Mark 4:8-9 – The Sower: The Good Stuff

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:8-9 ESV)

Good soil, or healthy soil, is the product of many factors coming together in just the right balance. This soil isn’t hardened, leaving the sower’s seeds vulnerable on the surface to be devoured by the birds of the air. This soil isn’t shallow, but has the depth required to weather spells of drought, heat and adversity. This soil isn’t overrun with thorns and weeds because it is cared for and cultivated. This is the good stuff, the stuff only a Master Sower could take credit for. When our hearts are Continue Reading →

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Mark 4:7 – The Sower: We Love Our Thorns

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. (Mark 4:7 ESV)

No one likes thorns, right? They’re sharp, prickly and generally to be avoided. Weeds and thorns often go hand in hand, neither being the type of growth a gardener likes to see. But continuing on to verses eighteen and nineteen, Jesus reveals a surprise about these thorns, that “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” (Mark 4:18-19). The thorns here represent the things in the world we care about, and are generally thought of as good or appealing.

Many Americans spend their adult lives in pursuit of a bigger house, a better boat, a nicer RV, a lakeside cabin, a faster car, fame, status, wealth- the list could go on indefinitely. When we center our energy and focus Continue Reading →

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Matthew 13:44 – The Cost Of The Kingdom

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44 ESV)

Imagine for a minute that a man in a dark suit steps out of a limousine and tells you that you can have any one thing you want in the world. You want to live somewhere else, it can be done. You want the fastest car on the planet, it can be done. You want to see your favorite sports team win a championship, it can be done. Our minds begin to race as we think of the one thing we want most. Then he says, “But, in order to have this thing, you must Continue Reading →

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Mark 4:5-6 – The Sower: Quick to Hear, Fast to Forget

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. (Mark 4:5-6 ESV)

Fast forward, if you will, to Mark’s sixth chapter. Beginning in verse fourteen, we read the account of King Herod seeking to answer an intriguing question of the day, “Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?” After some speculation, we reach verse twenty, which interestingly reports that upon hearing John the Baptist, “he heard him gladly” (Mark 6:20). We know also from Jesus’ very own words about people like Herod that for awhile they were willing to rejoice in the light, in the truth that John the Baptist brought (John 5:35). Yet these people, who were so quick to rejoice and accept the truth, were not a new phenomena. Remember those to whom Ezekiel sang “with a beautiful voice” (Ezekiel 33:32), but still would not live according to the truth? Or those hypocrites who delighted to know God’s ways yet did not live according to them (Isaiah 58:2)?

All of these were the hearts, quick to hear and fast to forget, of shallow soil. In these hearts, the word Continue Reading →

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Isaiah 43:11 – Who Is Your Savior?

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. Isaiah 43:11 ESV

As Americans, we have experienced historic elections as many of those who voted were not happy with the country’s direction. The old guard is voted out as the new is voted in with much joy. We vote in the hope that the government will save us from our problems. We hope that we will get jobs, be able to afford a house, become debt free, or just live a more comfortable life when our candidate wins. These politicians can in turn become our saviors. Continue Reading →

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Mark 4:4 – The Sower: Angry Birds

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. (Mark 4:3-4 ESV)

Paths are well trodden, their soil often packed hard as concrete. They form from consistent travel over the same area, and the more they get used the easier they are to traverse. But the type of path Jesus was speaking of in today’s text was the tightly packed soil of a human heart and soul. Here, we can infer at least two kinds of hearts represented by this soil of the path.

Firstly, there are those who’s hearts are like a highway, laying common and bare to all. These are people who may have seemingly countless friends, Continue Reading →

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