Jesus spoke these words in conclusion of the parable of the soils and the parable of the lamp. “Take heed” admonishes us to pay attention to how we are listening to the Word of God. The parable of the soils illustrates a sower sowing seed and the various outcomes as the seed falls on different types of ground. The seed that fell on fertile ground yielded “a crop a hundredfold.”
If you are a vegetable gardener, you know that your soil becomes depleted over time as the veggies take up nutrients in order to grow and produce food. To continue producing crops, your soil needs ongoing feeding with fertilizer, compost, and other organic matter. Similarly, as Christians, we need to feed the soil of our hearts in order to grow in faith and to bear fruit in our lives. For us, the fertilizer is God’s word, but we must make sure that our hearts are prepared to receive what the word says so that fruit will be borne in our lives. That preparation is in the form of how we hear God’s word. The word for hear has a connotation of attentiveness or effort, therefore we need to take in God’s word with the intent of it working in our heart so that we can be doers rather than just hearers (James 1:22). Lord, may we hear your word with the expectation of fruit being borne in our lives.
Jeff Mericle
In just eleven words, how would you describe yourself and the essence of who you are? Would you describe yourself by your vocation, your role in your family, your political affiliation, or by the sports team you follow?
Paul described himself by his divine calling. An apostle: he was one who was sent by God with the full authority of the Sender. It was an office bestowed by the will of God, not by any human will or self-promoting resolve. Paul was commissioned by Jesus Himself to go to the Gentiles. In Galatians, Paul wrote, “When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…” (Galatians 1:15-16).
Just as Paul was called of God, you were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). You were chosen for a purpose—a holy purpose—to promote the glory of the grace of God. You may not have been given Paul’s influence in the world, but God has given you some influence in the people He placed around you. So influence them! Pray for them, serve them, and love them. Then you can truthfully say: I am an ambassador of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. This is your greatest calling and your most important purpose in the world. And it will become your greatest joy, too.
Tom Day
We live in a chaotic time in history and I see people struggling to find safety and security and coming up short. People look to politics, look to movements, look to hide themselves in their houses, and there is an obvious unrest in our nation. As Americans, we are typically shielded from the chaos of other nations, shielded in the sense that nation’s problems don’t affect our day-to-day lives. But there has been plenty of unrest in other parts of the world — civil wars, genocide, and poverty — and this has been going on for all of history.
Moses, the author of this Psalm, was not ignorant to these hardships. He faced a great deal of difficulty in his lifetime that would have left the average American citizen in the fetal position. But he remained steadfast. He didn’t do it perfectly, but he didn’t lose hope. Why? Because he always refocused his faith on truth. What is that truth? That with God, he is safe. With God, he is secure. It’s still true today, because we have faith in that same God.
From Everlasting to Everlasting, YOU are GOD!
Pastor Jason Witt
If you’re like me, you often look back and see the Lord’s hand in your life. We see that God opened and closed doors for us. We see and find all the great things that God has done for us in our lives.
After reading this chapter and knowing Paul is writing this from prison, I wonder why he’s rejoicing. But Paul had a heavenly outlook. He saw the lives that needed God’s grace. Notice what he says, all that I’ve gone though was for the furtherance of the Gospel. I would have said all that I have gone through made me a more faithful and stronger person. That’s possibly true but for Paul it was about sharing the gospel.
You might be in a situation where work is not fun. It’s a pain but you need to eat, so you go. Take the mind of Christ and see it as an opportunity to further the gospel. Maybe you or a loved one might be sick. Use this opportunity for the furtherance of the gospel. Whatever situation you are in, use it as an opportunity to share the gospel. If you weren’t there, you wouldn’t have this great opportunity.
Joshua Navarro
For almost six weeks, this Giant of the Philistines would come out morning and night to lay down his challenge to the men of the army of God. And it was at this time, over a month into this standoff, that Jesse calls David to go and take some provisions to his brothers and to the captains of the army. “Take a little grain, bread, and some cheese to your brothers and come back and tell me how they are doing,” Jesse told David.
