. I pray to be something.

I praise the Spirit who whispers to me when I stop being in freefall, but be in stillness.  I try to listen before I leap. I leap because I have listened.

Snow is a gift not a nuisance.

Life is a work not a worry.

Grace is gifted not grabbed.

A woman is a gift not a given.

Life gives wisdom not wishfulness.

Dignity is a duty not a default.

Learning is a life pursuit

Be still to learn to be somebody.

Be somebody

Be the Lord’s

Be

—-

“When it snows, she has no fear for her household for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
 ^…
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.  She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.  She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
…
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised”

Proverbs 31