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March 12 Bible Reading:
Leviticus 12-13
Psalm 72
Luke 8
**Click to read Christine Miller’s Bible study for today.
Good morning! My children have a field trip today, so I’m going to make this quick. 🙂
Here are some helpful links for today’s reading in Leviticus:
- Leviticus 12 – My post on Keeping Clean: The Laws of Niddah
- Leviticus 13 – In this video from 2017, my husband teaches about leprosy. How does it even apply to our lives today?
- Leviticus 13 – In these audios from 2015, my husband teaches how the cleansing of lepers is a picture of Yeshua our Messiah.
Psalm 72 was written by King Solomon, but it doesn’t take long to see that he’s dreaming of the future day when the King of Kings, Messiah Yeshua, reigns on this earth. It is very encouraging to think about!
Finally, in Luke 8, I want to point out to you the word hear. How many times do you see it in this passage?
And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”
And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”
Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.”
But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:4-21)
I counted 9 times. So let’s check those out.
What are they supposed to be hearing? The Word of God.
On the wayside — They hear, but they don’t guard it. They let the devil come and snatch it out of their hearts. So how would we keep the devil from doing that? I think it’s by having faith that the Word is true, and calling anything that is different false.
“…above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16).
On the rock — They hear and react with joy, but when times of “temptation” come (which are “adversity, affliction, trouble: sent by God and serving to test or prove one’s character, faith, holiness,” according to the Outline of Biblical Usage), they fall away. So how do we keep from doing that? Be paying attention! Times of trouble and affliction are there just to see if you will keep hearing the Word of God as truth! Just knowing that helps quite a bit!
Among thorns — They hear, but they are choked by the culture around them. Yeshua specifically lists “cares” (worries), “riches, and pleasures of life.” So in other words, they get too busy to hear the Word. Even if they aren’t physically busy, their brains are on overdrive. They have “too many tabs open,” as someone I know likes to say. They need to quietly get in the presence of God and wash away those cares with the Word and prayer (Philippians 4:6-7).
On good ground — They hear, and because they have a noble and good heart, they “keep” or guard it. And notice that bearing fruit takes patience. It doesn’t happen overnight. They have to guard the Word for a long time. How do we get a noble and good heart? I think it happens when, like Psalm 1 says, they “meditate on it day and night.” Keep the Word of God playing like a sound track to everything you do, while you go about your day and while you lie in bed at night. When lies come in and try to tell you the Word isn’t legitimate, shut those lies up immediately and turn the Scriptures back on in your mind.
Notice that Yeshua says,
“Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him” (Luke 8:18).
I like this verse because it’s so practical. “Hearing” the Word is a daily decision. Do you want more? Then TODAY, hear the Word and guard it. If you have to, break this day into hours. Guard it from noon to one o’clock. Check yourself. Did you allow doubt and fear to come in? Were you too preoccupied to think about His Word? Make changes, and try again from one o’clock to two.
If you’ll do these small steps, He will give you more!
But notice, it’s not just about hearing. We prove we really heard when we do the Word. If the Word points out sin, we need to immediately confess it and change.
Don’t worry about tomorrow. This is, again, a moment-by-moment thing. Just worry about today. Obey what He tells you. After lunch, keep obeying. This evening, keep obeying. Tomorrow morning, keep obeying.
I gotta run… What did you see in today’s reading?
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this blog post taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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