3-31-22 Do You Want to Grow Spiritually?

Daily Devotion: Do You Want to Grow Spiritually? - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: ‘Behold, a sower went out to sow’ —Matthew 13:3 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/do-you-want-to-grow-spiritually/ - Listen Why is it that some people seem to grow spiritually more than other people do? The answer is that it’s really up to the individual. You decide whether you will grow spiritually or whether you won’t. Jesus told a story that we sometimes call the parable of the sower, but we also could call it the parable of the soils. It’s a story about a sower who went out to scatter seed. A planter in those days simply took the seed and randomly threw it to the wind, and it landed where it landed. In Jesus’s story, some seed fell on rock-embedded ground, and it shot up quickly but had no roots. As a result, it withered in the sun. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns choked out the seed. Some seed fell along the roadside, and the birds came and ate it. But some seeds found receptive soil, took root, and became fruitful. Jesus essentially said this is how we react to the Word of God. A lot of times as Christians, we don’t stop and think about all that God has done for us. The Bible tells us that He has justified us, which means that God took our sin, removed it, and has forgotten it. In its place He has placed the righteousness of Christ into our spiritual bank account, so to speak. This means that we now stand right before God. It also means that God sees each of us as a new person in Him. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 points out, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (NKJV). God has forgiven our sins and has secured our eternal future. In light of that fact, we should want to grow spiritually.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-16-23 Santa Staleness

Santa Staleness :: By Edwin Tan Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles My one and only trip to Israel had more than a profound effect on my present-day psyche. It might have been three decades ago, but there is more than a lingering aftertaste. It happened smack in the last fortnight of the year. Surprisingly absent were the familiar sights and sounds of the Christmas most people are accustomed to. Hardly any Christmas decorations in downtown Tel Aviv, if not any of the shopping thoroughfares across the Holy Land. Hanukah was a breath of fresh air – not anything resembling a Christmas carol most people grew up with did surface. The Christmas Eve service in a small Protestant church not far away from Jerusalem’s Old City was awesome; songs that truly celebrated the virgin birth of our Lord, which though seemingly unheard of, were a welcome inspiration to many a soul. There was even one sung in Arabic! So it began, my overt disdain for the secular Christmas t...
Read more

9-25-23 The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas

The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas :: By Bill Wilson Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:Bill Wilson, General Articles There are a lot of terrible things going on right now in the world. But we are at the time of the year when we, as Christians, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We can choose to be impacted by the world around us in its dimly lit arena, or we can choose to let our light so shine. I choose the latter. I want to tell you a little about the Christmas that I had growing up on our family farm in Ohio. I was blessed to be born into a horse and cattle farm that has been in our family for some 200 years. And Christmas, especially Christmas Eve, was a wonderful time for our family. December 24 was my Dad’s birthday. And my Dad was well-loved by his neighbors and friends, so we had a lot going on Christmas Eve. I remember one special Christmas Eve. I must have been about four years old. The night was falling, and the wind and snow were whipping across the barny...
Read more

9-15-23 Miracles 2

Miracles 2 :: By Jim Towers Published on: December 21, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles This story is a continuation of the exciting things God continues doing in my life. I was supposed to have died a while back, and sometimes I feel as though I may do so soon. But since I’m ready to meet my maker, I have no fear of death. In fact, my evangelistic zeal has only increased, especially as I see the fast approaching of the “Tribulation period” mentioned in the book of Revelation. Insofar as my acting career is concerned, I just finished filming a soliloquy featuring Melchior, one of the three Magi who followed the star to Christ lying in the manger, and am preparing to portray a Jewish Priest on stage. Like I said, God is working overtime in my life, and I will be appearing on stage singing Broadway show tunes sometime in March, so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. In the meantime, I will be signing Christmas carols acapella at a park here in Naples. Since it is a spontaneous th...
Read more