Key Verse
1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
 
Meditation
When God remembers, He moves into action. When God remembers no more, it is because His saving action is complete.
 
God’s remembering is not recovery of forgotten information, but His covenant faithfulness expressed in decisive action. God heard Israel groan in slavery, remembered His covenant with Abraham, and acted to redeem His people (Exodus 2:24). Likewise, after God has acted definitely through the person and work of Jesus, the New Covenant promises guarantee the Lord will “remember our sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:12).
 
In today’s reading, God remembered Noah and all who were with him on the ark, and He acted by sending His wind to subside the waters of judgement (v. 1). The returning dove became a sign of renewal and hope (vv. 11-12), signaling that judgement had given way to new creation. Noah and his family step into a new world, and Noah responds with worship. His sacrifice ascends as a pleasing aroma to the Lord (vv. 20-21), replacing the stench of death with the fragrance of obedience. God recommissions humanity toto “be fruitful and multiply,” restoring His creational design in a place previously dominated by pervasive wickedness (6:5).
 
God’s promise to never flood the earth again does not solve humanity’s deeper bondage to sin. A greater deliverance came through the person and work of Jesus. In Him, God’s just judgement gives way to new creation for all who believe (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through His finished work, Christians live in hope of a new world by responding with lives of worship, viewing His mercy with the fragrance of obedience to God and His word (Romans 12:1-2).
 
Today’s Reading
But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
 
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
 
13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

God’s Covenant with Noah

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially God remembering and acting?
 
-Where do you connect with the longing for a new beginning, to walk out into a new world where there is no more wickedness?
 
-How does the promise that in Christ you are a new creation, and through His work God “remembers your sins no more” fuel you to live free from sin today with hope of a new world tomorrow?
 
Key Verse
1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.

Key Verses
3     But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. 4 I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill.
 
Meditation
God’s sovereign grace transforms dysfunction to delight, redeeming family disorder for His glory.
 
We can joke about keeping the “fun” in dysfunctional regarding some part of our family dynamics.  But nothing about family dysfunction behind Psalm 3 is humorous. The historical backdrop in 2 Samuel 15 reveals a devastatingly painful episode for King David. His son Absalom staged a coup, seeking both his father’s throne and his life, partly as a response to David’s failure to act decisively after the sexual assault of Tamar (David’s daughter and Absalom’s sister).  Psalm 3 is David’s prayer while fleeing for his life. 

David’s “foes” in today’s reading are not foreign enemies but family and former trusted leaders, who taunt him by claiming he is beyond divine help (vv. 1-2). David directs his faith above the dysfunction to God Himself, looking to the Lord as His shield, glory, salvation, and strength (vv. 3-4). Because the Lord reigns, David can lie down and sleep in peace (v. 5) through trusting God for deliverance (vv. 6-8). As Spurgeon famously said, 
 
“God’s sovereignty is the pillow on which believers rest their head to sleep.”
 
This is God’s consistent pattern throughout Scripture: He redeems family dysfunction in His time and His way (see the story of Joseph and His brothers where God’s sovereign grace transforms evil intentions into instruments of salvation and glory- Genesis 50). The same sovereign grace invites us to find security in God’s steadfast love, lifting our eyes in worship to see Him and opening our hearts to trust Jesus for His redeeming power to transform dysfunction into delight.
 
Today’s Reading
Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2     many are saying of my soul,
“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah
3     But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4     I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
5     I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6     I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
7     Arise, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
       For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
8     Salvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people! Selah
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you about a Psalm of worship written from the context of family dysfunction? How does this historical context immediately change how you look at the difficulty of dysfunction in your family and life?
 
-Where do you need to lift your eyes off the dysfunction to see God as your protector, provider, redeemer, and sustainer? How would this change your engagement with difficult relationships?
 
-Jesus’ work demonstrates and fulfills God’s promises, specifically His promise to transform evil intentions for His purposes, the good of His people, and the glory of His name. Where do you need to turn from your lack of faith to more fully trust God’s sovereign grace?

