And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade."
Mark 4:30-31 NASB
His Kingdom... can be pictured... as a mustard seed...
The pastor paints the picture of the small mustard seed... being small everyday acts of kindness... which when sown into the lives of those around us... grows the Kingdom of God...
And he talks about a secular movement which became popular several years ago... ARK... Acts of Random Kindness... passing along kindness to others... without expectation of return...
Examples he gave included... paying for the person's order behind you in the drive through as you pay for yours... or regularly picking up the paper of your elderly neighbor and moving it from the curb to the front porch...
But it occurs to me... there is nothing random about kindness...
Kindness is a movement of God...
for we are created in His image...
and for Believers... it is an aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit...
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 NASB
The Holy Spirit leads Believers to acts of kindness...
there is nothing random about it...
It may seem random simply because of the nature of the Spirit...
"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it,
but do not know where it comes from and where it is going;
so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." ---Jesus
John 3:8 NASB
The Spirit blows like the wind through our lives...
and we don't know where it's going... where it's come from...
When we hear that still small Voice...
the idea popping in our heads... feeling a bit random...
like round up carts in the Wal-Mart parking lot... when it's not your job...
or picking up your neighbor's trashcan and garbage strewn about by a dog that's not yours...
or simply picking up trash along the street as you're out getting Fitbit steps...
it's the Holy Spirit calling you to grace someone with an act of kindness...
bear fruit for the Kingdom...
And the step of faith is the unseen nature of the whole thing...
how these calls to seemingly random acts of kindness grow the Kingdom...
And it's a step of faith to obey even when it makes no sense to us...
or humbles us by doing a dirty job... or cleaning up someone else's mess...
And it's a step of faith... to consider the odd idea... to be His voice...
We should ASK...
Ask Him to call us to Acts of Spirit-led Kindness...
those things He wants to use in someone else's life...
and not for our own glory... but for His...
Because of our broken nature... we often do the right thing for the wrong reason... which does nothing for His Kingdom...
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags...
Isaiah 64:6 NIV
He tells us not to lean on our own understanding...
but trust Him with all our hearts...
which I believe includes listening to the Holy Spirit...
and the seemingly random things He calls us to...
So we won't miss His voice...
ASK Him each day... to open your heart to hear His call...
to Acts of Spirit-led Kindness...
which grow His Kingdom...
and are not just random...
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