The Days of Famine

Posted on April 22, 2025 by Pete

I read the opening words to the book of Ruth and I find I’m chuckling to myself as I whisper, “Ya’ think?!?!”

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land . . .

(Ruth 1:1a ESV)

In the days when the judges ruled . . .

You mean the days when God’s people “served the Baals” (Jud. 2:11), “abandoned the LORD” (Jud 2:12), and “whored after other gods” (Jud. 2:17a)? The days when, even though God’s anger was kindled, and He gave His people over to plunderers (Jud. 2:14), He also saved them out of the hands of their oppressors when His people cried out to Him for help? The days when, after God had raised up a judge and delivered His people, His people went lower than before, finding more despicable and deplorable ways to go after other gods, “serving them and bowing down to them” (Jud. 2:19)?

Just so I’m picking up what the author’s laying down . . . we’re talking about the days when the judges ruled, yeah?

These are the days when the LORD’s fighting men feared fighting for the LORD on foreign fields (Jud. 4), while the average guy at home was setting up altars to foreign gods in his own backyard (Jud. 6). The days when entire clans were slaughtered by those wanting to seize and secure power (Jud. 9), and a beloved daughter was sacrificed because of a rash, self-serving vow made by her dad (Jud. 11). The days when even one of the LORD’s raised up judges, one who had been dedicated to God since birth, played fast and loose with his morals and his man-bun (Jud. 13-16). The days when individuals freelanced their own worship, building their own idols, making their own gods, and hiring their own priesthood (Jud. 17). The days when, to spark outrage in a nation desensitized to sin, a Levite carves up the cadaver of his sexually-abused-to-death concubine and sends pieces of her throughout the land to rally a vigilante hoard to almost wipe out one of the twelve tribes of Israel (Jud. 19-20). Just to be clear, those are the days we’re talking about, right?

So, it was during the days when the judges ruled — the same time period when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jud. 17:6, 21:25) — that there was a famine in the land?

Ya’ think?!?!

No food? The least of their problems? What about no faith? No fidelity? No foundation for being the people they had been called to be? Throughout the land there was only the foolishness of the flesh, and the folly of worshiping inanimate objects.

Yet, it was in those days that God purposes to pen the story of Ruth. The story of a foreign woman who believes in the One True God and finds favor at the feet of a kinsmen-redeemer.

I can’t wait to read of the grace to come. Grace despite the days — days that aren’t a lot unlike our days — days when there is a famine in the land.

But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Romans 5:8 ESV)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved.

(Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV)

Praise God for grace in the days of famine.

Amen?

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A Two-Step Miracle

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Pete

It’s unique among Jesus’ healings, but I’m wondering this morning if it shouldn’t be considered normative.

Jesus comes to the village of Bethsaida where He encounters a blind guy begging Jesus to “touch him” (Mark 8:22). And touch him Jesus did; but in a way that is unlike how Jesus had touched others. This was a two-step miracle.

. . . and when [Jesus] had spit on his eyes and laid His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid His hands on his eyes again; and He opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

(Mark 8:23b-25 ESV)

This guy would have sung that well-known hymn a bit differently than most:

       Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
       That saved a wretch like me
       I once was lost, but now I’m found
       Was blind . . . but then I kind of saw . . . but now I see.

And as I chew on it, isn’t that my song too? Even though my eyes have been open by Jesus’ gracious touch, even though my spiritual sight has been restored, and even though I think I see “everything clearly”, I wonder how much I’m still seeing with less-than-clear, skewed eyesight. How much of what I see I’m really seeing as “trees walking.”

I know this is the case because, just a couple of days ago in my daily readings, I was reminded my vision is less than 20/20.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

(1Corinthians 13:12 ESV)

While I should stand firm and with conviction concerning what the Spirit has given me eyes to see, hears to hear, and a heart to receive, thinking about this “two-step” guy makes me think there’s also a place for humility and teachableness. A recognition that while my eyes are open, they are not yet fully open. An awareness that though my sight has been restored, it’s not fully restored. A humbleness born of knowing that while I might think I see everything clearly, in fact I still see in a mirror dimly.

Yeah, I’m just a two-step miracle still waiting for the next step. Actually, for this remedial student, I’m probably a multi-step miracle — a more-steps-than-I-care-to-admit — miracle.

But I’m Jesus’ miracle.

A trophy of His grace.

A work in progress for His glory.

Amen?

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A One-Two Punch (2010 Rerun)

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Pete

Re-posting, pretty much “as is”, some thoughts from this day in my reading plan 15 years ago. After reading and chewing a bit on these passages this morning, I’m still knocked out!

By His grace. For His glory.

It was a “one-two” punch that got me this morning. Set up by “the jab” in Mark’s gospel . . . and then the “knock out” blow delivered in the Psalms. You gotta love the word of God! Amen?

The latter part of Mark deals with a couple of miracles. First, a Syro-Phoenician woman’s young daughter is delivered from a demon that had come upon her. Imagine that . . . a little girl tormented by the forces of hell . . . released by the command of Jesus, the true Ruler of all principalities. Then, Mark writes of a deaf man who could hardly talk who is brought to Jesus. And touches the man . . . physically and spiritually . . . “At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly” (Mark 7:35). And here’s the “setup jab” . . . “They were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well . . . ‘ ” (7:37).

Astonished beyond measure (NKJV) . . . overwhelmed with amazement (NIV) . . . beside themselves with excitement (MSG) . . . blown out of their minds (Hippie-speak, 1960’s) . . . Jesus does all things well! Ya’ think?

But how often do I take time and pause, reflect, and just say, “Wow!!!”

I read this and my spirit joins with His Spirit and whispers into heaven, “Yes Lord, You do all things well. I am overwhelmed with amazement!” So much to distract us . . . so prone to becoming complacent . . . so easy to take Him and His works for granted . . . but then, you read the Word . . . and a phrase like this leaps off the page and into your heart . . . and afresh you see Jesus . . . and in awe and wonder, beyond measure, you say, “Yes!!! He really does all things well!”

And that’s what set me up for my reading in Psalm 89. Just the first 18 verses this morning . . . but in those verses, two words are repeated 4 times, and they delivered the “knock out blow” . . .

“With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations (89:2) . . . Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens (89:2) . . . And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints (89:5) . . . O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You (89:8).”

He does all things well . . . that includes His faithfulness . . . His steadfastness . . . His stability . . . His firmness . . . His fidelity. God is true . . . our Father is faithful. Yes! Amen! Wow!!!

When things are failing . . . or flailing . . . when stuff starts going south . . . when the seas get choppy . . . when my faithfulness is far from unwavering . . . yet, He remains faithful. His faithfulness is established in heaven . . . it surrounds Him. “What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar.” (Rom. 3:3-4). Our God can be can be counted on . . . when He says that He will never leave us or forsake us, we can rest in it. His promises are true . . . established on the foundation of His faithfulness.

And so, not only will the heavens praise Your wonders, O Lord, but too, the “assembly of the saints” will praise Your faithfulness . . . and with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness. You do all things well . . . Your faithfulness endures forever!

One-two . . . overwhelmed with amazement.

His faithfulness, the praise of my lips.

Knocked out!

Wow!!!

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Dude! Wash Your Hands!

Posted on April 17, 2025 by Pete

Pulling out my black-colored pencil and underlining words and phrases associated with sin is something I know I’m gonna do when I start reading about the life of Samson. He is the embodiment of his age as he cruises along making bad choices because he decides to make life choices based on what’s right in his own eyes (compare Judges 14:3b & 14:7 with Judges 21:25). But this morning, I’m using my black pencil to underline things I don’t think I’ve ever underlined before. And, as I do, I’m thinking, “Dude! Wash your hands!”

And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. . . .

After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. . . .

And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.

(Judges 14:5b-6, 8-9; 15:15 ESV)

Samson tore a lion to pieces with his bare hands. Yuck! After a few days, he went to admire his handiwork and finds honey in the rotting carcass and scraped it out into his hands and ate it. Gag! Later, to defend himself against a Philistine vigilante, he finds a fresh jawbone of a donkey — fresh, I’m thinking, as still sporting flesh — and picks it up with his hands. Disgusting!

Dude! Wash your hands!

This guy was born into a Nazirite vow (Judges 13:5), a vow of consecration meant to declare he was the LORD’s. And part of that vow, specifically, was to not eat anything unclean (Judges 13:4) — like honey from the cavity of a dead and decaying animal. In fact, the way of the Nazirite required him not to make himself unclean by coming in contact with any corpse at all (Numbers 6:2-7). How come?

