You have likely heard of “pass interference” in American football, when one player physically interferes with an opposing player’s ability to catch a pass.

A close reading of the parable of the spreading of the seed in Luke 8:4-15 tells us that the devil tries to interfere with people’s acceptance of God’s word. You may recall the parable, the farmer spreads seed, some falls on the hard footpath, some on rocky ground, some in the thorns, and some on good soil.

In verse 12 Jesus begins to explain the parable and he says “Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.”

The devil is out there trying to interfere with our hearing and accepting God’s word. We need to realize this, and defend ourselves with the tools God has given us; The Shield of Faith, the Breastplate of Righteousness, and fight back with the Sword of the Spirit that is the word of God, as described in Ephesians 6.

Dear Lord, as we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from evil,” Help us rely on you to defend against the devil’s schemes. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

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The famous investor Warren Buffet is quoted saying, “Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”

Solomon was a couple thousand years ahead of him, writing in Proverbs 19:1-2, “Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool. Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.”

Without honesty and integrity being smart and enthusiastic will eventually lead us into trouble.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the wisdom of Solomon, and help us to have the courage to have integrity and honesty. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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You have probably heard someone use this expression when they seemingly have tried everything to get something accomplished, “What’s it going to take to…….”

In the Old Testament, God sent prophets to the people to try to get them to change their ways. One of these prophets was Amos.

In Amos 4:6 he tells the people God’s message saying, “I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town. But still you would not return to me. says the Lord.”

God is saying in essence, “what’s it going to take to get you people to return and follow me?”

We cannot know if the causes of problems in our lives are put there by God to get us to return to him, but they may be. Either way, however, we should turn to him for help, comfort, and resolution of the struggles in our lives.

Dear Lord, When we have negative experiences, may they remind us to return to you. You are our strength, protection and salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” ~ Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis”

We all get our physical traits from the genes and DNA we receive from our parents. Our hair color, eye color, height, and even many of our personality traits come from the DNA we receive.

Paul writes in Ephesians 1:5, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.”

He says we are God’s “adopted” children, but we are more than adopted in the natural sense, we have God’s Spirit in us. I like to think of it like we have God’s spiritual DNA. With the Holy Spirit in us, we take on traits God desired for us replacing our wrong natural behaviors.

John 1:12-13 “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”

Paul writes more about being God’s children in Romans 8:9, “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you….8:11, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.”…8:14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

Dear Lord, We are so blessed that you have given us your Spirit to live in us, and to be your children. Help us submit ourselves to your Spirit so that we may live as your obedient children. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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It is interesting to look at the lives of people and see how the many seemingly unrelated events and circumstances come together to create the lives they have at any point in time.

We can see this in biblical personalities as well. Would Moses ever have thought that he would become the leader and liberator of the Jewish nation, or Joseph becoming so powerful in Egypt after being sold as a slave by his brothers, or Paul at one point persecuting the early Christians, then later becoming the leading spokesman for Christianity?

We can see some of these things in our lives to today; how we came to know our best friends, how we met our spouse, or how we ended up living and working where we do. We cannot predict what God has in store for us, even tomorrow.

Proverbs 16:9 writes, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” and in 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul writes, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

We don’t know why things are going the way they are for us at any one time, but we can know that God loves us and has plans for each of us.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the peace of knowing that you have control of all that happens to each one of us. If we only surrender ourselves to your will, our lives will be the beautiful picture that you are painting. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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