FOLLOWING THE MASTER – A Lenten Devotional

 

14^th Day in Lent

February 25, 2016

Cultivating Spiritual Awareness

Copyright 2016 Monica Hernandez

AThe kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened@ (Matthew 13:33, KJV).

When teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven, many are the parables Jesus spoke. And usually, He explained His parables to the people, but this one about a woman hiding leaven in three measures of meal, He did not explain. On examining this parable, it would seem that Jesus was speaking of spiritual awareness and how it expands.

As the words imply, cultivating spiritual awareness is the cultivating of a continuous knowledge of the virtues and potential of the life of the Spirit of God within us. And we do this mainly by giving attention to the Word, especially the portions spoken by Jesus Himself, for He said that AHis words are of spirit and of life.@

When we daily acknowledge God=s works and words of life, and speak with Him about our problems, our hopes and aspirations, this awareness grows. Many times we might just sit in deep contemplation of His virtues, and be saturated with His glory, basking in it and experiencing His presence.

For many of us, it is easy to get caught up with outward spiritual phenomena, for example, being slain in the Spirit and speaking in unknown tongues, not realizing that the Spirit often works in simple everyday matters, which easily go unnoticed.

And it is amazing to witness these important works of the Spirit as the progressive, little transformations from day to day, for example, change of attitudes and personality from the negative to the positive.

Can you look back, and by hindsight, see how much you have grown within the past year, five years or more? Can you see how the Word is working like leaven in your life?

SUGGESTED READINGS: Matthew 13:8; Matthew 17:20.

PRAYER: AHeavenly Father, help that your Word and knowledge of you would grow in me and expand to produce a harvest. Amen.@

THOUGHT FOR TODAY