Tilling the Soil of the Heart: The Body of Christ..Craig Denison Ministries

 Tilling the Soil of the Heart: The Body of Christ

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:“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Romans 12:4-5

Devotional:

One of the most useful gifts God has given us for making our hearts receptive to him is each other. The church is both a beautiful and broken group of people. Beautiful because of the grace of God working in each of us making us more like Jesus. Broken because we have yet to walk in the fullness of what Christ did for us on the cross. Most of us have been wounded by something that happened in a church. Most of us have felt anger, frustration, or annoyance with a fellow believer. But if we are to walk in the fullness of what God intends for us here on earth, we must continually forgive and ask forgiveness from each other, submit ourselves to a group of Christ followers, and share life with believers in accordance with God’s word.

The Bible is clear that the best place for us to thrive is in community with fellow believers. Romans 12:5 teaches us that we are all “one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” And Ephesians 4:15-16 teaches us that “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” We need each other. We’re joined together as the body of Christ made to function as one—both for our edification and the fulfillment of God’s eternal purposes in the world.

In order to make the soil of your heart soft and receptive to God, you must have help from those God has placed around you. We are created to worship with the body of Christ for all eternity, and that includes right now! Don’t wait to live out the promises of God. The church is not perfect, but it is God’s Bride. His desire is for his people, and he loves to pour out his presence in unique and specific ways when we gather together. There is edification you need that can only take place in the presence of fellow believers. There is blessing that can only be received when you open your heart to the family of God. We all have wounds; we all need grace; we all need each other. The very person who most annoys you might need you the most. Just as you need what fellow believers around you have to offer you, others need who God has uniquely designed you to be.

God asks us to humble ourselves before him and each other. Philippians 2:3 teaches us to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” When you humble yourself, you will find a peace that is never available in living for your own ambitions. When you submit yourself to imperfect people, you give away your sense of entitlement and find the grace of God that’s poured out on those who truly count others as more significant than themselves. It’s in the submission to others and giving away of our own rights that the soil of our heart is made soft and receptive to God. It’s in spending time with fellow imperfect people that we become edified and are spurred on toward spending more time with God.

Often it’s in the extending of grace and forgiveness to each other that we become most like Christ, the one who suffered and died in the ultimate act of humility to we who are unworthy. Offer love to those who don’t deserve it. Place yourself in community with those who are imperfect. Open your heart to those who might not treat you with perfect kindness. Find your unique place in the body and serve the community God has placed you in with faithfulness so that you might be fashioned in the likeness of Christ.                       

Guided Prayer:

1. Ask God to show you the community he would have you be a part of.Whether this answer comes immediately or through seeking and visiting churches, trust that God will guide you to the local body he has planned for you.

2. Ask God to show you your place in the community.This will change over time, so it’s good to continually ask God this question, especially if you feel out of place.

3. Now ask God to show you how he feels about the church.We aren’t meant to live and love out of our own strength. Instead, we are to seek God’s heart for his people and align ourselves with him.

God’s desire for the church is vast and powerful. He has loved his people in perfect faithfulness despite all our transgressions and wandering. When we fail to show grace and love to those around us, we fail to live out of God’s heart for his people. If you want to live a life as near to God’s heart as possible you must search him out with the rest of his body. One day we will all be made perfect and be able to worship together face to face with the living God. One day, every tribe, tongue and nation will declare together the wonders of God’s amazing love. Live in light of eternity today. Worship here as you will in heaven, and watch as heaven invades earth around you with the glory and love of God.

Extended Reading: Ephesians 4

Comparison Is a Trap..Betsy St. Amant Haddox

Comparison Is a Trap (Hebrews 12:1)
By: Betsy St. Amant Haddox

Hebrews 12:1 (ESV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us… 

Comparison is an ugly manipulator, destined to destroy—and it goes hand in hand with envy. No good comes from comparing yourself to someone else. It’s easy to do, of course—maybe you’re hyper aware of your neighbor’s manicured lawn while your own front yard is covered in brown spots. Or maybe your best friend got the new SUV you’d been eyeing but couldn’t afford, or your co-worker got chosen for the big promotion. You look at them and think, why not me?

You immediately began creating a list in your mind of all the ways you’re superior and should have gotten it. Or perhaps you instead began to beat yourself up, charting the ways you’ve messed up and that’s surely why you were passed over. 

Thoughts like that are only an endless, dark pit of the mind - one into which the devil loves nudging Christians. If he can’t have our security and eternal souls, he sure enough tries to steal our joy and tempt us into as much sin as possible in the meantime.

Think about this- if we’re so busy comparing ourselves to others around us, if we’re so consumed with seeing if we measure up or somehow condemning them if we don’t, we’re sure not focused on telling those people about the Gospel. If our hearts are eaten up with “less than” and discontent, we’re not thinking about anything holy or eternal or Kingdom-minded. Yikes! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be guilty about that. I don’t want the devil to win that battle.

