Tag: Rocky ground

The Makeup of Our Churches

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Commitment, Needs, Obedience, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2021-08-07
WRITTEN AT: Hattiesburg, MS

SCRIPTURE FROM: Luke 8:5-8
TRANSLATION: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

BIBLE TEXT: 5 “A farmer went out to sow seed. While he was scattering the seed, some of it fell beside the road. People walked on the seed, and the birds ate it all. 6 Other seed fell on rock. It began to grow but then died because it had no water. 7 Some other seed fell among thorny weeds. This seed grew, but later the weeds stopped the plants from growing. 8 The rest of the seed fell on good ground. This seed grew and made 100 times more grain.”….

APPLICATION: Ever notice how much easier you remember the pastor’s illustrations than you do with the simple reading of God’s Word? I remember a pastor who once started up a gas chain saw on the stage at our church and proceeded to cut a perfectly good chair in half. On another occasion the same pastor came through the back door with bags of garbage, and he dropped a bag sporadically along his path to the pulpit. On yet another occasion he hit an anvil that he had placed on the stage, and the sound echoed in my wife’s ear so badly that it made a lasting impression on her, and each of us, to this present day! These examples came to mind as I meditated on the reason Jesus gave for preaching in parables. He knew that His hearers would very easily understand His analogy and could apply the examples to their own lives. On occasion, the disciples would ask Jesus to clarify – to make sure they knew where He was coming from and the point He was trying to make sure that they understood and applied to their lives. I was intrigued by this particular parable, because Jesus explained Himself in good detail further down in the chapter, beginning in verse 14. To apply this to today’s church, I believe we should examine our hearts, and determine what it is that we look to in deciding which church to attend. We place a lot of emphasis on the music, and on the charisma of the pastor, but Jesus is teaching us today that these things matter very little when our own heart are not where it should be, or if we are ready to hear from the Lord. I have experienced repeatedly where someone may share how boring the service was and how little they received from the service that day. Then, in listening to a time of Christian testimonies, I hear how blessed people were in that same service and how tenderly God spoke to their heart from His Word. Jesus said that His Word will not return void. Think about this, pastors and teachers labor over God’s Word every week and they seek His face for what He would have them share with us. Yet many of us leave home without our tools (our Bible), and we head out to church, as if going to a concert, (no prayer in seeking out God’s answers to your life’s dilemmas, or praying for the wisdom for the messenger). So with that in mind, how do you suppose the Word will be received by you that day, perhaps like a seed that fell on rocky ground? Furthermore, some will head out to church with the weight of the world on their shoulders, and their minds will be so distracted with their worries, that their presence at church will in no way reflect how much they will receive from the Word of God. Much like seed falling among thorns, where the Word is simply overshadowed by everything else that is going on. Friends, let’s be reminded that the charisma of a pastor will show us how good they are at getting our attention. The spoken Word of God will show us how good God is, and how well He has taken on the weight of this world so that we might know how much He loves us, cares for us, and provides for us here on earth and in the heights of heaven when we leave this world. Let me suggest that when we check to see if we have everything when we head out the door for church, let’s make sure that we carefully check our heart and see that we are ready to receive instruction and blessing from our Master, God Almighty!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: With our minds fixed on Jesus, we are usually ready to hear from Him. Let us therefore set aside all stresses, doubt and fear and just listen to the Word with minds and hearts that are ready to obey!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, please forgive us for the times that we come to Your house and our minds are anywhere but there in Your presence. I believe that when we do that, we reject the very presence of the One who: loves us unconditionally; and is out to provide the very best for us, Your children. Our hearts need refreshment from You and our minds need refocusing on You, instead instead of our situations and problems. But Lord, we need Your strength to overcome. Please give us Your power and Your wisdom to see Your perfect will for us. Lord this old world is filled with evil and needs You more today than ever before. Please help us to be Your light on a hill for the world to see hope, love and refreshment. Let them see Jesus in us, so that they may be drawn to You. Lord, may Your kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog might indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

