Which Soil Are You?

It doesn’t take long to look around you and realize there are major problems: problems of war, disunity, envy, indulgence, selfishness, poverty, enslavement, materialism, oppression, etc. And yet so many of our problems would dissipate if we would submit to our purpose, to God’s word and will for creation.

Think about that: God wrote a book. He gave us his words to imbue us with his power, to give us new life, to guide our confused paths. The only problem is, we don’t read anymore. Many studies show how, in our age of screen addiction, there isn’t a whole lot of hearty reading going on – and in order to make use of God’s word there needs to be reading, or at least some listening.

This is where Jesus’s parable in Mark 4 comes in. He tells the parable of the sower. And in his explanation in verses 14-20 he lays out his meaning:

a. Roadside soil (4:13–15): This soil represents those who hear the message but do not understand it, thus allowing Satan to steal it from them.
b. Shallow, rocky soil (4:16–17): This soil represents those who have no depth and thus drop out when encountering persecution.
c. Thorn-infested soil (4:18–19): This soil represents those who allow the deceitfulness of riches to snuff out the seed.
d. Fertile soil (4:20) : This soil represents those who both hear and understand, permitting the seed to produce abundantly.
(from Willmington, H. L. (1999). The Outline Bible (Mk 4:13–20)).

Which soil are you? When the word of God is being scattered, how do you receive it? How do you hear? Do you listen and comprehend?

So many of our problems would be solved if we simply had the heart and interest to take God at his word, to really put down the tech and pick up the Book so that we might hear from God. Let’s try.

And if you don’t really know where to start, start with the New Testament – the last 27 books of your Bible. Read a chapter, mull over it a bit, then pray that God would help you understand it, make it real to you, and help you to carry it out in your day to day life. Keep a consistent pattern and routine. You’ll get the hang of it.

Scripture Reading: 2Ch.31-32; Ps.26; Mk.4

Christ’s Church

Based upon Simon Peter’s confession that Jesus was the promised Messiah, God’s Chosen One, of the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus blesses Peter and claims “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 16.18-19).

The followers of Jesus believe that he is the Christ, the anointed of God – the one chosen to be the world’s true Lord. And we understand this to be possible because through his death to atone for the sins of humanity, and thereby allaying God’s wrath, the inception of a new kingdom was possible: a kingdom where the world’s values would be radically subverted, where power would be gained through humility and self-sacrifice, where love is the majority language, and where service was to truly glorify our Maker. This kingdom (elsewhere referred to as the church) can be seen anywhere disciples are together, serving others under the Lordship of the Jesus who loved them and died for them. And because this kingdom was begun by a king who finally conquered over death through his resurrection, we’re told that not even the domain of death itself – Hades – would be able to prevail against it. Death would be obliterated by the promise of his resurrection; and spiritual death eliminated as people turned from their selfish ways at hearing the Gospel of the Crucified.

And do you know where our King audaciously builds his kingdom? Matthew records in 16.13 that the disciples followed Jesus to an area called Caesarea Philippi. And in this city, even today, one can see the “rock” (16.18), the cave dedicated to various false gods such as Pan. It’s upon this rock, this rock emblematic of all the world’s values and false gods and competing deities that Christ proclaims his supremacy.

And if we wish to serve this Godman, Jesus of Nazareth, we simply obey the words of the Master recorded later in the chapter – 16.24-28 (LEB):

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me will find it. For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and at that time he will reward each one according to ⌊what he has done⌋.”

At the advent of this kingdom Jesus promised us, we read where Simon Peter would use the kingdom keys to first open the church doors on the day of Pentecost. And in Acts 2.38, Peter informs the crowd how to enter this kingdom: “Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of your sins.”

Scripture reading: 1Chr.24-25; Ps.14; Mt.16-17

Follow Your Heart

Follow your heart.

Despite good intentions and an understandable point, this advice should be listed as one of the most destructive. We understand the gist: do what we love, find what makes us happy, listen to our instincts. I can value the principle of checking in with ourselves; our passions, our talents, going against the grain when necessary. These can easily be used to the glory of God and shouldn’t be brushed off.
But that’s the catch: unless our hearts are daily shaped by God and the word, unless our conscience has been molded according to heavenly wisdom, unless our delight is in the Lord, our natural heart will lead us to places we didn’t intend to go.

Today’s reading included 1 Kings 11, where we see the downfall of the great and wise Solomon. Apparently all the wisdom in the world couldn’t keep Solomon’s heart from leading him to destruction.

If Solomon was blessed with wisdom by God yet could stray so far from him, what is wisdom if it can’t keep you near God?

The bible speaks of two kinds of wisdom: worldly and heavenly. They’re both accessible; we absorb worldly wisdom both subconsciously and through experience and counsel, and we attain heavenly wisdom by asking God, studying and experience and counsel.

Worldly wisdom is our default. We learn the ways of the world and the teachings of our culture and current cultural worldview by living life, ingesting media, speaking with others, even if we’re not actively pursuing any of it. And though we can seek and find God’s wisdom, it’s not a one-and-done deal; in order to grow in his wisdom, it has to be a daily pursuit, and in order for us to successfully pursue something daily, our heart has to be set on it, right?

The heart, the seat of our motivations, the determining factor of which path we will take, is crucial to which kind of wisdom will become our expertise.

That’s why certain guardrails were set in place that should have kept Solomon on the right track. Instead, his affections got wrapped up in women who did not follow Yahweh. For all his wisdom that resulted in much wealth and many women, Solomon was at his heart, foolish. In the end, and what so many remember of him today, his wisdom amounted to nothing other than plain worldly success.

To someone who has not glimpsed the unmeasurable riches of God, maybe following your heart to earthly success and happiness doesn’t seem like such a bad deal at all. But it reminds me of a quote by C.S. Lewis:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

The tragedy in this story of course, is that Solomon was no stranger to the power and goodness of God. If he was not immune to the allure of temptation, neither are we. Every path in life comes with its own dangers, and we see the same theme of Solomon’s life played out even today in the lives of the wealthy. They are intelligent, wise, successful, powerful, they may even do great things. They may follow God for a time. But sadly, that power can corrupt, authority over others can cause forgetfulness of God’s authority over us, materialism can be justified and bought into (no pun intended), and ultimately, our heart will very slowly and very subtly begin cling to many forms of creation rather than clinging wholly to the Creator.

Indeed, it seems it would be good to examine our hearts more often than we follow them.

The Wicked, the Wise, and the Wealthy

First Timothy 6 houses some of the greatest words on wealth and the perspective that Christians ought to have on the pursuit of material gain. Based on the way Paul sets up the chapter, I see him basically addressing three groups of people, namely, the Wicked, the Wise and, finally, the Wealthy. I’ll paraphrase his basic instructions:

• The Wicked (6.3-5): They contradict the Bible; they’re argumentative, conceited, possess a craving for controversy, and are in this whole religion thing for the money.
• The Wise (6.6-10): They realize that the only true gain in this world is pursuing the life of Christ and being satisfied in Him.
• The Wealthy (6.17-19): They are truly rich who are rich in good deeds, using their material blessings to help those less fortunate in this world – just as our Lord taught, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Ac.20.35).

Here’s what I want to point out about this passage: “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1 Timothy 6.6-8). I love the simplicity and truth in that simple statement. But why do we so often have hoarding problems? Let’s face the facts: we have WAY MORE than we need in this country, and yet our eyes working in tandem with the billions spent on advertising of all sorts, produces this craving, this insatiable desire for more, and more, and more. We don’t live as if Paul is right; as if we really won’t be able to take home with us all the little trinkets that we’ve collected over the years.

This reminds of some others who possessed a large collection of goods that they firmly believed would join them in the next life: the Egyptians. And yet just the other day me and Amber were able to walk through the Egyptology exhibit at Chicago’s own Field Museum to check out all the neat collections of things they kept in the sarcophagus with them. The verdict? They’re still here – in this life.

I once read an author who put it this way: “There are no U-Hauls behind hearses.”

So, my question is Do we live as if Paul’s words are true? If not, how would your life look different if you did? Might we live more generous lives – giving to those truly in need? Maybe so.

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 1; Psalm 123; 1 Timothy 6 – 2 Timothy 1

Do You See What God Sees?

In Judges 6 and 7 we read of a guy to which some of us might be able to relate: Gideon.

Over just two chapters we see five displays of fear from Gideon, and we’re not counting the God-fearing kind. Throughout Gideon’s incredible story, even after testing God and finding reassurance in Him, we see his cautious, fearful personality ever-present. There is of course a lesson in that fact itself: God can and does do great things through weak, even fearful people.

But an even more encouraging lesson is how God personally handles Gideon’s shortcomings. Let’s look at five comforting and motivating responses of God:

1. Patience

You may know the story. Gideon is approched by an angel who reveals to him that he will defeat the Midianites. Gideon then tests God to be sure it is truly him. Then later on he tests God to be sure He really meant what He said. Then right after that he tests Him once more, while pleading, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more.”

