ICS Daily Devotions
Called To Be Overcomers
Mark 4:16-17 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
Mark 4:5-6 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
This stony ground is a place where there is a layer of limestone embedded in the ground or a field with rocks that has a thin layer of earth. It was sown on the ground where the earth is shallow because there is a layer of limestone underneath. Since it is shallow ground, there is not much earth so it cannot take root.
There might be underlying issues in our lives that need to be dealt with so that the word can really take root and bear fruit in our lives. There are Christians who do not like to read the word for themselves, spend quiet time with the Lord, neither do they like to attend teaching seminar. They are excited to hear testimonies of successful people and breakthrough that they had in their lives. They might forget that these people actually walked with God and were totally dependent on God. All they want is a quick fix, grab hold of a few promises and use it as a formula for faith in God to try God out and be successful in life.
The people who belong to this category stumble, fall away and leave the Lord. They are offended or stop attending church because of various reasons. They tried God like a formula and tested Him without a proper relationship.
The type of soil that has little earth and has a stony base represents people who are touched by a sermon on Sunday, but forgot it by Monday! They will fall away or get stumbled when tribulation and persecution come to them. They stumble in their faith because their Christian experience was based more on emotion than on truth, they have no deep roots into the Word.
God has given dominion over our own lives and nobody is able to prepare our heart to receive the word better than we do. We should guard this truth in our hearts. If God has given us the power or dominion over our lives, He will not override our decision.
The devil will attempt to steal the word from our lives immediately after it has been sown. As free moral agents, we are the ones who have been given the authority to guard the word sown into our hearts and ensure that our heart is open and receptive to His word. Nobody is able to guard the word from being stolen except us. The devil will use all kinds of ways to steal the word from you and it might not even be relevant to what you have just heard from the preaching or teaching. His chief objective is to get you to let go of the word that you have just been taught or are excited about.
The Bible reveals to us very clearly that tribulation and persecution will arise for the word’s sake in order to steal the word or the possible conviction that we can develop and have our faith grounded on it.
The Word of God works like a mirror where it reveals to us the condition of our lives or heart. It is never meant to judge or condemn but for us to make the necessary adjustment of our lives. All too often we have seen brothers and sisters including ourselves seem passionate and enthusiastic about God and His word. We are on a spiritual high especially after Sunday, a seminar, conference and a Bible Study. All of a sudden the people either lost the zeal, the passion, the drive, the enthusiasm or slowly stop attending church or return to the world. There is no depth and proper foundation on what we should be appreciative of the work that Christ has done for us!
If we were to be honest with ourselves, this happens to us when we are disappointed with God, under stress or challenges come our way and we crumble under it.
The Christian life is not a bed of roses every day. It does not promise us that we will be free from tribulation but it does promise us to be able to overcome the tribulation when it happens in our lives!
Sermon series: There Is Power In The Seed
