Matthew 13

When I was a youth, I loved reading the parables Jesus told in the Bible. Because I loved stories, so I treated them as stories and enjoyed reading them. Now I understand why Jesus told these parables and to whom He told them to. In Matt 13:10-13 Jesus explained to His disciples why He spoke in parables. The parables Jesus spoke are mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven; they are to reveal and at the same time conceal truths of the Kingdom. Huh??? you may ask. Well, in Matthew we see that during Jesus' ministry on earth, He had 2 groups of audiences - the disciples and the "crowd"- consisting of fishermen, spectators, the religious leaders, etc.
To the disciples, it is like family talk from Jesus to them. Matt 13:11 Jesus says to His disciples "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them (the crowd), it has not been granted." To the "crowd" they have the knowledge of the scriptures and who GOD is but they do not believe, do not want to understand and rejected GOD, thus the truths of the Kingdom are concealed to them V. 14-15.

Let's explore further the parables Jesus spoke in this chapter of Matthew, telling us what the Kingdom of heaven is like. Note the audience and the point of the parables as we go along;

1) The parable of the Sower V. 3-9
Audience : the crowd V. 2
Point : The seeds represent the Word of the Kingdom. The soil represents the heart condition of the receiver. Out of the 4 types of soil, the first 3 types of soil do not produce fruit but the 4th type is the good soil that represents the man whose heart condition is right (who hears the word and understands it) and bears fruit (Matt 3:8); some bringing forth a hundredfold, some sixty and some thirty.2) The parable of the Wheat and Tares V. 24-30
Audience : the crowd V. 34
Point : In the Kingdom, the good and bad exist but at the end of the the harvest the wheat and tares will be separated, the tares will be bonded together and burned (Matt 3:10). The wheat will be gathered into the barn. The good and evil will be separated at the end of the age.

3) The parable of the Mustard Seed V. 31-32
Audience : the crowd V. 34
Point : A mustard seed is smaller than all other seeds; a small beginning but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree. Watch it grow!

4) The parable of the Leaven V. 33
Audience : the crowd V. 34
Point : Leaven (yeast) is small, like the Mustard seed, it began small but watch it grow.
The preaching of the gospel works like leaven in the hearts of those who receive it; slowly but surely. Watch it grow!5) The parable of the Treasure V. 44
Audience : the disciples V. 36
Point : It will cost you something to own the treasure. Matt 10: 38

6) The parable of the Pearl of great value V. 45-46
Audience : the disciples V. 36
Point : You have to pay the price. Matt 6:33
7) The parable of the Dragnet V. 47-50
Audience : the disciples V. 36
Point : At the end of the age, there will be a separation of the righteous and the wicked. Similar to the parable of the wheat and tares.

Who is in the Kingdom?
(A) He who hears the Word and understands it and brings forth fruit.

How will the Kingdom come?
(A) It is not what we would expect but like a Mustard seed or leaven, it will grow. Like a treasure hidden in the field or the pearl of great value, it is worth everything a man has to give up to get it.

GOD's sovereignty and man's responsibility
(A) John 6: 63-65 It is the sovereignty of GOD to grant us the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom yet we have a responsibility to live as light and salt for Him - Acts 28:23-24.

Matt 13 ended with a sad note : "And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them "A prophet is not without honour except in his hometown and in his own household." And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief."

Who Jesus is to you? Do you believe that He is the Son of GOD and Messiah and that there is no other way to the Father but through Him. If so, are we bearing fruit that comes from hearing, understanding and obeying Him?

Galatians 5:22-23:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Chorus:

The fruit of the Spirit is love,
Longsuffering, gentle and kind.
If joy is the Saviour above.

A Christian is what you will find.

V1

We walk in the spirit together.

We're careful in all that we say.

Not to offend our dear brother.

And holding him up when we pray.

V2

Living a life of example,

Pure in the spirit and true.

Helping our neighbours around us.

To know Jesus cares for them too.

Raspberry and White Chocolate French Macarons

On this particular day, I needed to de-stress so I decided to bake these Macarons.

I have tried making French Macarons before but I think this batch tasted and looked the best thus far.

