Tag: faith

Dethroning Idols

1 Thessalonians 1

Sunday, August 28, 2022

At FUEL this year, the theme was Battleground.  Throughout the week, we discussed the idols that we each have in our lives, whether they are of entertainment, power, pleasure, or something else.  At the end of the week, we discussed how to dethrone these idols and place God as the ruler of our hearts.


While reading 1 Thessalonians 1, we see that the people from Thessaloniki also had a problem with idols in their lives.  The Thessalonians had worshiped the Greek gods, at a previous point in their lives.  While their idols may not have been the same as the ones we face today, they still caused the separation from God that we experience when we give other things our hearts, instead of giving them to God.


Thankfully, however, the Thessalonians had turned away from their idols to worship God.  They realized that they were giving others the place that God deserves in their hearts.  They came to serve the living and true God, instead of the idols that they had previously worshiped.  We, too, must turn away from the idols we have in our lives and place God on the throne in our hearts.


The best part of this story, in my opinion, is what happened after the Thessalonians turned to serve the true God: their faith sounded forth in every place.  Everyone from Macedonia and Achaia had heard about the believers from Thessaloniki.  They had started to live their lives so similar to the way that Jesus had lived his life that they had become examples to all believers.  The Thessalonians’ faith had gone forth so much that Paul says that he has no need to say anything to those who had heard of their faith.


When you have cast away your idols and placed God on the throne of your heart, you will want to serve God in whatever way you can.  This does not mean that your faith may end up being heard about from the ends of the earth, like the Thessalonians, but it does mean that you will stand out from those in this world.  When God is the king of your heart, you will live a life that is different from those around you.  People all around the world may not hear of your faith, but those around you will notice it and will ask you questions.  The question is: Are you willing to cast away all of your idols and place God on the throne of your heart?

-Kaitlyn Hamilton

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. You might not have a problem worshiping Greek gods, but do you have any modern idols that you have given control of your heart (your love, your affection, your time, your finances, the place that only God deserves)?
  2. What will it look like to give the throne of your heart completely to God? Are you committed to this change? What steps will you take today?
  3. Who do you know that you admire for the way they follow Jesus? How can you be a good example to others in the way that you give God first place and follow Jesus?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

A Super Power Story

Ephesians 3

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Ephesians 3:16 – I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being…

As a fan of superhero movies, I really like understanding the origins of how regular people acquired their superpowers. Whether it was from a spider bite or from the released energy of a crashed light-speed engine, it’s fun to see how their skills develop over time.

In the book of Ephesians, the author, the apostle Paul, is writing to a church of new Gentile believers. The origin story of these Christians most likely includes a history of idol worship and pagan rituals. Learning to believe in one true God was a new concept for them. Not only that, they were being introduced to a Messiah who made it possible to be in a personal relationship with the God of all heaven and Earth. They were learning that this personal relationship with God meant that they had a job to do: to participate in the sharing of the Gospel. And this participation would require them to rely on the power of God to accomplish all that He was calling them to do.

In my imagination, I think that the experiences of these new believers learning to lean into the power of God is a little similar to superheroes learning to use their powers. New discoveries of what might be possible; determining how and when to use these gifts and for whom; and probably failing every now and again. 

For some superheroes, the more that they use their power, the stronger they become. 

As believers in Christ, our faith also grows more powerful the more we exercise it. I sometimes wonder what might be possible if I could get out of my own way, completely, and totally rely on the power of God. I wonder if this happened if I might be more like the original disciples who healed, ministered, and preached to hundreds and thousands. 

I know that with each passing year my faith in God grows as new and different circumstances require me to lean into the power He offers. I think that is why this particular prayer that Paul prays for the Ephesians is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. In Ephesians chapter 3, verses 16 through 21, I read one of the most encouraging prayers that is offered up to believers. When I read this portion, I am strengthened in my faith and my desire to serve God grows. I want to see what God can do in and through me. I want to put on my super suit and get to work.

So how about it? Will you join me in the adventure of a lifetime?

-Bethany Ligon

Application Questions

  1. How would you tell the story of how you got your power? Where does it come from? How did you get it? What do you do with it? What could you do with it?
  2. Re-read Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21. Does this sound like your prayer list for your church, your family and yourself? What do you like best about Paul’s prayer? What could you add to your prayers?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

No Longer a Slave

Thursday, August 11, 2022

 Galatians 4

            Parts of the Bible have been around for nearly 4,000 years.  Some parts are very clear and transcend time, place, language, and culture.  Instructions to not steal or to not murder generally don’t need a lot of contextual background to be understood.

