4 He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, [a]let him hear.”
10 As soon as He was alone, [b]His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”
13 And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they [c]fall away. 18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the [d]world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
21 And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a [e]basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. [f]By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the crop permits, he immediately [g]puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30 And He said, “How shall we [h]picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the [i]air can nest under its shade.”
33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
35 On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 [j]Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37 And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. 38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and [k]it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you [l]afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
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In verse 23: Just after saying: “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus says in v24: Take care what you listen to. What do you think he means?
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Proverbs 4:23 – Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.
Philippians 4:8 – Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
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I agree, there’s so much to listen and pay attention to. If one just wanted to hear pleasing things, even teachings veiled as truth they could (and many do).
2 Timothy 4:3"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires"
But we’re instructed to listen to word of the Lord, and submit to Him.
Prov 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him; and he will keep your paths straight.
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I was thinking about fact checking. Like maybe part of what Jesus was saying is to think about what He is saying and see if it matches up with scripture. It reminded me of the Bereans who “fact-checked” what they were being taught. I don’t know if that’s exactly what Jesus meant or if He was thinking about at that time, but that’s just what came to mind.
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What a great question for this time we’re in, there are apparently ‘storms’. Why is the world afraid? What do they have to fear? Better yet, what’s the real problem: “Do you still have no faith?” Only faith in God can bring the peace the world so desparately seeks.
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With everything changing so quickly, schools and churches closing etc, it would be natural to wonder what comes next?
Isaiah 41:10: says: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
What other verses do you use when things are unsettling?
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2 Tim. 4:18.
Matthew 6:25-29
Daniel 4:35
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“Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” We don’t need to worry when an all-powerful God cares and is watching over us.
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I’ve recently been trying to focus on the “trust in the Lord with all your heart”. Not specifically with the whole virus fiasco, but it applies to this whole thing as well. I tend to like to know what is happening next so I can plan everything out (like I want to know if I’m going to pass my next term and if I’m going to make it through nursing program so I can plan my life accordingly), but I’m trying to trust that God knows what is best and that He has a plan.
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