Day 288 of Heart Dive 365. I'm your Bible study friend, Kanoe. Welcome to the Heart Dive podcast. Jumping back into the teachings of Jesus, today we are reading in Mark chapters 4 through 5, reading from the ESV by Crossway Translation.
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But otherwise... We're going to jump on in. We're going to start with prayer. So let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we honor you. We love you. We give you all of the honor, the praise, the glory, because you are simply worthy of it. You are God Almighty, El Shaddai, our healer, Jehovah Rapha, our provider, Jehovah Jireh.
You are the great I am. You are everything that we need. You are our ever-present help in time of need. You are the God who fights our battles, Jehovah Nissi. Thank you for being all that we need.
We love you so much. And we just sit here and humble ourselves before you as we get ready to open up your word, ready and excited to be able to hear your word and to know that, Holy Spirit, you are going to speak to us personally and individually, that as we reach out to you, You will allow a healing touch, some power to go out from you straight into our spirits, straight into our hearts. And so we welcome that today. Thank you, Lord, for being willing to do that, for loving us enough to continue speaking today. Thank you, Jesus, for what you've done on the cross for us so that we could be forgiven of all of our sins and that we could have eternal life.
We're so grateful for it. And we're just even more grateful that as we continue to live this life on this earth before we even get to heaven, that we can do so with an abundance and with joy because we have you walk in with us through every circumstance, through every single day, no matter if it's good or bad. We love you so much. We ask for your forgiveness now for our sins. You know what they are.
We know what they are. So we just fully confess. We bring you the whole story, Lord. Help us to walk away, to turn away from things that may be holding us back from being able to walk in that fullness of freedom and help us to forgive others.
We love you. In Jesus'name we pray. Amen.
Now, if you're joining us for the first time, some of these parables that we are reading today in the book of Mark, we've already covered either in the book of Matthew or in Luke. I definitely encourage you to download our reading plan so that you know when we covered those chapters, because I probably will not go into full commentary because I've already done that in some of these, but we will touch on some points here and there, and I will try to illuminate anything that might be new or that I think maybe needs a little bit of reiteration. So if you do want the full commentary on some of these things, make sure to check back on some of those other videos if you haven't watched them. So we start off here in chapter 4, verse 1. And again, we covered these in Matthew 13 and Luke 8. Again, he began to teach beside the sea, because this would offer natural acoustics. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.
And he was teaching them many things and parables. And in his teaching, he said to them, listen, behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
So the path would be that hard ground on which people walk, on which animals trod. And other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. So this is just a top layer of soil that was thin.
And immediately it sprang up since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched. And since it had no root, it withered away.
Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil. and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
And he said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. So here we are back in those parables. Remember, a parable means to cast alongside. So these are stories that had a truth alongside it. And so if faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, then faith is the key that anyone would have needed to be able to understand these parables.
You see, when Jesus said, he who has ears, let him hear. here, he was basically saying, those who hear this story today and believe it will understand it. Now, we have all had our own journeys in reading and understanding the Bible, and we don't always get it right away.
But little by little, it's as if the Lord comes and begins to just unlock treasure boxes as we read, and things just begin to make sense. And then you receive new spiritual insight that just kind of blows your mind. And see, the keys to those treasures That's your faith. See, if you were resistant to His word and what He can do, then those boxes would remain locked. So, heart check.
Do you have the key to God's treasure boxes? Verse 10, And when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parables. And He said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.
But for those outside, everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear. but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. So, he's telling the disciples, you have been given this secret or the mystery, meaning this is a truth that is to be revealed at its proper time.
You guys have that truth right now. Everybody else has it spoken in a parable, and if their ears are open to perceive it, then they will. And if their eyes are open to perceive it, then they will. So, this is not Jesus being mean to just shut out some certain people. He's not rejecting them.
He's actually protecting them from being able to reject him further because they're so closed off. So, he doesn't want them to reject him even more, so he's protecting them. Verse 13, and he said to them, do you not understand this parable?
