Day 8
Gleaning Gold:
~Matthew 13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Nuggets of Truth:
I love how Christ used word pictures, don’t you? His teachings were always very clear because they appealed to the senses. Everyone of His day knew how to garden or had someone at home who knew how to garden.
Good soil just does not happen. It takes nurturing by the gardener: weeding, cultivating, fertilizing, etc. As we cultivate our hearts, we need to remove the weeds which can overtake us. Worldliness is the weed in the believer’s life. Fertilizing our hearts with God’s Word will most assuredly bring good soil and will most assuredly yield bountiful fruit.
We are exhorted to read and study God’s Word many times:
~Matthew 21:42a Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures,
~John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
~2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
~Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
~Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Why do you think it is so important to read and study the Bible? First, it is there that you will find eternal life! That’s the foremost reason. Secondly, it is in the Word that we learn how to apply its teachings to our lives. The Word provides everything we need for day-to-day living and how to deal with each trial and circumstance that comes our way. We receive comfort, patience, peace and in turn we have hope. Thirdly, the Word provides us with a foundation for our beliefs so we are able to recognize false doctrine when it is presented to us.
Refining the Gold
~Luke 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
~2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
God opens our hearts at the time of salvation by giving us the Holy Spirit. It is He who gives us understanding of the Scriptures. The unsaved cannot understand. In fact, they “wrest” the Scriptures, meaning they pervert the Scriptures. Our last two verses make it quite clear as to why this is so. The believer receives understanding of the Scriptures because God is the one who opens their understanding. The unbeliever does not possess the Holy Spirit and, therefore, pervert the Word of God and twist it to mean whatever they want.
God’s Word is final.
~Psalm 119:89 LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
valorie
Good Afternoon Kate:
The Lord has blessed me immensely by bringing your website and blog across my path.
I have been a Christian for many years but I also have been tossed two and fro and been quite confused over the years, by many false teachings
I have been looking for a bible study written by a Christian lady whom uses the KJ bible to help me as I study Gods word.
I am so hungry to learn and grow in Gods word and I have found the amount of studies and devotions you have written are truly a gift to help me.
In Christ
Valorie
Kate Plourde
Good morning, Valorie! Thank you for stopping by and checking out my blog. I hope you find what you are looking for amongst the devotionals I have on here. I also have a discipleship series that is not on this blog but we can do through email, should you be interested. I’d be happy to do that with you. I’m glad you dropped by and I pray that you will be blessed by what is here. Let’s connect by email OK? I’ll email you shortly 🙂
Awaiting His Return,
Kate