Mark 4

Mark 4:1-20 - Parable of the Sower
1 - Satan steals the word of God from people's hearts so he can keep them away from fruitfulness. I think many of us get caught up in the idea that Satan is some mischievous little red guy on our shoulder or some gremlin just trying to mess things up. He is not. He is the worst kind of enemy there is. His heart is set not just on your destruction, but on as much pain as he can inflict along the way. His primary way of ruining a life is to separate someone from the word of God, so that they have no hope. We need to fight for the word of God in our own life and in the lives of others. The word of God will bring the truth of God which will set people free. We have to quit trying fancy techniques to save people and just get back to the one thing we know works - give people God's word and do everything we can to protect it in their lives.

2 - No roots means you are not going to make it in faith when troubles and persecutions come, and they will come. You cannot accept Jesus and be inactive about it. It takes an effort to grow and develop deep roots, because trouble will come. I have a friend who no sooner than he accepted Christ he was given an "opportunity" which has come with so much pressure it is killing his faith. We have to help people do the hard work from the moment they accept Christ instead of acting like they have time. Every person that says yes to Jesus should be protected with prayer and taught how to put together a deep life in Christ at the outset and not years later. By the time years later comes around their faith is dead inside of them.

3 - Unfruitful because of worry, deceitfulness of wealth and desire for other things will kill/choke out your faith. You have to keep a tight rein on your desires, your dreams, your wishes and you wants. A person can see a good faith choked out in minutes if they don't give Christ control of their hearts. You can faithfully follow for years and then let greed or materialism or worry or something else creep in and then your faith is choked out and you are left with nothing. Zealously fight for a pure heart and put up precautions all over your life so you don't fall here.

4 - Good soil = fruitfulness. If you are producing fruit you have good soil and if you are not there is a problem with the soil. (Soil = your heart and mind.) Weed your life. Fertilize it to make it healthy. Till it up from time to time to make sure it isn't getting hard. Water it with grace and worship and service. Pay attention and work hard. No successful farmer sits back and waits for the plants to plant and grow themselves. He does everything in his power while relying on God. Become active in weeding and preparing your life for God to move.

4:21 - Light is mean for a stand. The modern idea is to hide your light because it is somehow offensive to others, that is offensive to God. We need to choose who we would rather offend.

4:22 - ... With the measure you use, it will be measured to you - and even more. - Scary and awesome. I need to use a greater measure of grace and love and a lesser measure of criticism and selfishness. What about you?

4:26-29 - We scatter the seed --- God grows the seed --- We harvest the crop. I find myself obsessing about the growing part and yet the most faithful part of the formula is God. I need to focus on planting and harvesting what god grows.

4:38 - ... don't you care? ... (4:40) no faith - I am always amazed at this event. The disciples did what we do when we are in trouble - they believed their circumstances more than they believed their Lord and God. Faith is believing more in the character of God than in the circumstances around you. Faith is trusting Jesus when death is certain because you believe He is truer than what you fear. I wish we could see how different life would be if we trusted the character and nature of Jesus even when He seems to be sleeping more than we trust the things we see and feel.

Love, Michael