Searching for a tree in the forest

June 2, 2007

Joel Akin

 We who are alive are the remnant. We are the remnant of the bread which is part of the story found in the bible.

2Kings 19:30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

So lets say the fruit it speaks of here is the fruit of the Holy Ghost. And lets say the Holy Spirit is herding the people of God to make a choice. And lets say those who make this choice are those who have been left. Being left means they are the remnant of the rapture.

The remnant of bread is bread that is dough. Dough is the way of the leaven. It grows and grows as it should but it needs dough to make it work.

In the same way we need dough to make our lives work. And dough is in short supply. Now if God asks me to give I would. If he asks me to give all I have I will. Its just that isn't the answer to this part of the story.

The Spirit of God is the Spirit which is pressing. And pressing is kneading. And kneading is why we want dough. In our day and age the kneading of dough is when someone presses it into our hand. And we fold it and then put it into our pocket. And that is like taking dough and putting it into a dark and sometimes warm place. Only its a pocket with dirt and debris and lint. And it doesn't make the dough pure but filled with things inedible to the dough.

So if we follow the prescript from start to finish here is the next step for the dough. We fold it and then we pass it on. Yet if we pass it on how? For in some cases the money is given to us as a gift. In other cases as a spiritual word. And in some cases as our pay check.

So we then become part of the dole until we are given true dough. And then we can pass on the knowledge we need to the people who need it. So lets say today was garage sale day and I was given ten dollars from recycled bottles. The rich man would toss them away into the garbage. The wise man would carry them to the recycle store. He would then present the bottles to them and he would earn half of the money of the bottles. That is because I let my dad do it knowing he wanted to do it. And I gave him half of the money because I haven't been kind in that area only sharing ten to twenty percent with him.

Now that is the best part of this story. I love my father and we go a few times but he can stand in lines. And I do help organize the bottles. Before I had no bag to put them into. Now I do. I bought a basket at a garage sale. They wanted ten dollars but I got it for about 4. And that is what I use now to place bottles in. It has a push top and the bottle goes into a bag. And it works. And it is easy. And only the fact that my dad empties them to either save the bag or organize the bottles. And thus that effort becomes null.

The real reason I mention this is that God doesn't see this as the story to dough. It is the story to returning. And the story of returning is like casting your bread upon the water. It is the return of what we paid for. And that isn't the dough.

In our age we live with recycling and that is a good thing. It is helpful to everyone to recycle. Alberta recycles perhaps 70% of its bottles. But what this story is about is the nature of dough and the nature of knead and the nature of fold. For if we fold the bread while it is still dough then it isn't set in place. And that means there is wisdom in our heart. And that means that wisdom is the key to dough. She is the fulfillment of proverbs relating to those who are wise whether male or female.

And so when wisdom arrives on the scene there isn't anyone in all the world who can answer tough questions. Yet she can. She is the answer to the impossible things in life.

So lets say this is meant to be about life and encouragement of life. That means the dough is money. Yet if we frame it into a reply we will say the dough is the way of life. Cast it upon the water and it will return to you after many days. And if you give the dough based on percentage of income then that means you don't have income to give. And so if you give two mites you give two very powerful things. And that seems to imply that Jesus knew the widow was there to give all that was of her house. And God would bless her with life not just on earth but in things to come.

Now if the dough you receive is cast off without leaven then it is the leftovers from the table. Now if the table is of the family then it is not the parents or even siblings at fault. It is the cause of God. And God takes the case and makes it personal. And if sin arrives on the scene and steals even more God makes it even more personal. And that is family.

Family is what happens when God sees someone he likes. Then he spends time with them and they walk in faith. That means trust and like trust it is all that God requires. There are things I like about God and things I love. God is capable of being a friend and yet when it comes to fielding calls he is able to charge right in and deal with everything. Mom mentioned this yesterday how amazing it is God can talk to just about everyone at once. And that is part of Gods secret. How he can care for people. How? Not through us but through his heart. We are part of that life through Christ. He loves people in the world but he loves us. And that love is personal because it is knowledge based. Which means that if someone says to you "Do you love your neighbor?" They will answer yes I do or no I don't. The don't is because the neighbor is mean to them. Or the neighbor is the neighbor who is mean.

What this means is God sees the heart and the heart is like the neighbor next door. How they act towards you is how you treat them. If they treat you with disrespect but they are ornery towards you then they are at fault. But if God treats you with respect then that is love. Still it doesn't answer the dough question. So we'll cast it upon the water and wait for it to return. For now I am off with my father to garage sales to find treasure upon treasure for my house.