How then will you understand all the parables? And so, now he goes on to explain it. It says in verse 14, the sower sows the word, and that's what good preachers will do, or good teachers. They will sow.
the word. And these are the ones along the path where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.
So the problem isn't the preacher or the teacher. The problem is their soil and their hearts that when that seed is planted or dropped in their spirit, Satan who loves to steal, kill and destroy comes and snatches it back. Like that is his mojo.
He wants to steal from you the very thing that God has given to you. And these are the ones sown on the rocky ground, the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy, and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while. And then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. So, they've got kind of a superficial commitment. They're excited.
Let's do this. I want to serve. I want to do all the things.
And then the moment that something else comes along or... they have a hard time or that something doesn't make sense. They're like, oh, I'm a bounce. We're done with this.
So if you have a heart like that, your soil needs a little bit of plowing and plowing doesn't always feel so good. You know, there's some digging that's got to happen to get that rocky ground out of there. Verse 18, and others are the ones sown among the thorns.
They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world, meaning the worries, the pleasure seeking, any distraction that is going to take you away. from completely committing, and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. So there is this spiritual apathy because of the fact that they are so distracted with other things.
But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, 30-fold and 60-fold and 100-fold. So there we see that the sole purpose of the seed is to bear fruit. I mean, one of the reasons why many Christians don't ever end up bearing fruit is because they're only looking at the Word of God as food for themselves.
Like, how can this feed me? How can this fix me? How can this help me?
So you hear that, me, me, me, everything's all about me. And while it is our daily manna, and it absolutely will feed you, and it will nourish you, and it will help you like nothing else can, its intent is to take root, but then bear fruit. This means...
as we consume the word and it does begin to take root in our spirits and in our hearts, we are now a tree that others can glean from. See, we are called to feed the sheep of Jesus by sharing our testimonies, by teaching them his word, by inviting them to church, hitting the like button, inviting them to Bible study, praying for them, serving in the community, helping the needy. I mean, the list goes on. So, heart check. Is the seed that is being sown in your heart Growing to bear fruit.
Sometimes we overcomplicate what fruit bearing is. I mean, it can be the simplest things that we can do, right? To help people, to serve people, to bless people. Verse 21, And he said to them, Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest, nor is anything secret except to come to light.
Now, a lot of people like to use this verse as a warning against sin saying, everything that you do in secret is going to be brought to light. That's not this verse, this particular verse. Jesus is speaking in the context of his word being the light that is revealed through the lamps of our bodies, hearts, minds, actions, words. So we're supposed to shine bright.
And if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. And he said to them, pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.
For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not. even what he has will be taken away. So when Jesus says, pay attention to what you hear, what he's saying is that we have a responsibility in the way that we hear the gospel.
We've got to be careful who we're listening to, how we're listening to them, and then most importantly, what we're doing with what we're listening to. And the measure that you use to determine this will be given right back to you. So for instance, if you sincerely desire to hear the gospel and learn about Jesus, without hesitation, without criticism, then the more that you learn, the more you're going to hunger for it.
But if you go into church or you go into a ministry or Bible study, and you begin criticizing what the person is wearing, debating whether or not they've got Botox, ready to chomp at every offense and every fault and every misstep, that's what you're going to find. Because every human has faults and weaknesses. So, this is where the measuring spoon has got to be full of both spirit and truth, meaning we've got to have grace, but we've also got to have discernment so that you will be able to, one, disciple fake faith, because you know in this day of technology, there's plenty of fake faith out there, but you will also be able to overlook those small weaknesses of the faithful ministers, and you'll be able to receive the gospel or receive His truth and His word with gladness.
And you will know if your measuring spoon has these things because there's going to be a peace in your spirit and not angst. So, heart check. What's in your measuring spoon? Are you able to discern fake faith? Can you overlook weaknesses and still gain insight from the faithful?
So, remember when we were talking about this, I think yesterday, we're saying there's a spiritual momentum. You are either going to grow backwards or you're going to grow backwards. or you're going to grow up. And we want to grow up, right?
