Seize the Moment – Day 1099
Pray for the Foundations!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, March 21.
What are the burning issues of today’s world? The list is long, but it is important to do this exercise and then to pray through it. As you pray for the world and the nations, what’s most pressing upon your heart as you consider the future? The question asked by David in Psalm 11 was identified as the burning question of his day, in 1939, by the great Bible teacher Arno C. Gaebelein.[1] What was that burning question? In Psalm 11:3, David asked, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
In 2005, another great Bible teacher James Montgomery Boice reiterated David’s burning question for his day, “What shall we do when the laws are not upheld, when morality is undermined and evil sweeps on unchecked? What shall we do when the Bible is undermined and its teachings disregarded – when even churchmen seem to support the rising tide of secularism?”[2] I add my humble voice to these Bible teachers by agreeing that David’s three-thousand-year-old question is the burning issue of our day – What happens to our democracy, when we can no longer engage in civil discourse because we vehemently disagree with one another on the foundational issues of our human identity, such as gender, sexuality, and marriage?
What can the righteous do when the foundations are being destroyed from right under our feet? David’s response was to take refuge in the Lord (1). Never forget the hope you have in Christ as you face the uncertainties of the future – “For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face” (7; cf. Matthew 5:8).
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 11, meditating upon the promises of God secured for you in Jesus Christ. Build your life on His teachings, so as the storm rages, your life will “not fall, for it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-27).
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 91.
[2] Ibid.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1098
A Life of Devotion!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, March 20.
Do you pray for success? For what kind of prosperity are you praying? In Psalm 10:3-5a, David observed, “For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, and the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’ His ways prosper at all times.”
Is there something wrong with wanting to experience a little reward for our hard work? No! The issue is not wanting prosperity, but in how we go about achieving success. Are you going to use any means necessary to accomplish your goals? That’s the way of the wicked. David observed this reality three thousand years ago, which is why he ultimately cried out to God in verse 12, “Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted.” David was surrounded by the injustices caused by the wicked, so, in response, he humbled himself before God. Rather than taking the well-worn path leading to success and prosperity, he followed the narrow way of faithfulness to God. How rare that is, to find a capable person who is willing to forsake the trappings of worldly success to experience the prosperity of his or her soul?
It can be tempting to use God for your own success; to declare your allegiance to Him, but then live as if there is no god. How the soul withers when we call ourselves Christians yet forsake God in our day-to-day lives! We are called to live a life of devotion, not just have a devotional time.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 10, meditating upon God’s word day and night, “so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Joshua 1:8).
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Grow Strong in God’s Grace Wk 6
Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!
Care for the Maturing Plant: The Third Step of the Farmer’s Strategy!
Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43; Luke 13:6-9 (NAS95)
We are learning that the strategy of a hard-working farmer has four steps, each of which the faithful farmer must diligently work, if the farmer hopes to harvest a large crop yield:
- Cultivate the soil.
- Sow the good seed.
- Care for the maturing plant.
- Reap a harvest.
We have already discussed the first two steps: First, we are called to cultivate the soil. We are to prepare people’s hearts to receive the good seed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus explained the Parable of the Four Soils for us, teaching us how to discern the condition of each person’s heart and mind, in hopes of reaping a harvest of praise, to the glory of God. We meet people where they are, loving them, praying for them, caring for them so that we may have the privilege of the second step of the farmer’s strategy, lovingly sowing the good seed into their lives in word and deed. We learned that the seed we are to sow is God-breathed, not of our own invention, so we can relax and be a peaceful, loving presence – non-anxious and non-defensive in the sharing and caring of doing so. Today, we continue in that same presence of mind, centered on the faith that God has given us by His grace, to continue to build relationships, truly and sincerely caring for the maturing plant, just as others care for us.
We pass it on! Friday morning, I was blessed to be invited to share my vocational and educational story with the students at New Castle Middle School. What an inspiring experience it was for me! I had the privilege of speaking to four groups of students – these young plants that I was blessed to care for by helping them in their maturing process of rightly thinking about their futures careers and how they are going to plan the next steps of their lives. This opportunity was given to me by Amy Madden, mother of Eliza, who has been attending FBC with her boyfriend Alex, since he got out of the Marines. They are close friends with Emily & Matthew Hurst, who have been investing in this young couple for many years – caring for them in some of the most important developmental years of their lives. I’m so excited to see good fruit in their lives and look forward to the privilege of baptizing Alex this Easter. It is pure joy to be invited into their lives. Additionally, Amy, Eliza, and I have also found an intersection with the New Castle High School Track Team, as it was through their relationship with Emily that my backstory as an All-State high school and All-American thrower was discovered, and I was invited to be an assistant track coach, teaching high school students how to throw shot put and discus – these young plants that I am blessed to care for by helping them develop the character, work ethic, and life skills to reach their future goals.
