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

Matthew 8:5-10, is the account of Jesus healing the Roman soldier’s servant. “When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!”

The officer came to Jesus to ask for the healing miracle which demonstrated his belief and faith, but the significance that Jesus highlighted, is the Officer’s understanding of Jesus’ power. The officer described this understanding in his own terms, showing Jesus and those around that he understood Jesus’ incredible power, and accepted it.

How does that apply to us? Do we really understand and accept that God can do miracles in our lives and those we love?

Dear Lord, help us truly understand your unlimited power, and accept that in your love for us, you can do miracles in our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have you ever completed a personality assessment? There are a number of different types, but all of them have you answer a large number of questions about yourself, and after your answers are analyzed, the results are used to help you understand yourself better, and hopefully use the information to improve yourself.

David writes in Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

He is asking God to assess him, both, his heart, those reflexive feelings, impulses, and preconceived ideas, and his thoughts. Then he is asking God to show him where he needs to work on himself to be a better follower.

We should have the same prayer, asking God to show us our shortcomings, and keep us on the right path.

Dear Lord, search our hearts and minds and show us where we are not following your will. Then help us make the improvements to stay on your path. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

For those of you with children, I imagine you have had this conversation when they were toddlers, “I love you this much” and spread your arms way out in each direction, then your toddler says, well “I love you this much” and spreads his or her arms out….and so on. The memories are wonderful.

In Ephesians Paul describes how God feels the same way about us. Ephesians 3:17-19, he writes “And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.” TLB

What comfort it is for us to know that we can confront everything in life knowing we are the loved children of the Father and creator of everything.

Dear Lord, no matter how much we love others and love you, it doesn’t compare to the magnitude of your love for us. Help us have peace in this knowledge. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Jesus shows his exasperation with the disciple’s on a number of occasions in the Bible.

In Matthew 16:8-10, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?”

I think we all can read this as Jesus speaking to us, saying, “Do you still not understand? You see my power and miracles that I have done, but you still worry about your simple problems. Have faith.”

Dear Lord, We worry about the unknowns and insecurities in our lives, not quite sure you will be there when we need you. Help us have faith so that we will understand and have confidence in your promise to be there always. In Jesus’ name. Amen.