Like we want our spiritual momentum to always be going upward. Verse 26. And he said, the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. And it's true, right? I mean, These things have become common to us. Like, okay, sure, you put a seed in the right soil, you water it, you've got the sun on it, and then it grows.
Like, we learn these things in elementary school and it becomes like common knowledge to us. But if you really think about it, it truly is a mystery how these things happen. It is a mystery how we are formed as a tiny atom into a full-blown human being. It is a mystery how the earth rotates on its axis in such perfection that if it were moved...
but just a tiny bit that we would go flying off into the universe. I mean, all these things are a mystery that cannot deny our Creator and cannot deny that there is a God. And so because we can trust those things, that He's in control of those things, we also must trust the process with our own lives.
Trust His timing. Trust that He's in control. Trust that when we plant seeds, we may not see the fruit or the roots that come about, but we know that...
He is going to do the work within those people and that there will be a harvest that comes one day. That is not our job. We are not the life givers.
He is, but we are the seed planters. It's not our seed. It's his seed. We plant it. He breathes life into it.
All right, verse 30. And he said, with what can we compare the kingdom of God or what parable shall we use for it? It's like a grain of mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is the smallest of all seeds on the earth. Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. Now remember I said that people look at this in two different ways. Either this is speaking of the small seed.
and then the church grows into the world, or this is speaking of the unnatural growth of the church and then the evil or corruption coming into that unnatural growth. Because again, we're speaking in the context of trusting God's process, trusting His timing. Verse 33, and with many such parables, He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to His own disciples, He explained everything. Verse 35, now on that day, when evening had come, he said to them, let us go across to the other side.
This is an important detail right here that he is telling them, hey guys, we're going to cross the lake. We're going to get to the other side. All right.
And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him as well. Another important detail that there are other people who are about to experience what they're experiencing. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking in the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
But he was in the stern, asleep, on the cushion, so that is showing his humanity. And they woke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Okay, blunder number one, they are somewhat accusing Jesus of not caring. So, they're already losing faith in the promise that he cares for them. And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still.
So he didn't rebuke them. He rebuked the wind and the seas. And I love that so much that he is not pointing out their fear.
He's not pointing out their failure. He is focusing on the storm, taking care of the storm, and he'll deal with them later. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. And he said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?
So again, it comes back to the fact that remember, he told them they were going to get across the lake. So where was their faith in the midst of that storm that his word was going to remain true and that he was going to fulfill it? That's where they lost faith.
They also lost faith whenever they said, do you not care about us? And so that's where they kind of get that rebuke there. And so verse 41, and they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
So even after the disciples saw the prophecy fulfilled, saw miracles performed, had their lives literally saved. They still underestimated the power of Jesus. They are still saying, how can this be? I mean, who is this guy? And many of us think, you know, like, if that were me, I would never do that.
Like, if I was in the boat with Jesus, I would never fear. I would never doubt. I would never be scared.
Yet, we're still all sitting scared in our boats when Jesus calls us out to step out in faith, right? So, hard check. Are you underestimating what Jesus can do? Have you stepped out of the boat in faith?
Remember I said yesterday, if Jesus is in your boat, your boat ain't gonna sink. And we've got to remember that typically after you learn something, after Jesus would teach, that's when the storms would come. Because that's when testing comes. You learn first from your teacher, and then they administer a test to see what you have learned.
That's the whole purpose of it. It's not to be mean to you. even though my daughter would say otherwise.
Every time she has a math test and doesn't do well on it, she's like, she's mean. It's not about her being mean. It's about being able to test if you are able to apply what you have learned so that you can then build upon that skill. So it's for your strengthening. It's for your good.
Not every storm is an attack from the devil. Even though some say that this particular storm could have been stirred up by evil because of the fact that when Jesus says, Be still. These were the same words that he used whenever he told the demons to be quiet.
So we continue here in chapter 5, verse 1. They came to the other side of the sea. So there's proof that his word always comes to pass. To the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.
So this is a demon-possessed man coming out of the tomb. So he's hanging out with the dead. He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.
For he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart and he broke the shackles in pieces. So he had abnormal strength. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. So he is self-destructive.
And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, probably a shrieking, he said, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me. And again, remember I said that is ironic that he loves to torment, yet he's begging God not to torment him. And we do know this is the demon.
This is not the man talking. It's the demon talking through the man. And that's what demons do. They will show their character, their traits through the host that they're in.
For he was saying to him, come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And Jesus asked him, what is your name? And he replied, my name is Legion, for we are many. So again, Legion would have been a Roman army that had somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000 men. So this demon is basically saying, there's a whole host of us trying to intimidate Jesus.
And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. So that's where we said. Even demons are on a leash.
Like they can't do anything without the permission of Jesus. Now, a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. Because remember, they are in Gentile territory.
So this was probably a pig farm owned by a Gentile. And they begged him saying, send us into the pigs. Let us enter them.
Why do they want to go into the pigs? Because they don't want to be deemed powerless. They don't want to be idle. They want to keep doing their dirty work.
So they would rather go into pigs. and commit suicide than to do nothing or to be sent to hell. So, he gave them permission. Isn't that interesting?
And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs and the herd, numbering about 2,000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. So here the demons were able to wreck the image of God. That's their whole goal. We want to wreck the image of God. They want to wreck the image of human or man because that is the likeness of God.
And now they're trying to wreck his reputation by making these pigs commit suicide and go into the lake and ruin the economy of this town, because this was probably big business, pig farming. And as I've pointed out before, I think it's important to say, because I think people always get freaked out when they hear about demon possession, that believers cannot be demon possessed without inviting the demons in, without opening that door or giving the devil a foothold. through things like occult practices, astrology, Ouija boards, tarot cards, all of those kinds of things have demonic influence.
So don't even go there. Like don't even play with that stuff because Jesus defeated the ability for demonic attack on believers at the cross. They might still be able to intimidate or may attempt to scare you, but they cannot destroy you. They cannot touch you. They cannot possess you.
So just know that and hold on to that authority because they'll try to make you think otherwise. Verse 14, and the herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Now, I sat with this idea of the people being more afraid of what Jesus had done for the man, like setting him free, than they were of the man who was demon-possessed.
It just didn't make sense to me. Until it did. You see, we too can sometimes be more afraid of what Jesus is doing in our lives than what the enemy is doing. And the reason why is because if we're getting attacked by the enemy, we know that we can run to Jesus for his help.
But if Jesus begins to do a work in us, and it's painful, and it begins to stretch us beyond our own comfort, we can't ask him to work against himself, right? And so, other times we will fear our own greatness because we're so afraid of having to uphold that image in the face of other people. And this is the very reason I did not want to win Miss America. You see, when I stood on that stage embracing the woman who would take home the crown that night, I was shaking in my boots and my whole family who was up in the crowd knew it because the night before when I talked to them on the phone from my hotel room, I cried to them. I told them, I don't want to win.
I don't want to win. I just want to go home to my dog. I just want to be Miss Hawaii.
I don't want this responsibility. But it took me a good 20 years, and I'm still kind of processing this, to realize that it wasn't the success that I feared. It was the failure. And therefore, I resisted what I believe God wanted to do in my life. I had more faith in my failure than I did in my God.
So heart check. Do you have more faith in your failure than you do in your God? Are you resisting what Jesus wants to do in your life because of it? But I do want to say, if you have resisted God, you have resisted what Jesus wanted to do, it's not too late. I mean, look what He's doing in my life.
I believe He could have done this 20 years back, but I resisted. However, He's not going to stop. You know, He will still pursue you.
He will not take back the gift and the calling on your life because The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. He's not going to take that back. If you are willing to submit and to obey and to do what he has called you to do, it's available for you to do it, as long as you're still moving and breathing and willing to submit your life. Verse 16, And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
I mean, they probably wanted him out of there because one, he was again, ruining their economy, but two, because they're like, he's causing so much commotion around here. He needs to leave. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him, but said to him, go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.
And everyone marveled. So we see the true transformation in this man's heart because all he wanted to do was be with Jesus. He wanted to be in his boat.
But look what happened. Jesus said no. I mean, where prior to this, he told demons yes. He let them do what they wanted to do.
He gave them permission. And when the people told him to leave their town, he listened to them. And he told this guy who wanted to follow him no.
Well, he wasn't doing this to reject the man. He said no to this man because he was. commissioning him.
not rejecting Him. This man's calling was not in someone else's boat. His calling was in his own boat, ministering to his family and friends. And sometimes, you know, we want the dream that's in someone else's boat, but Jesus just might be calling us to do things with those who are right beside us. I mean, in fact, our family and our friends should be our first line of ministry in our lives before we try to go out and row with somebody else.
So, heart check. Are you ministering in your own boat, or are you trying to get into another's boat? Verse 21, And when Jesus had crossed again into the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death.
Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live. And he went with him. So in Jairus'mind, he believes that Jesus needs to physically be there, lay hands on his daughter to be able to heal her. It doesn't matter that he thinks that. What matters is that he has faith that Jesus can heal her and will heal her.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and was no better. but rather grew worse.
She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and had touched his garment. So she believes that just by simply touching a part of him, then she can be healed. So that's great faith. For she said, if I touch even his garments, I will be made well.
So her faith is now being put into action. And immediately the flow of blood dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, who touched my garments?
And remember I said, it's not that he doesn't know who touched his garments. He wanted to be able to publicly acknowledge that he knew she touched his garments and to be able to call her forward. And his disciples said to him, Lord, you see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say who touched me?
And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. Because remember, if she was unclean, touching a rabbi would have been a huge no-no. Like, she may have been embarrassed, but she came anyway, and she completely laid it all out before him. And he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well.
Go in peace and be healed of your disease. Now, in the meantime, verse 35, while he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house someone who said, your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? Now, imagine being in Jairus'shoes and the fact that Jesus stopped to heal this woman.
He must have been thinking, time is running out, sir. We've got to go. I mean, I would imagine that he was probably irritated with the woman who was coming to him for healing. But overhearing, verse 36, what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not fear, only believe. So obviously he had some fear welling up within him at that point.
And he says, you remember that faith that you had back there? I need you to have that faith right now. And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. So that's his inner circle. These are the same dudes who are all with him on the Mount of Transfiguration, the same guys who follow him on the night that he goes and prays in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion. people weeping and wailing loudly. Now, these may have been professional mourners because that would have been the case.
That's what they did back in the day. They hired people to weep and wail. And when he had entered, he said to them, why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him, but he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was.
When people laugh at us or mock us, what do we tend to do? We either tend to bite back or we run away. We retreat. But not Jesus.
He put them outside. He put them in the corner. He's like, I'll deal with y'all later. I got some healing work to do.
I love that about Jesus, you know, except when it's us, right? When we're being put in the corner, like that's never fun, but he'll do it for our good. Verse 41, taking her by the hand, he said to her, Talitha Kumai, which means little girl, I say to you arise.
And immediately the girl got up and began walking for she was 12 years of age. and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat. So remember how we said that anytime Jesus was among the Jewish community, he would tell them, don't say anything because his Time had not yet come, and he needed to be able to exit quietly so he could continue his work. If they went out and told everybody, then the Jewish rulers would come against him and probably arrest him, and they would do so out of the timing of God's will.
But when he was in Gentile territory, he would tell them, go out and tell everybody all the good things that God has done for you, because he wanted to be able to have that person testify to his goodness. So he always had a purpose, and it was always to glorify the Father. And again, we cannot operate the same way with every single person.
Like every circumstance, every person is going to require a different mode, a different means, a different way of telling things to them. Some people, you may have to have a little bit more grace, a little bit more seasoning in your words. Some people just need the straight truth because that grace and seasoning stuff just isn't working anymore.
So we need to be just as sensitive as Jesus was with everybody that he encountered. So now we take a look at some of our deep dive questions. How can we cultivate good soil in our hearts to produce lasting fruit?
How do we trust the process when we don't see fruit being born? How can we be more intentional to listen and apply God's word with good measure? Is there any area of your life where fear needs to be released and replaced with faith?
What do these chapters reveal about the heartbeat or character traits of Jesus? So Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for revealing your wisdom to us once again. We know that whenever you repeat yourself, it is always with good reason, and so our ears are open.
We are listening for your voice and your truth to be revealed in it. We crave spiritual insight from you, and we thank you, Lord, that you have chosen us to receive it. I pray that we will not be discouraged in our own misunderstanding, but instead trust the process of slow and steady growth. As long as there is some sort of change happening and we're allowing the continual watering by your word, we will grow roots as your transformative power moves within us. Lord, you are constant, you never change, and neither does the word that you sow.
We're the ones who are the change agents or the variations. So we ask for your help today in keeping our hearts set on you. We ask that you show us if there's any plowing or tilling that needs to take place so that we will always have good fertile soil for you to work with.
And Lord, please remove any thorns of distraction or worry or pleasure-seeking that might choke us and create that spiritual apathy within us. And may your word take root in our hearts and in our lives, bearing fruit for your kingdom. We thank you, Jesus, for allowing your light to shine through us. You are the only light we ever need, one that never dims and never fades. God, I pray that we never hide or shy away from bearing this privilege of letting it shine in everything we do.
And may we be bold, but also humble in the way that we live out our faith, knowing that even the smallest acts of faith and obedience will be used for something powerful. Even our weaknesses and failures can be turned to good. So we trust you to do that. And for those who are faithfully sowing seed, Lord, I pray that you will keep them steadfast, even when they can't see the roots that are growing or the fruit that is born. You work in mysterious ways, so help us to trust in your timing and your ways.
As long as we are faithful in planting, you will do all of the watering and the cultivating to bring about a harvest in due season. And we thank you, Jesus, for being in our boats on the daily. When the winds begin to blow and the waves are billowing around us, will you help us to remember that you are our ever-present help in time of need?
We may be scared initially, but we will not allow that fear to lead to distrust in you and your promises to bring us through. You will never leave us or forsake us. So I pray that we will always choose faith over fear, knowing that you are in control, even in the worst of circumstances. Lord, calm our fears, calm our anxieties, increase our faith, and may your peace that surpasses all understanding still our hearts.
Lord, we reach out to you today for a healing touch, whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual healing that we need. We acknowledge that it is by your power that we can be set free from anything that is holding us captive. If you broke the chains off of a demon-possessed man, you can do it with us. Break any strongholds right now in the name of Jesus that are keeping us bound. We bring you every hurt, every fear, every struggle, and we place it at your feet.
We believe that just one single touch from you can eliminate every one of them as you cast out fear. Nothing is impossible for you. And we believe in the restorative and redemptive work that was done on the cross for our freedom.
Lord, help us to take up our own cross and walk in that freedom so that we can declare your glory to the whole earth. We love you so much. We pray these things in Jesus'name.
But it won't happen if we don't receive Him before we leave this earth as Lord and Savior. Hell is a very real thing, and there is no second chance after we take our last breath here. So I want to be able to give someone the opportunity today who is saying, I'm ready.
I've never given my life to Christ. I don't know where I'm going to end up after I die, but I don't want to live another day without knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt where I am going to end up. I see now that this is real and I want to believe. So if that is you, we're going to say a prayer and I'm going to put the words on the screen so that you can say them audibly with your mouth because the Bible says that when you believe and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and that he died and rose again, then you will be saved.
So we're going to say this prayer together. Believe it in your heart, speak it with your mouth, and know that this is indeed the day of your salvation. Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for Jesus. Jesus, thank you for dying for me.
I believe that you came, you died, and you rose again. I confess my sins to you today, and I turn from them, and I now live my life for you. I know that I am forgiven of all my sins, so I receive you now as Lord and Savior, and I belong to you, Jesus.
I pray these things in Jesus'name. Amen.