No mind can fathom the ways of God, but I'm looking for a meaning, can you help me?

Discussing the meaning of the parable of the ten mina's in Luke 19

"Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him [more] will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."

Luke 8:18

Jesus said those words just after speaking the parable of the sower.

it is debatable, but are we to believe that the seed is salvation itself?

The seed is the gospel of Christ, the word of the kingdom of heaven, and the word of God.

(Reference Luke 8:11, Matthew 13:19, Mark 4:14 )

so if the seed is the gospel, then when Jesus says " He who has" is Jesus referring to him who has the gospel of Christ, or salvation. and to him who has not, even the things he thinks he has will be taken away, could that mean to those who are not saved, and believe in things of THIS world, that even that will be taken away?

just thought to ponder, as I am trying to understand the parable of the ten mina's in Luke 19,

where a noble man entrusts his servants to some of his money until he returns from receiving a kingdom, while he is away the people curse him and say they do not wish to be ruled by this man. And two of the servants invested and worked, and they produced the a small treasure, but the third servant hid his money in a napkin, producing NO treasure, not furthering the wealth or kingdom of the noble man, giving back exactly what the noble man had left. And the bad servant was killed, either slain before the noble man or thrown in to the eternal darkness (differences by the gospel book you read the parable in).

after the man was killed, Jesus said '

"For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

Luke 19:26

which, I thought significant, since this particular sound bite was spoken after the parable of the sower.

Questions??

1. Is the noble man indeed Jesus, who is going away until the time of his return to receive his kingdom. Added to that, are the people who decided they did not want Jesus to be their Lord or ruler, are they the people of this world, born children of wrath?

2. Could we say from our readings, that the money just like the seed, is the gospel of Christ, our very way in to salvation?

3. Would the man who did not further the kingdom at all, not be saved? If Jesus gave him the gospel, and he did not return any growth to the kingdom, wouldn't that mean that there wasn't even growth of even that man, that he didn't believe in the power or the need to use the money?

4. With the reference to the parable of the sower, could we open this parable to believe that maybe the servants here are like the sower, what honestly good sower would throw seed into thorns or on rocks, someone who didn't believe in the power of the seed?

5. If the Mina's seriously do not represent monetary value, we do not have to fear being slain or thrown into eternal darkness if we are bad with actual money, but if we do not accept salvation.

Final thought,

The Lukewarm Francis Chan in me has to ask, will we be punished if we do not produce fruit from what we are given? Is a lukewarm christian really a christian?

Rose DeLong - My Grandma

I remember my grandma saying “Stacie, you’re a Bible person, you like the Bible?” She asked me that as she couldn’t understand while she read through the old testament, why it was so violent and God so blood-thirsty, I was always so happy to remind her that that was the old testament, and aren’t we so glad we live in the new covenant. She did enjoy reading her Bible, and it was a privilege for me to be considered a “Bible Person” in her eyes.

So today I am going to read from Proverbs 31.

10 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar.
15 She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household,

And a portion for her maidservants.
16 She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hand holds the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household, For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes tapestry for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “ Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.






I really feel that this passage was written by observations of my grandma At first glance you can see that it is an outdated passage and idea, that no one could ever meet every criteria listed, but I stand in testament that to a tee, my grandmother did, and she did it with great joy.

She was a virtuous woman, and more precious than I can even begin to describe the worth and value we all have in our heart today is extremely priceless. My grandma never boasted on how to do things right or how to be right, she instead made an example of how to be right by the way she lived her life.

Some examples I will never forget of my Grandma, are how she was
So strong, yet so caring and meek,
she was a fierce fighter, yet gentle beyond a doubt
she was frugal, yet SO SO SO giving.

She would give anything for those that she loved. There are too many memories to mention of our grandma, our gg, and mom. But there is one memory that I feel I must share.

My mother was diagnosed with cancer when I was close to eight years old, and I still remember the effect it had on all of my family, it was a very hard time. I was not used to seeing my mom scared, or to see my mom cry, it was very frightening to me along with all the thoughts and ideas that followed her diagnosis.

but When the time came for surgeries, or even a trip out of state for my mom to seek a naturalist’s opinion. I remember without hesitation my grandma was there to help with Everything! She was my own ray of hope in a very dark saddened time. She always made me feel that everything would be fine. She was Grandma.

She left such an impression that I remember once when my friends were trying to tease me of how strict and stearn my grandmother was, I was very surprised at my own reaction...I broke into tears. I told them that they wouldn’t be able to tease if they knew about my grandma’s great labor of love to my family, and what hope she had brought to me in a sad time. And with that they knew never to tease me about MY grandma again. What an impression at only eight years old.

But then as I got older, and I understood that my grandma was also fighting cancer through everything, that she was taking care of my grandpa who had Parkinson’s, and along with so many other tasks, errands and visits to grandchildren, I held an even higher regard for her. She was a fighter and survivor even to the end.

For me to witness my grandma putting to action every statute of the Bible, has been greater for me than any sermon I have ever heard and I am sure better than any sermon I will ever hear.

So in short what I wanted to share is, I know that my grandma will forever in my heart be THE virtuous woman I strive to be like. And my desire is to someday soon see her again.