“All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.”

(Numbers 6:8 ESV)

Yeah, you can underline with your black-colored pencil Samson’s “big sins” . . . like lustfully getting mixed up with a Philistine woman (Judges 14:1-3), or arrogantly messing with his wedding guests (Judges 14:12-18), or angrily murdering 30 innocent bystanders (Judges 14:19), but it’s the small stuff — like playing fast and loose with keeping his hands clean — that sets the tone for whether Samson would take seriously his call to be “holy to the LORD.”

Is there an application here? I’m thinking.

I’ve been called to be separate and touch no unclean thing (2Cor. 6:17). I’ve been told to be holy, even as my God is holy (1Peter 1:14-16). How are my hands?

I should try and keep them clean. But, honestly, it’s pretty hard to do as I battle this old man in me, often referred to as “the flesh.” Too often this guy is also tempted to do what’s right in his own eyes. There’s just too much contact with the flesh I am trying to die to to keep these hands without stain.

But I know how to make them clean again. And again. And again. And again. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So, dude! Wash your hands!

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1John 1:9 ESV)

Freshly cleansed hands because of the finished work of the cross. And clean hands are a pretty good start towards being serious about a consecrated life.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
       And who shall stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart . . .

(Psalm 24:3-4a ESV)

Only by God’s grace. Only for God’s glory.

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A Hardened Heart

Posted on April 16, 2025 by Pete

It really is a pretty tough piece of leather. While I’d love to think of it in its Valentines portrayal as plump, and pink, and pumping out vibes of love, this morning’s reading in Mark warns me that, more often than I am probably aware, my heart is still deflated, dark, and dull of understanding.

End of Mark 6 . . . Jesus has just fed five thousand men and their families with five loaves and two fish (6:30-43). And “they all ate and were satisfied” with twelve “take out” baskets to spare. Jesus then goes to a mountain to pray privately (6:46) and His disciples get in a boat and try to cross the sea “painfully” (6:48a). And so, Jesus “came to them walking on the sea” (6:48b).

. . . but when they saw Him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

(Mark 6:49-52 ESV)

Their hearts were hardened . . . that’s what I’m chewing on this morning. And the most famous of the “heart hardened” comes to mind, Pharaoh. Yeah, THAT Pharaoh. The Pharaoh of ancient Egypt. The “let my people go” Pharaoh who despite seeing signs and wonders of increasing marvel and magnitude, was incapable of connecting them to the God who worked such signs and wonders. Kind of like Jesus’ disciples, it seems, who “did not understand about the loaves.”

How could that be? For unlike Pharaoh who was clearly a foe of God, these guys were followers of God. So, what does that say about the heart? Tough as a piece of leather, I’m thinking.

That’s why God through the prophet said that when cleansing from sin would come, it would come with a heart transplant.

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules.”

(Ezekiel 36:24-27 ESV)

A new heart. A heart of flesh. To replace the heart of stone (which sounds very much like a hardened heart).

And we know that, while the transplant has occurred, the transformation is still in progress. Our old man, our old woman, our flesh is still way too operative.

And so, when I get kind of judgy reading about the disciples not getting it, not understanding the implications of following Someone able to feed five thousand with a few loaves and few fish; when I shake my head and roll my eyes that they had been so close to Jesus for so long and still appeared to get so little; I need to humble myself and wonder how my hardened heart is making me dull to the wonders and ways of my salvation. Not wondering if I’m dull, but wary of how I may be dull.

This morning, I read that short statement, their hearts were hardened, not so much as a criticism of them but as a diagnosis for me. For as far as I might think I’ve come, how much farther do I still have to go? For all that think I understand, how much have I not really understood or understood but in part? For as much as I believe, how much help do I still need with my unbelief?

Foolish of me, I think, to not think there is still a dullness which needs to be dealt with, a thickness that still needs to be thinned out, a dependence upon the Spirit that still needs to be deepened.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

(James 4:10 ESV)

By His grace. For His glory.

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Weighted with Worship

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Pete

There’s praise amidst the problems. Worship despite the worry. Thanksgiving even among the threat.

