Luke 8:15

Luke 8:15 - But the good soil stands for those with a noble heart, who hear the word, retain it and by persevering produce a crop.

In this passage Jesus is alone with His disciples explaining to them a parable He had just finished teaching to the crowd. In this story Jesus spoke of seed that was sown in the field. As it was scattered, the seed landed on one of four different types of soil. First, Jesus speaks of seed falling on the path, which is eaten by the birds. Then He goes on to the rocky soil. Here the plants sprouted, but quickly dried up because they had no root. Next is the thorns. As the seed landed here, plants grew, but were choked out by the weeds. And lastly Jesus speaks of the good soil. Here the seed landed and took root and produced a crop. 

Once alone the disciples ask Jesus to explain this story to them because they did not understand it. As He begins to tell them the meaning of His story He tells them that the seed represents the Word of God and the soils represent mens hearts. Each soil type compares to a man’s heart and how they react when they hear the Word of God. Some men hear the Word, but the devil immediately steals it away before it can take root. Other’s hear it and get excited, but it’s not rooted, so once a test or trial comes they fall away. Then He explains the seed among the thorns. These people hear the word, but the worries and stresses of life end up “choking” it away. Lastly, Jesus speaks of the seed that fell on good soil. This soil represents “those with a noble and good heart.” 

That should be our goal. We should desire our heart to be like the good soil. Our goal should be to produce a crop. Only God can mold and shape our hearts so that we are ready to receive the Word, but it is our choice to let Him. He won’t do anything without us asking Him to. It is our decision to open ourselves up to God, so that He can work in us. In the Psalms David prayed, “Create in me a pure heart.” While Jesus has already created a new heart in us when we received Him, we should still ask that He purify our heart, due to the sin we sometimes let in. That should be our prayer everyday as we seek to know God more and strive to reflect His glory in all we do.

Now comes the hard part. Jesus didn’t say that the good soil automatically produced a crop. Once our hearts are ready, we receive the Word and it grows in us. In order to produce a crop, though, Jesus says we have to persevere. So we know that it will not always be easy. There will be trials and hard times that we will have to push through. We do not have to do it alone, though. Thank God for Jesus, who will always be with us to give us the strength we need to make it, no matter the circumstance.

Mark 16:17-18

Mark 16:17-18 - And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.

If Jesus said these things will accompany those who believe, why do we not see them more in the church today? Why do we not see the sick healed, demons cast out, or even speaking in new tongues? We have the Spirit of God in us, why are we not seeing the signs that are “supposed” to come with it? There are many different ways people try to explain this away.

Some say that this was a “bible” thing. That it was something that the disciples could do, but once they all left the earth, so did the miracles. Others say that God only selects a few to carry out His miracles on earth. These are both misconceptions. They are excuses to explain away why we can’t see these things in our lives. That is human nature. We don’t see them in our lives, so we try to point the finger at something else, instead of looking at ourselves.

Jesus said that if you believe you will have these signs accompany you. He puts no limits on it. All it takes is Faith. If you are not seeing these things in your life it’s time to start looking at yourself. Stop pointing fingers elsewhere and start working on your faith. The bible says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. Get in the Word, that’s where we should begin. Saturate yourself with the Truth and Power of God's Word. Then pray. Pray and ask God to help your unbelief. These signs will accompany you, you just have to believe it amd let God's power flow through you.

Mark 13:31

Mark 13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

In this chapter Jesus begins telling His disciples about the end times and what things to look for to know it is coming. He lays it out for them and tells them to keep watch. Of course this message applies to us as well since we are also His disciples. We, as disciples and followers of Christ must keep watch. No one knows the day or the hour of Christ’s return except God Himself and we need to be ready.

What I want to point out in this passage is that right in the middle of Jesus telling us about all the negative and bad things that are coming He gives us hope, something to hold onto. He’s telling us how the only way we are going to survive the bad is that He will cut it short and come for us. Then He goes on to say, “Heaven and earth will pass away. So all we know and have worked for in the natural will be gone.

Then Jesus gives us a “but”. Anytime anything bad happens God “buts” in with something good. These are going to be trying times, “but my Words will never pass away” Jesus says. All else in heaven and and earth will be gone, but His words will never pass away. We have a hope to cling to. Everything that Jesus has said is true. Every Word He spoke, every promise that was made, they will never change. We know that our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His Words are the same as well. What He said yesterday is still true today. It will still be true tomorrow, and till the end of time. So, we know that trouble is coming and we need to prepare for it. Hang onto the one thing that will never change, God’s Word. It is truth and will last forever.

Mark 12:30

Mark 12:30 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

There are 10 commandments and hundreds of other laws in the Old testament that tell us what do. When Jesus is asked what the greatest is He throws this at them; Love God, Love people. In two commandments He sums up every other one that was ever written.
Love is the ultimate command. If you Love God then you will honor Him, respect Him, and listen to His Words. When you Love someone you want to make them happy, you want to do the things they ask. As we learn to Love God more we will want to follow His commands, instead following them because we have to. We've had the rules, but with Love we have the relationship that makes the rules worth following.
The second command is very similar, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Most the commands and rules are set up for either honoring and respecting God and making Him number one in our lives, or honoring and respecting people and treating them as God treats them. When we have Love for someone, it gives us the fuel we need to obey these commands. Instead of a chore it becomes easy. When you walk in the Love of God you no longer have to think about treating others well, you just do, because you Love them.