            Other parts of the Bible come from contexts that are very different from our context and certain points can be confusing or easily lost in translation.  Galatians 4 uses words like slaves, heirs, and sons.  Paul wrote this against the backdrop of the Roman Empire so it is helpful to have a background understanding of civic and family life in ancient Rome to more easily understand Paul’s points in this part of his letter to the Christians in Galatia.

            Rome had different categories of persons.  To be a citizen of Rome was to be a person of privilege.  You had a lot of rights as a citizen: to vote, to run for public office, to get married, to make use of the legal system, to not be tortured or whipped.  This citizenship status and the accompanying rights were given to certain men.  Women had a lesser status as citizens and fewer rights- they could not vote nor run for public office.  Children had no rights, but they came under the protection of their fathers until the time when their fathers released them to become full citizens.

            There were other categories in the Roman Empire including Freedmen (former slaves, now free) who had some rights but were not automatically granted citizenship.  There were also Client States or allies who had some limited rights as citizens but not full citizenship.  Slaves had no rights and were not considered to be persons under Roman law.

            Because Paul was a Roman citizen and was writing to Christians who were in the Roman Empire, they would have had a basic understanding of these facts.  In addition to being a Roman Citizen, Paul was also a Jew and there were elements of the Jewish faith that would also have been well understood by these Galatian Christians, particularly those who themselves were Jews.  Paul also utilizes what is known as an allegorical interpretation of the Bible as he argues his case here.  An allegorical reading sees beyond the literal meaning of the story to the deeper symbolism found therein.

            With this as a background, Paul is showing these Christians that life in Christ is far superior to life under the Jewish Law.  Becoming a Christian is like going from being a slave to becoming a son.  To be a son is vastly better in terms of the rights given compared to being a slave.   Paul uses this to show the stark contrast between living under the law of Judaism vs. being redeemed by God and granted the spirit and the gift of sonship whereby we are now heirs of God’s coming Kingdom.  This should be a no-brainer.  And yet, Paul has been facing opposition from those who are teaching that Gentile converts to Christianity must live under the Jewish Law.  That is like telling an adopted son that he has to live under the rules of the slave.  It’s crazy.

            Today, it’s not terribly likely that you as a Christian are going to be bombarded by people trying to convince you to live under the Jewish law.  When was the last time someone insisted that you get circumcised (if you are an uncircumcised male), eat kosher foods, strictly observe the Jewish Sabbath, make pilgrimages 3 times a year to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices at the temple (when there is no temple anyway)?  We’re not likely to be enticed to enter into the “slavery” of law-keeping.  However, we very likely are being invited to enter into the slavery of lawlessness or sin.  Far more commonly, Paul talks about being a slave to sin and death.  As sons of God, we don’t have to become Jews and follow Jewish dietary and ceremonial laws, but we do have to follow Christ and live godly lives.  In Galatians 5 Paul will contrast living by the flesh vs. living by the spirit.  Paul wants Christians here to understand that in Christ we are not slaves but free.  We are not slaves we are sons (and daughters).  We should use that freedom wisely and not misuse it to be enslaved again whether it be to the law or to sin/the flesh.

-Jeff Fletcher

Questions for Discussion:

1.  How does seeing yourself as a son or daughter rather than as a slave change how you live?

2.  How have you misused your freedom?  What parts of slavery do you find most tempting?

2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

The End of Division

Galatians 3

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

            I don’t know about you, but to me, it feels like the world is really divided right now.  More divided than we’ve been in a long time.  Liberal vs. Conservative.  The liberals call the conservatives Fascists or Nazis, the conservatives call the liberals Communists.  We are divided between theists and anti-theists, or some would divide us as racist or anti-racist.  Still, others would divide us as binary or non-binary, pro-live or pro-choice.  Living in perpetual states of division is stressful, painful, and exhausting.  In the words of Rodney King during the L.A. racial riots of the early 1990’s “Can we…can we all get along?”

            That’s kind of what Paul was saying to the Galatian Christians.  There was division going on in their Church.  Paul taught them that we are saved by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as the son of God who died for our sins and whom God raised from the dead.  This salvation is open to everyone who believes, young or old, male or female, Jew or Gentile (non-Jew).  As Paul was traveling on his mission to other places in Asia and Europe to share the message of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God with as many as he could, he received reports that people had come into the Churches in Galatia insisting that Gentile believers must begin practicing Jewish law in order to be saved.

