October 6
Matthew 13:10-23; Luke 8:9-18; Mark 4:21-29; Matthew 13:24-30; Mark 4:30-34; Matthew 13:31-52; Mark 4:35-41; Matthew 8:23-27; Luke 8:22-25
How much of your past do you hold onto to identify yourself? How open are you to change? How strong is your desire to allow God to change you and work through you? These are important questions which beg for an answer. God can fill empty vessels, can mold pliable clay, and can change individuals who are willing to submit realizing their need for change. For years I held onto things. I did well in school and became a doctor. Though this is still my profession, it no longer defines me. In fact, one of the most freeing things in my walk with God was when I realized that I'm just not that smart. Once I saw myself in comparison to a perfect and omniscient, or all-knowing God, my so-called intelligence is laughable. Though I was raised in the Episcopal faith, this no longer defines me. As I truly entered into a relationship with God, I allowed Him to direct my steps to my current place of worship (Calvary Chapel of Old Bridge). I was raised in Brooklyn, but this no longer defines me. My nationalities are German, English, Swedish, and Irish, but these no longer define me. I am a husband and a father, and though I cherish these roles, once I planted myself under submission to God, I allowed Him to reshape me in these roles. So, in reality I consider myself nothing without Him. My desire is to shed everything that is not of Him, so that I can take on more of Him, and glorify Him. I still have a long way to go in this process, but this is my heart's desire. When you pick up the word of God, do you allow it to shape you and transform you? This is not a James Patterson action book, or a Danielle Steele love novel which is spoon fed to you. This is a book which is timeless and transformative, if you allow it to be.
No one could mistake the miracles that Jesus was doing. But for many this is all that they came for. Something was wrong in their lives: blindness, deafness, disease, etc., and they wanted it changed. It was not that they wanted anything else to change, they wanted that "thing" changed. We read in John 2:23-24, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,...". So, Jesus explained why He spoke in parables in Matthew 13:13-15, "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’" But to those who had faith, to those who had a desire to be transformed, we read in 13:16-17, "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." Realize that both groups heard the same teaching, the difference being some were open, others were closed.
As you go through the parables, take your time, as this is not the time to speed read. Many things are not what they seem at first glance. Jesus explains a couple of them for us (The Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares), but for others we must meditate upon them. When we read the Parable of the Mustard Seed, in Matthew 13:31-32, "Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”, this speaks of abnormal church growth, as birds symbolize evil (demonic emissaries, as depicted in Matthew 13:4, 19). This is a warning of future churches which compromise with God's truth and allow themselves to become a haven for all sorts of evil to become intertwined. God wants you. But are you willing to give Him you? We can learn a great deal from how David opens up Psalm 18:1-3, "I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;...". We can learn a great deal from how Solomon opens up Proverbs 4:1, "Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding;". May we seek Him in quietness, devoid of distractions, not rushed, seeing our need to be filled by Him. May we choose a time in His Word that we can then spend time throughout the day meditating and ruminating upon what we were taught. He is more than willing to fill, those who realize their need to be filled.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: