The Parable of the Sower, Luke 8:4-15

    And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
    And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
(Luke 8:4-15 ESV)
         I have read this parable a couple of times but never fully understood what it meant, even after Jesus explanation. I always wondered what seed am I? Am I being choked out by the world? But today the Spirit really showed me something awesome! In the last sentence Jesus says those in good soil are those that "Hold Fast" the word of God "in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience." Holding fast meaning being tightly secured to Jesus! We don't need to worry about what soil we are in, but we do need to anchor ourselves to Jesus. It is so easy for us as Christians to be concerned with the world around us, and protecting ourselves from sin. But a seed can not keep weeds away, and seeds are not planted to reed the world of weeds! But seeds are planted for their planters pleasure! The planter cultivates the growth! Jesus cultivates our growth! Our purpose is not to defeat sin, but to cling to Jesus! Jesus defeated sin and death! And if we rely on Him with patience, then we will bear fruit. Stop asking what soil you are in, and start clinging to Jesus!

Romans 3:9-12

"What then?  Are we Jews any better off?  No, not at all.  For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin (Romans 3:9)."  This is pretty much telling us that everyone including the Jews are under sin.  No one is better off.  Well you may ask what about Romans 3:1-2?  Yes the Jews have an advantage over the gentiles, they were given the oracles of God.  So they know the law but yet still  are unfaithful to it.  So the Jews have an advantage over the Gentiles but are not better off because they all are under sin.

" None is righteous, no not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one (Romans 3:10-12)."  Once again Paul emphasizes that we are all under sin.  Paul also says something very interesting, no one seeks for God.  What does this mean?  It means that no one on his own seeks for God.  Now what is this part about no one does good?  What about that time I helped that old lady across the street or when that guy dropped his wallet and I gave it back to him instead of taking it?  Are those not good deeds?  The issue Paul is addressing here is that prior to salvation people do perform actions that resemble goodness, but these actions are still stained by evil, since they are not done for Gods glory and do not come from faith.

Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction"

This started as the Proverbs Challenge of March for me but this kinda hit me right off the bat..
We too often forget that God is just and one to be feared in addition to being loved. We allow ourselves to focus on the blessings we feel we deserve. I can't help but think of Joel Osteen when I read this..always talking about how if God loves him, he will receive money and cars and houses, etc. He's choosing to ignore the righteous justice of God... We must always keep in mind that we are completely fallen, deserving nothing, and that without God's grace, we would be completely lost in our own right.

Fear God; Know God; Love God