Mark 4:18-19 9/26/2023*

“Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

Jesus is referring to the gospel as seed, and people’s hearts as the soil where it  lands.  So, what is the condition of your soil?  When was the last time you examined your heart for thorns?

Even healthy plants suffer from the proximity of weeds and thorns which use up nutrition and block the spread of good roots. Unwanted plants interfere with production.  If you were to examine your heart for weeds and thorns, would you know what they look like? 

Some are obvious… immorality, substance abuse, self-centeredness… We all recognize these as unwanted and destructive.  But Jesus lists a few other things that sometimes pass under our radar unnoticed.

Christ calls “worrying” a thorn that stops you from bearing fruit.  We think of worry as a mental health issue, but Jesus says it impacts us spiritually.  Allowing worry to take root in my heart takes my focus off God and reduces my ability to make disciples.  According to Jesus, it’s also a waste of time … "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” "But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.” Anxiety is fruitless… Having confidence in God’s power removes the thorn of worry and replaces it with expectant and productive faith. 

The second thorn Christ mentions is wealth’s unquenchable desire. He calls it deceitful.  Its deceptiveness comes from the fact that money is not the root of all evil… it is the love of money that is the problem…. It will take root in your heart, distract you from chasing what matters, and choke out everything good you have planted.  You can’t pursue God and money; so, choose one.   Many who set out to accomplish worthy goals have seen the pursuit of profit take over and wreck their mission.  Love of money is destructive and will make a garden worthless.

Faith and discipline can remove thorns from your life… Confidence in God can eradicate worry and eliminate your obsession with money. Removing those thorns is easy…  deciding you want to, is what takes some doing.

“We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.” -  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Colossians 4:6 9/19/2023*

“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” 

The book of James speaks of the power of words.  It warns that the tongue  “corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” That’s a strong statement and most of us can attest to its accuracy. 

Many have experienced the wildfires an unbridled tongue can produce and know the difficulty of extinguishing those fires once they are lit. So, in this verse, when God instructs us on how to use our words, we should listen.

Is my conversation full of grace and seasoned with salt? Do I even know what that means?  I think it means my speech must be kind and gracious… full of compassion. But it also must have some preserving power… there must be substance and truth to it.  

We often swing too much one way or the other…either only sweet, flattering words, or only words of corrective discipline….  This verse says I must have balance in order to know how to answer everyone in every situation.

The assumption this verse makes is that we control our mouth.  That is a big assumption… Do you control yours, or does it control you?  Do you emotionally react with unbridled words, or intelligently respond with beneficial comments?

Scripture says we should be quick to listen and slow to speak. Most of us get that exactly backwards. I shouldn’t speak unless I have something valuable to say, and when I do speak, it should be balanced with compassion and truth.  Since that is not always appreciated, my motivation must be to benefit others, not myself. 

How are you doing in this area?  What would people think if today your discussions were “full of grace”, and “seasoned with salt”?  Would it shock them?  Would they think something was wrong with you? Or is it normal for your conversations to be full of wisdom, and sound advice?

Speak with purpose today… Monitor your tongue and aim your words carefully. Have the right balance of sweet and salty so people will benefit from what you have to say. 

“The test of a man's spirituality is not his ability to speak, as we are apt to think, but rather his ability to bridle his tongue.” - R. Kent Hughes

Psalms 46:10 9/12/2023*

“… be still, and know that I am God…”

When was the last time you did that?... Isaiah says we were “formed to show forth His praise”.  What percentage of your time is spent doing what you were formed to do?  

When did you last shut off all your devices, get alone, and consider the love God has for you, and the invincible power He possesses.

Do we know how to be still anymore? From sunrise to bedtime, we are plugged into constant distraction. If the enemy can’t make us bad, he’ll settle for making us busy.  Too busy to focus on what matters.

This verse says that being “still” leads to knowing God … but we’re never still. We never stop and look for purpose in our movements, we are desperate to finish our trivial task, check the box,  and anxiously move on to the next chore.

So how do we break that cycle?

When a computer is performing poorly you reboot it.  Turn everything off and restart … If you never reboot, parts of programs may continue running in the background even after the project is completed… lingering meaningless activity …  In computers, that slows down the processer… In your brain it does the same thing… it’s called stress and anxiety.

Some of you haven’t “rebooted” in years, you are anxious out of habit… You constantly deal with lingering stress because you haven’t been still long enough to remember that God loves you, is in complete control, and has already dealt with whatever you’re worrying about. Nothing is beyond His power. 

STOP… just stop for a minute.  Unplug, and get alone with God.  Don’t allow your mind to drift, intentionally focus on Him.  Pray… listen… meditate… be still and rest in the magnificence and power of the God you serve.  

Today doesn’t have to be another futile, chaotic day…. pause and reflect on God - and like the old hymn says, “the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” 

Nothing will improve your life more than learning how to be still… so step out of the rat race for a few minutes this morning and  seek to know Him – once you grasp who He is – You can rest in what He will do. 

“We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God…” – Charles Spurgeon

2 Kings 17:40-41 9/5/2023*

“However, they did not listen, but they kept acting in accordance with their earlier custom. So, while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, just as their fathers did, they do to this day.”

This sounds very familiar … In our culture today we also cling to our customs, wanting God to be part of our plan – While God wants us to be part of His. 

We profess Christianity … but say we must be “realistic” when the Bible demands changes in our behavior. The bottom line is we want a Savior… but have no intention of handing over the reins of our lives … However, God’s offer is to be both our Lord and Savior; it has always been a package deal.

Like the church at Laodicea, we think we don’t need anything. We show up Sunday morning, expect to be entertained, and bask in our self-righteousness… Never looking honestly at our hearts as that would demand confession and repentance…and would require change and obedience.

The idol of comfortable prosperity lures us as it has for generations. We want to serve The Kingdom, but only when it advances our own. Servanthood and self-sacrifice are no longer preached or practiced, and cultural traditions and opinions have replaced scripture as our guide. 

How can we have drifted so far from the truth?  

Have we forgotten that we are not fighting against lost people  - we are fighting for them?  God commands that we obey scripture,  and lead others to Christ.  Yet our hypocrisy not only misleads us, it misleads our children and grandchildren as well… Our culture is faltering, and we must get off this path.

The cost to follow Christ is everything… we must die to ourselves.  So, either make that choice, or stop talking about it and confusing others with your duplicity.

If you fear God but still want to pursue your idols, you have a dilemma… The first commandment could not be clearer…it insists that we have only One God. Parttime Christianity has never been offered. So, choose this day whom you will serve… and then start obediently serving. 

“ The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.” - A. W. Tozer