Yet throughout the whole narrative, there is no hint of anger towards this cautious, perhaps weak-in-faith man, from God. He leads him step-by-step.

2. Encourages

“The Lord is with you”, “But I will be with you”, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” Hand-in-hand with the patience of God is His comfort and encouragement. It’s as though He meets Gideon where he is and then:

3. Supplies

He supplies where there is lack. In fact, this might be one of God’s favorite things to do. God does not need you to be fearless, but humble. The weaker, like Gideon’s army, the better, because then His strength can shine through us.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9

4. Accommodates

Even more amazing is the story of how God accommodates the interesting requests of Gideon. I loved the concession He even makes towards the end of chapter seven:

“Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.”

Can you guess which option our guy Gideon chooses?

5. Sees

Finally, God sees what we cannot. He sees our potential; the potential we have in Him. And that potential is always great, for each of us, because of the very fact that it comes from God and not ourselves.

“The Lord be with you, O mighty man of valor!” is the greeting Gideon receives as he’s hiding out by the winepress at the beginning of our story. The words seem unfitting then, yet by the end there is no better description.

God saw in Gideon what he himself could not. And Gideon had the humility and heart to allow God to work in him, even if he did so with much fear.

Will we?

Leading Others to Good News

Today’s Reading: Jdg.4-5; Ps.107.23-43; Ro.9-10

We have a lot of great passages today. One that stood out in the great story of Deborah was Jdg.5.2, “the leaders took the lead in Israel, that people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD!”

It is so encouraging when God’s people zealously place their talents on the table and offer themselves to whatever needs that lie before them. Deborah did that – and we should do that wherever and whenever we can, but especially when it regards the good news of Jesus Christ.
In Romans 10.15, Paul reminds us of the good news that God has become king in and through Jesus (referencing Is.52.7). And it’s this proclamation of the Risen King that is able to grant faith, to give life to dead hearts as Paul says, “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ” (v.17).

As I read through today’s psalm, I realized that maybe this is how our God is able, in our hearts, to turn deserts into pools of water, and parched lands into springs (Ps.107.35) – that is, through the shared message of love of Christ for sinners. This message, this is the water that can become in us a “spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn.4.14).

Now, wouldn’t you like to lead others to this spring?

Steadfast Integrity

Integrity is unchanging character despite changing circumstances.

Paul’s life was about to enter a tempestuous season. He knew what awaited him upon his arrival to Jerusalem. He would be tried as a criminal and imprisoned. His enemies would smother him in false accusations and seek the maximum penalty. He willingly went armed with only his integrity.

He expressed his innocence to his dear friends as he said goodbye. He did not know on which side of eternity they would next see each other. They cried and they prayed. Then Paul boldly went on to face his accusers.

Could you stand before a judge with your life on trial with confidence in your integrity? Are you certain that there are no skeletons in your closet? If you can answer affirmatively, you have integrity.

“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”

Today

Today is so important. Life is not comprised of endless tomorrows; it is built in every today. That is only if you make the choice to make the most of today.

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”

The greatest value found in each day is the opportunity to hear and heed the voice of the Lord—to work hard and obey with the hope of eternal rest. If you’ve resisted God, His word and His will, you have lost today.

Accidents Happen

Accidents happen. From traffic collisions to relationship train wrecks, you didn’t intend to hurt anyone and you’re really sorry that you did.

Sin can happen just as accidentally. Whether from ignorance or the unexpected, it is possible to violate God’s law and hurt others without intending to do so. The cities of refuge show God’s compassion for those who violate the law unintentionally.

Those who committed involuntary manslaughter were permitted to seek solace in an appointed city of refuge. They would be saved from the wrath or vengeance of a bereaved family member.

This is a great picture of God’s grace. He understands that we sin because of weakness or ignorance. He is patient and forgiving.

But He is just towards those who are premeditated in their transgression. He ordained that there should be no mercy for intentional sin.

Every person is a sinner and there is great grace in the Savior who died for our sins. There is also a warning:

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

Reading: Deuteronomy 18-20; Psalm 89:30-52: Acts 13

Amazing Love

The apostle Peter sat chained between two soldiers awaiting his execution. James had already been killed. Herod now awaited the next day to claim his second victim. He thought he was dreaming, but the Lord was actually escorting him out of the prison by the hand of an angel!

This story inspired a verse about salvation and freedom in Charles Wesley’s original hymn.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray-
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

What amazing love God has shown! Through he death of his Son, we are free to follow God. Amazing love, how can it be that You, my God, would die for me?

Reading: Deuteronomy 15-17; Psalm 89:1-29; Acts 12