1 Cor 3:5–11 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are...
1 day ago • 1 min read
Isaiah 55:10–11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,and do not return to it without watering the earthand making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Read the context "Pastor... will you pray for rain?" The earnest farmer makes his request because he can't create rain... that his crops...
2 days ago • 1 min read
Matthew 13:23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Read the context I'm currently working on developing my green thumb. Up til now, most things I plant die. I conveniently blame the elements. God has a plan for the seed of your faith. He's an expert gardener. He plants you in his word and strengthens you. Grow your roots deeper in his promises of...
3 days ago • 1 min read
Psalm 65 You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty,and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. Read the context "Knee high by the 4th of July." I'm no farmer, but just...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Acts 5:27-32 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Deut. 10:18-21 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Read the context Not everyone can boast living in...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Matthew 22:15-22 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. Read the context They thought they had Jesus trapped. Trapped...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Romans 13:1–2 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. Read the context The World Cup. America's 250th. There's a lot of attention on our nation right now. Citizenship carries mental weight: pride, frustration,...
8 days ago • 1 min read
Daniel 1:8, 12–13 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” Read the context The name change didn't bother Daniel, but the food did. Why? Because this...
9 days ago • 1 min read