May 4, 2013; A thought for today

Today I am reading Mark chapter 4. I love the story of the soils and am always challenged to consider the soil of my heart. Am I receptive? Are there things in my heart that will hinder the growth of God’s Word there? Several questions like that arise.

But today I read further where Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God being like a seed which grows up and many can find shelter there. He also speaks of a lamp that needs to be set up where it can give light to all.

Finally I was compelled to write by the familiar story of The disciples crossing the sea of Galilee in a boat and Jesus was in the back on a pillow asleep. The storm arose and the disciples were afraid. This is amazing since at least 4 of these men were experienced sailors.

In each account (Matt 8:18-27; Mark 4:35-41; and Luke 8:22-25) Jesus speaks to their faith. Well he speaks about their not having faith. Since I understand faith to be something that stimulates action, I wonder. What did Jesus want them to do?

I cannot say with full assurance what the answer is in this case but I expect that it may be; Do what you know to do. These men had experience and knew this lake. they knew how to handle the boat and how to work with the storm.

In my life do I act like these men and fail to do what I know because I am concentrating on my problems and not on doing what I know to do, trusting God to carry me through to the end he has in mind for me.

Remember all of the promises of how God does care for us and will not give us more than we can handle(I Cor 10:13). He always will work all things for our good and his glory if we trust him as we act to do what we know(Rom 8:28). I will make mistakes but God can even use that especially if I am acting according to faith.

To Be a Christian

To Be a Christian

A person does not become a Christian when they say a prayer. A person does not become a Christian when they are baptized. Reading the Bible will not make you a Christian. Not smoking, not drinking, and not living an immoral life will not make you a Christian. Loving your neighbor, feeding the poor or going to church will not make you a Christian. To be a Christian you must be born again.

Being born again is something only God can do for us, and he will only do it for those who are in desperate need and cry out to him from that need.

WHAT IS THAT NEED?

The need is not to know that I will go to heaven. The need is not to be successful and have lots of things. The need is to know what life is really about. What was I made for? Why am I here?

When someone has searched for meaning and come up with nothing, and must find the answer; then they will turn to God in that desperate need (Rom 3:10-18). Then, only then, God will hear and plant the seed of life in their heart.(Matt 13:31 & Lk 13:19)

True Kings are absolute rulers. In the Kingdom of God; God rules absolutely by the willing and joyful submission of his people, whom he makes to be his children. He loves for them to call him Father.

To become a Christian a person must die to this world and be born into the Kingdom of God, by an act of God. When anyone comes to God in weakness and need (Heb 4:16), he will always plant the seed of the Kingdom of God their heart.

To develop as a Christian we must nurture that seed so it can grow. but we are all thoroughly corrupt and not able to persevere. (Rom 7:14-25) Do not lose heart, remember there is a throne of grace (Heb 4:16). God will always give grace to the humble. (Js 4:6-10 & I Ptr 5:5). There is work for us to do and it is too great for us. By the desire and strength that Jesus opened to us and God our Father longs to give, we can do what could not be done. Because the strength is not ours but God’s. As we humble ourselves and yield to his will in joyful trust and thanksgiving. He will do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or think. (Eph 3:20)

Two things must be present to grow as a Christian; humility and thankfulness.

From time to time I will send out little thoughts to some of my friends.  I do this by text message.  I thought I would put these in a blog so others who come here that I don't know might also benefit.  I will show the date originally posted just to separate the thoughts. 

