I'm Following Jesus – Page 3071 – Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Friday, October 14, 2016
Chapters: Matthew 13, Luke 8
Message: Trusting God’s Ideas

Hello My Friend,

lean-on-gods-word Understand, To have the same ideas as the person who speaks, or the ideas which a person intends to communicate. We all like to think that we have great understanding about God and life in itself, but it is hard to have the same ideas that God has when we are limited in our thinking. If there is anything I have learned over the past couple of years, it is that every person who calls themselves a Christian has their own idea as to what it means to be a Christian, and the majority of the time it is man made religious laws that they believe makes them a Christian. The only way we can remotely get an understanding of God’s idea as to what a Christian is is to first trust His Word, not our own idea. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6.

A parable is a short story that contains an important message, people often use parables to explain something that one might not understand outright. Since the world is somewhat ignorant, or the better word would be skeptical of the supernatural, at least in God’s case anyway, Jesus often spoke in parables. The disciples asked Him why He spoke in parables.

“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” – Matthew 13:14-17.

“and should understand with their heart, and should be converted,” A person can read the Bible cover to cover, over and over again, but unless their heart is right they will not see or hear what God is saying. The first and far most thing we need to do to get our heart right is believe the Gospel of Christ, and receive Him as your Saviour. Jesus knows those who really have no interest in what He is saying are not really listening, but those who do hear and see Him, being converted into a Christian. Convert means to believe in Jesus and understand that only His finished work on the cross is necessary for our salvation. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” – Acts 3:19.

Seed, A fertilized grain, initially encased in a fruit, which may grow into a mature plant. Seeds come in all shapes and sizes, they are used to produce living things that can be used as food, shelter, beautiful scenery, or even medicine, but there are also bad seeds, seeds known as weeds, and these seeds, while living can destroy life. Jesus often used seeds in His parables, in this illustration He talks about good seed (saved) and tares (unsaved), and what will happen to both of them.

“He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;” – Matthew 13:37-41.

“the harvest is the end of the world;” As much as we would like to believe that none of this is going to happen, it will just like everything else in God’s Word. Jesus will return and when He does He is gathering all His people, no one will be escape judgment unless they know Christ as their Saviour. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” – I Thessalonians 4:16-17.

Have you ever noticed how powerful a seed is? In the middle of nowhere, given the right light, air, and moisture, a seed can grow, but it is ultimately the soil that will nurture or destroy it. Interestingly, some seeds need sun light to grow, while others need moonlight. Through another parable Jesus explains what happens to seeds planted in different soil, and what the seed actually is in His story.

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” – Luke 8:11-15.

“and bring forth fruit with patience.” The sower is Jesus, God sent Him, not only to be the sacrifice that would bring all who believe in Him life, but to preach the Gospel also. The seed is the Gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and the soil is how each individual reacts to the Gospel. Can I tell you that living a godly life does not get you to heaven, only Jesus does, but once we do get saved it is up to us whether or not we are fruitful, and by patience in well doing we will receive the promise. “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” – Hebrews 10:35-36.

It is only when we put our complete trust in Him that He will direct our paths to get things done. God wants us to acknowledge Him in all things, the more we acknowledge Him the more we learn to trust Him. As Jesus travels through Gadarenes He runs into a man that was possessed by the devil, this man knew enough to get to Jesus and was healed, but instead of the people welcoming Jesus they pushed Him away.

“Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again. Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.” – Luke 8:35-39.

“for they were taken with great fear:” These people did not want Jesus around because of what they saw. God has so much more in store for us, it is our fear that keeps Him from doing it. I am going to cry having seen all the opportunities I missed because I trusted in my own understanding instead of God’s, but I know one thing is sure, at least I will be with Him. The man wanted to follow Jesus wherever He went, but Jesus knew he would be better off telling the people about Him there rather than come with Him. This is why Jesus has not returned yet and also why He has His faithful living among the world, if just one gets saved we have made a difference.

“I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” – John 17:14-17.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.” – Luke 8:24.

Today’s Prayer: God, I love the amazing miracle that happens when a seed grows into something beautiful, but I also see the destruction that weeds do to that beauty. Lord, I want to live a life that producing good, sustaining fruit, not corruptible weeds. Give me Your power, wisdom, and guidance to be fruitful, give me an open and willing heart, and let me not be corrupted by the weeds that try to destroy every good fruit You produced in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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