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Don’t give up (Luke 13:6-9) November 24, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ecclesiastes 9-10

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 13:6-9
Jesus: (following up with this parable) A man has a fig tree planted in his vineyard. One day he comes out looking for fruit on it, but there are no figs. He says to the vineyard keeper, “Look at this tree. For three years, I’ve come hoping to find some fresh figs, but what do I find? Nothing. So just go ahead and cut it down. Why waste the space with a fruitless tree?”
The vineyard keeper replies, “Give it another chance, sir. Give me one more year working with it. I’ll cultivate the soil and heap on some manure to fertilize it. If it surprises us and bears fruit next year, that will be great, but if not, then we’ll cut it down.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I remember as a lieutenant, one soldier in my platoon that just couldn’t do anything right. I’m not sure how he made it out of basic training and certainly couldn’t understand how he got through his medical training to become a medic. But there he was in my platoon formation every morning filling one of the slots and as short as we were of personnel at the time, I had to figure out how to use him or get him better trained to do the missions we needed to cover to take care of the soldiers in the battalion my platoon served.

After he had been there for about three months and doing everything I knew to do to try and teach this kid how to do his job, I’d just about given up. Everything I tried backfired. None of the companies we supported wanted him as part of the team when it came to their medical support. He just couldn’t do anything right and was a lot more of a hindrance than a help when it came time to go to the field and train.

I was ready to do the paperwork to send him home before he hit that magic timeline to get him all the benefits as a veteran and just let him go when my platoon sergeant came to me. It was a lot like the story of the fig tree. He asked me to give him one more month to work with this soldier and see if he could turn him around. It would still fit within that probationary timeline before he received full VA benefits and I agreed.

I don’t know what my platoon sergeant said or did with that soldier, but a minor miracle occurred in that month. Something woke up in his brain and he suddenly started understanding his role and responsibilities as a soldier-medic in a deployable infantry battalion. He understood that the lives of those infantrymen he went to the field to support were in his hands as they trained and maneuvered in some fairly risky environments. And he became one of my best medics in the rest of my time as platoon leader in that organization.

I learned a lesson from that soldier and from that platoon sergeant that carried across in both my professional and spiritual life. I’ve tried not just write people off. I think we are often too quick to do that sometimes. We assume people are unsalvageable and quit on them. We give up trying and consequently lose out on an opportunity to gain a good employee, win a good friend, or bring another person to Jesus.

We forget that some people just aren’t ready to accept what we have to teach them or tell them and need time to think things through. Few parents today know that a hundred years ago, formal education, reading, writing, math, didn’t start until kids were 8 or 9 years old. The thought was their brains weren’t ready for them to sit in a class all day and absorb the information. A kid’s role in life was to play, learn to get along with other people, begin to form their basis for moral and ethical values through their interaction with other kids and adults. Their job was to play, not go to school. So maybe those kids that don’t get it in first and second grade today aren’t slow or behind or learning disabled. Maybe they are right on target and we just miss the boat in how we try to educate our kids. We need to give them another chance and remember that we are not all alike.

And maybe that son or daughter that you’ve been praying for or that neighbor that you know needs God or that co-worker that seems so abrasive just needs a little more nurturing in God’s love to have that eureka moment when it all comes together and suddenly the lights come on. In our instant gratification world, we want everything to happen right now. That’s not how things usually work in nature. Often it’s not how God works things out for us in our spiritual journey, either.

So when you have that urgent prayer need, that loved one that really needs God and you’ve been praying your heart out for them. Don’t give up. Remember the story of the fig tree and the caretaker. Give it a little longer with extra effort and extra care and see what happens. You never know what God will do in that time. You might be surprised at the results.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Don’t be a fig tree (Mark 11:14) August 28, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Timothy 1-2

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 11:14
Jesus: No one will ever eat fruit from your branches again.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

This is one of those stories you might remember, but if you’re like me, I always wondered a little why it was there. What is so important about this story that Mark would include it in His gospel and why would it come back to him as he recorded the events of Jesus life some thirty years later?

Jesus got up in the morning and started toward Jerusalem after spending the night in Bethany. Apparently, Mary and Martha were not the great hosts that morning they had been previously or Jesus and His disciples left earlier than they expected, because He didn’t eat anything before He left. He was hungry. So as He saw a fig tree in the distance, His salivary glands started acting up, His stomach started growling, and He started longing for some of those early figs from that tree.

When they got to the tree, though, there were no figs. Mark tells us an interesting fact about that tree, though. He says it was in full bloom and looked like it should have figs, but it wasn’t time for it to bear fruit yet. It bloomed too early. It had the right appearance from a distance, but when you got a close look at it, it just didn’t measure up to your expectations.

Jesus approaches the tree and sees no figs. Everything looks good, but no figs. He’s hungry. The tree was enticing. It made everyone even hungrier when they saw it. But no figs. Jesus does something recorded only one time in all the gospels. He uses His godly power to destroy. Jesus curses the tree and says it will never produce fruit again. We’ll see in just a few verses that in less than twenty-four hours, that tree will wither down to its roots. It will die a quick death that cannot be restored.

There is an important lesson in there for us as we watch Jesus’ actions with that tree. I think Jesus sent a clear message to His disciples and to us that day. I don’t think Jesus took action out of anger or spite. He could have easily touched the tree and figs would have grown as quickly as it withered. Remember Aaron’s rod when the other Israelite tribes questioned Moses and Aaron’s authority? In a single night, Aaron’s rod grew leaves, blossoms, and ripe almonds.

God can do miraculous things when He wants to. He did a miraculous thing with the fig tree. Just try to make a healthy tree in full bloom with its leaves spread out over the pathway wither to nothing in a single day. That is not an easy task. With all the pesticides, plant killers, poisons, acids, and all the concoctions we have today, I’m not so sure we can make a mature tree wither in twelve to sixteen hours. But Jesus did – by just talking to it.

So what’s the lesson?

The tree looked really good, but it didn’t have any fruit. It had all the markings of a healthy fig tree, but it didn’t do the job it was meant to do, produce figs. It had pretty leaves, a stout trunk, all the makings of exactly what you’d look for in a well producing tree. That’s why Jesus went to it in the first place. But when you got close to it, you saw it wasn’t what you thought it was. You saw through the sham of its appearance. You saw into the heart of the tree and the hypocrisy the tree represented in presenting itself as a producing fig tree but without fruit.

I think Jesus is telling us appearance doesn’t count. You can look good and sound good, but that’s not what He’s looking for in a life of faith. You can go to the right places and sing the right songs, but so what? You can pray long flowery prayers and even serve on church boards and teach Sunday School classes, but all those outward appearances don’t amount to anything in His book.

Jesus looks beneath the covers. He looks past the leaves and looks for the fruit. What am I talking about? Paul lists some of the fruit Jesus expects us to grow in Galatians chapter five. Remember those? Unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He expects to see those attributes blossoming in our lives. He expects to see more than just outward tapestry and habit. He wants to see our character transform as He takes control of our lives.

When He does, when He is Lord of our lives, you can’t help but see the fruit bloom. He guides us into areas that make that fruit evident to others around us. He puts us into situations that stretch us and fertilizes those parts of our lives so that our circumstance let Him transform our thinking into His thinking. He changes our character and let us bear His fruit. And what happens if we don’t? Just a word, and the fig tree withered where it stood. I don’t want to hear those words from Jesus when He comes, do you? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Do you believe Him? (Matthew 21:19-22) May 15, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Corinthians 9-10

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 21:19-22
Jesus: May you never bear fruit again!
Immediately the tree shriveled up. The disciples were amazed.
Disciples: How did that fig tree wither so quickly?
Jesus: I tell you this: if you have faith and do not doubt, then you will be able to wither a fig tree with one glance. You will be able to tell mountains to throw themselves into the ocean, and they will obey. If you believe, whatever you ask for in prayer will be granted.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We hear the story of Jesus’ power over the fig tree and we stand in awe of Him. We hear the story of His power of the storms at sea and wonder at what He can do. The power He demonstrates, the command He has over nature, disease, demons, when we hear those stories, if we believe they are true there can be no doubt about His divinity. No one can have that kind of authority over creation except God.

But then the disciples ask Jesus a question that we sometimes forget when we recall this story of the withered fig tree. “How did that fig tree wither so quickly?” And Jesus answer, we totally ignore when we tell the story to our children. “If you have faith and do not doubt, then you will be able to wither a fig tree with one glance. You will be able to tell mountains to throw themselves into the ocean, and they will obey.”

Do you have that kind of faith?

I am pretty good at making plants wither. But I’ll have to admit, I’ve never looked at plant and have it wither at a glance. It takes me a little longer than that. I’m just terrible at keeping plants alive. When I plant things they die. But to wither a thriving tree in a single glance? I haven’t done that. Or even a bush or a blade of grass. Do I have enough faith?

But then again…maybe I do. What does it mean to have the kind of faith Jesus talks about. Could I do something or let God teach me something that could wither a fig tree? Over the years I’ve learned about different chemical, poisons, mechanical reactions, that God allowed me to learn over the course of my education and career that in a pretty short time could wither a fig tree. Does that count? Well, God put me through the right training and experiences to enable me to do it.

And how about moving mountains? Can I tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea and it happen? We certainly have the equipment, explosives, moving capability to do that today. Does that count? Some would say you can’t move a mountain. I know you can because of what I’ve seen happen in large construction projects. It might take some time, but I know we can move a mountain from where it sits today and put it into the ocean. Is that faith? It is. Is it faith in God’s ability? Yes.

God doesn’t tell us how He will get a task done when it’s in His plan. Sometimes He does things in God-like ways. Sometimes He will cause something to happen that makes that mountain move almost instantaneously. He could send one of those car-sized meteors to hit a mountain and blow it away letting the debris fall into the oceans around the world. He could split the crust under one of those mountains and let the molten core melt the rock until it flows out into the sea and cools there forming a new land mass. God could just pick it up and put it in a new location if He wanted to. He’s God.

He could also tell us to get our hands dirty and do the work to move it one shovel at a time. We can’t presume to tell God how to accomplish His plan, but we can have faith that God works His miracles. He answers our prayers. Sometimes instantaneously, sometimes through the knowledge, skill, and effort of His children. But God does answer our prayers.

The faith we exercise in our belief in God and His will for us is not different than the faith we exercise in our belief that our car will start when we turn the key. Faith is faith, the question is what and who do we put our faith in? Do we believe God will do what He says He will or help us get done the tasks He gives us to do? Sometimes He works His plans instantly. In my experience, more often He works His plans through the people who have given their lives to Him. He uses us to help those around us. He builds relationships between us to enhance our relationship with Him. He wants us to show His love by doing God-like things for others through the resurrection power available to us through His holy Spirit in us.

Jesus said, “If you have faith and do not doubt, then you will be able to wither a fig tree with one glance. You will be able to tell mountains to throw themselves into the ocean, and they will obey.” Do you believe Him? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.