After piping them onto the baking tray, I left them to rest for about 2 hours before baking for about 18 mins.

I experimented with the filling by using lite sour cream instead of the normal heavy cream or butter cream (not so heavy in calories). I cut fresh raspberries into pieces, add them to some lite sour cream and white chocolate. Sandwiched them in between 2 pieces of Macarons. The raspberry and sour cream balanced up the sweetness of the Macarons and I find them just nice - not too sweet :)

Apple n Cranberry Turnovers and Baked Stuffed Apples

With these 8 mini Gala apples I turned them into two types of desserts.

Apple and Cranberry Turnovers

I cut and sliced 4 of the apples, added cranberries, cinnamon and some brown sugar. The I took out 2 sheets of puff pastries, cut them into 8 square pieces, filled them with the apples and cranberries and sealed them. I glazed them with some egg wash and baked at 200 degrees C until they are golden brown.

For a healthier version, I removed the core of the remaining 4 apples and stuffed them.

I stuffed the apples with cut dates, mixed with some Post Cereals, Pecan nuts and a teaspoon of brown sugar.

After baking them for about 20 minutes, I removed them from the oven, let them cool down and cut them into halves. They are soft on the outside and crunchy on the inside :)

Matthew 11 n 12

Let's do a short review of what we have learnt from Matt 1-10:

Matt : 1-2 we learnt about Jesus, the Promised King

Matt : 3-4, the Kingdom preached. bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.

Matt : 5-7, the Fulfiler of the laws of the Kingdom

Matt : 8-9, authority of the Kingdom

Matt : 10, Jesus sending His disciples out to preach the Kingdom with His authority.

Matt 11-12 tells us Jesus' authority was challenged by those who have seen His miracles and works thus far.

1) His authority is clarified

John the Baptist was put into the prison for preaching repentance and the Kingdom. While in there, he heard of Jesus' ministry and was a bit confused so he sent men to ask Jesus if He was the "Expected One"? John initiated Jesus' ministry with His baptism at the river Jordan. His understanding of the King was one who will bring the Kingdom and judgment.

Jesus answered him in v. 5, "the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.", fulfilling Isa 35:5-10. The Expected One will bring healing, restoration, reversal of diseases, making all things new, bringing His Kingdom.

2) His authority is defined

In Matt 11: 25-27 Jesus praised GOD for His sovereignty over all things. He testified of who GOD is to Him and He to GOD - "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one know the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." GOD has given Jesus all things and authority. Dan 7:9-14 describes the throne scene where the "...Son of Man was given dominion, glory and a Kingdom... His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away and His Kingdom is one which will not be destroyed."

3) His authority is defended

In Matt 10 : 22 Jesus exercised His authority by sending out His disciples and warning them of the persecutions, oppositions, rejections, etc they will face but in v. 26, 28, 31 He told them not to fear all these. The day of Judgment will come on this "evil and adulterous generation" who saw the power of GOD in and through Jesus yet, still asked for a sign, rejected Him and did not repent.

In Matt 12 we see the hidden agenda of the Pharisees for stirring up and asking questions about the Sabbath in V. 10 ".... so that they might accuse Him." V. 14 "But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him." Why the Sabbath? Because in the OT days, the Jews were weighed down heavily by their laws plus "additional" ones imposed by the religious leaders and the penalty of committing some to them can cost their lives. Unfortunately their hearts are so hardened that they do not see and hear what Jesus has said in Matt 5:17 that He did not come to abolish the Law or the prophets but to fulfil them."

Jesus knows every heart. He always knows how to answer the religious leaders with so much wisdom and sometimes with humor too. In His reply to the Pharisees whether it is lawful to work on the Sabbath, He quoted examples of OT King David and the Priests in the temple (whom the Pharisees respect) and told them that :

1) Something greater than the temple is here. (v. 6)

2) He desire compassion and not a sacrifice.(v. 7)

3) The Son of Man is the LORD of the Sabbath (v. 8)

4) Something greater than Jonah is here (v.41)

5) Something greater than Solomon is here (v. 42)
Matt 12:30-32 Jesus talks about those who oppose Him "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with me scatters." The context of this opposition begun in v. 24 when the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the ruler of demons.

