Jesus was first and foremost a teacher anointed by the Spirit of God. One of Jesus teaching methods was the use of parables. In this new series, we will look at one of these parables, The Parable of the Sower. Does this parable apply to us in the church? If it does what powerful truths can we glean from it and how can we apply these truths in our everyday life.
When the telegraph was the fastest means of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, noisy office. In the background a telegraph clacked away. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office. The young man completed his form and sat down with seven other applicants. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. The other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. Why had this man been so bold? They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They took more than a little satisfaction in assuming the young man who went into the office would be reprimanded for his presumption and summarily disqualified for the job. Within a few minutes the young man emerged from the inner office escorted by the interviewer, who announced to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has been filled by this young man.” The other applicants began grumbling. Then one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute—I don’t understand something. He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair.” The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse code: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. So the job is his.” 1 Godly results come from hearing God. Are you tuned into God’s Morse code?
One of the great sins of Israel was a lack of dependence on God. Time and again you can see Israel leaning toward foreign countries for aid instead of depending on the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5 echo’s the sentiment. “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord.” Depending on God is a big Bible issue. Jesus addressed it. Let’s look at what He said about it.
The Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook says “In the Bible it is God who brings salvation from temporal as well as spiritual ills. Thus in the Gospels, referring to his miraculous healings, Jesus sometimes says, “Your faith has saved you,” meaning “healed you” (Luke 18:42 KJV). Characteristically, the term refers to salvation from sin (Rom. 1:16; 1 Thess. 5:9). Salvation means the decisive defeat of sin on the cross, but also victory over evil in a believer’s daily life.” 1 Why is this so? The answer can be found by an exhaustive look at the famous redemption chapter of Isaiah 53.
The issue of dependence is a difficult piece for a nation of people known for independence. The very foundation of our country was laid in the idea of independence. We fought for it. We gave our lives for it as a nation. And yet somewhere along the way, as with all things which start well, we lost our way. Independence was never meant to be an excuse to not trust God. The question then arises. “Are you depending on God in your everyday life?”
The Bible is meant for your everyday life. It’s meant to be used and applied. It’s not just a collection of short stories for entertainment. Are you hearing me Hollywood? How can the jump be made from narrative to vibrant faith? One way is to learn to put yourself into the verses in the Bible. The truth is God wrote this book especially for you. Putting yourself into the Word, into the stories, into the truths found within it’s pages will lead you out of defeat and into victory.
Guilt has been defined as an unpleasant knowledge that something wrong has been done. It involves fear of punishment, shame, regret, and remorse. It involves feeling’s of low self-esteem, inferiority, depression and anxiety. Many of God’s people are motivated and moved by the sense of guilt in their lives. The scriptures teach believers to be Spirit led rather than guilt led. Are you saying ‘Yes’ to things when you should be saying ‘No.’ It’s time to put guilt in it’s place and move up in the things of God.
There were three profound things about Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America. First, when he left Spain he did not know where he was going. Second, when he arrived in the New World he did not know where he was. Third, when he returned to Ferdinand in his court he didn’t know where he had been. In addition, he did it all on borrowed money. Columbus did not know much but he did a great thing simply because He believed He could. He had a level of confidence in his tomorrow or he would have never jumped on that ship. But, believing he could was only one factor to this success story. Columbus did not pilot the ship by himself. He had help. There were other people on board. That’s what this post is about; the other people on your ship. You need the people God has put in your life in order to help you navigate and fulfill your destiny.
On the island of Sicily in the fourth century B. C., there ruled a tyrant named Dionysius. He had in his court a certain “yes” man named Damocles. Damocles was a flatterer. He who sought to gain advantage by flattering the cruel tyrant. One day as he extolled the virtues of Dionysius the tyrant proclaimed a magnificent banquet in his honor. In the midst of the festivities, however, Damocles happened to look up and discovered to his dismay that a naked sword hung suspended over his head by a single hair. 1 Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be full of words which you don’t mean. Today, we are going to look at Zayin, the seventh letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, which means sword or weapon.
The personal wardrobe of one of Chicago’s wealthiest women was estimated at twenty-five thousand pieces of apparel. The clothes included more than one thousand dresses—with a purse to match each dress—some five hundred coats and fifteen hundred pairs of shoes. 1 You have heard the phrase: “Clothes make the man”? The Bible uses ‘clothing’ language to describe the state of our redemption in Christ. There are things that we are to put on and things that we are not to put on, things that are to clothe our lives and things that are not to clothe our lives. The question for us as representatives of Jesus is this; are you wearing the right clothes or are you leaving your home naked?
Like many of us, Allen wanted God to see things his way. Allen was raised in a Christian home, but he allowed different things to become idols in his life, things such as sports heroes, material possessions, and self-seeking adventures. One day, Allen’s life came crashing down. His marriage was on the edge of ruin. His children were out of control. His career was heading nowhere fast. Trouble flooded in upon him. At his wits end, Allen began to seek help. He attended a marriage conference with his wife, and while there he desperately sought the only living and true God. On the final day of the conference, Allen noticed a wooden cross with a simple sign overhead that read: “Jesus invites you to nail every sin to His cross.” Hundreds of nails had already been hammered in by others seeking relief from the terrible weight of sin. With tears rolling down his cheek, Allen walked up and put his nail in the cross alongside the others. As he did, he felt all the hurt, the weight of having lived a life of sin, fall off his shoulders. “Jesus, I’ve lived my life for myself. I can’t do this alone. Please give me the strength to live for you.” After praying, Allen took a deep breath and walked away from the cross that held his sins—every one of them. Have you turned from God to idols? If so, it is time to nail the idols to the cross and to turn back to God. 1 Today, we are going to take a look at the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, VAV, which means nail or hook.
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In the book of Ephesians, Paul prays for the Ephesian believers. He writes in detail the exact words that he utters to God the Father for them. You can find these words starting in Ephesians 1:15-23 and in Ephesians 3:14-19. If Paul thought that these prayers were important to pray for the Ephesian church, do you think that you can pray the same prayers for yourself? Thank God, the answer to that is a resounding yes. God wants you to have a revelation of His power. I have prayed these prayers hundreds and hundreds of times over the course of my life. It has enriched my life and it will absolutely elevate yours. Let’s take a particular look at the prayer in chapter one.