That’s the overall sense I get as I noodle on Psalm 86 this morning.

It’s a song of David. A “poor and needy” David sings of a “band of ruthless men” having risen up against him and seeking his life. “All the day,” David’s plea has been “preserve my life.” When the going get’s tough, time to cry out!

But here’s the thing, even in his desperate situation, it’s not all 9-1-1 prayers. Though it’s being “in the day of trouble” that compels David to call on God, David doesn’t do so without also remembering who the God is he is calling out to — he also renders to God the honor and glory due His name. So, while David repeatedly asks God to be gracious to him; though he pleads with God for grace to find strength; though he cries out, “Show me a sign of Your favor”; still his song is also heavily weighted with worship.

There is none like You among the gods, O Lord,
       nor are there any works like Yours.
All the nations You have made shall come
       and worship before You,
       O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.
For You are great and do wondrous things;
       You alone are God.
Teach me Your way, O LORD,
       that I may walk in Your truth;
       unite my heart to fear Your name.
I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
       and I will glorify Your name forever.
For great is Your steadfast love toward me;
       You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

(Psalm 86:8-13 ESV)

David’s not just lobbing up some last-ditch, “hail Mary” attempt at prayer as he cries out for God’s intervention. Rather, he calls upon the God whom he has known. Known, through the sacred record of Moses, as the God who called Abraham with a promise and delivered the children of Israel from Egypt with a vengeance. Known, in his own experience, having been personally called by God to the throne, empowered of God to slay the giant, lifted up by God to experience the mountain top, and cared for by God in valley after valley. David cries out to the God who he has encountered up close and personal, again and again, as the God who proves Himself faithful.

And so while David knows the need for the day is great, David also knows that His God is greater. Though there is a pit in his stomach as he awakes and wonders how he will combat his enemies this day, there is also praise on his tongue as he remembers that there is none like his God–the God who has promised never to leave him nor forsake him. So while he might want to refuse the day before him, yet will He rejoice in his God who walks beside him.

Gladden the soul of your servant,
       for to You, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

(Psalm 86:4 ESV)

Even in hard seasons and trying circumstance, our God infuses a certain joy within the soul lifted up to Him. He puts praise on the tongue of those who will take but a few minutes to meditate on Him. He gives a new song to the voice that will declare, despite the circumstance, “You are worthy!”

A gladdened soul, that’s what God gives regardless of the circumstance. Prayers weighted with worship, even in times of worry. Because of a good, good Father who never changes.

Praise Him for His abounding grace. Worship Him, giving Him everlasting glory!

Amen?

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A Highway in the Heart

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Pete

The reason Psalm 84 resonates so deeply is because I have the same programming. That I too would consider the dwelling place of God “lovely” (v.1), that I would feel what the songwriters felt when they sung, “My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD” (v.2) is because we have both had the same coordinates internally implanted. To sing along with sincerity and gusto that a day in the courts of the living God is better than a thousand elsewhere (v.10a) and to belt out at the top of my lungs that “I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin” (v.10b MSG) happens only because I have the same internal, Spirit-powered GPS installed as was in the Sons of Korah. Their song my song because of highways in the heart.

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house,
       ever singing Your praise!        Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
       in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

(Psalm 84:4-5 ESV)

Blessed are those . . . in whose heart are the highways . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Chewing on the reality that there is something planted in the depths of those who are redeemed that ignites a desire for their Redeemer. Something woven into the fabric of those who have been delivered that compels them to want to be in the presence of their Deliver. Something sown within the saved that longs to be watered by the Savior. The psalmists call it highways in the heart.

All roads leading to His house. Every path a way into His presence. Even when we take a wrong turn or yield to the temptation to go down the wrong path, there’s a “Home” icon programmed within the GPS of a new creation in Christ (2Cor. 5:17) which shows the way back to the place where even “the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest” (v.3). Highways in the heart leading to havens of rest and places of worship.

Can’t help but think that one of the most worn of those highways is the way back to the cross. That well-worn and deep rutted road that leads to Calvary, the place where the depths of God’s love was shown and the place where my freedom was forever won. The road of confession and repentance leading to an ever-flowing and overflowing fountain of washing and renewal — washed in His blood, renewed by His Spirit. Oh, what a blessed road! Oh, what a holy highway! A highway in the heart.

