Weeds Will Come

The sower went out to sow his seed and as he  sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. "Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. "Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out." "Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great." As He said these things, He would call out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."Luke 8:5-8

Ask my husband or my former neighbor, and you will discover I am no gardener. I do not have a green thumb nor do I know much about growing stuff. My husband is the one with the passion and degree in agriculture. But I try. Recently as he was instructing me in the fine art of the proper way to plant different types of seeds I was thinking, " should have put down black plastic to keep the weeds from coming" but alas no black plastic. Weeds will come and weeds will have to be yanked up by the root so my crops will grow and thrive.

In life 'weeds' come as well. In the verse above the 'weeds' or 'thorns' choked the word of God out so it was unfruitful. These 'weeds' or 'thorns' could be problems, unbelief, lack of faith, hanging with the wrong crowd, filling your mind with wrong things, jealousy, hatred, anger, bitterness. If there are any of these in your life it is hard for the word of God to take root less it be choked out by these. 

Do you need to cultivate the soil of your heart and prepare it to be receptive to the word of God? Only you can answer that question truthfully. It is hard to fill your heart with things of the Lord when other idols are choking it out. You be the judge and do what is necessary to 'weed' the garden of your heart to make it fruitful for the Lord. 

PRAYER: I am tired of having weeds in my spiritual garden. Satan loves to keep them coming and I choose to yank them up. A good dose of the word of God daily is like weed killer to strengthen me for each day's journey. Forgive me when I make excuses why I have no time and help me reorder my day around my time with you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Invasive Species

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.2 Peter 3:17

On a recent hike at a nearby state park,  I passed by a sign posted off to the side of one of the trails which read "Invasive Species" and went on to have four photos of plants or weeds not common to the area which visitors had permission to root up and throw away. I was thinking how nice it would be for mankind if there were obvious signs about the pitfalls to avoid to get you off the path of righteousness. Invasive means "tending to spread harmfully" and that describes sin in so many ways.

There is not one person reading today that can say he or she is without sin for as it says in Romans 3:23 "all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory" so what you and I need to do is to stay in the word and on our knees in prayer so our senses can be discerning between good and evil and right versus wrong. The worldly view of right and wrong is very muddled and not to be trusted.

Today seek Him first thing. Spend time in prayer. Don't just be set apart on Sunday but reach out for God daily. He is waiting. Can't you hear Him knocking?

PRAYER: Guide me each and every day Lord to take the right path in life. Help me as I seek to resist the lures of 'this world' that try to get me to turn my back on you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Blossoms And Thorns

Do not be deceived. God can not be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7

As I picked green beans in my garden recently I was getting poked by thorns from weeds which had intermingled with the vegetables. I had not weeded the garden and consequently weeds with thorns sprung up. This gave me an idea for a devotion as many things in everyday life do.

Lush green beans represent your life as a believer. The weeds and thorns represent Satan and sin that comes in to trap us and choke the spirit out of us. If we allow sin to control our life we won't produce spiritual fruit. As we try to navigate through life still not getting sinful things from our life we can get pricked with thorns. 

God is good and His garden does not have weeds, overgrown brush, and things that stick us. "Weed" your spiritual garden of anything that could choke your Christian life out of you. Read the Bible for it is like the food that helps growth occur. Now go bloom for Jesus. 

PRAYER: I want to bloom for you Lord. Help me be aware of weeds of sin that try to choke the spiritual life out of me. In Jesus' name. Amen.