Honest and Good Hearts

And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have 

heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, 

and bear fruit with perseverance.

—Luke 8.15—

There are a couple of points to stress from this passage. First of all, as we raise our children and influence our grandchildren, nieces and nephews, let’s remember to instill in them honesty and goodness by our own examples of honesty and goodness. Most of us learn better (more permanently) not by being told what to do, but by being shown what to do.

They need to see these qualities in us that the Lord taught necessary to receiving the word of God (the seed, Luke 8.11). These qualities might be instinctive to some degree—some people seem to be predisposed to being honest and good more than others—but I believe the word of God can change us into becoming honest and good as we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3.18).

Another point to stress from Luke 8.15 is the dire need we have to learn from Jesus and grow in His grace: Jesus urges us all to “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11.29). Learning from Jesus comes by learning about Him as He’s been revealed to us in His word (John 12.44–50), meditating upon it, gleaning from it the wisdom needed, and doing what we have learned by His perfect example (Ephesians 4.20–24). It’s not just about learning what Jesus taught, but also what He did in glorifying His Father.

Jesus is honest and good; therefore, we need to strive for these qualities. It’s not to say that other qualities—love, goodness, kindness, self-control, for example—are not necessary, but these two characteristics (honesty and goodness) are what the Lord explained are needed to receiving the word of God and being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12.1–2).

Bearing fruit with perseverance indicates that we’re bearing fruit (Galatians 5.22–24 / Philippians 1.9–11 / Romans 2.6–7) to God’s glory. “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15.8).

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful (Luke 6.31–36).

And how do we bear fruit? Jesus said, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15.5). As the apostle Paul put it, “Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3.14–17).

Growing in grace means that we’re wholly dependent upon God’s thoughts and ways as He has revealed them to mankind through the apostles and prophets (2 Peter 1.16–21 / Isaiah 55.8–11 / Zechariah 1.4–6 / Ephesians 2.19–20 / 3.4–5).

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2.1–4).

Our call to action is to learn God’s ways and do them: “Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves” (James 1.21–22). Remember, good and honest …

We Are What We Eat

How sweet are Thy words to my taste, 

sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 119:103

We all know, but we may not all appreciate, that we are what we eat. In other words, if we eat a lot of junk food, then we’re going to eventually bear the consequences of that consumption—and it has also been scientifically shown to affect our thinking and attitudes. If we choose to eat a balanced diet, including those veggies (even broccoli?), the benefits of eating better will also be manifested physically, intellectually, and emotionally.

This applies spiritually—we are what we eat. If we consume spiritually-light foods (what I call spiritual cotton candy) then we’re not going to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3:18).

We need to get desperate for God’s food—as Jesus said it, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). God’s grace freely offers us this spiritually rich feast—in the prophet Isaiah’s words: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food” (Isaiah 55:1-2).

Or, as David put it: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23:5).

The idea that we are what we eat can also be shown by what the apostle Peter wrote, when he encouraged us to be like newborns longing “for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3).

One of the problems is that many don’t eat as they should, encouraging personal and thus congregational growth; and if we’re not growing, we’re dying (Ephesians 4:11-16; Revelation 3:1-6). This is an unchanging principle of life.

The writer of Hebrews rebuked his audience for not growing as they should—as would be expected of anyone who follows Christ—because of what they were limiting themselves in consuming and what they were possibly refusing to consuming—“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).

The word of God is for our spiritual benefit—it’s not merely information for us to know things (mere knowledge), but it goes far beyond that in providing us life here and now (true wisdom is using what we know), but most especially into the eternity (John 1:1-5, 14-18; 3:16; 12:44-50). In Jesus’ own words: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal” (John 6:27).

Take special notice of the wonderful words of King David given to him by the Holy Spirit (Psalm 19:9-11)—

The rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

And when David was in the wilderness of Judah, he wrote: “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips” (Psalm 63:3-5).

Again, we are what we eat—and so we need to be careful, deliberate and focused in feeding our souls with the best God has given. God generously provides us the best as He has prepared a table before us where we can feast sumptuously (James 1:5-8; Psalm 23:5). Have we eaten today?

The Posture of Prayer

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father

—Ephesians 3:14—

When the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, nothing is mentioned in the passage about the physical posture (see Luke 11:1–4). This means our physical posture is immaterial: it’s not the primary concern of prayer. When Jesus was asked by His disciples to teach them to pray, He did not say one word about physical posture.

The most important posture for us to take in prayer is not physical, but spiritual — it is the posture of humility (see Isa. 57:15; 66:2; James 4:6–10; 1 Pet. 5:5–7).

God’s word does not impose upon us one kind of posture to assume in praying—bowing down, or bowing the knee is common (2 Chron. 6:13; Psalm 95:6; Matt. 17:14; Mark 1:40; Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60; 9:40; 20:36; Rom. 14:11; Php. 2:10). Other postures are mentioned — standing (Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11–13); falling on our face (Mark 5:33; Luke 17:16).

One brother put it this way: “Bowing the knee is an expression which expresses spiritual attitude much more than physical posture” (Colly Caldwell).

Allow me to make this point — if physical posture matters, then those who are immobilized on beds of affliction because of disease or injury are helpless in prayer. We can’t imagine telling someone who is laid flat on their back in a hospital room that their prayers are going to go unanswered because they cannot kneel or maybe even bow their heads.

The importance of prayer is in the disposition of one’s heart as we pray (see Luke 18:9–14; Matt. 6:5–6).

Give Me the Bible

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb (Psalm 19:10).

Recently, I was reading about a man who collects Bibles. One of his oldest is from sixteenth-century England. The top inch or so of every page is blackened. We might think that this Bible’s pages have simply darkened over time, but what actually happened is that the original owner of the Bible was executed and his Bible was dipped in his blood. These Bibles are identified as Martyrs’ Bibles.

