Train Up A Child (Part 4)

In Part 3 of the "Train Up A Child" series, we talked about why God instructs us to train through meditating on His Word. This week, let's address the slightly different question of why meditating on the Word is important.

In Luke 8, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower, in which He likens the Kingdom of God to a farmer sowing seed. Some seed falls on good soil and yields a one hundred-fold harvest (Luke 8:8). Some seed falls by the wayside, is trampled, and eaten by birds (Luke 8:5). Other seed falls on rocky soil and withers (Luke 8:6). Still other seed falls among the thorns and gets choked (Luke 8:7).

Jesus later explains to His disciples that the seed that falls on good soil represents people that hear the Word, apply it and bear fruit (Luke 8:15). The seed that falls by the wayside represents people who hear the Word but the devil comes and snatches the seed out of their hearts (Luke 8:12). The seed that falls on rocky soil represent people that receive the Word with joy but fall back into disobedience because of temptation (Luke 8:13). The seed that falls among the thorns and gets choked represents people who hear the Word but get caught up in the cares of the world and bear no fruit (Luke 8:14).

In every case, the people hear the Word. But only in one of them does the Word actually take root and bear fruit.

So there has to be a difference between simply hearing the Word and bearing its fruit.

Meditating on the Word is the difference!

For more on this concept, check out Pastor Ron Carpenter’s message below starting at 32:04.

https://youtu.be/JjYTjDdnoEk?t=32m4s

Ultimately, God wants us to be more than just hearers of the Word (James 1:22). He wants us to bear fruit and be world changers. But we can't do that simply by hearing the Word. If that's the extent of our experience with the Word, we are no different than the seed that falls by the wayside. Or among the thorns. Or on the rocks.

God wants His Word to yield a harvest. But it's going to require more than just hearing the Word.

More to come next week!

God bless,
J.W.

Train Up A Child (Part 3)

A few weeks ago, we established that God wants us to meditate on His word (see Part 2 here).

But the question is why. Why does God want to train us through meditation?

The answer is found in Luke 8 in the Parable of the Sower.

There, Jesus tells the story of a farmer who sows seed in a field (Luke 8:4-8). Some seed falls on good soil and yields a hundred-fold harvest (Luke 8:8). Other seed falls on rocky soil and withers (Luke 8:6). Still others fall among the thorns and get choked (Luke 8:7).

Later, Jesus explains that the seed is the Word of God and the field is our heart (Luke 8:12-15).

In order for the seed to take root, we not only have to hear the word (i.e. plant the seed), we also have to till the ground and ensure that our soil is ripe for planting. Meditation helps the word take root in our hearts. It helps our heart retain the Word and persevere (Luke 8:15). It is part of what separates good soil from bad, ripe hearts from rocky ones, harvest from destruction and death.

God instructs us to meditate on His Word because He knows that it's the process through which we prepare our hearts to receive the Word. It's the method He uses to take us from being hearers of the Word to doers of the Word (James 1:22). Luke 8 tells us that harvest comes through meditating on the Word. And who wouldn't want a one hundred-fold harvest?

So, how are you cultivating your soil today?

God bless,
J.W.

Train Up A Child (Part 2)

"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." - Joshua 1:8

We are not the only ones who train our children. God does too.

One of the ways He instructs us to train is found in Joshua 1:8.

God tells Joshua to "meditate on [the Word] day and night." Psalm 1:1-2 says “blessed is the one… who meditates on His law day and night.” Psalm 119 has at least eight references to meditating on the word, the promises, and the works of God.

So, no, meditation is not just some yoga, new age term for Hipsters. It’s a Biblical command. And it’s part of the way God trains us.

So, what does meditation look like for the believer? The answer may surprise you.

More to come!

God bless,

J.W. 

Train Up A Child

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." ~ Proverbs 22:6

We often quote the scripture "train up a child in the way he should go" as a positive affirmation or piece of advice. We use it as a standard by which we ought to parent. True indeed. Proverbs 22:6 can certainly be a standard or command that ought to govern our life.

But Proverbs 22:6 is so much more than just a standard. At its essence, Proverbs 22:6 is a principle. In other words, it's an axiom that holds true regardless of the circumstance. It's a fundamental truth.

As parents, we are supposed to intentionally train our children. That is, we are supposed to teach them skills and types of behavior through practice and instruction over the course of their lives.

But the fact is that even if we aren't intentional about training our kids, we still do it.

No matter what, you are training your child to do something. If you're an active parent and positive role model, you are training your kids to grow up to follow in your footsteps. But be clear, if you're a terrible parent, you are still training your kids. If you respond to situations with pettiness or bitterness, they are learning how to behave. If you are jealous or selfish, you are training your child to respond to life in the same way.

All of us are training our kids in something. The question is, what's the substance of that training?

We can train our kids to be emotionally, spiritually, and physically healthy and productive members of our society. Or we can train them to have the same issues we have. At the end of the day, Proverbs 22:6 holds true. Whatever you teach your children, they won't depart from it when they are older.

What are you training your kids to be today?

God bless,
J.W.

Each According To His Ability (Part 7)

As we close out this series, I just want to encourage you to not live in isolation (Hebrews 10:25). You were not meant to do everything yourself. Find what you are good at and partner with others who have complementary gifts.

God gives each of us according to our ability (Matthew 25:15). But it's always His will for us to use what He's given us to its fullest potential (John 10:10). That can only happen in community. We were made to be one of a larger whole (Romans 12:4-5).

Find who complements you and live life to the fullest!

Have a great rest of your week!

God bless,
J.W.

Series Recap - Each According to His Ability

• Part 1: Operate In Your Function
• Part 2: Be Content With Where You Are
• Part 3: Manage The Small Stuff Well
• Part 4: The Power To Produce Wealth
• Part 5: Avoid Comparisons With Others
• Part 6: Do Not Live In Isolation

Each According to His Ability (Part 6)

"For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them..." ~ Romans 12:4‭-‬6 NKJV

There's a reason we all have different gifts.

Because God doesn't intend for us to live in isolation.

Rather, man is designed to live interdependently. That is, that while each of us is responsible for managing our own individual gifts and talents, we also have a responsibility to use our gifts for the good of the whole.

Don't believe me? Check Romans 12!

In it, the Bible says that we are members of one body. While we all have different functions, the body is designed to work in concert with itself. In order words, each of us make up a part of a body that ultimately works together as one.

That is why I encourage folks to find what they're good at and partner with others in the areas they are not.

We weren't designed to do everything on our own. God gives us a function so that we might edify the body, not just ourselves. But when we function in isolation, we actually operate in dysfunction.

So, how are you functioning today?

God bless,
J.W. 

Each According to His Ability (Part 5)

"For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." - 2 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV

Let's talk about comparing ourselves to others.

In short, comparing ourselves to others is foolish.

Why do we do it?

God says He's given each of us according to our own ability (Matthew 25:15). He gives each of us a measure of grace (Ephesians 4:7) and faith (Romans 12:3). In other words, we are all different, uniquely and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

So then, comparing myself to someone else makes no sense. Rather, my measuring stick should be my own potential, not the status, power, or ability of someone else.

In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul warns against such comparisons. In fact, he calls them unwise (2 Corinthians 10:12). Instead, Paul instructs us to measure ourselves "within the limits of the sphere which God appointed to us" (2 Corinthians 10:13).

God has given each of us a race to run, a purpose to accomplish (Hebrews 12:1). You may not be the fastest or the quickest, but God doesn't measure us against other people. He measures us within the sphere that He's given us.

What's your measuring stick today?

God bless,
J.W.