Tag: parables
Under conviction?
Scripture reading for May 4th: Matthew 21, Psalm 89, Proverbs 27
Matthew 21: 42-46 “Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they held Him to be a prophet.”
Jesus was always using the Scriptures to help those opposing Him to understand God’s will and ways. He had just told a parable of the tenants of a vineyard owned by a master. It was leased to them and when the season of ripened grapes arrived, the master sent servants to get his portion of the fruit. They mistreated and killed the servants. After sending other servants, the master sent his son, saying that they would surely respect him. But again, the son was killed and the vineyard taken over by the tenants. The Pharisees knew that Jesus was telling this parable (and others) about them and felt threatened. But instead of repenting, they plotted to arrest Jesus and ultimately do away with Him. We are all tenants in our Master’s world. We owe Him our lives and allegiance. Let’s not reject the Son of God, owner of all!
Psalm 89:3-4 “You have said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn to David My servant: ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.'”
Prayer: Father God, You alone are owner of all things and are the One that all of mankind owes honor, obedience and worship. Forgive me for not honoring You with all my life and even at times opposing You. You know my true heart and can bring about the needed transformation. I offer my whole heart, soul and body to do Your will and share Your Good News with a lost world.
Proverbs 27:19 “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.”
Secrets of the Kingdom!
Scripture reading for February 19th: Mark 3:31-4:25, Psalms 37:12-28, Proverbs 10:5
“Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” “When He was alone, the Twelve and the others around Him asked Him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been give to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “they may be ever seeing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.”” (Mark 4:9-12)
Jesus taught in parables, stories that had hidden meanings for those with spiritual ears and eyes. The parables were simple stories that used common events and characters that would have appealed to the people of that culture and day. Jesus used these stories to hide truth from those who were not ready to hear and to aide those who were ready to learn the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone with ears would be able to understand the secrets!
What were these secrets of the kingdom that Jesus was revealing to His disciples? This main parable about the sower, the seed, and the soils was a key parable to help understand all parables. The farmer was the Lord and the seed was God’s word. The people’s hearts were the soils spoken about here. There were various soils that represented their willingness to receive the word of God.
Jesus taught His disciples that their job was to scatter the seed as the Farmer (God) gave them opportunity. Some of the hearts where the seed fell would be hard and Satan would steal the seed before it could even begin to take root. Other hearts would be shallow, initially receiving the word, but then quickly falling away. Some would appear to have a good crop growing, but weeds representing cares of this life and the chase after riches would choke the good seed and leave no fruit. They were not to be discouraged but to continue on with their job of sowing.
The seed would have the power to bring eternal life in those who opened their hearts. It would be mysterious in the sense that a natural seed grows all by itself and this spiritual seed would work inside the heart and grow as well. (Mark 4:26-29) How is the soil of your heart today? Is the Gospel seed producing fruit?
The farmer sows the seed!
Scripture reading for October 8th: Matthew 12-15
Jesus used parables to speak to multitudes of people. The knowledge of the kingdom of heaven was hidden from those with hard hearts and closed ears. (Proverbs 14:6) (Matthew 13:11-15) Parables were stories that spoke of something common but with additional meaning that applied to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus ended many of these stories with something like: ‘if you have ears, listen!”. (Matthew 13:8) The listening that Jesus encouraged was spiritual and revealed truth.
As a former Iowa farmer, the parable of the sower always fascinated me. I raised corn one year for a Master Corn Grower’s contest and the return was over 1100 pounds back for every pound sowed! This parable talks about a thirty, sixty, or hundred fold return! Now that was good seed and good ground and God’s amazing grace! By the way, I got third place in the contest!
The farmer scattered his seed and it fell on different types of soil. Some fell on the path and birds ate it up immediately. Some fell on rocky soil, and sprouted quickly but died out. Some fell among the weeds and was choked out. Most of the seed went to the good ground and it yielded a crop. This simple story would have been very familiar to everyone in that culture and held great spiritual understanding for those with ears to hear!
Those who heard the word but did not understand it were like the seed on the path. The evil one came along and ate it before it could produce or even sprout. The rocky soil represented those who initially heard the word but failed to let it go deep enough to sustain growth. The seed among the weeds represented those who received the word, but the cares of this life and deceitfulness of riches choked it out. Finally, those who heard the word, understood it and put it into practice were like the good soil!
God is the farmer and has commissioned us to sow His word in the soils of hearts. We can’t control what kind of soil the seed falls on but we have good seed! Is the crop of eternal life growing in you? Are you keeping the weeds out? God has blessed the seed and wants to multiply it through the soil of your heart! Why not bless our Lord with a great increase!
Secrets of the kingdom!
Scripture reading for February 19th: Mark 3:31-4:25, Psalms 37:12-28, Proverbs 10:5
“Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” “When He was alone, the Twelve and the others around Him asked Him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been give to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “they may be ever seeing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.”
Jesus taught in parables, stories that had hidden meanings for those with spiritual ears and eyes. The parables were simple stories that used common events and characters that would have appealed to the people of that culture and day. Jesus used these stories to hide truth from those who were not ready to hear and to aide those who were ready to learn the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone with ears would be able to hear!
What were these secrets of the kingdom that Jesus was revealing to His disciples? This main parable about the sower, the seed, and the soils was a key parable to help understand all parables. The farmer was the Lord and those who worked for Him and the seed was God’s word. The people’s hearts were the soils spoken about here. There were various soils that represented their willingness to receive the word of God.
Jesus taught His disciples that their job was to scatter the seed as the Farmer (God) gave them opportunity. Some of the hearts where the seed fell would be hard and Satan would steal the seed before it could even begin to take root. Other hearts would be shallow, initially receiving the word, but then quickly falling away. Some would appear to have a good crop growing, but weeds representing cares of this life and the chase after riches would choke the good seed and leave no fruit. They were not to be discouraged but to continue on with their job of sowing.
The seed would have the power to bring eternal life in those who opened their hearts. It would be mysterious in the sense that a natural seed grows all by itself and this spiritual seed would work inside the heart and grow as well. (Mark 4:26-29) How is the soil of your heart today? Is the gospel seed producing fruit?