Good Morning!
Today I am beginning a new trend for myself in an effort to draw closer to the Lord. It is something I have always wanted to do but always let other things get in the way. I do go to church on occasion. I also read the bible less often than that. For a Christian wanting to grow and mature in Christ, treating both my walk with the Lord and my deeper understanding of his word as an afterthought is something of an insult to the one who saved me. Now I do pray & I do thank the Lord everyday. However, my prayer life is sad as well. Can you see a pattern of negativity? Well, I am not one to dwell in it so I seek to change it.
Before I started searching for the message the Lord wanted for me today, I sat and just prayed. I prayed a prayer of thanks for all he has done for me. I thanked him for bringing to light the state of my health and providing me a path to fix it. I thanked him for giving me this day to walk in his word and draw closer to him. I went down a list of things to thank him for - from my family & friends to making me an American & letting me experience the freedom of sharing & practicing his word. From there, I asked him to show me the message he would like me to know & learn today. Boy, did he answer my prayer!
In the past, I have come across sites speaking about the Proverbs 31 woman. I figured that would be a perfect jumping point to search for the Lord's message as it always stood out to me. I found proverbs31.org and looked at their team of writers. Each writer has a bio & their own blog. I chose today to look at Lysa Terkeurst's blog. When I want to dig deeper into the Lord's word, what I often found works for me is reading someone's blog as a life lesson & then taking the verses which inspired them & reading them in their context. From there, I gather my own lesson from the very words of the Lord himself.
As I have said, my bible study is dismal, so I do not have a strong working knowledge of which books & chapters speak what. I know stories & I remember verses from when I was in high school but anything beyond that is lacking. So when I found Lysa's blog entry which spoke mostly through Luke, Chapter 8 - I decided to read the chapter in it's entirety.
This chapter opened up to me, I feel the Lord spoke to me and showed me exactly the words I needed to hear during this season of my life. It described Jesus healing those thought to be impossible to heal. It described of having strong faith in the word & the belief in the Lord that will heal you. I wrote down a few verses which really resonated with me. Today I will share with you one of the verses which gave me so much perspective.
Luke 8:11-15: "11. This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12. Those along the path are the ones who hear & the devil comes & takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe & be saved. 13. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches & pleasures, & they do not mature. 15. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble & good heart, who hear the word, retain it & by persevering produce a crop."
WOW! Isn't that so powerful? I remember this verse from when I was a freshman in high school but that isn't why this verse spoke to me. When I read over the parable, I realized where I use to be, where I currently am, & where I want to be. If I look back on my life, I can say when I was in my teens to mid-20s, I was definitely the one who was planted on rocky ground. I would hear his word, I would know it was true but I never applied his teaching. During the time of testing, I would look to everywhere else but him to answer my problems.
As I progressed out of my mid-20's, I began coming back to the Lord more. I began strengthening my prayer life & started going back to church on a more regular basis. Learning to be a stronger Christian, I was trying to let my old habits die. As anyone knows, old habits die hard. I was coming out of the rocky ground but I was beginning to be choked by the thorns. I knew the Lord's word was always there. I knew I could always turn to the Lord in times of trials and worries. Instead, I chose to be frozen in life's worries, stress & problems. I chose to seek after getting ahead in life & trying to secure a nice home to live or vehicle to drive. I even sought to get ahead just enough where Jason and I could be comfortable. But when is enough? It never is. Instead it just led me down a road of unhappiness & a life full of worry & empty pursuits. I heard the Lord's word but I did not listen. For that, we crashed & we crashed hard. The Lord sought to humble us in the most uncomfortable way. That is for another post, but I want you to know I would never change the trials and challenges we have faced. It is in this time of trial, we have begun to mature in the Lord & his word.
In reading the verses in Luke 8:11-15, I was able to see so much wisdom spill forth. I can see the path of where I was & all I have gone through. I can see through the different seasons how the Lord is shaping me & maturing me into his faithful follower. I can clearly see the path to where I am heading. I am heading to good soil my friends! This life as a Christian is a journey & I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Can you relate? Do you know where you are in this parable? What can you do to grow in good soil & stay there? I would love to hear your stories & input. It may help me and many others in their own walks with the Lord.
Mahalo,
Brittany Bowman
P.S. There are 2 parts to this entry. Click here to read part 2.
