This week's reading kept circling one humbling truth: God's Kingdom does not look like we think it will. It looks like what God thinks. From the lowly who agreed with God in Luke 7, to John the Baptist's shaken expectations, to a sower scattering seed on every kind of soil, Jesus kept inviting us to do the same three things: yield our expectations, open our ears, and let Him multiply what we put in His hands.
We can't force our way into God's Kingdom. We must yield to it.
Through Matthew, Mark, Luke, 1 Samuel, and Romans, we watched God overturn every assumption about who belongs, how He works, and what He can do with a willing heart.
Word of the Week: A Kingdom That Doesn't Look Like We Think
Sunday's reading in Matthew 9 and Luke 7 showed us who actually agreed with God. The religious leaders thought they were doing everything right, but the sinners and tax collectors they rejected were the ones who said God's way was just, because they had been baptized by John and were willing to repent. The least person in the Kingdom is greater than the greats of the Old Testament, and that astonishing truth only makes sense when we change OUR minds and get on board with His movements.
Monday's reading in Matthew 11 took us to John the Baptist's question from prison. John knew exactly who Jesus was, but even he had a mindset about how the Messiah would usher in His Kingdom. Jesus' answer wasn't just proof; it was a picture of how His Kingdom really looks. The Kingdom has always advanced with force, from the four men who tore open a roof to reach Jesus, to the veil torn in two at the cross. We can fall away when God doesn't do it the way we expected, but we can't force our way in. We must YIELD. And then came the invitation: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life."
Tuesday's reading in Luke 11 began with the best request we can ever make: "Teach us to pray." We learned to view God in three ways when we pray: as Father, in a personal, open-hearted conversation; as Friend, who is never sleeping, never unwilling, and never exasperated, which means the point of persistence is faith; and as God, who is still Lord of all and worthy of reverence. He is a good God, so we don't need to bargain, make vows, or manipulate. We just ask, and keep on asking.
Wednesday's reading in Matthew 13 and Luke 8 turned the parable of the sower around. Usually we are the sower and God makes the seed grow, but here God is the sower and we are the ones who prepare the soil. When we willingly listen, accept, agree, and respond with repentance and a radical life change to match, two things happen: He gives us more understanding, and we produce a harvest beyond our wildest dreams.
Thursday's reading in Mark 4-5 zoomed in on three words: "ears to hear." In the Greek it reads "ears, hear hear," meaning if you have the faculty of knowing and understanding, then consider what I'm saying and understand it. That faculty is an inherent capability, and there is far more we CAN understand if we'll pause to consider it. Jesus said it plainly to His disciples: "It's been given to you to understand." You may need to exercise your spiritual muscles, but you are inherently able to understand and produce fruit.
Friday's reading in Matthew 10 was the commissioning of the twelve, which was actually the answer to the prayer Jesus told them to pray, that the Lord of the harvest would send more laborers. At first Jesus did all the ministry Himself, but He was setting His followers up to do what He had been doing. That is how multiplication happens. Their real enemies weren't armies but the demons holding people in bondage, and Jesus has given us the same power and the same call: heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, cast out demons, and give as freely as you have received.
And on Saturday, the week closed in Matthew 12, Mark 6, and Luke 9, where the great and the heartbreaking came together: the death of John the Baptist alongside the disciples' ministry testimonies. Jesus grieved deeply, yet when thousands followed Him to the place He'd gone to rest, His love overflowed and He taught and healed for hours. Then came the feeding of the five thousand, a divine partnership. The disciples DID the feeding; God did the multiplying, with exponentially more left over than the seed that started it. What a generous God!
The disciples DID the feeding. GOD did the multiplying.
Linking the Covenants: Keep Your Eyes on the Right Person
Monday's covenant study in 1 Samuel 18-21 began with one song. A single line about David turned Saul from his biggest fan into his hunter, and jealousy flipped love into hatred that fast. Saul took his eyes off God and put them on a man, and that is where the trouble began. THE LINK is Hebrews 12:1-2: keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Along the way we saw Jonathan's extravagant gift and humility toward the man who would take his throne, the loyalty of true friendship (Proverbs 27:10), and God turning Saul's own soldiers into prophets to protect David.
Wednesday's study in 1 Samuel 22-23 and Psalm 91 took David from the king's palace to a cave full of debt-ridden misfits, and God turned every one of them into a mighty warrior. Adullam became a training ground for 400 men nobody wanted, while Saul hunted David for ten years. Through all of it, God's protection never failed, which is the promise of Psalm 91 and of 2 Thessalonians 3:3 for us today: the Lord is faithful, and He will guard us from the evil one.
Romans Verse by Verse: No Condemnation
This week's Romans study opened chapter 8 with some of the best news in Scripture: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." After Paul's cry in chapter 7, "Who will free me?", the answer is Jesus Christ our Lord. The verdict has already been read. But once we're saved we don't always lose the feeling of condemnation, which is exactly why the Holy Spirit had Paul teach us this truth.
We looked at three voices that try to condemn us: the devil, the world and even former friends who mock us or tell us we aren't really saved, and our own minds, which rebuke us for all we used to do. Condemnation is also one of sin's favorite tricks. If it can't get you to keep sinning, it will try to condemn you for your past instead. But you carry the very life and sinless nature of Jesus in your body, the Holy Spirit's life-giving power is at work in you, and you can renew your mind to your new reality. Condemn what tries to condemn you!
Then Paul took us into the mind itself. Your mind isn't a waiting room for every thought that shows up. We can't always control what sails through, but we choose what stays parked: worry, lust, gossip, hate, or bitterness. Spirit-led people look away, turn away, and even talk back, taking every thought captive and teaching it to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
In Christ there is NO condemnation. Condemn what tries to condemn you!
Final Encouragement
Every story this week pointed to the same steady reality: the Kingdom belongs to those who yield. God asks us to stop insisting He work the way we expect, to bring open ears and prepared hearts, to come to Him when we're worn out, and to trust Him to multiply whatever we place in His hands, whether it's five loaves, a cave full of misfits, or a life once weighed down by condemnation.
Whatever you're holding today, however small or heavy, yield it to Him. You carry the ears to hear, the power to serve, and a God who does the multiplying.
There is always more treasure to discover in His Word. Check out my socials for the full scope of content highlighted in this week's blog!
For His Kingdom,
Yvonne
