Joy and Fertilizer (Chapter 18)
Weekly Wednesday Joy in Spite of Stoopidity
Joy in the Word
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. (Luke 8:13 ESV)
How we begin is no guarantee of how we will go on. The secret of endurance is depth. (David Strain)
Good soil is dependent on a few things: how deep the barrier level is, erosion risk, quality of the soil (how well it holds and drains water, nutrients, harmful things like chemicals and parasites, etc.), being able to resist degradation, and its ability to recover from adversity.
Keeping heart soil healthy means being aware of what can degrade it: trouble-makers and their ways of distorting the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1: 6-7 ESV), deceiving imposters (hypocritical liars) who want to lure the heart into following idols (1 Timothy 4: 1-3 ESV), inactive or lethargic faith (Hebrews 5: 11-13 ESV), and persistent and deliberate sinning (Hebrews 10: 26-27 ESV)
We must know the Word in order to discern when it is being distorted. The Word is our best defense against the erosion of faith.
Healthy, fertilized heart soil means we are: trained in the Word, thankful, praying, avoiding those who spread falsehoods, meet together to caution and encourage each other and to motivate each one to love and good deeds, throw off sin that entangles, and be renewed in our minds to righteous living and holiness (1 Timothy 4: 4-7, Hebrews 3: 12-13; 10: 24-25; 12: 1-1, and Ephesians 4:21-24 ESV).
Receive the Word with joy, believe, and develop the soil of your heart. What we do after receiving faith is crucial to growth and stability, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to face trials and temptation without being rendered anxious and perplexed by efforts of the enemy in our midst. Satan wants to see souls ruined. Fight back with fertilizer.
(Luke 8:13 ESV) 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.
I have already done this one! Looky here! I even did a Little Diddy for it for the Matthew version and it is on the website page. This is the Luke version and I could have written again, except I made a STOOPID faux pas! You see the chapter number listed in the verse? It says 8! Somehow I thought it said 18!
When I went to look on my website to see if I had done this (inadvertent) verse 18:13, I found not only had I not done a digital Bible journaling page for it, but I made another faux pas in that I inadvertantly put three stories on one website page! Argh! STOOPID again!
I set my mind to doing all three Bible studies and digital Bible journaling pages for this writing. I can do it! Then after I did two of them, I realized my 18-instead-of-8 faux pas and felt overcome! I could not do all three and write about 8!
So I am here to announce that I decided to not write again for this verse and instead just share all three digital Bible journaling pages with you. That self-imposed relief gave me great JOY!
Whew! Now that this is past me, maybe I can find a quote or a song to share below.
Quotable
Since I did not do the specific verse for this week, I decided to do a graphic for a quote that applied. I think the graphic explains the quote well on its own how it relates with the JOY and roots and testing. Let me know in the comments what you think. (Cheryl)
Framed Joy
I feel this song fits the verse well. The lyrics refer to JOY, and STOOPID trials, but remaining anchored and rooted in Christ, not I, but through Christ in me. The song is sung by CityAlight and called Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me. (Cheryl)
Another song that fits the verse well is Blessed Assurance | Praising My Savior All the Day Long. I have recently fallen in love with the voice of Stephen McWhirter. “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!” Listen and worship while celebrating the JOY of your story anchored and rooted in assurance through faith in Christ, not in self, when being tested. (Cheryl)
Stoopidity Noticed
wintery weather travelling
CA gas prices
germs (I am sure I have listed this before…germs are still indeed stoopid)
I think the groundhog was wrong! I think Spring is here! Oh, and the weeds are here in February as well. Oh, the buckets I’m pulling already! What the what!
Spring is a tease! Warm one day, oh so cold the next two!
European Starlings that come in masses to chase the soft-hearted birds away from the feeders.
Joy Noticed
having lived in many places means friends in many places and it was a joint effort with a friend (and his friends) who helped keep us safe and making wise travel decisions recently
cameras pointed at highways
having my husband, son (and the one he loves), and parents all together at one time since 2013 (and one of our bonus sons too)
It got up to about 70 today! In February! But I enjoyed it.
Getting a great start and visual foundation of our front yard garden project for 2026 that I planned in my head last year, even though it was cold outside.
Eating out and cooking chicken and dumplings at home.
"Pray often and stay in a relationship with Jesus and do not lose heart."
Good words from your website, friend.🤍