06/23/11
"Our Father who art in heaven" I am often amazed that we are encouraged to call the creator of everything by such a familiar name.
06/26/11
A soldier always knows who he is, when he is in uniform. If I have put on the armour of God I too should be aware of who I am (Eph. 6:13-17)
06/28/11
King David said "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." I must put my hope and trust in God my loving Father always.
07/01/11
The purpose of the commandment is cherity from a pure heart, and from a healthy conscience and from a faith that is genuine. (I Tim. 1:5)
07/06/11
Get to know Jesus.  Read in the Gospels every day. Read to become familiar with him and the people around him.  Grace and Peace to you.
07/11/11
If I am suppose to follow in Jesus footsteps, I need the power he had. The only way to get that power is by total surrender to the father.  Just like Jesus.
07/12/11
The Jews call themselves the children of Abraham. Those who receive Jesus, receive the power to become the Children of God.  Think about that. (John 1:12)
07/14/11
Noah worked 100 years building a box that could have held 189 tractor trailers.  How quickly do I get discouraged, doing what God has told me to do? (Heb. 4:16)
07/21/11
God knows everything! God loves me & only wants the very best for me! God's way and will is always the very best for me to choose. ALWAYS!!
07/26/11
He who has my commandments & keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me shall be loved by my father. And I will love him & will reveal myself to him. (Jn 14:21)
07/28/11
How I respond in difficulties tells more about what I really believe than anything I could say or write.
07/30/11
Grace: The desire and ability to do God's will. (Bill Gothard; IBYC) God gives grace to the humble. (Js. 5:5) Look at them together.
08/01/11
Pride that knows how to improve my current situation stands blocking the path to the blessings God has for me here.
08/02/11
Repentance: One of God's best gifts, is the desire and ability to turn from my foolish way and persue his perfect way.
08/07/11
As I am with others today, my hope is to think of them and their needs, to see if there is any way I can encourage them to be more loving and just better people.
08/09/11
I John 2:1a; My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin.  That is just as exciting and the second part of this verse.  Think about it.

Grace is power for action!

Blessed are the poor in spirit.  This is the starting point for my life.  As I was reading my prayer list today it became very clear to me that I have no spiritual power over any of the others on my list.  My list begins with the president of the United States.  Of course I have no power where he is concerned. But it quickly goes to the minister and elders of my local church and then to my family.  With these I at least can be heard.  But the hard fact is heard is about all that I can truly expect. I cannot direct them to give their attention, to give their devotion, or obedience to God, and then know that because I said so, they will do it.  Nope, no power. 

On the inside of the cover of my prayer book it says, “The revival must start with me.” I am back to “Poor in spirit.”  I have learned and become a little faithful in a few small areas, but compared to where I should be, let’s just say I am very far behind.  I am so thankful that I do believe that God is merciful.  So what can I do?

Continue.  Don’t spend a lot of time moaning and regretting, rather be thankful for the time I still have and move forward.  I can only move slowly forward, but I can move forward. Work at improving my discipline, whatever it is. Learn faithfulness and move forward in one or two areas at a time.

The only power I can ever have is the power of a crucified life.  This is a life where my natural laziness and demands for pleasure have been destroyed and in their place discipline and a thankful heart have taken their place.  This is an indestructible life.  But I can still not make demands and expect to be obeyed.  No the growing spirit will attract others.  But the one poor in spirit, though growing, becomes free to not make demands.  The Eternal God is still the only power on earth to draw men’s hearts.  And he uses the men whose hearts are inclined toward him. 

God, thank you for the desire to act.  Thank you that you also give the power.  Thank you that I have from time to time used that power to exercise that desire.  

Mat 18:7  Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

Mat 18:8  Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

Mat 18:9  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

I cannot remember anyone ever preaching about this passage which occurs three times in the Gospel record. It may be because it seems so harsh. It may be because preachers know that teaching what Jesus taught might reduce the collection. It may be that preachers are afraid there will be a lot of one handed one eyed people in their congregations after such a message. I have often wondered why there were not a few one eyed one handed Christians.

As I thought about this passage a little I realize that in most cases these drastic measures are not necessary. But it is helpful to realize that most of the things that offend, or cause me to sin are my own fault. If I find that I am looking at things that cause me to lust, Quit looking at those things. If I find that I am doing things with my hands that are sin stop doing those things.

I have a problem with my weight. The problem is that my hand keeps carrying tasty things to my mouth. This offends me because when I eat too much I gain weight. When I gain weight I shorten my life, when I shorten my life this does not glorify God. I don’t need to cut off my hand, I need to make sure it doesn’t carry so much to my mouth. This is not a trivial problem, and the applications are many.

If you cannot control the thing that causes you problems, eliminate it. don’t go where there is a lot of tasty food. Stop watching television altogether. If you cannot control a thing, eliminate it.

It is not the Devil or God who leads us to sin. It is my own lust. If I constantly give in to lust, sin is the result and sin ONLY leads to DEATH.

