Category Archives: humility

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The Condition Of Our Heart Matters!

In Matthew 13, one encounters the insightful Parable of the Sower and the Soils, a teaching by Jesus that delves into the diverse conditions of human hearts through the metaphor of four soils. Each soil represents a unique response to the (Seed/Word) message of God, offering profound insights into the spiritual journey.

“The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” -Matthew 13:1-9

The wayside, the first soil, signifies hearts hardened and unreceptive. Just as a path is trampled, these individuals allow external influences to hinder the growth of spiritual seeds. The challenge lies in breaking through this hardness to cultivate a fertile ground for transformation.

Moving to the stony places, the second soil illustrates hearts with initial enthusiasm but lacking depth. Like shallow soil covering bedrock, these individuals may receive the word joyfully but struggle to sustain their faith in the face of trials. It serves as a reminder that genuine spiritual growth requires depth and endurance.

The third soil, filled with thorns, symbolizes hearts entangled by worldly concerns. The distractions of life—worries, money, ego and other preoccupations—choke the growth of spiritual seeds. This soil urges reflection on the importance of cultivating a heart free from the entanglements that hinder spiritual flourishing.

Finally, the fourth soil represents the receptive heart—the good ground. Here, seeds find fertile soil, yielding a bountiful harvest. This soil teaches us about the openness, humility, and readiness required to embrace and internalize the teachings of God. It encourages us to nurture a heart that bears the fruit of faith and righteousness.

In conclusion, the Parable of the Four Soils in Matthew 13 serves as a timeless guide for self-reflection and spiritual growth. It prompts us to examine the condition of our hearts and encourages the cultivation of receptivity, depth, and resilience in our journey towards a fruitful and flourishing faith. In other words: Get your heart right and everything else will begin to fall into place!

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You’ve Tried It Your Way???

In this thing we do called life, we all need someone we can trust. And most all of us have lived our lives long enough to have trusted and had that trust broken. Once trust is broken, it is hard to ever give it again to anyone, so we just sort of mettle through doing the best that we can. The problem with that approach to life is that we were created for relationship and we can’t really have a growing and meaningful relationship without trust. In other words: To get the most out of this life, we have got to trust someone!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” -John 3:16

God loves you and He created you for relationship. The purpose of the relationship is so that God can bless you and you can glorify God. We glorify God by trusting Him. We trust Him by receiving His blessings and we glorify Him by sharing those blessing with one another. We can call it whatever we want to: “trust/faith/belief”, but regardless of what we call it, the results are the same, it allows the stuff of God to flow to us and through us…

If Not God, Then Who?

I hate to say it, but others don’t have your best interest at heart and even if they do, they can’t even get themselves to where they need to be. There is an old saying that “Misery loves company!” Others don’t really want you to be blessed and succeed, because then they would have to feel bad because they are not being blessed and succeeding. The truth is: We can all be blessed and succeed, but someone has to be willing to trust God and start the process.

You’ve Tried It Your Way!

You’ve tried and failed, so when are you going to learn? If we will take a moment to get still, quiet and look into ourselves, we will know that we can’t, but God can and has and will if we will just trust/believe/have faith in Him. We know our ways don’t work, so let’s honestly and wholeheartedly give God’s way a try!

God has always been the way, is the way and will be the way! The Bible teaches that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. I challenge you to trust Him in all things, not just some things and watch your life line up with His blessings and before you know it – you will be blessing others for His glory…

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Learning From Our Limitations!

The older I get, the more I realize that there is still so much for me to learn. The more I truly learn, the more I begin to understand that there is so much that I just don’t know and a lot of it, I can’t know, because I don’t need to know. I just need to make sure that I know the One that does know.

One of the great lessons that life is teaching me is that I have a limited perspective. When we really start to understand this truth, it takes a lot of the pressure off of our having to have everything figured out. There is much in this life that we will never figure out and that is okay. I believe that anything that we don’t know that we need to know, God will explain to us one day and if He doesn’t explain it to us, then we obviously didn’t need to know it and shouldn’t worry about it.

Not only is it important for me to remember that I have a limited perspective, but it is also important to remember that we all see and understand life from our “LIMITED” perspective and this is why we should be extra careful to give and receive GRACE.

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts higher than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:8-9

It is possible for us all to see the same thing and have entirely different opinions about it, based on OUR perspective. So the next time you get ready to judge someone else, you might want to consider their perspective. Next time you think you are right and everyone else is wrong, you might want to consider that things might not be that simple and take a moment to consider the other person’s PERSPECTIVE.

Then story is told of three blind men heard that a strange new animal, called an elephant, had arrived in their town. None of the men knew anything about the shape, size or appearance of an elephant so they decided to approach it and use their hands to get a better picture exactly what an elephant is like. The first man felt the trunk and declared that an elephant was round and long like a snake. The second man touched the elephant’s tusk and announced that the strange animal was smooth and sharp like a spear. The third man felt the elephant’s leg and determined that elephants were thick and curved like a tree trunk.

All of the men described the elephant from their perspective and each man was right, while each man thought the other men were wrong. How often in life to we get screwed up by our limited perspective???

Remember You Have A Limited Perspective!

It is important to remember that we have a limited perspective and can only see and know so much. This is why a relationship with our Creator is so important, because God sees the whole picture. God sees the whole picture, because He is the one that made it! When you don’t understand or life doesn’t make sense, look to the one, Who created it and let Him help you make sense out of the senseless.

Our Limited Perspective, Our Hopes And Fears Become Our Measure Of Life, And When Circumstances Don’t Fit Our Ideas, They Become Our Difficulties.” — Benjamin Franklin

They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Many of us live our life on a reoccurring loop of insanity and a big part of the problem is that we allow ourselves to be influenced, manipulated and motivated by our limited perspective, thinking that we know it all. We don’t know it all and that is why nothing changes. Some things in life are not going to change, until we change and we are not going to change until we get a different perspective. Ask God to open your eyes and help you see things as they really are from His vantage point.