            Paul was pretty angry with the Christians there who were being led astray by the teaching of these “Judaizers”  (people who insisted that Gentile Christians must practice Jewish Law in order to be saved).  Paul calls them fools and victims of witchcraft for allowing themselves to be taught something so clearly contrary to the gospel that he preached to them previously.

            Paul goes back and shows from the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) that even back in the time of Abraham God made his plan very clear.  God always planned to bring salvation not only to the Jews who were descendants of Abraham but also to Gentiles who were not biological descendants of Abraham.  Paul shows that God called Abraham long before the Ten Commandments and Ceremonial Laws were given to the Jewish people.  As Jews, they were always recipients of God’s grace.  The Law was never a precondition to them being chosen as God’s covenant people.  Paul wants it to be clearly understood that for the Gentiles they are brought into God’s chosen family not on the basis of observing Jewish ceremonial law or even moral law, but on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ.

            In Christ, old barriers and divisions come falling down.  We all become a part of the one family of God through Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter our nationality, our age, our sex, our citizenship status or our righteousness according to the law.  What matters is that we come to Jesus Christ and have been clothed in Jesus Christ.

            Later in Galatians Paul will talk about what it means to crucify the flesh and to live according to the spirit and produce virtuous actions by the spirit, but the fruit is a result of salvation, not the precondition to being saved.

            The only true way to end division in the world is by becoming one with Jesus Christ through faith.

-Jeff Fletcher

Questions for Discussion:

1.  What are the kinds of things that divide Christians and Churches today?  What action will you take to help remove divisions where you worship and serve?

2.  Why is it important to understand virtue as a result of salvation rather than as a precondition to salvation?

2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Faith in God

Mark 11

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Chapter 11 of Mark is so saturated in beautiful parables and stories that it can be difficult to draw one single lesson from each separate part. The chapter contains Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the colt, him cursing a fig tree, driving heretics out of the temple, and providing a puzzling dilemma to those who wish to destroy him. From this, however, we’ll try to draw something coherent.

The story begins with Jesus and the disciples entering the city of Jerusalem. Like the confusing things Jesus asked the disciples to do that we were discussing yesterday, He asks several of the disciples to go into town and mysteriously grab a tied-up colt. What could the meaning of this possibly be? Why would Jesus have them specifically say that the Lord needs it, and it will be back shortly? My best assumption is that this was partially meant to draw the attention of the townspeople that the Christ was coming. Additionally, simply because he called for it to happen, it was so. This is a very similar archetype to what Jesus does with a fig tree the next morning. But just keep in mind, Jesus said for it to be so, and it was.

The next morning “Jesus was hungry” (Mark 11:12) and went to find figs on a fig tree he had seen. As it wasn’t the season for the fruit to bear, there were no figs. Because of this, Jesus curses the tree itself: “[May] no one ever eat fruit from you again.” Mark 11:14. This made me audibly laugh out loud when I read it because it seemed so out of place and random for Jesus to get mad that he was hungry and then curse a tree. It is not explained at first but keep this in the back of your mind for later; it’s foreshadowing.

Jesus then entered the temple and saw that people were committing heathenish and blasphemous acts in the temple of God. “He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, ‘Is it not written: My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of robbers.’” Mark 11:15-17. This is one of the few instances that makes me believe that anger as an emotion is not a sin, but unrightfully acting upon your anger trespasses into the bounds of sin. It has been referenced as ‘righteous anger.’ In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes “In your anger do not sin.” Ephesians 4:26. In this circumstance, Jesus became rightfully angry at the desecration of his Father’s home and rightfully drove the sinners out who were blaspheming the house of God.

After doing this, as they were leaving the city, they saw that the fig tree Jesus had cursed the day before had wilted and effectively died. They were astonished by this, and Jesus replied, “Have faith in God, I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:22-24. I’m sure it would be hard to believe at first when Jesus cursed the tree that anything would happen so suddenly, but because Jesus said so in total belief and had patience, the tree wilted as He commanded. When you are praying for something that God would ordain to happen, do you believe in your heart without doubt that it will be given to you? If not, you have not the faith that is required for any reward to be manifested. Have faith that God wants the best for you and be ready to see the answer that God gives you.

Just as Jesus had faith in what he ordered and committed himself to an effort to do what is right (protect the house of God), he was rewarded. It is our goal to emulate this pattern of faith, prayer, and work to glorify God in the belief that He will reward us for our good efforts.