The Pyramid Of Life Decisions

On By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Like Jesus, PerfectionLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Friday, 2017-04-21
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Mark 4:15-20 (NIV)

Text:

 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
OBSERVATION:
In the earlier part of chapter 4, Jesus had taught the crowd through a parable that totally related to where they were at in life. He used a farmer, that probably applied to most who were in the audience at the time, so I’m sure they totally ‘caught His drift’. However, just like we tend to dance around the truth today by applying an interpretation that suits our circumstance, Jesus wanted to make sure that His teaching was caught and applied, so He went into detail about the parable. Let’s see how, or if this applies to us….
APPLICATION:
I recognized a pyramid in this teaching, and I believe that we will place ourselves in one of the levels of the pyramid, and I’m hoping that we will seek the face of God to help us strive for the top level (#1) of the pyramid through constant growth in our relationship with God, through His Son Jesus. Here is what I am seeing in this pyramid, starting with the bottom level:

5. Unbelievers – Although not mentioned in the parable, there are some who refuse to listen to the Word of God;

4. Easily accessible by Satan – These are ones who my live with godly parents, or work alongside a Christian, so they see God at work, and may hear the Word spoken at times, but Satan has full access to their heart, without any filters. So he immediately fills their heart with ‘sweet nothings’ in order to prevent their minds wandering away from his evil ways. They may hear the Word of God, but Satan quickly erases the thought from their minds;

3. Stoney ground – I believe these may have accepted Jesus as Lord at one time, probably through peer pressure or to please mom or dad. But they have no desire to grow in their ‘Christian walk’. So hearing the Word of God has no impact in their life. It’s like going to the top of a hill and trying to find enough soil to plant something that needs a foot of soil for its root system. The Word does not impact their lives;

2. Persistent thorns – Planting the Word of God in the life of one so distracted by the world, makes it almost impossible to take traction in that person. God said in another place in His work, that we are to be still and know that He is God. When we enter into a Bible teaching classroom or sanctuary, with our minds so bogged down in the worries of this world, or the sinful place that we attended last night, the distraction, or thorns of sin, will control our minds and block our acceptance and/or understanding of the Word being taught;

1. Good soil – A farmer finds the best soil to plant his seeds in, to ensure the most healthy and productive growth. A Christian whose aim is to be more like Christ in every aspect of life, will look for ingredients to enrich their lives. This might be daily quiet daily times that include some time in the Word of God; prayer; and reflection on God and His awesome goodness. These followers of Christ will look to produce fruit by finding ways to produce additional Christians and bringing ones up the pyramid. Just as farmers tend to spend more time enriching the soil, watering the plants and eradicating the weeds, so these Christians will have a deep desire to grow in their faith and find ways to not only develop a closer relationship with the Lord, but especially find ways to encourage those around them.

So I wonder friend, at which level of the pyramid did you find yourself? If, in your honesty, you found yourself below level ‘1’, may I encourage you to ‘Have a little Talk with Jesus’ and pour out your soul to Him. Ask Him for help in attaining level ‘1’ and watch how He will drive you to a deeper walk with Himself! I truly believe that His desire is to see us all be little ‘Christ’s’ because of our personal desire to do His will.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Savior, Master, and King, thank You for loving us enough to care about us and accept us as Your children in spite of our ugly past, or our easy tendency to sin. Your Word is so mind provoking, that we are frequently reminded of our inadequacies; our weak approach to holiness; and our walk that exemplifies a ‘perfect’ Lord. Please forgive us for deliberately keeping one foot in the world, while striving to place the other foot in a circle filled with Your holiness and righteousness. Although I plead Your blood and Your holiness on all those who my read this devotional, ‘It’s Me Oh Lord, Standing in the need of prayer’. Please work on Your humble servant so that I may exemplify You in every walk of life and with everyone that I may find myself associating with. With all glory to You oh King! AMEN!
FOOTNOTE:
There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’.  If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!