Mark 4:3-8, “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” The sower doesn't know the outcome of his scattering and it's not not in his hands anyway. When we share the word with people, we never know how it will be received either. It is important for us to be sensitive to the opportunities Gods sets up for us, these divine appointments, which are our opportunities to be used by God. We know His word will have an effect, regardless. Isaiah 55:11, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."
Ignoring His prompting because you fear how someone will receive the truth is not good. You cannot deny Him by hiding who you are in Him. Verses 21-23, "Also He said to them, 'Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.' " It's not just about listening attentively, but actually heeding the word and doing what it says. James 1:22-25, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."
When you go to church, do you you go with the expectation to hear from the Lord. Some people spend more time focusing on others and their business, or finding faults with the pastor, rather than focusing on and heeding what is being taught. You can usually tell those who are there for other reasons, because they don't stay long or they don't grow under sound teaching. Verses 24-25, "Then He said to them, 'Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.' ” When we hear the truth, we are responsible for what we've been given, and the more we hear (receive and respond to what we hear), the more He'll give us. Luke 12:48, "...For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."
Verses 26-27, "And He said, 'The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.' " We are blessed to be used in any capacity by God because the reality is, He doesn't need us at all. Sometimes we just walk by faith. We don't have to have all the answers. The one thing we can do is scatter the seed, the truth of God. We don't need to understand why, just trust like a child that He'll take care of the rest.
Mark 4:21-25 "Also He said to them, 'Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that is should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.' Then He said to them, 'Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.''
ReplyDeleteOur nature is not to understand the things of the Spirit. But as we grow in the Lord we are responsible more and more for what we are taught and how we apply it to our lives. We are a light in this world. We are called to illuminate Christ in everything we do and the only way to truly do that is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. His presence in our lives is what sustains us and keeps on the right track. As we grow in our faith and the knowledge of the word we are more equip to teach others the truth therein and show them that they too are called to be set apart. A light in the darkness. In todays world true Christians stand out like a sore thumb. But praise God for that, at the same time it is to bad that many so called 'believers' act no differently from the rest of the world. Making or should I say giving people an excuse not to come to the Lord. "Well I can't be that bad if he is a Christian and he is doing it." We are under a microscope. Our choices effect the outcome of how others see Christians. The truth always comes to the light. We can't hide what we are really like on the inside. Everything eventually is on display. Those things are what the Holy Spirit is working to chisel away from our lives. Those things that keep us from being completely set apart. It is ok to be consider the light on the lamp stand. To shine in the distance and display the true Light and what He has for His people.
What ever standard that you are judging others you will be judged by that same standard. Humbling isn't it. Are we judging the fruit or are we condemning people to death. We are to judge what goes on in the church, the body of Christ so that we can hold each other accountable and protect one another from false teachers and false doctrine. On the flip side what goes on in the world we need to leave for God to judge. We've all at one point been in darkness, living for the world and how easy it is to get swept away by our flesh. We have no right to judge unsaved people based on the same standard that we have for those in the body of believers.
Mark 4:4-5, 7-8, 19, 22
ReplyDeleteMany of us know the parable of the four soils, but it is such an important parable to know. The four different soils: the stony ground, the thorns, the wayside, and the good soil all represent a person's heart. "And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it." These people get preached the word and Satan immediately snatches it away. These people don't accept the word they just reject it.
"Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. These people are the ones who immediately accept Jesus, but once it starts to get hard, they give up and go back to their old ways. They have no root and therefore die when it gets hard.
"And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop." These people are the ones who accept the word, but the things of this world get in the way. "and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." People start wanting the world and desiring worldly things and leave their Christianity behind. This is a lot of people today. The desire to be like the world is so strong, but we can't give in to that temptation.
"But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” lastly, these are the people who accept the word and live for Jesus and have a relationship with Him. Even though if gets tough they still stand and they flew the temptations to be like the world. These Christians produce fruit in their lives that is evidence that they truly changed.
"For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light." Sometimes we think we can fool God and hide our sin, but he sees everything, and he makes things known in their own timing. I've fallen in that trap before where I think I can get away with things that eventually comes to light.