Key Verses
3     But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. 4 I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill.

Key Verse
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. 
 
Meditation
God provides a way of salvation, an escape from the flood of judgement and entrance into new creation.
 
The flood was God’s just judgement on a world in rebellion. The earth was utterly corrupt, yet Noah was found righteous (6:5-8). By faith, Noah trusted God would save him and his family, God preserving His promise from Genesis 3:15. Flowing from that faith, Noah “did all the Lord commanded” (6:27; 7:5, 16). He built the ark, gathered the animals, said goodbye to the world he had known… “and the Lord shut him in” (v. 16).
 
In almost an exact reversal of creation, the waters covered the land, destroyed all living creatures, and wiped-out humanity (vv. 20-24). Only Noah and his family were saved. As the flow of the flood points back to creation, so too it points forward to the cross of Christ by inviting believers to both salvation and new creation.
 
On the cross, Jesus bore the judgement His people deserve. The Author of life Himself entered death. Jesus was flooded by the Father’s righteous wrath against our sin, dying as our representative. Through faith in Jesus and His work, believers are secure in God’s salvation from the coming flood of judgement.
 
God promises a “time of restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21), made possible by the peace Christ offers through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20). Those who do not put their faith in Jesus will experience the flood of God’s just judgement. All whose trust in in Jesus as God’s provision of salvation will escape the coming judgement and enter comprehensive new creation.
 
Today’s Reading
Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
 
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
 
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
 
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you about the judgement of God through the flood and God’s pleasure to provide secure salvation for Noah and His family?
 
-Do you believe Jesus is the only way of salvation from the coming just judgement of the Lord? If so, does your life show it, as Noah’s was set apart from people in his day?
 
-How does the promise of comprehensive new creation through the cross of Christ draw you to endure until Jesus returns again?
 
Key Verse
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. 

Key Verse
13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
 
Meditation
Today’s reading reinforces the reality that Jesus is king over everything- all that is seen and unseen, all earthly powers, all rulers, and all authorities, over death, sin, creation, and all of history (Colossians 1). Jesus invites us to find restoration and renewal under His rule, freeing us from fear as we trust His absolute authority.
 
After demonstrating His authority over the deluge (4:35-41), Jesus now reveals His authority over demons, disease, and death. The authority of King Jesus is absolute, and His intimate love invites us to trust Him as king of your hearts and lives.
 
Jesus’ authority accomplishes what is humanly impossible. A man possessed by a legion of demons encounters Jesus personally and leaves “clothed and in His right mind.” Even the demons that were destroying him submit to Jesus’ command before going into the pigs (vv. 1-20). A woman who had exhausted every resource in decades-long battle with bleeding is healed immediately when she touches the hem of Jesus’ robe (vv. 21-35). And Jairus’ daughter, already dead, is raised to life by Jesus’s word (vv. 36-42).  
 
Accessing the authority of Jesus does not require a certification test, instruction manuals, or advanced degrees. We are called simply to believe. Jesus offers this gentle yet powerful invitation: “Do not fear, only believe” (v. 36). The faith that connected the suffering woman to Jesus’ healing power is the same faith we need to be free from fear, whether of life’s storms, Satan’s oppression, disease, or death. 
 
Faith is total trust in Jesus’ authority, “imploring earnestly” (v. 23) for mercy in every detail of our discipleship.
 
Today’s reading
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.”13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter
21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?”31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was.41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially which picture of Jesus’ authority: Authority over demons, disease, or death? Why?
 
-Who or what authority do you trust more than the authority of Jesus? Does this give you peace or multiply anxiety? Why?
 
-How does Jesus’ gracious invitation to not fear, but to believe, invite you to trust the authority of Jesus more than other authorities? Where in your life do you specifically need to “implore Him earnestly” for mercy?
 
Key Verse
13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

Key verse
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
 
Meditation
In today’s reading, God reinforces a central redemptive reality: His covenant faithfulness is greater than the corruption and chaos of this world. God’s sovereign grip of grace will not loosen; He will not let go the promises and purposes for His people.
 
