Category Archives: Devotions from the Gospels

The Ultimate No and the Greater Yes

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“When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.”  Matthew 13:48 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:47-52

When I was parenting my children, I made a practice of saying yes whenever possible no matter how much sacrifice or inconvenience saying yes might require. I did this for one reason—so that when I had to say no, it meant something. I believe Jesus does the same thing; He says yes way more than He says no. But when He says no it is for a very important reason.

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The Treasured

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“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, …”    Matthew 13:45a ESV1

Read Matthew 13:45-46

I am more of a realist than a romantic. I prefer to read non-fiction over fiction. I would rather watch action/adventure movies than dramas. But there is something about a classic love story that touches my heart. When a man of princely character slays a dragon of a problem to help a damsel in distress, I can’t help but be fascinated. When a man, worthy to be called noble, falls in love with a struggling woman and makes her his bride, thus, lifting her from her negative circumstances, I am inspired by selfless love. When true love breaks through all barriers to bring new life into a hopeless situation, I find myself overwhelmed with emotion.

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The Treasure

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“The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure…” Matthew 13:44a ESV1

Read Matthew 13:44

Not far from the home in which I was raised, stood an abandoned house. As a child, I often daydreamed about what was in that old house. Contrary to reason, never once did I imagine that the rundown house was home to rodents, varmints, and pests of all kinds, or dust, mold, and rotten wood, or a plethora of useless, broken items. Every time I thought about that faded yellow house with the falling-in porch, the shot-out windows, and the holey roof, I imagined that it was the hiding place of a vast treasure. I assumed that house, set back from the road and surrounded by trees, had been the perfect cover for a band of thieves who had stored piles of cash under the floorboards, jewels in the registers, and bags of gold, of incalculable worth, between the studs of the walls. Of course, in my dreams, the robbers had, for whatever reason, been forced to leave behind their hide-out and loot. If only my parents would have allowed me to explore that old house; I was sure I would have brought back a treasure that would have changed for the better the course of the lives of my family members.

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A Mutualistic Relationship

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“It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.” Luke 13:21 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:33 & Luke 13:20-21

“A mutualistic relationship is when two organisms of different species ‘work together,’ each benefiting from the relationship. One example of a mutualistic relationship is that of the oxpecker (a kind of bird) and the rhinoceros or zebra. Oxpeckers land on rhinos or zebras and eat ticks and other parasites that live on their skin. The oxpeckers get food and the beasts get pest control. Also, when there is danger, the oxpeckers fly upward and scream a warning, which helps the symbiont (a name for the other partner in a relationship).”2 Another example of a mutualistic relationship is the flower and the bee; while the bee gathers nectar from flowers to make its food, the flowers get pollinated. Jesus used this concept of mutualistic relationships in one of His parables.

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Just a Little

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“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.”  Matthew 13:31 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32 & Luke 13:18-19

Americans spend thousands of dollars on entertainment each year. Whether it be sporting events, TV, video games, movies, social media, travel, shopping, or eating out, people seem to be able to find money in their budget and time in their schedules for what they really enjoy. Nearly 10% of all Americans have a drug or alcohol addiction. And that doesn’t count those who occasionally partake of these substances or those who struggle to control their indulging in substances and behaviors which aren’t monitored. Reportedly, J.D. Rockefeller, the first billionaire in the United States, was once asked, “How much money is enough?” He answered, “Just a little bit more.” Whether what we desire is legal or illegal, necessary or unnecessary, it seems as if all humans are searching for just a little more of something to satisfy an internal longing. That is because there is an empty space in each of us that was purposely placed there and is intended to be filled. A parable of Jesus reveals that for which we are all searching.

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For You to Be and Him to Do

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“[The farmer] sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself.” Mark 4:27-28a ESV1

Read Mark 4:26-29

I felt so lazy as I sat in the house while copious amounts of snow fell from the sky and a ferocious wind swirled it about. My husband was on a business trip. He asked me not to worry about shoveling the snow; he would take care of the snow removal when he came home later that evening. At first, I was satisfied with the arrangement, but the weather continued to worsen and, because of the storm, my husband’s flight was delayed. Now, no longer would he be getting home in the evening; he wouldn’t arrive until almost midnight. I felt I had to do something to help.

I shoveled the sidewalk and in front of the garage. It was heavy, wet snow, but I slowly conquered a ginormous drift and felt empowered to tackle more. I started up the driveway, but the drifts got taller, and as I began to tire, the snow seemed heavier. But I was determined; I was going to at least clear a place at the entrance of the driveway for my husband to park his vehicle and shovel a path for him to get into the house. It took me almost two hours, but I accomplished that which I set out to do. By that time, though the wind threatened to destroy my work, the snow had almost come to an end. Exhausted but satisfied, I returned to the house with a smile on my face as I imagined how proud my husband would be of me.

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Attention: Requires Discernment

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And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?”        Matthew 13:27 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43

We live in a world full of warnings. Countless things from street signs to machinery, from weapons to toys, and from controlled substances to tags on mattresses remind us to use caution before proceeding. Before I sat down to write this morning, I was alerted to several possible dangers. Caution: Do not exceed recommended dose was printed on the label of my vitamins. Attention: Very Hot Liquid was prominently displayed on my coffee maker. And even Warning: do not use if you are allergic to aspirin was printed on my tea bag. Though some of the notices that advise us to use caution seem redundant—like hot liquid coming out of a coffee maker—others are quite practical. For instance, I am not allergic to aspirin, but if I were, the unexpected warning on my tea bag could have saved my life.

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Soil Conditions

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[Jesus] was teaching them many things in parables, and in His teaching, He said to them: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.” Mark 4:2-3 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:1-9 & 18-23, Mark 4:1-9 & 13-20 & Luke 8:4-15

I wouldn’t consider myself an expert by any means, but I do know quite a bit about crop production. I grew up on a farm. In college, I worked at an agronomic company helping develop corn hybrids. I live in a rural area; fields can be viewed by looking out any window of my home. I know how crops are planted. I understand how they are protected from pests, weed infestations, and unsuitable weather conditions. I am acquainted with how crops are harvested and how they are stored. And I am aware of several uses for the common crops grown in my area.

Jesus’ audience was undoubtedly familiar with the agriculture of their area. Because Jesus often used as teaching illustrations what was around Him and those He taught—this was especially true when He taught in parables—Jesus used the subject of planting seeds to teach a spiritual lesson. The hope was that His followers would gain greater understanding by taking the initiative to make the segue between the physical and what it represented in the spiritual realm.

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Out With The Old, In With The New

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“No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.” Luke 5:36 ESV1

Read Matthew 9:9-17, Mark 2:13-22 & Luke 5:27:39

The idiom, out with the old, in with the new means to leave old ideas or things behind so that one is free to embrace new views or objects. To move forward, one must get rid of the old to make room for the new. There are a number of possible scenarios for the use of this phrase. And there are a variety of opinions on who came up with the expression. But the idea of setting aside the old to take hold of the new originated with God. God consistently chooses the second over the first and prefers the new over the old.

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Location, Location, Location

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“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them … is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock … But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation” Luke 6:47-49 ESV1

Read Matthew 7:21-27 & Luke 6:46-49

Have you heard it said that the three most important things to consider in real estate are location, location, and location? As it turns out, location is pretty important in the spiritual realm as well. As Jesus concluded one of His training seminars for a group of committed followers who had climbed a mountain to hear what He had to say, He chose a powerful cohering illustration that involved real estate to cement His teaching in the minds of His students. The real estate, a house, to which Jesus is referring in His illustration is a metaphor for one’s life.

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