Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images from Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing … He’ll Do Whatever It Takes … poignantly singing of the reality that God will do whatever it takes to water and nourish the seeds of glory planted in one whom He knows is His forever.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Matthew 13:23 … [NLT] …
23 The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
… The seeds planted in good soil, well nourished, will thrive, grow, and produce good fruit.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Matthew 13:1-23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus relates the parable of the farmer scattering seeds, with some dying and some flourishing into full grown plants.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … John :15:5-8 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus relates how only those who remain attached to Him will become fruitful.
Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … 1Corinthians 3:4-9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul relates how the work of Christians planting seeds of faith and others watering those seeds will ultimately produce fruitful plants for God’s glory.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David McCasland, told a personal story about how we, as Christians, plant God’s seeds and they ultimately grow and thrive for His glory. The ODB author wrote: I received a wonderful email from a woman who wrote, “Your mom was my first-grade teacher at Putnam City in 1958. She was a great teacher and very kind, but strict! She made us learn the 23rd Psalm and say it in front of the class, and I was horrified. But it was the only contact I had with the Bible until 1997 when I became a Christian. And the memories of Mrs. McCasland came flooding back as I re-read it.”
Perhaps others reading here have a story like that one related in the ODB entry today, where you grew and flourished for God’s glory because of the seeds of God’s love planted in your heart when you were young. Or perhaps, like me, the seeds of salvation were planted in you as Jesus described in His parable of the seeds being planted in your youth [see highlight passaged] but only growing and becoming fruitful much later in life when there was someone God used to nourish the seeds and transplant them in good soil.
I don’t know how the seeds of faith were planted in your heart; but even if they were planted and it took years for them to grow and be fruitful, I hope you know that it was God’s persistent love and mercy and grace to nourish you into fruitfulness. And, as today’s linked song relates, God will do whatever it takes to bring you to a place where you can grow and thrive for His glory.
But you (we) must be willing to receive the watering and nourishment of His grace, staying connected to Him as the Vine (see John 15:5-8), for us to become fruitful, … so that we might plant His seeds of salvation in the hearts of others one day in the future.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … dear Lord, … Thank You for raising me from seedling to fruitfulness for Your glory. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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