Seedtime and Harvest

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching for that title. You might start with 'Welcome,' the first post, dated November 12, 2008, in the archives, where I introduce myself and the blog.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Devotions: Ps 45, 47, 48; 1 Sam 25:1-22; Acts 14:1-18; Mk 4:21-34

Jesus is my King. Lord, You are fairest, most majestic. Ride forth in victory. Your reign is eternal, and God has anointed You with the Spirit, the Oil of gladness. The church is Your bride, adorned for a joyous wedding. All Your children will be gathered to Your household! Let all God’s people clap their hands; let all shout to God with a voice of triumph, a song of victory. We are God’s heritage, and He is our King and Master. Great is YHWH and greatly to be praised! Let all consider the city of God and stand in awe: this is our God forever.

Samuel died and was buried in Ramah, and David, after mourning the prophet, relocated to the wilderness of Paran. A rich man named Nabal was having his extensive flocks sheared in Carmel. Nabal was churlish, but was married to a beautiful and virtuous woman named Abigail. David heard that Nabal was shearing sheep, and sent ten men to great Nabal in David’s name. They were told to remind Nabal that David and his men had protected Nabal’s shepherds and flocks in the wilderness, and to ask him for something with which to keep the feast day.’ But Nabal rejected their request and claimed to know nothing of David or his men. He sent David’s emissaries away empty handed. When the ten reported to David, he immediately had his men strap on their arms, and he headed back toward Nabal with four hundred armed men. Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s servants told Abigail what had happened, and let her know that ill-natured Nabal had put himself and all he owned in peril. Iimmediately, Abigail assembled a generous offering of bread, wine, dressed sheep, grain, raisins and figs, and sent them ahead of her on donkeys. She set out to meet David and to try to forestall his coming attack. For David had determined to wipe out Nabal and every male in his household and estate.

As Paul and Barnabas continued their first missionary journey, they came to Iconium and went into the synagogue. Unbelieving Jews opposed them, and tried to poison the Gentiles’ minds against the Christian brothers. They remained there a long time, speaking and teaching God’s words of grace, and manifesting God’s love, truth, and power by the signs and wonders God enabled the missionaries to perform. The people were divided, some with the Jews, some with the apostles. When some of their enemies plotted to molest and stone the apostles, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe in the region of Lycaonia, where they preached the gospel. In Lystra, they encountered a many crippled from birth. The man listened intently to the message, and when Paul noticed that he had faith to be healed, Paul spoke loudly to the man: ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And he sprang up and walked! The crowds witnessing this began to proclaim that gods had come among them in human likeness; they called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, since Paul did most of the speaking. The priest of Zeus’ temple in Lystra brought oxen and garlands to the city gates, preparing to offer a sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul. But they tore their robes and protested: ‘Please folks, don’t do this! We are mortal men, just like you. Our message is that you should turn from such vanities and worship the living God Who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them. In the past, God let every people go their own way, but He has made His witness plain everywhere: He does good things; He sends the rain and fruitful seasons, satisfying you with food and with gladness.’ They were barely able to restrain the people from offering sacrifice to them.

Jesus was teaching His committed disciples: ‘Don’t we bring in lamps to sit on their stands and provide illumination? We don’t put them under a basket or a bed, do we? What is now concealed will be revealed; what is secret now will come to light. So hear and heed. The measure you give will be the measure you receive—and God will give even more! To those who accept what God offers, He will give even more; from those who receive not, even the little they already have will be taken from them. God’s kingdom is like a man scattering seed; he does his part, casting the seed upon the ground, then goes his way. The future of the seed is in God’s hands; as the man goes through his daily routines, the seed sprouts and grows and bears fruit: first the blade, then the ear, then full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once the farmer puts in the sickle and reaps, because the harvest has come. What other parable illustrates God’s kingdom? It is like a single grain of mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds when it is sown; yet when it grows, the tiny seed becomes the greatest of shrubs, putting forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can nest in its shade.’ Jesus used many such parables as He spoke; then in private, He explained everything to His own disciples.