-Mason Kiel

Application Questions

  1. As Jesus entered Jerusalem what did the people expect? The disciples? Jesus? Have you ever misunderstood God’s plan or Jesus’ purpose? What were you focusing on? What is Jesus focused on?
  2. Have you ever been angry enough about sin and unrighteousness to do something about it? Did you sin while doing it? How do we ensure that in our anger we do not sin?
  3. Not having enough faith is indeed one reason your prayers may not be answered. How would you go about boosting your faith? What are other Biblical reasons for prayer not being answered?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Don’t Tell

Mark 9

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Have you ever felt like you’ve been burdened with a task that doesn’t make any sense at all, and yet you have to do it anyway? A completely unreasonable duty that requires you lend trust that you may not be ready to give? I know I sure have, in fact just about every day. Through life, there are so many times that we’re required to give our trust over to God and have faith that He will take control. This can be really difficult to do, and Mark, chapter 9 can help give some insight into why we need to be prepared to do so.

It’s not every chapter that we’re blessed with multiple examples of both proverbial teachings and unfathomable biblical spectacles. In Mark 9, however, we see exactly that—there’s the transfiguration of Christ, holy expulsion of a demonic spirit, and, of course, wise parables from Jesus. It can be difficult to lump so many fantastical and seemingly unrelated events into one central theme, but as is always the case, there’s a lesson to be learned through all of it. Let’s travel through this chapter through the eyes of the disciples.

The disciples, although justifiably righteous, are still humans and still feel the same emotions that we feel—both good and bad. It can be difficult to relate to some of the things that happen in the Bible, especially when they come from the mind or mouth of a literally perfect person (Christ), so trying to see the events of the Bible as the disciples would have seen it can provide a unique lens of interpretation.

The chapter begins with the transfiguration of Christ, where he takes Peter, James, and John on top of a mountain. There, he is mystically clothed in the brightest white on earth, and his face becomes like the sun. He’s accompanied by Moses and Elijah, before the voice of God comes from a cloud proclaiming “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” – Mark 9:7. The disciples are of course terrified by this experience, because that’s a pretty terrifying thing to experience! But as they’re coming down the mountain, Jesus gives them the super cryptic message “not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. “– Mark 9:9.

Firstly, that’s a very difficult thing to ask of anyone; not to speak of literally hearing the voice of God and visions of prophets. Secondly, that’s a very ominous thing to say to people whom you love. It not only means they’d have to wait to share what they’d seen until Jesus dies, but also until He comes back to life. Would you be able to heed the requests of Jesus when they, at the moment, seem so unreasonable?

After this, in verses 14-27, Jesus expels a demonic spirit from a boy who had been plagued by this spirit from birth. He then takes the disciples away and tells them that “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise.”—Mark 9:31. Again, we get a cryptic message prophesying the death and resurrection of Christ. Imagine what the disciples must have been thinking when they heard this, knowing that even they were afraid to ask Him about it (Mark 9:32).

Ultimately, the disciples were too afraid, and denied Christ, thus not putting their trust in Him. They were not able to abandon their understanding of what they thought would or should happen—opting instead to their own paths away from Jesus. It is up to us, as believers, to learn from their humanly mistakes and recognize that what we want, or what we think should happen, is not always what’s best for us, or simply may not be in the plans God has for you, and that we need to put our whole faith and trust in the only constant in life—God. 

-Mason Kiel

Application Questions

  1. If you had been one of the 3 disciples who witnessed the Transfiguration, and then were told not to tell what they had seen until Jesus rose from the dead do you think you would be trustworthy to follow Jesus’ instructions?
  2. What instructions of Jesus do you have a hard time following? Why?
  3. When have your plans not matched God’s? What did you learn?
  4. Reading through Mark 9 what do we learn about Jesus’ view of children?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

The Problem with Traditions

Mark 7

Friday, July 29, 2022

How easily can we judge others for not upholding our standards which don’t even derive from the word of God? In Mark Chapter 7, the religious leaders gathered around Jesus and began to ridicule him and his disciples for not upholding their traditions. They didn’t even pretend that this was the command of the Lord, they said to Jesus, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” The sad thing is that they wanted to enforce their traditions on others. Jesus quickly rebukes them with the words of the prophet Isaiah, “These people honor me with their lips, But their heart is far away from me…”. It is a matter of the inner man (the heart), these people acted for an outward display of “their righteousness”. “For they loved the approval of man rather than the approval of God”(John 12:43). Jesus goes on to say “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition”.