Queen Mary I (1516–1558), popularly known as Bloody Mary, was a murderous Catholic and was beyond determined to end the blight of Protestantism in her kingdom. Ending this religious movement was done by ending the lives of those who would not change. The notion of separation of church and state would no doubt have been influenced by someone as heinous as Bloody Mary.

My point in sharing this story about Martyrs’ Bibles is to show the contrast of our day. We have such easy access to God’s word — in my office I have two dozen hard-copy Bibles plus smartphone and computer apps. At home I probably have another half-dozen. Misplacing or losing one would not be the end of my world, because I have so many.

Would we be willing to die for the knowledge of God’s word? What do the Scriptures mean to us?

David wrote: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:7–11).

Do we believe this about God’s word? Is the Bible more to be desired than gold? Maybe we should ask ourselves: How would our love for God’s word show? Is our attitude toward God’s revealed will as David’s? “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).

Do we dwell on God’s word? “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16).

We need to thank God for the examples of those who have loved His Word so much that they were not only willing, but actually did lose their lives for it.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Peter 1:22 — 2:3).

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

As the Lord Himself prayed: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). How far would we be willing to go to defend God’s word? It may never happen that we’re called upon to lay down our lives for possessing a Bible, but we can defend it in other ways: primarily, by living it.

Why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great (Luke 6:46–49).

It matters how we live — just saying we love the Lord is not enough. And if we don’t live it, then we really don’t believe it (see 1 Timothy 5:24–25; Luke 12:1–3; John 5:25–29).

Do we love the Lord? Do we cherish His word in our hearts as a most precious gift? What will we do today to show our love for Him and His word?

He Opened Their Minds

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting …

—James 1:5, 6—

After His resurrection, Jesus was with His apostles. We read from Luke 24:44, 45 that He said to them: “‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

An open mind is good, but especially when it is opened by the Lord Himself. This doesn’t happen miraculously, but primarily by prayer and faith (James 1:5-8).

Having doubts is not sinful unless we allow those doubts to ferment and grow. Matthew records for us that some of the eleven disciples who witnessed Jesus’ ascension home to heaven doubted (Matt. 28:17). We can’t imagine they remained doubtful, especially after what we read in Acts 2:1, 14: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. … But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed [the men of Judea].”

Peter admitted that some of the things Paul wrote were hard to understand (2 Pet. 3:16). Peter’s admonition was not to dismiss Paul’s difficult passages; rather, he warned his us that “the untaught and unstable would distort Paul’s words, as they would also do to the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. And then he said, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. 3:18).

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).

Prayer Moves the Hand That Moves the Universe

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing.

(1 Thessalonians 5:16–17)

We cannot imagine any believer in Christ thinking, “We need to pray less.” If anything, we all know that we need to pray more about everything!

The apostle Paul wrote the above passage, and he also wrote Romans 12:12 from which we read: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” The NASB has: “be devoted to prayer.” Devotion and constancy say essentially the same thing; therefore, prayer should be something that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, should be devoted to and constant in: no matter the circumstances of life (good or bad). Prayer should serve as the framework and foundation for our lives. We eat without ceasing, and so the Christian should pray without ceasing.

Jesus commands us to pray for those who persecute us (Matt. 5:44). This shows us that prayer is not always easy, and certainly not always about ourselves: we will do well to notice that the Lord didn’t say pray about those who persecute us, but to pray for them. This indicates that we’re praying for their benefit. Ultimately, as the apostle Paul instructs: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1–4).

Prayer is so important that the apostle Paul often requested prayers from Christians from all over the world (Rom. 15:30;  2 Cor. 1:11; Eph. 6:18–20; Php. 1:19; Col. 4:3;  1 Thess. 5:25;  2 Thess. 3:1; Phm. 1:2).  If prayer was essential to an apostle, then certainly it should be essential for us, too.

Maybe we feel like we don’t know how to pray. Even here our heavenly Father has taught us how through His Son, our Savior, and through the Holy Spirit’s help: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26–27).

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation” (Luke 11:1–4).

Prayer is communication; and communication through prayer to God through His Son (John 14:13; 15:7, 16; 16:23) is communing with, or being in fellowship with Him. If we busy ourselves in prayer to our heavenly Father, then we will be less likely to stumble (2 Peter 1:5–11;  1 John 1:5–7).

Through prayer we have access to the greatest Friend anyone could have; we also have bold access to “the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

Casting All Your Anxieties on Him

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:6–7).

It is said that worry is like a rocking chair — it will give us something to do, but it won’t get us anywhere. And yet we rock away.

When I was younger, I don’t remember worrying about much. That was my parents job, right? And I’m fairly certain that as a parent my worrying has taken on a completely different dimension than ever before. It’s not my daughters’ fault … it’s my wife’s! Just checking to see who’s reading this. At any rate, it’s no one’s fault but my own.

I sometime worry so much to the degree that I worry about my worry. And that’s worrisome. Actually, it’s sinful.

When I worry, I am exercising a lack of trust in the One who can actually do something about my worry! Jesus said — and He didn’t say this as a mere suggestion, but a divine command — “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:33–34). James reminds us, “You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

William Barclay put it this way: “Worry about the future is wasted effort, and the future of reality is seldom as bad as the future of our fears.” When we worry, we’re not mindful of eternal concerns, but of this world which is passing away (1 John 2:17; also see Matt. 16:21–23; Col. 3:2–3).

“According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3–5).

When the obstacle of worry is before us, the best position for us to take on it is: hitting our knees in prayer (Eph. 3:14–19).


Lamentations 3:22-25

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him. (ESV)