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Matthew 13:  The parable of the sewer and the soils.
I see that my heart is a little like the stony soil or the soil among the thorns.  I have a difficult time getting the word to sink in and grow, and when it does begin to grow there are many things that will hinder and choke that word, to keep it from doing its work in my life.
Whenever I neglect to go to the Word of God to hear what he is saying to me today, I automatically go to other things for comfort and encouragement.  All of these other things seem pleasant for the moment But they are without any power for lasting improvement.  My life stays the same and my frustration grows. In this condition I can become a danger to myself and to those around me. 
My only hope is to learn more faithfulness in seeking God through prayer and abiding in his word, Jesus.

Papa's Garden

When my father-in-law and mother-in-law moved to Oregon one of the first things they did was begin a garden.  After a few years their garden covered a city lot and was wonderful.  There were perfectly spaced rows of just about any vegetable you could grow in southern Oregon.  They were growing healthy and weed free.  We lived about 200 miles away and came down three or four times a summer and I remember being in awe of Papa’s beautiful garden.  At some point in this part of our life I tried to grow a little 4’ by 12’ garden.  It was nearly a complete disaster; I couldn’t even get my tomatoes to turn red.  I think I was able to grow some zucchini, but you can almost do that accidently.  It did dawn on me later that while I was failing at gardening I was also raising a family and working full time.  Papa on the other hand was growing a garden. 

In Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8 Jesus speaks of another gardener and of his soil and the crop that did and did not come up.  This is a wonderful story and the applications to my life are many.  Papa’s garden was always well tilled and there was a pile of rocks off to one side and weeds were not permitted to grow there. 

Jesus told of seed that fell on the hard packed earth of the path. This seed was quickly eaten by birds.  .    Have you ever been in a meeting and heard something said that just didn’t make sense to you, but you knew the one speaking was a godly person who had great wisdom and a life that always demonstrated the love of Jesus.  This has happened to me and if I pursued what I had heard eventually it became clear to me that what was said was true.  Mostly the hard soil of my heart just needed to be broken up and made tender to hear and receive what God wanted me to learn and I needed to be ready to let God’s word find a place where it could grow into good fruit.  I suspect this also is a picture of those whose hearts are so hard that they will simply not see or hear the Gospel.  For these we must pray that God will find the way to soften the soil of their heart.  This is not a pleasant experience for the one having it but the end is glorious.  We must be a little hard hearted to pray this prayer.  We must have a heart for the things of God and not for the things of man. 

I mentioned the pile of rocks off to the side of Papa’s garden.  These were the rocks that had occupied the ground where Papa’s garden now was.  They had been carefully loaded into wheel barrows and piled to the side as the garden was developing over the years.  I have been to meetings where the word of God was tremendously powerful and I left with full determination to become what I had heard.  Then a few days later all was forgotten and I could only remember that it had been a good meeting.  Some of the rocks from Papa’s garden plot were pretty big and some only the size of a golf ball, but they all had to be removed because a seed could not send roots into those rocks.  There are rocks in the garden of my heart.  Some of these are firm ideas of how things ought to be or how they are.  They may be fears about what would happen if I step out in faith in a certain area.  They can be all sorts of things, but when I hear a word of God that is right and true and I want it to grow I need to search for these hard places that will not allow the seed of God’s word to take root.  Then pray for grace to remove them. 

I have never been able to make any kind of garden patch weed free.  I mentioned that Papa’s garden was large and weed free.  I also mentioned the secret.  I would spend a few minutes once or twice a week pulling weeds while Papa spent at least 4 hours a day constantly hoeing and pulling weeds.  Jesus said that the weeds were the cares of the world, the love of money and the lust for other things.  According to Jesus these things choke the word.  Weed seeds come from everywhere.  Some lie dormant in the soil for years undetectable then spring up without any warning.  Some will blow in on the wind.  This is a very clear picture of how the cares and lusts can come in and choke God’s word in my life and the only hope of success is constant vigilance and diligence to find them and pull them out without hesitation. 

The good soil is productive.  But the good soil is pure.  We can go to the garden store and purchase good soil for planting.  This has been carefully sifted and cooked to destroy any harmful seeds that remain.  Sometimes nutrients are added to promote the growth of the plants we choose to grow.  In the same way, the soil of my heart must be sifted and purified, sometimes by the extreme heat of fiery trials.  Only then is the word of God free to grow and produce 30, 60 or 100 fold.