Scripture: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside: and it wa trampled down and the birds
of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it
withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the
thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang
up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried,
“He who has ears to hear, let him
hear!”
Observation: I love how Jesus uses our won
language to speak to us. You can FEEL how much He loves us as He cries out at
the end of verse 8. He wants to warn us and teach us. He knows that we can not
understand the utterings of God, so He puts in a way that all can understand.
Just as we would do with our own
children.
Application: We should all research God’s word and
strive to learn. It is our instruction book, telling us how to live and love. It
is how God speaks to us. There is NOTHING more important than spending time with
God and His word EVERYDAY.
Prayer: Father, help me to stay focused on You and
not let other things get in the way of me spending time with You each day. I
love You Father and wan to know You more.
~Amen
Week 8 Tuesday
Scripture: 15 But the ones that fell on the good
ground are those who, having heard the work with a nobel and good heart, keep it
and bear fruit with patience.
Observation 1: This is how we should all be.
Living on the word of God so that we can bare much
fruit.
Observation 2: In the parable there are 4 senarios
all dealing with seeds. Jesus says that the seed is the word of God. We deal
with hearing the word of God in 4 idfferent
ways.
Wayside – they hear, but the devil comes and takes
it away, out of their hearts, so they are not
saved.
Rock – when they hear, receive the word with joy,
but have no root, which means they are not grounded enough and when temptation
comes, and it will, then they “fall away”or their spiritual life slowly withers
and dies.
Thorns – when they have heard they go out and are
choked with cares, riches, and pleasure of life and are unable to bring forth
fruit to maturity. Their focus is always somewhere elce, not on doing God’s
work.
Good Ground –they heard the word with a noble and
good heart. They keep it and bear fruit with
patience.
Application: I think we all go through seasons
where we are each of these. I have been a Christian since I was 9 years old and
I can tell you I have been in good ground, rocks and thorns many different
times. Even the best Christians go throughseasons where they are distracted by
temptations and cares, riches and pleasures. I believe as we grow as Christians
the rocks and thorn seasons get shorter and shorter. We realize sooner that we
are in these seasons and know what we need to do to get back to good
ground.
Prayer: Father, help me to stay on good ground. When I
stray to the rock and thorns Lord speak to my heart and bring me back to Your
wonderful word. ~Amen
Week 8 Wednesday
Scripture: 21 But he answered and said to them, “My mother and my
brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
Observation 1: I do not think that Jesus was denying His mother
and brother as much as trying to make a point. Every time I hear this, or hear
someone talk about it, we usually think how hurt Mary was. I bet that Mary knew
what Jesus was doing. She knew Him better than anyone there.
Observation 2: I think here Jesus is showing us that if we hear
God’s word and obey then we belong in the family of Jesus. We are all brothers
and sisters in Christ! How awesome to know that we belong to God! Unfortunately
we do not always treat each other the way that family should. We are judgmental
of everyone including our brothers and sisters in Christ. Imagine the
possibilities if we would treat our brothers and sisters with Christ’s love and
bonded together as a family to fight Satan and win others to Christ! Satan of
course does not want this to happen because if it did we could reach everyone
for Christ. We let Satan work though and fight amongst ourselves, not realizing
we are letting Satan have his way.
Prayer: Father help me to look at others through Your eyes, with
love and compassion and understanding. Help us as Christians band together in
Your name to reach others for Christ and defeat Satan. ~Amen.
Week 8 Thursday
Scripture: 39 “Return to your won house and tell what great
things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the
whole city what great things Jesus had done for Him.
Observation 1: I cannot imagine how this poor man must have felt
with his entire body controlled by demons! How awful!
Observation 2: What an amazing relief he must have felt the
second they all left him!
Observation 3: The man wanted to stay by Jesus’ side, but He gave
him a job instead, “…tell what great things God has done for
you.”
Observation 4: We have ALL been this guy, trapped and possessed
by Satan and our own sin! If we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior,
confessed our sin and asked God into our hearts then Jesus has banished that
guilt and sin from our lives and we are free! Now what? We go out and, “tell
others the great things God had done” for us.
Application: It is our responsibility, nay our privilege, to tell
others about Christ and what He has done for us. How honored are we that Jesus
dies for us. How can we not share that with others?
Prayer: Father help me to tell others about You and all the
wonderful things that You do for me. I love You Father, thank You so much for
all of my many blessings. ~Amen