Being Good Soil

Matthew 13:23--"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

In this parable, we are thinking about what sort of soil we are. God has made us in His image and for His pleasure. At Creation, we were declared to be "good." Since we were made to be good soil, it is our duty to be who God made us to be.

It may be distracting to think about how much fruit we are producing--30 fold, 60 fold, or 100 fold. The thing is that the main requirement is to be good soil and to bear fruit. Thus, we should not be taken up with thinking of those in the faith who are so much more pious than we are. Instead, we ought to be faithful to confess our sins, live a Godly life, and attend upon the means of Grace. Faithfulness in these is being good soil.

Hudson Taylor quote

“I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help Him. I ended up by asking Him to do His work through me.”

Jesus hears you. When you think you're alone, you're not. Never will He leave you. Never will He forsake you.

"Be Still, my Soul" by Ka­tha­ri­na von Schle­gel

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

The Meaning of Life

If you like authors who get down and dirty with the truth, then Ecclesiastes is for you. It seems that everyone is looking for the meaning of life. Where better to look than the Scriptures?

While the first few verses of this chapter on a time for everything are very good, I really like the next section. Feel free to skip down to verse 9 and see what God has to say about the meaning of life.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away."

How shall we then live?

Finals

OK, I had a request for a post about finals. However, it's late at night (yes, 8:49 is late for me). I'll keep thinking about it, but while you're waiting here's a little something to make you smile.

written by Jerry Scott and illustrated by Jim Borgman

Reading through the Bible

Our pastor recently spoke of the importance of reading through the Bible. This has been pressed upon me numerous times in life. I know people who read through the Bible every year. I know someone who is reading through at a faster pace to catch up so that he will have read through the Bible once for every year of his Christian life. Another person I know of had an extended time for reading every day and wrote a four month, then two month, then one month plan for reading through the whole Bible. When you read a book like The Pilgrim's Progress, it is amazing how Christian, Faithful, and others speak as if they have the whole Bible memorized. Scriptures are peppered into their speech so often that it's as if they are speaking a language called "Bible." I've tried several times to stay on a "through the year" plan, but I've never made it thus far. However, since it's important not to give up and since there is no Scripture commanding how often we read, I have just kept plowing through and have made it to the end a number of times. Rob recommended reading through the whole Bible once, then the New Testament an extra time, then back to the whole Bible. This plan is working for me, but I don't keep track of how long it takes to get all the way through. Anyway, the point is to find a plan and just do it. Reading through the Bible is something that you will never regret.

Here are some plans. Some are better than others. There are five different plans to choose from offered by BibleYear.com.
Here is a 90 day plan if you are really ambitious.
Bible Gateway has several plans here. They can be read right there at their site, or you can sign up and have them sent to you each day.
Bible Study Tools.com has many plans including a two year plan if you want to take it slower and ease in.
This one is one of my favorites because you read a selection from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs each day.
Back to the Bible has several plans.
There are many more online.

Here are some helpful hints: Dos and Don'ts for Catching Up, Should you Fall Behind

Praying for your Spouse

Marriage has been on my mind of late. (I wonder why?) Some of you may think the time is far off. The thing is, you don’t know the future or God’s plan. This will end up being the most important person in your life. When you are young and thinking of dating, it can be easy to be distracted with attraction or doing fun stuff together. For a little while, though, spend some time thinking of that person who you’ll be sitting on the front porch with when you are old and gray.

Regardless of how close or far your own wedding date is, my question to you is: Are you praying for your future spouse? God knows who it is and has each day planned until you meet, date, and marry.

If you assume that your future someone is around your age, then they are probably going through the same types of things you are. Pray for them the same way you would pray for yourself.

• Pray for him/her to resist temptation of the devil in its many forms.
• Pray that if God has not yet called him/her to salvation, that the day would come soon.
• Pray that school studies would go well.
• Pray for needed finances to fall into place.
• Pray for times when friends seem far and loneliness is felt.
• Pray for his/her family.
• Pray that he/she would be faithful in church attendance, tithing, and serving the saints.
• Pray that he/she would be faithful in prayer and Scripture reading every day.

As I pray for you this week, I’ll be praying for your future spouse, too.