Greetings, dear ones.
Still dark outside at this hour. And it’s crazy warm for this time of year. Yesterday afternoon when I checked conditions at Mt. Hood Timberline, it was 43 degrees. I just checked conditions there a couple minutes ago. At least it’s improving at 26 degrees and snowing. Good. Hope it keeps up.
I’ll go attempt my old man jog and then get ready for my friend Darrell Beebe to show up about 10am with his church bus. I’ll be cutting and applying some vinyl graphics.
May your day go well—as you practice His presence.
Your fellow seeker, Ray
Let’s face it. Most people believe what they want to believe. Their worldview beliefs are not typically formed by careful objective thought or an unbiased search for truth. I think a good picture to help illustrate this is to imagine people walking through the SUPERMARKET of ideas and putting only stuff they want or like into their shopping carts—things they know taste good or are most popular—without reading labels or determining nutritional values. They adopt a system of truth (THEOLOGY) that befits how they want to live (MORALITY) rather than regulating their lifestyle (MORALITY) in accordance with what they know to be true (THEOLOGY).
The FOCUS VERSE is part of Jesus response to the questions as to why He taught with these “hard-to-understand parables” (v. 10, TPT), He went on to explain, “That’s why I teach the people using parables, because they think they’re looking for truth, yet because their hearts are unteachable, they never discover it. Although they will listen to me, they never fully perceive the message I speak” (v. 13, TPT).
In this sense, the Kingdom of God/heaven, which this The Passion Translation calls “the realm of heaven’s kingdom,” represents a very exclusive people group. It’s not for everyone—mainly because not everyone is willing to seek it above and beyond anything else they seek.
Proverbs 4:18-19 is very descriptive of these two opposing mindsets. “But the lovers of God walk on the highway of light, and their way shines brighter until they bring forth the perfect day. But the wicked walk in thick darkness, like those who travel in fog, and yet don’t have a clue why they keep stumbling!” (TPT)