By His grace. For His glory.

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We Can’t Do It

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Pete

It’s kind of a puzzling verse. Kind of “Debbie Downer”-esque. A bit of a wet blanket thrown on what should have been a motivational moment. But noodle on it a bit, and you know Joshua’s right when he says, in effect, “You can’t do it!”

The setting? The promised land is conquered, and the territories have been distributed. The initial phases of “Operation Land of Milk and Honey” are complete. All that’s left for fully enjoying the land gifted them, and for reaping the bounty promised them, is some clean up and some on-going maintenance. Oh, and one other thing, some fidelity. Some loyalty. Some devotion and constancy of commitment. And so, before heading back into the day-to-day routines of possessing the land, Joshua seeks to spur on God’s people.

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

(Joshua 24:14-15 ESV)

As you embark on a new life in a new land, says Joshua, toss the old stuff. “Fear GOD. Worship Him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped . . . As for me and my family, we’ll worship GOD!” (MSG). Great half-time encouragement for a team heading back into the game. What an inspiring invocation.

And the people respond as you’d want them to respond.

“We will also serve the LORD, for He is our God.”

(Joshua 24:18b ESV)

Great! Right answer! Everybody . . . hands in the middle . . . One! Two! Three! Break! Let’s go do this!

Uh, not so fast. That’s not quite what Joshua does. Cue Debbie Downer . . .

But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”

(Joshua 24:19-20 ESV)

You are not able to serve the LORD . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

You might want to. You might plan to. You might try to. But you can’t do it. Not on your own at least.

Rather than heading back into the game haughty and overconfident, Joshua wanted to send them into the fray humbled and utterly dependent. For he knew that the enemy of sincerity and faithfulness was the hearts propensity towards idolatry and fickleness. Whether it be the temptation to serve the gods their fathers served, or the lure to be enamored with the foreign gods of the world they were settling into, Joshua knew that when it came to serving the LORD with a whole heart, it would be really hard.

No coasting. They would need to intentionally, and repeatedly, put away the foreign gods around them if they were going to faithfully serve the God whose presence was among them. And though they might have a holy determination to serve the LORD, they needed also the humble realization that apart from remaining in Him, they could do nothing (John 15:5).

Fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness . . . We just can’t do it.

We should want to do it. We should make every effort to do it. We should confess and repent when we fail to do it. But, when all is said and done, we can’t do it on our own.

Praise God, we are not on our own. Praise God that we can, in fact, obey and work out our “own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Php. 2:12-13). Ours is to confess our frailty and to humble ourselves before the Lord (James 4:10). Then He will “exalt us” (ESV), “lift us up” (NKJV), and empower us to live in sincerity and faithfulness in the land.

By His ever-present, over-flowing, always sufficient grace.

For His all-deserving glory.

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Preparing the Soil

Posted on April 4, 2025 by Pete

A short thought on the Parable of the Sower and the Seed (Mark 4:1-20). A parable whose principle I think is still vital even for those of us well down the road on their walk with Jesus.

Jesus said that if His disciples didn’t understand this parable, how then could they understand others (4:13). Saying, in effect, that this parable was a 101 parable and that if they couldn’t get it, then the 201 and 301 classes could be out of reach. In a sense, it was an underhand pitch, meant to be a gimme in the economy of “heavenly stories with an earthly meaning.” That if they weren’t picking up what was being laid down here, how were they going to keep up with His more complex word pictures?

But I’ve always felt Jesus was saying something else, as well, because Jesus was always ready to explain the meaning of His stories for those who had ears to hear (4:9). I think Jesus led with this parable because this story was the key to getting all the other stories. Specifically, that understanding the importance of the soil is paramount to realizing a harvest from the seed. And that we’re always preparing the soil.

“The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” ~ Jesus

(Mark 4:14-20 ESV)

Taken away . . . falls away . . . wastes away . . . bears fruit. Those are the options. Those are the four things which can result when the sower sows the word.

Those with ears to hear are aware of the scenarios which affect sown seed, and it comes down to how prepared and how tended to the soil is. Is it unprepared, hardened ground, suitable for walking on but not for working in? Then Satan takes the word away. A sweep here, a gust of wind there, and it’s gone — never got past the ear drum or the eyeball.