Here’s what the Bible says about being content:

Philippians 4:12-13 (ESV) I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

1 Timothy 6:6 (ESV) But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Here’s the thing about comparison - you’ll never come out pride-free. Either you’ll fancy yourself better in some way and therefore entertain pride, or you’ll consider yourself lacking and invite pride to dwell in the form of a self-obsessed pity-party. (and trust me, no one RSVP's to those events!) There’s nothing attractive or edifying about either of those paths.

Consider the words of Paul in Galatians 5:7 (ESV) You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? When we look away from our path - when we cast our eyes away from the Lord and from Truth - we run out of our lane. We sway and swerve and stumble over the lies of the enemy.

We would do well to heed the warning in these Scriptures instead and turn our eyes toward Christ, the only Source of trust contentment - and the only true escape from the comparison trap.

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.

A Prayer during a Season of Waiting..Kyle Norman

 A Prayer during a Season of Waiting

By Kyle Norman

“I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry.” (Psalm 40:1)

On a scale of 1 to 10, how patient are you? Do you greet long line-ups with ease? Do you sit in traffic jams in a state of quiet contentment? If you are like me, probably not. Instead of patience and calm reserve, times of waiting can be met with upset and anxiety. Waiting can be frustrating and annoying, even in the life of faith. How, then, do we respond to David’s description of patiently waiting before the Lord? Are we condemned if we find waiting difficult? Does our impatience reveal a lack of faith in God or a lack of trust in God’s provisions? No.

Waiting is not a negation of faith. In fact, while the English translations often render this verse as “I waited patiently for the Lord,” this is not exactly what David writes. The Hebrew text is much more expressive. Literally, this verse says, “I waited, and I waited, for the Lord.” Can you hear those strained emotions? Do you recognize the echo of difficulty and strain? This verse doesn’t describe David sitting in the lotus position with his eyes closed and his palms outstretched. David remembers his time of waiting and how it felt drawn out and prolonged.

One of the hard truths about our life of faith is that God never promises us instant gratification. Faith doesn’t mean ease; it doesn’t mean prosperity; it doesn’t mean a problem-free life. Despite praying for something good and holy, our prayers may not be realized right away. Waiting is not a negation of God’s promises. The journey of faith, for everyone involved, involves times of wrestling and waiting. 

Are you going through a time of waiting? Are you longing for one of God’s promises to be revealed in your life? Have you prayed for a healing that has yet to arrive? The good news is that, as hard as the waiting may be, this isn’t the whole story. David says, “he turned to me and heard my cry.” Ultimately, we have a Lord who hears us. God is never deaf to our cries nor blind to what we go through. Like a parent who reaches down to take the hand of an infant, God actively and lovingly reaches out to us. 

Times of waiting, therefore, are times when we are called to trust that Jesus is there and that Jesus is working, even if we don’t see it. Our external circumstance doesn’t dictate God’s love for us or God’s presence. The incarnation testifies that there is always hope; there is always promise. This is because the full redemption of our lives isn’t found in the satisfaction of wants and wishes but in the abiding presence of our Lord. 

This may sound strange, but a season of waiting may provide the opportunity for us to testify to God’s goodness. Waiting can even be a positive experience. It is through the periods of waiting that we experience God’s power doing “infinitely more than we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). David’s witness to the power of God in his life was enhanced by his waiting, and it fueled his testimony. Later in the Psalm, David expresses how he would “not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly” (vs. 10). David’s experience of waiting, and his experience of the Lord in response to that waiting, is proclaimed to the people of faith. David’s story is told to inspire others to remain faithful to God in the midst of their waiting. 

In a similar way, our story of waiting is part of our witness. Waiting opens us to ministry. Waiting provides the opportunity for us to experience the delights of God in sometimes miraculous ways. Our season of waiting, therefore, should not be looked down upon or condemned. Rather it should be lifted up and celebrated. As we hold ourselves open to God’s loving presence, we may just find ourselves experiencing the promises of God in a profound way. This, then, becomes an inspiration and an encouragement to others. 

How might Jesus be asking you to use your time of waiting for His purposes?

Let us pray:

Lord of all time and space, I give to you this season of waiting. I ask that you use this time for your purposes. Where I am tempted to be frustrated or angered, may you bestow peace. Where I am tempted to long for my own will, help me desire yours; where I am tempted to desire only my satisfactions, turn my attention to the presence of my Savior. Help me wait with you, in you, and for you.

Dearest Jesus, I pray that this season of waiting be one where I grow in steadfast faith. Help me to hold onto your promises in joyous hope, and even if I don’t see your promise revealed in this moment, help me to trust in your goodness, your grace, and your love.

In this time of waiting, I pray that you give me a deeper vision of your presence. Help me, O Lord, to recognize the movement of your hand and the gentle guiding of your Spirit. Equip me with the gifts I need to proclaim your word and show forth your goodness. May my testimony increase and my witness extend as a result of this time of waiting. But more than anything, may you be glorified above all things. This I pray in the name of the one in whom I wait. Amen.