If we had coffee today, here is what I’d say.
A recipie well done consists of some specific ingredients. A cappuccino consists of steamed milk ( I prefer mine extra dry) combined with shots of espresso.
Enter to the kitchen with me for a moment and think logically. I can not make my enchilada sauce with the wrong ingredients. My homemade sauce is made up of roasted peppers, smoked chipotle dried peppers, onion sauted, lime juice, flame roasted tomatoes, salt, cumin, hot peppers, cilantro, sometimes I add soy chorizo or tomatillos. I can mix up the sauce by using different varieties of tomatoes or peppers, however I must have the the right pantry to prepare my “mamas enchiladas” -which according to my son Obediah are… “viciously delicious!”
The same truth applies to 3 other areas of importance to God.
con·sist
verb
kənˈsist/
-
1.be composed or made up of.“the exhibition consists of 180 drawings”The following three points all have the word consist in common. Which tells me as a cook, I need to pay attention to what follows as those are non negotiable to having the final outcome.1) For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:20 ESV)The Kingdom of God is made of power. Not the political power or wall street power, but a God power. Power to heal, to save, power over sin, darkness and death.Jesus clearly states that the poor (aka no political or prestigious postion or power) are recipients of his kingdom, so we can know both because he said it and by his sermon on the mount his power is made perfect in weakness.And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. (Luke 6:20 ESV)When it comes to the Kingdom if all you do is talk, it’s time to stop and rethink your outcome. Talk doesn’t yield the Kingdom of God.2) For the body does not consist of one member but of many.But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (1 Corinthians 12:14, 18 ESV)A healthy body, is something we all admire and aim towards. We all want all our parts! A pregnant mother often is asked, do you want a boy or girl? A common reply from her would be, all I want are 10 fingers 10 toes- a heathly babe.God calls his people his body. I have been meditating on how often churches in a region or area can focus on only their part of His body. Our region of the Northwest is all the “body of Jesus” we are consumed with occupied with. When in truth, as a bright college student said to me yesterday, the church is massive like a huge wave behind you all around you with force and breadth. Every tongue, language, tribe, people, near or far from make up God’s body. I have need of God’s Haitian and Cambodian part, in order to have to body complete. I have need of my brothers and sisters across the globe.When it comes to God’s body we must not just acknowledge our part but honor each other. We are many members with different functions in different regions but all one body!3) And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? (Luke 12:15, 22-26 ESV)Life doesn’t consist of stuff. Embrace messy hair. Give thanks for what you have. Your clothes are just clothes not the value of your person. What you eat matters little compared to that you have food to eat. Coveting more doesn’t add up to life. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Your life is found in Christ. As the lyric goes the cross before me the world behind me no turning back.Let us thank God for all we have and the life we now live in His son Jesus.