Then, there’s shallow soil. Ready enough to receive the seed, but not ready enough to really believe the seed. Enough soil to show signs of life but not enough to sustain it. So, when persecution arises on account of the word — and it’s gonna arise, count on it! — they fall away. No footing, no fruit.

And then there’s those who have done some real work in preparing soil with enough depth to sustain real growth, but they are careless with the weeding. The allow the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things to enter in. And the stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it (4:19 MSG). FOMO results in NO MORE growth and the word proves unfruitful.

But then, there’s the good soil. The prepared soil. Soil watered from the heart with living water — the untethered, unhindered, abundant, free flowing Spirit of God (John 7:38-39). Soil broken up through contrition and repentance — the sort of ground where the Lord’s presence is found (Isa. 57:15). Soil weeded regularly through confession; the fertilizer of fresh forgiveness applied daily with mercies which are new every morning (1Jn. 1:9, Lam. 3:22-23). Good soil ready to receive the word — even when it’s a hard word, or a word that seems to be forcing them out of the ecclesiastical box they lived in for so long. Soft ground, rich ground, ground still ready to embrace the seed because it is the Sower’s seed. And they bear fruit.

Even for us seasoned saints, those who have done a lap or two in our pilgrim journey, we still need to be mindful that bearing fruit isn’t necessarily our default as long as the devil, the flesh, and the world are in play. That for us too, the seed can be taken away, or fall away, or waste away if the ground’s not good.

Yeah, we need to always be preparing the soil.

Amen?

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

Posted in Mark | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Joined to the Lord

Posted on April 3, 2025 by Pete

It’s a profound truth kind of buried in an exhortation against sordid behavior. But Paul’s supporting argument for why a follower of Jesus should flee sexual immorality has vast implications beyond being a deterrent from sin. For what it reminds those who have ears to hear is that we are not just followers of Christ but also one with Christ.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him. Flee from sexual immorality.

(1Corinthians 6:15-18a ESV)

Joined to the Lord . . . that’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Talk only about being a member of the body of Christ and there can still be a sense of separate-ness as we may think of ourselves as still individual parts, but all brought together under one Head. But talk about being joined to Christ? Hmm . . . that’s seems a little more connected. Even, as Paul says, somewhat intimate.

Joined. Literally, “glued together.” Cemented and fastened to something else. To cleave, as in the “biblical sense” — two becoming one flesh. And that’s the believer’s state — glued, cemented, fastened together with the Lord. Joined to such an extent that we become one spirit with Him.

Try and wrap your head around that!

How often have we heard someone say, or perhaps said to ourselves, “If only I could have encountered Jesus as did His disciples — in the flesh, face-to-face — how that would affect my walk with Jesus. How it would make it easier to really follow Jesus.” But, until the sending of the Spirit, the disciples’ proximity to Jesus back then pales in comparison with ours now. They were with the Lord, but we are joined to the Lord. In some supernatural sense, the risen Son of God, Creator and Sustainer of all things forever, is One with us, and we are one spirit with Him. Doesn’t get much more up close and personal and powerful than that!

So why, so often, the distance? Why, at times, do we feel alone? Why, far from being One with Him, do we just feel far from Him?

More to answering that question than fits into a morning devo, but what comes to mind immediately, as perhaps a partial answer, is our abundance of flesh and our absence of faith.

While we have been redeemed from slavery to the flesh, from having to concede to the old nature, we are not yet free from the flesh. In fact, every morning we rise, a low-level, ever-present skirmish (sometimes a full-blown battle) recommences between the “desires of the flesh” and “the desires of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:17). And part of that battle is going to be an internal disinformation campaign telling us we are far from Christ. That we are on our own. When, in fact, we are joined to the Lord.

And that’s where faith comes in. I need to not only know the truth of being joined with Christ, I need to believe that truth. Just as salvation past — the forgiveness of sins — was by faith, so too salvation present — the fighting against sin — is by faith. For without faith, it’s impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6).

So, this morning, by faith, I affirm the reality that I am in union with Christ. That I am joined to the Lord. That it really is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20). That it is not about how is “me” going to get through this day, but about how are “we” going to do this.

Joined to the Lord. Worth meditating on, I think.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in 1Corinthians | Tagged , | 2 Comments