The “people of the earth” repeat the tragic pattern of Adam and Eve- “seeing… desiring… taking” (v. 2). The Lord’s heart is grieved by the pervasive evil in human hearts (v. 5). This divine grief reveals His love. God also makes clear that judgement is the necessary consequence of sin for all who rebel. Yet even here, God did not let go- Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (vv. 6-8).
 
God’s covenant grip is displayed through astonishing grace. When humanity wholly rejects Him, God walks with Noah (vv. 9-10). When the corruption of the earth is emphasized (repeated three times in vv. 11-12), God reaffirms His covenant intentions (v. 18). When God determines to bring judgement to the earth, He simultaneously provides a way of salvation, instructing Noah to build the ark (vv. 13-22). Noah’s faith is revealed through obedient trust, doing all the Lord directed. God’s faithfulness shines in this: He never releases the grip on His covenant promises or purposes. 
 
This covenant faithfulness is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus who entered the chaos and corruption of this world to become a curse for His people. The floodwaters of God’s judgement fell upon Jesus so the grip of God’s grace might eternally hold His people fast. In Jesus, we can know this love that will not let us go! 
 
Today’s Reading
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
 
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Which headline are you more inclined to believe: “The world is corrupt and chaos reigns- there is no hope!” OR “God is faithful to keep His promises and is working things according to His purposes and He will never let His people go”? Why?
 
-Noah believed the latter headline, and He followed God’s plan of salvation by faith demonstrated through obedience. What is hindering you from hearing, believing, and obeying?
 
-How does God’s covenant faithfulness revealed through the finished work of Christ empower your sense of security in God’s steadfast love? Where do you need to believe, dropping the burden of the brokenness of this world to take up the easy yoke of Jesus?
 
Key verse
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
 

Key Verse
8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
 
Meditation
The love of King Jesus softens our hearts to receive and believe the King’s word, so that it may abide in us and bear fruit in those with ears to hear.

In today’s reading, Jesus repeatedly emphasizes the priority of receiving God’s Word, repeating the Kingdom comes to those who listen (vv. 3, 9, 13, 23, 24). “He who has ears, let them hear!” (v 8, echoing Jeremiah 5:21 and Ezekiel 12:2)
 
The Word of God is scattered like seed. Some have the Word immediately swept away by Satan’s strategy. Others receive it with joy but troubles cause it to wither. Still others receive God’s word but wealth or worries choke it out. But good soil bears a bountiful harvest. Jesus promises that those who hear and accept God’s Word will produce fruit, up to a one hundredfold in kingdom harvest!
 
Light shines through those who have ears to hear (vv. 21-25), and life grows in those who believe. The Word of the kingdom grows in unseen and unimpressive ways (vv. 26-29), becoming a great sheltering plant (vv. 30-32). At the same time, the King’s Word is powerful enough to still storms and silence waves (vv. 35-41). Those with ears must hear God’s Word!
 
The love of King Jesus is ultimately displayed in His perfect reception of God’s Word as our representative, His life of obedience leading to His death in our place. When we see this grace, disciples are moved to “receive with meekness” God’s word (James 1:21), knowing the Word of our King gives life today and will endures forever (1 Peter 1:23-25). 
 
 
Today’s Reading
Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables
10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that

“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
    and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”

13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.[a] 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp Under a Basket
21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Jesus Calms a Storm
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
 
Richly Dwelling
-From the farming imagery Jesus uses in His teaching, what from today’s reading stands out to you about listening, receiving, and believing God’s Word?
 
-What are things that steal or suffocate God’s Word in your life?
 
-The grace of Jesus prepares the soil of our soul to receive the King’s Word. Take time to repent and receive His grace, confessing sins and being cleansed by His word, so that your heart posture will be nourished. Ask Jesus to help you truly listen, believe, accept, and obey His word.
 
 
Key Verse
8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”