Tilling the Soil of the Heart: Scripture..Craig Denison Ministries

 Tilling the Soil of the Heart: Scripture

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

This week we'll look at a vital spiritual practice to all those seeking to grow in God:tilling the soil of the heart. Jesus spoke in Matthew 13 of two different types of soil—hard and soft. God longs for us to till the soil of our hearts that we might be receptive to the seed of his word and bear fruit. May your heart become more responsive to the presence, will, and love of God this week as you cultivate good soil with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2

Devotional:

One of the most powerful tools in tilling the soil of our hearts is Scripture. Each time you open the Bible you’re looking at a miracle. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” When you are reading the Bible, you are reading the very word of God, breathed out by him and powerful in its ability to reveal both the character of God and your identity. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” When you renew your mind through Scripture, you allow the Bible to transform your heart into fertile soil that bears everlasting fruit. So let’s look today at a few ways we can use Scripture to renew our minds and allow it to mold and shape us into disciples who are in tune with and receptive to the love and leading of God.

There is a wealth of power and wisdom within God’s word as it reveals his love and faithfulness to his people. Stories of God's deliverance and provision to an ungrateful people demonstrate not only God's faithfulness then, but also the great lengths he will go to for those ransomed into his family now by the blood of Christ. The story of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins is both heart wrenching and life giving. That he would willingly endure one of the most heinous, tortuous methods ever created assures us of the love God has for us. That he would experience separation from his heavenly Father for the sin of the entire world points to the depth of his love for us. Reading stories like these and meditating on their meaning and application will make us receptive to the presence and will of God. They can empower us to live in grateful obedience to his plans and purposes.

As Paul wrote in Second Timothy, the Bible is also a useful tool for life-giving correction. Correction from God is an important and wonderful part of being his son or daughter. His correction resembles a skilled gardener pulling the weeds out of soil, making room for seeds he has planted to receive nourishment and thereby flourish into fruit. You see, God doesn’t correct out of anger or frustration, but rather out of his rich love, patience, and desire for us to walk in the abundant life he’s prepared for us. Proverbs 3:12 states, "The Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights." So, opening our hearts to Scripture like Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear,” is incredibly powerful. Pulling out the weeds of corrupting or negative talk will create space in the soil of our hearts for the nourishment of God’s Spirit, yielding the fruit of speech that does indeed “give grace.”

Open your heart today to the power of God’s word in tilling the soil of your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you by speaking directly into your life using the words of Scripture. May your time in guided prayer be marked by the inner voice of the Spirit and transformation of the heart.

Guided Prayer:

1. Ask the Spirit to reveal an area in which you need correction.Think about something in your life that is hurting your ability to develop good soil and thereby good fruit. Where are you not experiencing the abundant life Jesus died to give you?

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

2. Now search for Scripture to use for meditation on the subject. If you feel that negative speech is hindering you, a verse like Ephesians 4:29 that we read earlier is a great start. If you feel like lust or another sin is hindering you, search for Scriptures addressing the sin you struggle with.

3. Meditate on the Scripture that you’ve found.Allow God to apply Scripture directly to your life.

When we align ourselves with God’s word, we lose the burden of living life apart from the anointing and filling of his Spirit. Giving up things like negative speech, lust, greed, and other sins creates space for that which brings life and abundance. Today, give over anything you feel is crowding your spiritual life, and allow God to fill you with the grace to live according to his word. His word is the perfect guide through every situation, useful for any occasion. Allow the Spirit to speak to you both through the Bible and directly. Till the soil of your heart to be receptive to all that he would do in and through you today.

Extended Reading: 2 Kings 22-23

God’s Pursuit of Us..KIA STEPHENS

 God’s Pursuit of Us

KIA STEPHENS 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17 (NIV)

“God is an ageless romancer” were the words of the beloved Bible teacher at an all-female retreat.

Her words took me by surprise and appealed to my heart. I have always been a hopeless romantic — a sucker for rom-coms, Christmas movies on Lifetime, and happily-ever-after endings.

Having grown up in church, I often heard God described as Father, Friend, Way-Maker and Wonderful Counselor, to name a few. These names were easy to accept as true, but “romancer” was a bit difficult to embrace.

I'd reserved the word “romance” for men on white horses who slayed villains and rescued damsels in distress. Romancers were Prince Charmings in tuxedos, with roses in one hand and chocolates in the other. When I imagined a romancer, I didn’t imagine God.

But over the course of the weekend retreat, God began to enlarge my understanding of romance. This word isn’t limited to novels and date nights. This word encompasses God’s tremendous love and His relentless pursuit of humanity. I saw it throughout Scripture.

God pursued Adam and Eve after they sinned in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 3)
God pursued Hagar when she ran away from her problems. (Genesis 16)
God pursued Elijah when he ran from Ahab and Jezebel. (1 Kings 18-19)
God pursued Paul on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9)
And God pursues us.

Motivated by unexplainable love, God pursues humanity. No matter our state in life — married, single, dating, living for God or running from Him — God seeks to win the affection of our hearts by relentlessly and faithfully pursuing us.

We see a clear depiction of this pursuit in our key verses, John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

The love John refers to in this scripture is agape love, which is sacrificial and considered the highest form of love that exists. This love was costly for God, but He pursued us through the radical act of sacrificing His Son. God’s love is unmatched and far greater than any box of chocolates or bouquet of flowers.

And even more astounding is that God demonstrated His lavish and sacrificial love while we were sinners. He pursued us while we weren’t thinking about Him. His actions on our behalf overshadow the man on the white horse. Once and for all, God valiantly saved humankind from the spiritual villain Satan when we were in distress.

But God’s pursuit of us did not end with Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection. For all our days, He will continue to pursue us with His unexplainable love.

If you long to be romanced and pursued, may this be an encouragement: You are the object of God’s affection. He has relentlessly pursued and will continue to pursue you.

Dear God, thank You for pursuing me. Continue to remind me of Your steadfast love for all my days. Help me to rest in the fact that I am lavishly loved by You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Finding Clear Guidance..Dr. Charles Stanley

 Finding Clear Guidance

Dr. Charles Stanley

Psalms 25:12

How can you be sure you’re making the right decision? Sometimes it may seem as if God plays hide and seek when we’re trying to know His will, but that’s not the way He operates. He wants to give us clear direction. The real question is, What do you need to do to hear His voice?

Clear the pathway. We have two main obstacles that hinder our discernment: sin in our life, and our own strong desires about the situation. To receive the Lord’s guidance, we must repent of all known sin and make our desires secondary to His.

Exercise patience. Sometimes it takes a great deal of strength to stand still when everything within you is shouting, “Hurry! Time is running out!” But if you rush ahead of God, you may miss His will.

Persist in prayer. The Bible clearly instructs us to keep coming to the Lord with our concerns. As we continue to pray, He will gradually weed out anything confusing until we come to His conclusion about the matter.

Search the Scriptures. The Word of God has an answer for every need, and the Holy Spirit knows just how to point us in the right direction. I remember times while I was reading the Bible that a verse jumped off the page and supplied the exact answer I needed to make an important decision.

So often when we’re faced with a critical choice, all we want from the Lord is a quick answer. But He delights to meet with us in order to deepen our relationship with Him. Don’t let the urgency of your need keep you from enjoying the intimacy of His presence as you seek His will.

He Makes Beautiful Things..Amanda Idleman

 He Makes Beautiful Things

By Amanda Idleman

Ecclesiastes 3:11, "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."

God is doing the work of creating beauty not perfection. A part of the Christian faith looks like growth, change, and obedience. We are always looking to our Savior asking him to make us more like Him. If we are not careful this holy process of sanctification can quickly transform into us striving for perfection. We stop relying on God as the one that creates new things out of our lives and start believing that by our own strength we can become “good enough” to earn our own salvation.

Shame and guilt can distract us from the work of grace that God is doing in our lives. When all we see is how we are less than perfect, we can get distracted from the hope that is alive in our world. Our hope is that He makes beauty from our ashes.

As a parent I fall short yet amazingly I can behold so much beauty in the lives of my children everyday. As a wife I make mistakes, oftentimes over and over again, yet the perseverance and love that is enduring in our home is stunning. In my friendships and with my family, I don’t always have the right words but I am grateful for the way the stories of our lives are being written together. As a Christ-Follower, I often fall short and lack wisdom but God is still doing a good work in my life.

Our hearts can be encouraged by the knowledge that even though the headlines in our world and sometimes the headlining thoughts in our minds are filled with negativity, ugliness, and darkness; God is still alive and active in our world. His light is illuminating the dark places, showing his ability to redeem his fallen creation. He has not given up on us.

Genesis tells us the story of how God formed our world. When he finished and finally breathed life into his creation, he paused to say “It is good” (Genesis 1:31). This world began as something good but soon sin and death entered the scene and began to cast a shadow on God’s work. Since then the story of the world has been God coming down to Earth doing all he can to rescue, redeem, and illuminate his fallen creation. Beauty is being made of us despite our fallen nature.

The book of Revelation tells us that one day God’s beauty will be forever in our sights. We won’t have to struggle under the shadow that evil casts on this world. The new Heaven and new Earth will be our eternal home, with our God set securely on his throne of grace (Revelation 21). Our souls long for such a peace filled day! For now, we are a part of his work to bring His Kingdom down. His Kingdom is a place of creativity, beauty, light, and vibrance. Let’s be those that look for that beauty everyday, fighting against the urge to fixate on the problems.

