The Living Word: A Daily Devotional with Jeff & Dale from The Jenkins Institute

When Sheba rebelled against King David, Joab, the commander of the army, trapped him in the city of Abel Beth Maacah. As the siege engines were positioned and they started battering the walls, a wise woman approached Joab. She explained that they were the peaceful and faithful in Israel, and that destroying a city that was a mother in Israel made no sense. Why are you doing this? Simple: we want S...

Before his untimely death in World War I from a sniper’s bullet, Joyce Kilmer was the leading Catholic American poet of his generation. His strong religious faith and dedication to the natural beauty of God’s world are clearly seen in his most famous work, Trees: I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;...

Almighty God repeatedly reveals that his people often do not view time with the same perspective that He does. While we expect prompt and decisive action, the Lord of All Creation is patient, letting things develop. Those Israelites who recognized Abimelech’s authority in Shechem languished under his rule for three years. But the Lord had a plan, and it raised opposition against Abimelech from his...

The legendary Canadian power trio RUSH recorded a song in 1978 titled The Trees . It includes these lyrics: There is unrest in the forest Trouble with the trees For the maples want more sunlight And the oaks ignore their pleas So the maples formed a union And demanded equal rights They say, “The oaks are just too greedy We will make them give us light” Now there’s no more oak oppression For they p...

Gideon’s leadership led to the land enjoying peace for forty years (Judges 8:19). But the seeds of trouble had already been sown. The Israelites wanted a line of family succession with Gideon, his son, and his grandson to rule. Gideon rejected that idea, saying “The Lord will rule over you” (Judges 8:22-23, ESV).

I’ve been a Christian for a long time. Perhaps you have been as well. One thing that we have witnessed through the years is grudges, anger, and resentment that exist between people. This can manifest in an unwillingness to talk to the other person, avoidance, gossip, and slander. I know of some who were so offended that they determined to never “darken the door of the church building again.”

One billion dollars vs. one hundred denarii (around $15). In a stunning reversal, the forgiven becomes the unforgiving; thereleased becomes the enslaver. How can a man, who moments ago was forgiven a debt so enormous that it would have resulted in him losing everything, become a man who now cannot forgive a measly sum from a “fellow servant?”

D.A Carson observed: “We glimpse some idea of the size of the indebtedness when we recall that David donated three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of silver for the construction of the temple, and the princes provided five thousand talents of gold and ten thousand talents of silver (1 Chronicles 29:4, 7).

D.A Carson observed: “We glimpse some idea of the size of the indebtedness when we recall that David donated three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of silver for the construction of the temple, and the princes provided five thousand talents of gold and ten thousand talents of silver (1 Chronicles 29:4, 7).

In biblical times, kings conducted business on behalf of their kingdoms. This could include anything from investing in existing establishments to new start-up ideas. It frequently dealt with individuals, where one man was loaned a sum of money with a contract to repay the loan in a set period of time. In this week’s parable, the king has his own workers (“slaves”) whom he funds for himself. 

Evaluating oneself properly can be very hard. There are occasions when we may be much too hard on ourselves. But surely there are times when we’re too lenient as well. Jesus said, “Do you not understand the parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:13, ESV). This parable is all about having very attentive ears to the message of our Lord, along with a humble, responsive spiri...

Sower. Seed. Soil. Each of these has a crucial part in Christ’s Parable of the Sower. Each must be properly studied to get the picture our Lord intended. According to Jesus, the secret of a fruitful heart is having hearing ears with a humble spirit. Jesus mentions four different types of soil/hearts.

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11, ESV). This short statement is a real attention grabber! In a skeptical world that often says, “So what?”, the people of God sow the word of God to bring precious souls to God. In a pluralistic world that says there are many roads one may pursue and still be okay with God, what one sows matters. Bumper sticker ethics aside, what we...

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow” (Mark 4:3). Jesus not only wants people to listen and hear; He wants us to look and see, too. Perhaps a farmer was out sowing seed, and our Lord drew attention to it. Even if not, farmers behaving in such a manner would have been a common sight in that part of the world. His hearers could easily envision it.

 Good communication can be tough, can't it? Experts say we spend about 75% of our conscious hours communicating 10% writing or texting 15% reading, 30% speaking, and 45% hearing e gc coaching.com. If you're wondering why you feel so tired now, you know, English speaking persons typically talk at a rate of 110 to 170 words per minute. 

 As we have noted, God expects us to bear fruit. Bearing fruit takes time. And we are helped in that regard by our brothers and sisters and by Jesus, who believes in second chances. But there's something you need to know: Chances to bear fruit will not last forever. 

 Let's concentrate on what the vine dresser did to help the fig tree become fruitful. He dug around it and put on fertilizer. What does this tell us about being fruitful among other things? It tells us that we need help beyond ourselves to grow and be fruitful for God. We've already noted that we need Jesus connected to our lives to bear fruit for God.

When the owner wanted the unfruitful tree cut down, the vinedresser asked for one more year to care for it in hopes it would bear fruit. Even though everything about the vinedresser isn’t an exact match, I believe that he represents Jesus. Jesus believes in second chances. I’m thankful for this because I have often needed second, third, fourth, and more chances.

When the owner came to check on his fig tree, he said that he had come for three years and found no fruit. The common fig tree in Jesus’ day was the ficus carica. It sometimes bore fruit in the second year, but more often in the third year or later. Much depended upon the rains and the condition of the soil. When one plants a fig tree, patience is required. The tree needs to grow and mature.

 We will look at this parable from several angles. Today I want to concentrate on the expectations of the owner. While everything about the owner is not analogous to God, it is clear that we were planted by him. God expects us to bear fruit. He never put us on the earth to simply take up space. What kind of fruit does he want us to bear?

Over my years of ministry, how have I not devoted more sermons to the subject of hell? There are many possibilities. Maybe I heard too much “hellfire and damnation” when I was a child. Maybe my personality is not aligned with that approach to preaching. Maybe I cannot bear the thoughts of it for people I know who have already passed. Who knows?

This devotional centers on the Sorting of the Parable of the Net. When the net was dragged to shore, the sorting began. The sorting represents the final judgment for all people. This sorting process is way humbling and scary.

Today, we focus on the fish, which represent people. Have you considered how diverse humanity is? In Nigeria alone, more than 120 dialects are spoken. Culture is dramatically diverse within the country in which you live. In the Parable of the Net, the spread of the gospel is in our hands. Note that in Scripture, no angel was ever sent to preach the gospel to others—it is literally in our hands.

This devotional focuses on the Parable of the Net in Matthew 13:47-50, which reads, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteo...

The Messiah and His kingdom—this connection is the backdrop of all of Scripture since the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15). The Parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47-50) reinforces this connection. Why does Jesus give us such a wealth of ten parables in Matthew 13? The key is found in Matthew 13:10-17, where Jesus teaches through a chiasm (i.e., a literary structure in which ideas are presented and...