Weekday Devotionals
Sunday, 3/3/24. Pastor Aaron - Our testimony
In Matthew 13:44-46, the “Kingdom of heaven parables” are given to us to show us the character of God and His love for us. The man who found the treasure and the man searching for fine pearls both represent our Heavenly Father who sold everything he had to buy these things. These things, the treasure and the fine pearls, are us. He loved us so much that He redeemed us by the blood of His Son. This piece of history is His Story. Likewise, we should seek God and the kingdom of heaven as fervently as He seeks us.
In verses 24-30 we learn the parable of the good seed. The farmer - the God of the universehas planted the seed of life in everyone. We are the good seed sewn by our Heavenly Father and the enemy grows among us. Do we succumb to the lies and distractions, to the changing current of our society, of our world? Do we choose to hang with the weeds or rocks or do we choose the life giving soil of God? This is our story, which is ever changing as we grow and mature in Christ, as He directs our footsteps, as He forgives us for our shortcomings, as we fail and start again because His mercies are new every morning. And it is His story working in us.
Pastor Aaron presented the viewpoint that perhaps God created the story first and then created the universe around the story. This makes so much sense to me because nothing is random with God. He is full of purpose and He places His purpose in our hearts. I don’t think He randomly created the universe step by step and then threw man in there as a final choice. I think that story was in His heart from the beginning and he created the universe and all that’s in it as the artwork to set the scene. He could have created nothing, or robots that did His will because they were programmed to do so. But He chose to create us as His beloved children with a free will and an opportunity to receive Him or reject Him, to obey Him or to obey the desires of our flesh. His story working in us is our testimony.
When my story aligns with His story it becomes my ‘Testimony’. There are similar ingredients in every storyline and we may have different issues or situations or circumstances but somehow we end up in the same place. Things start out good, they get a little better and then hard times hit. Without the assurance of Christ, the happily ever after becomes more distant, harder to attain and even harder for it to remain. We need to hang on to the truth of our testimony, that God is at work in us and for us and we need to share our testimony with others.
Sharing the ongoing testimony of our lives, not only encourages others but it reminds us of God at work in us, then and now, yesterday and today. People can find hope in your story. You can find hope in your own story. Be brave, be encouraged and plant that seed of hope in others. Ask God to show you the ‘who’ and the ‘when’ and the ‘how’ and watch Him work through you and your testimony. Ask Him to water the seed that you’ve planted in someone’s heart and to nurture it with good soil. Soil of hope, forgiveness and redemption. We all need that hope, especially today.
Go out into all the earth, right? Shine the light of Christ however you can. Bless others with kindness and share your story when the opportunity arises. It can really make a difference.
Susan G
In Matthew 13:44-46, the “Kingdom of heaven parables” are given to us to show us the character of God and His love for us. The man who found the treasure and the man searching for fine pearls both represent our Heavenly Father who sold everything he had to buy these things. These things, the treasure and the fine pearls, are us. He loved us so much that He redeemed us by the blood of His Son. This piece of history is His Story. Likewise, we should seek God and the kingdom of heaven as fervently as He seeks us.
In verses 24-30 we learn the parable of the good seed. The farmer - the God of the universehas planted the seed of life in everyone. We are the good seed sewn by our Heavenly Father and the enemy grows among us. Do we succumb to the lies and distractions, to the changing current of our society, of our world? Do we choose to hang with the weeds or rocks or do we choose the life giving soil of God? This is our story, which is ever changing as we grow and mature in Christ, as He directs our footsteps, as He forgives us for our shortcomings, as we fail and start again because His mercies are new every morning. And it is His story working in us.
Pastor Aaron presented the viewpoint that perhaps God created the story first and then created the universe around the story. This makes so much sense to me because nothing is random with God. He is full of purpose and He places His purpose in our hearts. I don’t think He randomly created the universe step by step and then threw man in there as a final choice. I think that story was in His heart from the beginning and he created the universe and all that’s in it as the artwork to set the scene. He could have created nothing, or robots that did His will because they were programmed to do so. But He chose to create us as His beloved children with a free will and an opportunity to receive Him or reject Him, to obey Him or to obey the desires of our flesh. His story working in us is our testimony.
When my story aligns with His story it becomes my ‘Testimony’. There are similar ingredients in every storyline and we may have different issues or situations or circumstances but somehow we end up in the same place. Things start out good, they get a little better and then hard times hit. Without the assurance of Christ, the happily ever after becomes more distant, harder to attain and even harder for it to remain. We need to hang on to the truth of our testimony, that God is at work in us and for us and we need to share our testimony with others.
Sharing the ongoing testimony of our lives, not only encourages others but it reminds us of God at work in us, then and now, yesterday and today. People can find hope in your story. You can find hope in your own story. Be brave, be encouraged and plant that seed of hope in others. Ask God to show you the ‘who’ and the ‘when’ and the ‘how’ and watch Him work through you and your testimony. Ask Him to water the seed that you’ve planted in someone’s heart and to nurture it with good soil. Soil of hope, forgiveness and redemption. We all need that hope, especially today.
Go out into all the earth, right? Shine the light of Christ however you can. Bless others with kindness and share your story when the opportunity arises. It can really make a difference.
Susan G
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