May the Holy Spirit illuminate the beauty of God’s creation for you. He is making everything beautiful in his perfect timing. He offers hope, peace, joy, healing, redemption, reconciliation, and comfort to his children even in our profound brokenness. His grace is enough for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Intersecting Faith and Life:
Pause and journal about the ways you have seen God’s beauty around you. Write down ways God has brought healing even when you have failed. Recount how he has protected you when you faced a dangerous situation. Think of how God has taught you and grown your character during a difficult season. Note how God’s creativity and beauty is on display in creation and the people in your life. Perfection is not required for beauty to exist.

What it Means to be “Holy for I Am Holy”..Aretha Grant

 What it Means to be “Holy for I Am Holy”

By Aretha Grant

“But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, ‘Be ye holy; for I am holy,’” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

What’s meant by “holy” in 1 Peter 1:15-16? The word translated “holy” means sacred, morally blameless, consecrated, saint (see Strong’s G40 for more). God is looking for some people who are consecrated or set apart for His use. And He knows who those holy ones should be because He chose us (Ephesians 1:4) and called us to be holy for His purpose (2 Timothy 1:9).

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Ephesians 1:4).

“He has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.” (2 Timothy 1:9).

The King James Version of 1 Peter 1:15 uses the word “conversation.” The word translated “conversation” means behavior. The verse is saying our manner of life or behavior, should reflect holiness because God is holy.

Our lifestyles should be distinguishable from unbelievers and match our profession of faith. But it’s not easy, is it? In a day and age in which any and everything goes, Christians are constantly facing temptations to live in a manner which isn’t pleasing to God. Although ungodly living is encouraged, embraced, and expected in the world today, God’s Word stands as a beacon of hope, life, and instruction to Christians.

Just because the world says ungodly living is ok doesn’t mean the Lord says it’s ok. The Lord expects us to be holy because He is holy and abides in us.

Jesus Christ is the perfect example of one who walked in holiness. If we look at how He lived and exemplified holiness, we see a life committed to honoring God, showing love, honoring parents, serving others, and keeping the body holy.

Being holy isn’t natural, and it isn’t something we can do under our own strength. Walking in holiness requires the Holy Spirit received when we become “new creations.” When we accept the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts, we become new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). Holiness is only possible when we are put on the new self and live life as the new creatures God ordained us to be. Although holiness isn’t natural to us, we are instructed in Scripture to follow or pursue holiness.

We should look for opportunities to be holy. Being holy may mean:

• Not listening to the same music as our family and friends or watching the same television programs.
• Holiness may involve changing the way we dress, think, or respond to temptations.
• Most certainly, holiness means being set apart for the Master’s use.

Walking in true holiness means being like our Father.

A Prayer to Delight Yourself in the Lord..Victoria Riollano

 A Prayer to Delight Yourself in the Lord

By Victoria Riollano

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Proverbs 37:4

I have to be honest. There are many things that bring me delight. The sound of a baby’s laugh. The gritty feeling of sand under my feet at a bright blue beach. A warm hug from one of my children. The words, “I love you,” as they flow from the lips of my husband.

The smell of fresh brownies, the sound of my favorite worship band, and seeing long-lost friends can create moments of intense joy. The truth is, I have mastered the art of finding happiness in everyday external pleasures. Yet, when I first read the words “Delight yourself in the Lord,” I was met with unexpected questions. What does it mean to find delight or extreme excitement as it concerns the Lord? 

If I can be honest, for many years, how I viewed the Lord at any given moment was based on my external circumstances. When things were going well, I was thrilled to brag about Him and tell others about His goodness. Yet, when things were more difficult and my expectations weren’t met, I wondered where the Lord was in this situation. Did He not see my peril or care about my struggles? In these moments, when I lost loved ones, when sickness struck my home, when friends were no longer friends, year after year, I made the choice to no longer delight.

After years of choosing to have joy in the Lord, only when He was following my lead the Lord brought conviction. My ways were like a child who loved a parent only when it was convenient. As a mother, this broke my heart as I realized the error of being a Christian who used God for his blessings but rejected Him when corrections or even trials arose. This is not delighting in the Lord. 

Today, my prayer for you is that you find your joy in the Lord. No matter what the situation looks like around you, you make the choice to run to Him. I have found over, and over that when we choose to love the Lord not for what He can do or is doing in our lives but for the essence of who He is, we can’t help but delight in Him. For, He is the one who gave us breath in our bodies. He is the one who knows our thoughts and who has a plan for our lives. He is the one who died for us that we may have eternal life. The Lord is a constant, our comfort, and though He is majestic enough to put the stars in the sky, He calls us friends. This, my friend should bring us unspeakable joy. May we delight in you all the days of our lives, in Jesus' name!

Let’s pray.

Lord, I thank you for who you are. I praise your wonderful works. For you are the Creator of all, yet so intimately near. Forgive me for the times that I’ve made you an afterthought. Teach me to come to you with the humility and joy of a child. God, show me the times when I become more excited about worldly pleasures than following your will. Father, I delight in you. Help me to never forget just how good you are. In Jesus' Name. Amen.