I love the picture. The Lord sees His people, who should be trusting in their God, instead frozen in fear because of the threats of the enemy and their champion. So He prepares this young man to go and, in faith, be an example to the people of what it is to trust in God.
Everyone else saw a giant in that valley, but David’s eyes were on the Lord. I don’t know what the giant is in your life today, but I would tell you, take your eyes off of that and put them on the Lord. Your fear will flee and victory will be yours.
Pastor Doug Hardin
There’s a lot of cool things that God is able to do. He changed my life in ways I never imagined possible. As I get older, I find myself forgetting that the Lord can totally accomplish the same thing in new and amazing ways. The coolest part is it seems to be done often through the wilderness and in the desert.
If you see your life as a wilderness with no path or a desert with no life and only vast emptiness, God offers direction, life, hope, and salvation. Turn to Him and remember, just because it’s not being done the way we think it should, it doesn’t mean God won’t accomplish His same wonderful and awesome will.
Resting in Him,
Pastor Sean Boehm
How often in our lives do we want things to be different but then we get frustrated when, without any effort on our part, nothing changes. It’s a crazy cycle to observe from the outside but very often not recognized from within. My daughter struggled with this when she fell behind in her college math class. She didn’t do well on quizzes and tests but she wasn’t changing her study habits. Then the stay-at-home order hit and everything went online. To her advantage, she could now stop and start the lectures, which gave her time to take copious notes. She began to get the concepts and started acing her tests.
Do we approach our relationship with God in the same way? Let’s not sit back and wait for God to come to us. Determine today to be diligent of soul and press in to our time with Him in prayer, in His Word, and in fellowship. God’s loving rewards are waiting.
Not content with discontentment,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
David wrote Psalm 51 after his sin with Bathsheba, which included adultery and then the murder of her husband, Uriah. Certainly if David, a man after God’s own heart, can commit such atrocious sins, we’re all susceptible.
Thus we need to pray as David did, that the Lord would wash us thoroughly from our iniquities and cleanse us from our sins. Fortunately for Christians, we have a God who forgives sins. All of us fall short in our daily walks, but God’s mercies are new every morning and He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins.
If you’re reading this today, dwelling on a sin you can’t forgive yourself for, realize God is willing to cleanse you. Just call to Him as David did.
Forgive this sinner,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
I once read that we are never more like our Lord than when we offer forgiveness, mercy, and love to another. Yet sometime we fall far short of that ideal as we find justifiable reasons to hate another and even rejoice when their lives are found in turmoil. Our verse this morning addresses that fleshly attitude that is so unlike our Lord. Job, in searching his own heart (Job 31:29), shared he had not rejoiced in the destruction of those who hated him or lifted himself up when evil was found in them.
Today may the Lord give us victory in our hearts in this area of hating from afar and rejoicing, relishing, and smiling at the difficulties of our enemies. Instead may we love them as Jesus does us, seeking their best in prayer before our graceful and merciful God.
Praying for God’s best for my enemies,
Pastor Jack Abeelen
A few years ago, I was listening to a sermon by A.W. Tozer in which he said there are two chains that hold us captive to this world: the first is our loves and the second is our fears. To confirm his words, I looked in my Bible concordance under “fear,” and that is when I found Isaiah 41:10. Since that day, this verse has become a most precious promise and a rock of refuge to my soul.
To my fearful, shaking heart, the Lord commands from heaven, “Fear not! For I am with you.” The infinitely wonderful God who made the heavens and the earth is with me. I might feel all alone and fearful, but God is right here with me in the middle of my world and my problems. I am not alone. And I have nothing to fear.
Then, being melancholy by nature, I sometimes allow the challenges of life to overwhelm me. So, God knew I needed this verse: “Be not dismayed because I am your God.” This is absolutely breathtaking! “It is I, Maker of the stars, Sustainer of the Universe, and High King of Heaven—and I am your God. Do not be dismayed.”
But wait there is more: “I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you.” And if that is not overwhelming enough, He adds, “I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Today, this verse ministered to me again in a very vulnerable moment. So, let this verse wash over you today and restore your fainting soul.
Tom Day
