Ashley and Lori's Place -
Other side of it
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Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15
SEEDS, BIRDS AND
THISTLES
The sun rose in early morning splendor.
The breeze was warm and gentle.
The soil moist and black.
Birds chirped cheerfully as the happy farmer prepared his seed. Planting seed
makes farmers happy.
Mind you, this was 'the good old days.' No tractor, no seed drill. Just a
farmer with his gunny-sack full of grain.
Hoisting the bag he walked slowly. Reaching in he took a handful of seed. With
each step he scattered the kernels before him. Time after time he reached into
his sack and flung seed. Whistling merrily with the birds, he walked up and
down his field. But the sparrows and the meadow larks noticed! They gobbled
them up in a moment.
On he went. A handful here, another there. As he came past a clump of
thistles, some seeds fell into that prickly tangle. The farmer paid no heed.
After a bit the man came to a section of ground. It was black. It looked good.
But just underneath was a bunch of rocks. The seed didn't go very deep.
But in lots of places seed sunk down into good soft ground.
Jesus first told this story from a boat. Lots of people sat on the seashore
listening. After he finished the story his disciples and some of the people
thought and thought about it. But they couldn't figure out what it meant. When
they had a chance they asked him to explain it.
"The Seed," Jesus said, "Is the Word of God" (Luke 8:11). And the pathway some
seed fell on is like the minds of certain people. Pretty hard. The good seed,
the Word of God, falls on those hard minds. But it doesn't sink in. And the
devil swoops down, instantly, like the birds, and away go the thoughts. The
devil does that in case those people should think about the Word of God and
believe and be saved.
"Well, what about those thorns?" asked the disciples.
Again, Jesus helped them think of people that are to busy having fun. The Seed
of God's Word comes to them too. But they have no time. Their busy life is
like a thistle. It strangles the Seed as it begins to grow.
"So then, what about the ground with the rocks underneath?" they asked.
Again the Lord Jesus got them thinking. Sometimes people hear the truth about
eternal life. About peace with God. About forgiveness of sin. About being sure
of Heaven at the end of life.
"This is wonderful!" they say.
Off they go, just as happy as they can be. But first thing you know, somebody
laughs at them. Now that hurts. And their roots aren't too deep. Too many
rocks down there. So they pack it in. Pretty soon their Bible collects dust.
But the story is about good Seed. And some Seed fell on good ground. And it
grew. And it produced. Some thirty times more than was planted. Some sixty
times. And a few even produced one hundred times as much as was sown.
Now, whatever way you look at it, that's a pretty good crop!
And Jesus said, "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 13:9)
by: Steve Kember
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OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST...
He was born in an obscure village. He was the child of a peasant woman. He
probably worked in a carpenters shop until he was thirty - we don't know for
sure.
For the next three years He was an itinerant Preacher.
He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home, a horse
or a donkey. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His
foot inside a big city. He never traveled more than two hundred miles from His
birthplace. And He never did any of the things that usually accompany
greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.
While he was still a Young Man, the tide of public opinion turned against Him.
His friends ran away. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the
mockery of a trial. He was beaten and spit upon. The he was nailed to a cross
between two thieves. While he was dying, His executioners gambled at the foot
of the cross for His one earthly possession - a coat.
And when He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the generosity
and kindness of a friend.
BUT, three days later He arose from amongst the dead!
Twenty centuries have passed by. Throughout the centuries He has been
discredited, maligned and ridiculed.
Nothing has changed! He still is!
But all through the years He has been the central figure of the human race.
And no wonder, for He is our God, our Savior, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
And, "unto you therefore which believe He is precious..."1 Peter 2:7
by: Steve Kember
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ARE YOU A SLUGGARD?...
The Guinness Book of records gives ample evidence that most of us like to hear
about the heaviest, highest, biggest, longest or most fantastic.
But not God.
God so often turns our attention to insignificant things-like ants, for
instance. They must be amongst the most defenseless creatures on earth. the
anteater's probing tongue can lick up dozens in one foul swoop. You could
squash a hundred of them under your boot. A tough winter can leave whole
colonies as dead as a door knob.
But God says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise,"
Proverbs 6:6
But how can looking at an ant make a sluggard wise?
Well, I have seen them do exactly as the next three or four verses in Proverbs
tells us.
In fact, I enjoy watching them stagger under the most incredible loads, in a
fierce struggle, as they truck provisions to be laid up in their storage
sheds.
Why? Preparation! Winter is coming!
And that's just the lesson God wants us to learn from them! Make preparation!
Winter is coming for all of us. A long winter. An eternal winter. An
everlasting winter!
If those little ants could become evangelists, I think I can hear them in
their pulpits, preaching their sermons: "Prepare to meet thy God," Amos 4:12;
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation," 2
Corinthians 6:2; "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of
God," John 3:3.
But, are you listening? Or are you fast asleep? God keeps asking, "How long
wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?" Proverbs
6:6-8.
So, "Go to the ant...consider her ways, and be wise," Proverbs 6:6.
by: Steve Kember
Copyright © The Progeria Project Foundation