It’s so easy to look at the Scribes and Pharisees and ridicule them for being so unbelieving. However, if we’re being honest, the modern day church is a lot like them and maybe it’s become worse. Let us ask ourselves, have we become experts in setting aside the word of God to hold to our traditions? Have we skillfully misinterpreted texts and passages to alter the identity of Jesus Christ? Have we become experts at downplaying scripture which glorifies the all powerful saving grace of God? Maybe the church relates to the Scribes and Pharisees a lot more than we think, “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done, so there is nothing new under the sun”(Ecclesiastes 1:9). “Let us examine ourselves” but let us also be merciful because, “this man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross”(Acts 2:23). Could it have been any other way? There had to be the unbelieving ones who would hand him over. The Scribes and Pharisees were clay in the hands of the potter. They were doing only what God’s plan intended. Did Jesus not have to die for the sins of the world? Would we have forgiveness of sins if he hadn’t? 

Later on in the chapter, Jesus declares that it’s the things that flow from the heart that defiles a person, and not that which enters, “(Thus he declared all food clean)”. Jesus is speaking of the works of the flesh and sinful nature we have inherited. Romans 11:32 says “For God has shut up all in disobedience so that he may show mercy to all”. And again, “the body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable”(1 Corinthians 15:42). For a temporary purpose God has given us corruptible, sinful, and perishable bodies. However, “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.”(1 Corinthians 15:49). Out of the heart (inner man) flows these sinful actions and thoughts. But thanks be to God who gives us his spirit to purify the inward man to be renewed day after day. Romans 8:29 says “For those he foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son…”. It is an ongoing process that we are being made into the image of God, we are being conformed, even as I type this and even as you read this. “For God is at work in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”(Phil. 2:13). 

Later on in Mark 7, Jesus performs a miracle and heals a deaf and dumb man. Jesus says “Be opened!”, “And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and began speaking plainly”. The people spoke “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak”. Before I give the spiritual revelation on what Jesus is doing, these things can still happen today. God can still do miracles because “For I, the Lord, do not change”(Malachi 3:6) God is still just as powerful today as he was back then. Okay moving on, what is happening? “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.”(1 Corinthians 15:46). Jesus is doing something first that we can see and experience with our eyes, then he will later perform the spiritual. There was evidence naturally that the man could now hear and speak. “Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear”(Deuteronomy 29:4). God has to open our eyes and ears and hearts spiritually for us to understand and perceive the things of the spirit. Jesus opened the man’s ears to hear naturally, but Jesus opens ears now to hear and perceive spiritual truths. “But the person without the spirit of God does not accept the things that come from the spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:14). And again “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so”. (Romans 8:7). The person without the spirit of God cannot understand. The person who Jesus doesn’t say “Be opened!” to, cannot yet perceive. This however, is only a temporary purpose, “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea”(Habakkuk 2:14).  Jesus opens our hearts, minds, and ears by giving us the spirit of God so that we can hear and speak the truths of God. Otherwise, we cannot hear. It’s a miracle from God for us to understand spiritual truths. “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted”(Matthew 13:11). 

-Ryan Prott (recently earned his Associates degree from Atlanta Bible College and currently serving in Arkansas)

Application Questions

  1. Truthfully consider, what human traditions do you hold tighter to than to the commands/word of God? Why is this a problem? What changes need to be made?
  2. Pray, asking God to open your eyes, ears, and hearts to spiritual truths. Who else will you pray this prayer for?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

How can we feed 5 thousand with so little?

Mark 6

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Everyone knows the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. It is one of the classic stories that we first learn in bible school! While it is a very simple story, there is hidden meaning in the words. Yes, it is a story of how incredible Jesus was, and it showed how faithful people were to him, but what else does it mean?

Mark 6:34, is where Jesus first notices the people gathered on the shore. He says they were like, “Sheep without a shepherd”, and he has compassion for them. He sees people who are lost and makes sure to go and guide them towards life and hope.

But the thing I want to focus on is when he talks with the disciples and feeds the people.

Mark 6:35-44.

Once it was late, the disciples went to Jesus and told him that he should send the people away so they could eat. Jesus responded and told the disciples to feed the crowd of people. I can only imagine the looks on their faces! They responded, asking Jesus if they should go buy 200 denarii worth of bread. Finally, Jesus tells them to go and see how many loaves of bread are in the crowd – five loaves and two fish.

            Now imagine being a disciple at this point. They have seen Jesus do miracles, but this must seem nuts! They have nothing close to being enough to feed these people, but they knew he would somehow do it. This is what God wants us to be like with our faith. We may feel like we are standing in front of a mountain, but God wants us to trust him and know that with his strength, we can do anything. Whether that’s feeding five thousand or climbing a mountain.

