And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. [Mark 4:1-5 NKJV] Today’s meditation is taken from Oswald Chambers’ ‘Devotions For A Deeper Life’, and this is his devotion for today, August 20th, and meditates on what I believe to be a very real danger in these troubling times - which is that we can tend to direct our prayer focus in the wrong direction. Some people receive the Word of God and run well for a time, but they permit something to hinder them—usually the cares of this world. They will tell you, “If you only knew what I have to contend with” or, “If you only knew my peculiar situation, my trials, my difficulties.” This kind of self-sympathy, arising from the cares of this life, is carnal. It will kill the Spirit of God within you. Jesus said, “If you look at your problems instead of Me, the Word will be choked in your heart.” Satan will try his best to have you look at the difficulties of your life. He knows that if he can get your eyes off of Jesus and onto these, he will be able to choke your spiritual life. Have you ever noticed how many times Scripture warns us not to be anxious, not to worry? He tells us to cast our cares upon Him, to trust Him, to wait on Him, and to fret not. May God help us to keep the thorns from growing up in our hearts and choking the Word of God in us! PRAYER THOUGHT: Forgive me when I cease to trust You, Lord, and begin to worry selfishly. “Seed, Scattered and Sown” — Dan Feiten OSWALD CHAMBERS — RUN TODAY’S RACE Thursday 20th August 2020 There is nothing so secure as the salvation of God; it is as eternal as the mountains, and it is our trust in God that brings us the conscious realisation of this. |
MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS…Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Archives
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GEORGE and GILL STEWART |