I share this with you, because this privilege I have been given to serve the students of New Castle, Indiana is a beautiful and timely illustration of what today’s sermon is all about. To learn about how we are to go about caring for the maturing plants (of all people and ages), I am going to share with you Jesus’ parable, “The Parable of the Tares,” found in Matthew 13:24-30:
Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
Just like he did with the Parable of the Four Soils, Jesus explained the Parable of the Tares. This was a one of those rare occasions, so let’s take the time to hear Jesus’ explanation of this parable, found in Matthew 13:36-43:
Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Since I will not discuss the reaping until next Sunday, I want to emphasize to you this week the fabulous statement Jesus made in today’s parable. The Sower was asked by the laborers if he used good seed because there were tares maturing amidst the wheat. The Sower assured them of the quality of the good seed by emphasizing that there was an enemy who was sowing bad seed in the same fields, in all four of the soil conditions. The laborers, the hard-working farmers, were then given these words of instructions, so hear them as a word of revelation to you today, from Matthew 13:29-30, “No [don’t do the work of uprooting!]; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest.”
Allow me to further explain this with a farmer story given to me by one of our very own, Penny Stevens, who has been both a farmer’s daughter and farmer’s wife, and now works in farmers insurance:
There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.
“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”
So it is with our lives. Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. The quality of response and joy depends on the quality of thoughts and love we share and spread. And those who choose to be joyful must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.[1]
This is exactly what Amy Madden was doing on Friday morning. She was inviting good seed to be sown in the neighboring fields. It did not matter to her or to me about whether or not there was wheat or tares in the fields, we just brought them all together to be cared for, to have their soil cultivated, good seed sowed into their fields, and caring for their maturing plants. If there is anything I know about the harvest is it’s out of our control – It’s God’s Work, but we must do the hard work of a farmer and trust the Sower for the results. We find this liberating truth found in both the Old and New Testaments:
- Isaiah 61:11, “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.”
- 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”
Do the work of a hard-working farmer! Don’t prejudge the maturing plants because you may uproot where you should have been tending to it. God will judge the fruit of people’s lives. Let Him be God, because I am not, and neither are you! We are to invest our lives in positively impacting the lives of others. This is the mission of God!
- This is why I coach at the high school. I praise God that He can use my athletic background so that I can do the hard work of a farmer in those fields.
- This is why I volunteer as a chaplain to the Henry County Sheriff’s Office. I praise God that He can use my military background so that I can do the hard work of a farmer in those fields.
- This is why I go into the Indiana state prison in New Castle to preach monthly and teach weekly. I praise God that He can use my humanity so that I can do the hard work of a farmer in those fields.
- This is why I come to First Baptist Church of New Castle five days a week, week after week, year after year, for over 13 years now. I praise God that He can use my pastoral calling so that I can do the hard work of a farmer in these fields.
How do we do this? I conclude with some real-life farming illustrations to learn how to care for the maturing plants in whatever fields each of us is privileged to work:
- “Choose carefully what you use to nurture your crop. Fertilizer, insecticide, herbicide, and fungicide are all good things in the right amounts at the right time and will increase your harvest exponentially. Too much or too little, or applied at the wrong time, will at the very least reduce your harvest, or at the worst, kill your crop entirely. In the same way, water is necessary to grow a crop, but too much will destroy it.” We are called to care for the maturing plant by fertilizing it. We recognize that God will use all circumstances of our lives to deepen our soil and fill it with that which will help us grow, so that our branches are strong enough to bear fruit.
- “Use the right tools. Don’t use a plow when you need to use a planter; don’t use a bush-hog when you need a tiller; don’t use a planter when you need a combine.” A well-timed word of encouragement can bring life to a person, just as quickly as a harsh or careless word can bring death to a person. Be wise with your words!
- “There is no profit for a farmer to mistreat his livestock. He rejoices at births, mourns at deaths, ensures it is fed, watered, protected from the weather and predators, all the while knowing it is being done to provide food for the world.” We are called to persevere and protect the maturing plant. Don’t grow weary in doing good. Keep praying. Keep loving.
- “Fencing is only effective if it’s properly maintained. Holes in the fence will allow predators in, or livestock out.” Work your own fields. Boundaries are a gift to help you be effective and fruitful in your calling. Feeding the world is a shared enterprise and so is reaching the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Knowing the field you are called to work protects you and blesses those you are focused on reaching!
Care for the maturing plant and give the maturing plant every possible chance to bear the good fruit of the Harvest. I will close with another one of Jesus’ parables, from Luke 13:6-9:
And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’ ”
You can listen to this message by clicking below:
You can watch the message by clicking HERE.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Naren Kini, “My Neighbor’s Corn” https://www.awakin.org/v2/read/view.php?tid=2395 (Accessed March 17, 2023).
[2] C. H. Spurgeon, “The Joy of the Lord, the Strength of His People,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 17 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1871), 717.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1096
Today’s song focus will be
Blessed Be The Name
Psalm 72:18-19 (NASB95)
“ Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.”
Taking a song and using part of its lyrics to create a new song is nothing new. In fact there is a current song that takes the titles of several hymns and create a new song of worship (Check out “This is My Song” by North Point Worship). In 1888, Ralph Hudson took Charles Wesley’s hymn “O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing” that was written in 1739 and gave it a new spin by adding in the phrase “blessed be the name of the Lord” into the verses and creating a new chorus. William Kirkpatrick wrote the new accompaniment for this hymn that has been in the Baptist hymnbook ever since.
Blessed be the name, blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the name, blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord!
We need to wake up to the fact that it is not the style of the song, but the content of the words that lead us to proclaim God’s glory and majesty. So whether you are a little bit country, or a little bit rock and roll, or somewhere in between, we are all called to worship God!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:
Blessed Be the Name
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Seize the Moment – Day 1095
The Pattern of Praise!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, March 17.
Psalm 9 is a hymn of unconditional praise to God. It starts with the command to praise, “I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” (vs 1-2) This psalm teaches me that the decision has been made, my mind is made up, no matter what I will praise God today!
How is this possible? How am I expected to praise God in the good, the bad, and the ugly of my life? There is a pattern of praise in Psalm 9 that teaches us how to do this: I remember how God rescued me in the past (3-6); therefore, I will praise God believing He will do it again in the future (7-20)! Paul exhorted believers to live this way in Ephesians 5:20, “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”
God has bestowed grace upon you so that you can live a life of thanksgiving, as Psalm 9:13-14 highlights, “Be gracious to me, O Lord; see my affliction from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may tell of all Your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.”
Do you see the pattern of praise? God is gracious to you; therefore, you declare His praises and bless others! See it again in Psalm 51:12-13, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 9, meditating upon the grace of God freely given to you in Christ Jesus so that you may praise God with your whole life (Ephesians 2:8-10).
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1094
My God Rules!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, March 16.
When you pray through Psalm 8, you are praying with the angels of God in celebration of both the Christmas miracle of the incarnation (John 1:14) and the Easter miracle of the resurrection (Luke 24:6-7). When you sing this psalm of praise, you are caught up in the glory of God that transcends all creation, yet has been bestowed upon humanity, God’s beloved creation (Genesis 1:26-28). As you meditate upon this psalm throughout the day, I pray that your mind and heart will ponder the mysteries of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:2-3). Fix your eyes on Jesus through Psalm 8:4-6:
What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
The New Testament authors believed Jesus to be the fulfillment of Psalm 8, quoting this passage in Hebrews 2:6-8, then explaining it in verses 9-10:
But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 8, meditating upon Jesus Christ, who represented all of humanity in His life and death (Philippians 2:5-11). Jesus did this for us, “so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17b). May you cry out in praise to Jesus, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:9).
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1093
Cry for Justice!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, March 15.
When David was being pursued by Cush, a Benjamite, he cried out to God for deliverance. In his request for divine vindication, He called God his refuge (1), his shield (10), and a righteous judge (11). David knew his enemies’ accusations were false, so he had nothing to fear from God’s judgment; therefore, he petitioned Him in Psalm 7:3-5:
O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to my friend, or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; and let him trample my life down to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
Was David innocent? Are you innocent? Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, not even one.” Is it justice we want or is it mercy that we need? The answer is yes! We want justice in our everyday circumstances, but we need mercy for our lives! If there is not a single person innocent, who can cry out for justice as David does in this psalm?
Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ! Justice and mercy kiss at the Cross of Calvary. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” When we cry out to God for justice, He transfers the guilt of our sin onto Jesus – He took our death! When we cry out to God for mercy, He transfers the righteousness of Jesus onto us – We live in Him! Jesus has atoned for sin (mercy) and propitiated God’s wrath (justice), once for all.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 7, meditating upon the Cross of Jesus Christ where mercy and justice kiss!
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1092
A Prayer of Repentance!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, March 14.
Psalm 6 is one of the seven penitential psalms, which means the author’s focus was on confessing sin and asking God for mercy and forgiveness. In other words, it is a psalm of repentance! In Psalm 6:1-4, David cried out to God five times:
O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; but You, O Lord – how long? Return, O Lord, rescue my soul; save me because of Your lovingkindness.
Do you hear both his physical pain and emotional anguish? The consequences of sin can be far reaching in our lives. Therefore, in our suffering, we must turn to the One who can rescue us. Repentance begins with a confession of faith – David cried out, “O Lord!” five times in four verses. Before anything else, he declared God to be Yahweh – the One who would hear his cry and answer him in his distress. In his suffering, David did not run from God, He ran to Him. Like a child to her father is David to his God.
David cried out to Yahweh by lamenting his sin, agonizing over his pain, requesting mercy and grace, and pleading for God not to delay. This is the key to an effective prayer life – pray fervently to the One who can give you relief (James 5:16). By verse 9, David has experienced relief and an assurance of God’s response, “The Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord receives my prayer.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 6, meditating upon the faithfulness of God to respond to your prayer of repentance – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1091
Sing for Joy!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, March 13.
I’ve always enjoyed listening to music. But I didn’t start singing until I became a Christian. I learned quickly that Christians love to sing when they get together. Paul commanded the early church in Ephesians 5:18c-19, “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.” But this wasn’t a new idea for God’s people!
The Psalms were often set to music, like Psalm 5 states in its introduction, “For the choir director; for flute accompaniment.” David called the people of God to song in verse 11, “But let all who take refuge in You be glad, let them ever sing for joy; and may You shelter them, that those who love Your name may exult in You.” David was petitioning God for protection from wicked people through this psalm, and in doing so, he was using music to teach God’s people how to cry out to God with their hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.
Music is meant to teach, inspire, and encourage us in our walk with God; to spur us on to godliness and faithful living. In Colossians 3:16, Paul explained how our singing is to build one another up in the faith, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
We are to gather and sing together, but you are to wake up each morning and sing for joy, as David invites in Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice. In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 5, meditating upon the power of praise in your Christian life. When you sing for joy, the promises of God anchor deeply into your soul.
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Grow Strong in God’s Grace Wk 5
Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!
Sow the Good Seed: The Second Step of the Farmer’s Strategy!
Matthew 13:3-9 & Mark 4:26-32 (NAS95)
We are learning that the strategy of a hard-working farmer has four steps, each of which the faithful farmer must diligently work, if the farmer hopes to harvest a large crop yield:
- Cultivate the soil.
- Sow the good seed.
- Care for the maturing plant.
- Reap a harvest.
Last week we discussed the first step, “Cultivate the soil.” We learned how to prepare people’s hearts to receive the good seed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus explained the Parable of the Four Soils for us, teaching us how to discern the condition of each person’s heart and mind, in hopes of reaping a harvest of praise, to the glory of God.
Today, we are going to dive into the second step of the faithful farmer’s strategy: Sow the good seed! To learn about this, we are going to dive into three parables of Jesus Christ. I will start by emphasizing a different point from last week’s parable, “The Parable of the Four Soils,” found in Matthew 13:3-9. Instead of focusing on the four types of soil, today we will examine it as “The Parable of the Sower” and learn about the good seed He is sowing:
And [Jesus] spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
We learned from Jesus in Matthew 13:19 that the seed is “the word of the kingdom.” The following seven passages instruct us about the characteristics and qualities of the good seed, which is the “word of the kingdom”:
- Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”
- Isaiah 55:10-11, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
- Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
- 2 Peter 1:20-21, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
- Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
- 1 Peter 1:23-25, “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word which was preached to you.”
From this first parable of Jesus, we learn about the good seed, which was passed down to us and we are to pass it on to others who will join us in the work of sowing it. Paul taught this to his protégé in 2 Timothy 2:2, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Just like God first sowed the seed of life into us and invited us to join Him in His garden (creation). We read this in Genesis 2:7-8, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.”