Jesus then looks to the heavens while breaking the loaves and dividing the fish, and there was enough to feed and satisfy everyone, and there was extra.

This story touches my heart because it describes how we can do so much with only a little. We do not start with everything we think we need, but God provides abundantly more than we could ever imagine as we work to reach his people. No matter what our purpose is, God provides everything we need, we just must have faith and be patient, knowing that whatever we are called to, God will provide.

-Hannah Eldred

Application Questions

  1. When have you felt there was no way you would have enough (resources, finances, companionship, wisdom, or faith)? How did it work out for you? In what ways do lean times help grow your faith?
  2. In what ways has God shown Himself to be faithful in your own life, in His word, and in the lives of others?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Your Faith Has Healed You

Mark 5

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Mark chapter 5 has a lot of good stories but I want to focus on verses 25-34 where Jesus heals a woman who has had a sort of bleeding for twelve years.  Now at first glance this could seem inconsequential, as Jesus healed many people.  What stood out to me is the fact that she had it for twelve years!  That’s over four thousand days and over three hundred million seconds.  It’s a hard amount of time to imagine. I’m sure that it was a fact of life for her, like living in the same place for a long time. 

The chapter also says, “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse” Mark 5:26.  So, over the course of twelve years she tried everything, but it only got worse.  I don’t know about anyone else but at this point I would have lost hope in finding a remedy of some kind.  But she didn’t.  In fact, she had so much faith, that when she touched his cloak, she was healed.  That to me is amazing! 

It really isn’t inconsequential as she lived this way for over a decade.  You see a lot of people being healed by Jesus but not as many who were healed by their own faith.  

I feel oftentimes this little story is overshadowed by his raising of a young girl from the dead a few verses later, and his casting out of the demons into pigs, but there is so much you can take away from these few short verses.  She endured twelve years and still had so much faith that deserves to not be forgotten.

-Philip Kirkpatrick

Application Questions

  1. Would your faith have been enough to be healed after twelve years?
  2. What do you believe Jesus can do for you? How will you show him that you really believe?
  3. Are there small stories that you skip to get to the big ones?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Sowing the Seed

Mark 4

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Mark 4 starts out with some parables that most of us have heard many, many times. The parable of the sower, the parable of the growing seed, and the parable of the mustard seed. 

Now I think that these were all meant to be taught together. So today, we are going to look at these 3 parables and how they relate to each other.

Starting with the first one, Jesus explains the parable of the sower to us in this chapter, and it is clear that we are supposed to be the seed in the good soil. And if we are that seed we are called to “bear fruit thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”​​ But what does it mean to bear fruit? 

I think Jesus answers this for us in his next parable. The parable of the growing seed. The man goes out and spreads seed. And little by little the seed starts to grow, until it is ready to be harvested. 

This begs the question: what is the seed that we scatter? Now I think this seed can be a few different things. I think it could be the good news of Jesus and the Kingdom, and/or the love of Jesus shown to people through us. Personally, I think it’s the “and.” I think it is both of those things. Now in conversations I’ve had with some people, they say that their coming to Jesus was not overnight, it was years and years of people pouring into them with love and the Word until they eventually came to the full truth and understanding of Christ, and calling Him their Lord and Savior. This is what Jesus is getting at. That slowly the seed we plant grows until it’s ready to be “harvested” or until they are ready to accept Jesus, repent, be baptized and live for him until his return.

This brings me to the last parable Jesus shares in this chapter – the parable of the mustard seed. Our small seed grew and grew until it could be harvested, now they will plant their seed and it will grow, and so on. So our small “mustard seed” action can grow into that large plant in the garden. Our small impact that we can have in the lives of others can drastically increase the Kingdom and multiply to the “thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

-Camden Bormes

(Editor’s Note – Today and the rest of this week we get to hear from some youth and young adults who spent last week at FUEL Youth Camp. Camden is a recent graduate. He spoke at his school’s Baccalaureate on the good news of the Coming Kingdom. Keep sowing seeds, Camden, and challenging us to as well!)

Application Questions

  1. Who helped sow the seed in your life? How did they do so?
  2. How are you continuing to grow? Are you multiplying? What is needed for a healthy “Christian” plant to thrive and reproduce?
  3. How are you – or can you – plant the seed? When have you seen the seed fall on the path, on rocky places and among the thorns? Pray for your planting, that the seed may fall on good soil and produce reproducing Christians seeking His Kingdom.
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload