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The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 15 May 2023 – The Growth Of Believers
TOPIC: The Growth Of Believers
READ: Mark 4: 26-32 (NKJV)
- And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground,
- “and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.
- “For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.
- “But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
- Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?
- “[It is] like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth;
- “but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”
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THE MESSAGE:
Today’s reading describes the process of growth of the fruitful seed (Mark 4: 1-20). The seed is the Gospel and the ground is the good soil in the heart of the believer or the Church. This parable describes the seed sown by man through the preaching of the goyspel (verse 26). Once it has taken root, the growth of the seed is sure, constant, gradual and energised by God to reach its optimal point before harvest (verses 27-29). This implies that spiritual maturity does not happen overnight and God will eventually seek for a harvest of His invested resources in our lives.
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In verses 30-32, Jesus described the great power in the seed of His word. The word of God may look small, ineffective and powerless like a mustard seed, but when sown into a receptive heart, has the capacity to develop men into spiritual giants to give succour to others in time of need. The challenge to believers is to first allow the seed of His word to permeate their hearts, training them to develop into mature Christians to help others. Every promise in His word sown into a receptive heart has the power to overcome challenges, either gradually or immediately. It is also important to scatter the seed daily through evangelism. God will water such labour and ‘grains’ of converts will be produced.
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PRAYER: Pray that God shall awaken His Church again to evangelism and missions.