Jesus said to the Pharisees that "Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." Huh? What is this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Well, remember Peter who denied Jesus three times, Saul (Paul) who persecuted the Christians before he encountered Jesus and accepted Jesus as His personal Saviour? These two sinned against Jesus but after they repented, Jesus forgave them. John 1:9.

What is unforgivable is the sin of rejection, non-repentance and unbelief. Heb 3:7-11 tells us of how the Israelites provoked GOD, hardened their hearts after seeing what GOD did for them for 40 years in the wilderness - aways going astray in their hearts and did not know GOD's ways, thus GOD said "they shall not enter My rest (the promised land)." Paul said in Heb 3:12-19 " "take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the Living GOD.... that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin... disobedient....unbelief."

Finally, Jesus, being Who He is, gave the below invitation:

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matt 11: 28-30. Here, Jesus is extending the invitation to all who are weary, heavy-laden with the laws of the OT and the Pharisees. Believe this invitation is extended also to those who have yet to know Jesus and who are seeking rest from this world of ours; full of stress, burdens, etc.

Is your burden heavy as you bear it all alone?

Does the road you travel harbour danger yet unknown?

Are you growing weary in the struggle of it all?

Jesus will help you when on His name you call.

Refrain:
He is always there hearing every prayer, faithful and true.

Walking by our side in His love we hide all the day through.

When you get discouraged just remember what to do,

Reach out to Jesus He's reaching out to you.

Is the life you're living filled with sorrow and despair?

Does the future press you with it's worry and it's care?

Are you tired and friendless, have you almost lost your way?

Jesus will help you, just come to Him today.

More Hand Kneaded Bread... :)

Baked these 3 variations; Kaya, Milo and Chocolate Chips plus Sunflower Seeds with Almond buns last week but I did not have the time to post them. Am now trying to clear my backlog of pictures so I can move on as I bake more and take more pictures :)

I added sunflower seeds, almonds and sesame seeds into batch of buns. They are very nutty and I simply love them, especially when you toast them slightly. Yum, yum! Will definitely make more of these again :)

I "cheated' and bought a bottle of pandan kaya for my Kaya buns. Did not have time to make my own kaya. My mother-in-law requested for Kaya buns so I made her some :) Oh, btw, my husband loves kaya on toast too :)

I divided the one recipe of dough into 3 batches. These are the Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips and Milo powder which I put into one batch.

Baked these in church last Friday with some ladies - they made baguettes, Annabel and I made these for the Saturday Run N Brisk Walk teams. We had tuna, lettuce, tomatoes, bananas and Nutella to go with these buns. Don't they look pretty? They tasted good as well :)

Bacon N Cheese Bread

Made this loaf of Bacon Cheese Bread plus 8 smaller buns yesterday. They are all gone by now, enjoyed by the 'priviledged' ones :)

Great texture with big chunks of crispy bacon and a subtle taste of herb and cheese. My husband smsed me to say "it smells and tastes great :)"

These weigh about 50gm each before the 2nd proofing. I sprinkle some graded cheese on them after shaping them.

The loaf of bread halfway through the 2nd proofing.

The smaller buns about 20 minutes into the 2nd proofing.

Artisan Bread 2

Artisan bread is exactly what its name suggests: bread that is crafted, rather than mass produced. Baked in small batches rather than on a vast assembly line, artisan bread differs from prepackaged supermarket loaves in a number of ways.

Baguettes

It is really fun to make different shapes out of your white dough ;)

Epi. A baguette-type loaf that's been cut and shaped to resemble a wheat sheaf.

Fougasse. One of the distinguishing characteristics of fougasse is that it is often baked into a shape that is somewhat like a tree, with one end resembling the trunk and the wider opposite end being more or less round in structure.

Boule. French for "ball". It is a fat, round loaf made from the same ingredients as a baguette

Baguettes ready for 2nd proof.

Epi, Boule and Fougasse ready for 2nd proof.

Dough after 1st proof. Ready to make into different shapes and sizes.Home made French Bread with a bowl of curry for dinner tonight :)