God said to His image bearers at the beginning, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:26-28). As image bearers of God, we were to continue to fulfill His desires for His creation, which is that all things would live under His rightful rule (in His kingdom). This is the work of the harvest, as Jesus commanded in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” This is the Great Commission for which Jesus taught us to pray in Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” The work of the harvest is to sow the good seed, passing it from person to person, generation to generation, and nation to nation. As Jesus emphasized in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Let’s enter a time of prayer, asking God to open our eyes to this plentiful harvest. The harvest is in our homes and neighborhoods, in our schools and places of work, throughout our communities, and to the places around the world which we go. Are you willing and available to be a laborer in God’s harvest, wherever and whenever He may call you to go? Let’s pray for each of us to be open, available, and willing to be used by God, wherever and whenever He may call.
[Time of Prayer]
In the next parable, the Parable of the Seed, found in Mark 4:26-29, Jesus taught about the importance of God’s grace in the work of sowing the good seed:
And [Jesus] was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows – how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Just like with life itself, there is a mystery in the power of the seed because it is God-breathed. The seed comes from the Sower (God), who provided the good seed to us so that we can sow in His name, with His same Spirit that brought life out from the dust. There is a guarantee on this seed, as we’ve already learned from Isaiah 55:11, “it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” These words are spoken by the Sower of faith. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us about the One who makes such an extravagant promise, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”
Our job as hard-working farmers is to sow the good seed, which has been provided to us, not second guess the seed or what the Sower says it is capable of or what it will produce. As Jesus taught in the above parable, we can rest easy at night knowing that we have been faithful farmers who “cast seed upon the soil.” The rest is up to God and the power of His good seed.
What is required of you, the faithful farmer? Just that, it requires faith! The kind of faith that reminds you to sow seed everywhere you go because it’s good seed. Regardless of whether it is hard ground, shallow rocky soil, land filled with thorns and thistles, or fields that have proven themselves to be good soil, you sow the seed!
You are called to sow, but you can’t make it grow! You aren’t in control! You can’t control the results of your hard work, only in whether you are willing to work hard and follow the strategy of the faithful farmer, entrusted to you generation after generation, and preserved through the Bible handed down to you. It’s a life learning how to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7) – the farmer goes to bed, sleeps peacefully because he trusts the strategy passed down to him. As Jesus taught in His parable, the farmer wakes up to see that “the seed sprouts and grows – how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.”
The second step of the farmer’s strategy is the high call of living by faith. In 1881, C. H. Spurgeon preached about the life of sowing the seed:
The precious seed of the word of God is small as a grain of mustard-seed, and may be carried by the feeblest hand where it shall multiply a hundred-fold. We need never quarrel with God because we cannot do everything if he only permits us to do this one thing; for sowing the good seed is a work which will need all our wit, our strength, our love, our care. Holy seed sowing may well be adopted as our highest pursuit, and be no inferior object for the noblest life that can be led.[1]
What Spurgeon calls “the noblest life that can be led” is the life of a hard-working farmer, a life of growing strong in God’s grace. By God’s grace, we sow in faith, even if our faith is no bigger than that of a mustard seed. In the next parable of Jesus, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, found in Mark 4:30-32, Jesus emphasized the power of faith:
How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.” (cf. Matthew 13:31-32)
Do you feel that you are lacking in faith to be a hard-working farmer for God’s harvest? Jesus’ words convince me that a mustard seed of faith is sufficient to the task! Sowing the good seed is an activity of faith, and the faith you have, even that of a mustard seed, is sufficient for the task that Jesus has called you to participate in. How do I know this? Because the measure of faith you have is not your own, you didn’t muster up, it was given to you by God’s grace, and God’s grace is sufficient to all that God calls you to be and do. Paul taught this in Romans 12:3, “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”
Have you received the good seed of Jesus Christ? You first must receive what you are called to sow into the lives of others. I invite you now to receive Jesus Christ by inviting Him to be your Lord and Savior. Submit to the Lord of the Harvest and be filled with the imperishable seed of God’s Word, who plants eternity into your heart through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
[altar call and pray for salvation]
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] C. H. Spurgeon, “What the Farm Labourers Can Do and What They Cannot Do,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 27 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1881), 330.
[2] C. H. Spurgeon, “The Joy of the Lord, the Strength of His People,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 17 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1871), 717.
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