Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Understanding Spiritual Growth: Mark 4:26-29

Published April 2, 2026 in Audio Journal Entries

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In our last episode, I hinted at the next several episodes being focused in on a series of parables found in Matthew’s gospel. However, before we continue looking at the series of parables, Mark’s gospel includes similar but unique parable that sounds related to the parable we focused on in our last episode. In planning our year of podcasts, this seemed like a great point to briefly detour away from Matthew to look at it.

While Mark includes this similar sounding parable to Matthew’s Wheat and Weeds parable, the key idea in Mark’s parable focuses not on the harvest, even though a harvest is included, but the time between the planting and the harvest, and Mark doesn’t include any details about weeds.

Let’s read Jesus’ parable from Mark’s gospel and discover what it can teach us about our lives today and the current world we are living in. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 4, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 26, Mark tells us that:

²⁶Jesus also said, “Here is what God’s kingdom is like. A farmer scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day the seed comes up and grows. It happens whether the farmer sleeps or gets up. He doesn’t know how it happens. ²⁸All by itself the soil produces grain. First the stalk comes up. Then the head appears. Finally, the full grain appears in the head. ²⁹Before long the grain ripens. So the farmer cuts it down, because the harvest is ready.”

When reading this parable, one of the first things that I thought of might make me sound a little skeptical, but it is simply that nowadays, we know how a seed germinates and becomes a plant. With our scientific advances, we know how this happens. We also know that soil left to its own won’t produce anything. If there is water and other soil with plants nearby, without some intervention, the soil in question might gain some of the plants from the nearby soil or it might get the pesky unwanted plants we call weeds.

However, soil with no water or moisture won’t produce anything lasting. We know more about how plants grow today than perhaps at any other point in history.

However, this was the logical, and perhaps a little skeptical, side of me. But what if Jesus isn’t really talking about farming?

Remember, this is a parable, and Jesus begins His parable by stating that His illustration will describe what God’s kingdom is like. With this introduction, we discover that this illustration about farming is not about farming at all. Instead, farming becomes a metaphor for spiritual growth.

With that as a frame of reference, do we know how spiritual growth works? I’ll be the first to say that we know a little bit about it, but similar to how Jesus describes the farmer not knowing how it happens, there are a lot of unknown details in the process.

When we talk about spiritual growth, we know some things that help and other things that do not. We know that prayer and Bible study help with spiritual growth, while many of the latest blockbuster movies, games, or other forms of entertainment don’t help us grow spiritually.

To sum up what we know and compare it to what we don’t know, what we do know is that there are some environments that help with spiritual growth, and other environments that don’t help with growth. This is similar to the parable from a couple episodes ago where seed falls on different types of soil with different results. Seed landing on soil is going to grow a lot better than seed landing on a solid slab of pavement. The environment matters when we talk about spiritual growth.

However, with the right environment, do we know what causes spiritual growth?

Again, we know something that can stop spiritual growth in the right environment, and that is a selfish, self-centered attitude. Also, a closed, hard heart towards God will stop spiritual growth. Judas Iscariot is the prime example of this. Everything spoke to Judas Iscariot having the same opportunity as the majority of the other disciples, but Judas chose to reject and betray Jesus because of His self-focused attitude, when the other disciples ultimately became ambassadors for God’s kingdom after they received the Holy Spirit.

So with the right environment, the right attitude, and the right focus, will we grow spiritually? I believe we will, but I also believe that we don’t truly understand how it happens. We can describe growing spiritually as receiving the Holy Spirit, learning new spiritual truths, having a new perspective and outlook on life, and being transformed by God, but how this happens is still a mystery.

Like the parable, we can see the outward stages of growth happening, all the way to being mature and ripe, but how spiritual growth happens within a person’s life is still a mystery. As the common metaphor goes, we can see the effects of the wind, but we cannot see the wind itself. We can feel the wind, but we cannot see it. We can feel and see spiritual changes in our lives and our perspectives, but that doesn’t mean we understand how we grow spiritually.

However, just because it is a mystery to us does not mean that this is a mystery to God. God knows and He understands. In this parable, Jesus subtly leaves one responsibility to us, and then we are to leave the rest to Him. This parable subtly challenges us to plant spiritual seeds. When we share God with others, when we live a life that gives God glory, and when we don’t back down when we are challenged spiritually, our lives are planting seeds in the lives of those we meet. This is what God has called us to do.

While we don’t understand how spiritual growth works, we can trust that God knows. God sends the spiritual sunshine, the spiritual water, and God prompts the spiritual germination that starts the spiritual growth in someone’s heart and life. Spiritual growth is something that is entirely based on the Holy Spirit. Once a seed has been planted, it is up to the environment to help facilitate the growth. We cannot control someone else’s spiritual environment, so we let God handle the growth.

With God focusing on the growth and the environment, every one of the seeds planted in His people will grow into spiritual maturity and become ripe for His harvest. God has left us with the responsibility of planting seeds, so let’s plant spiritual seeds and let Him worry about how to help them grow!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As always, seek God first and intentionally open your heart to Him. Ask Him to send the Holy Spirit into your life to help you grow, to help you live for Him, and to help you plant seeds through how you live your life. Trust that God is more than willing to answer this heartfelt prayer in your own life!

Also, don’t neglect the environments you place yourself in. Continue to set time aside to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow personally towards God. While the environment you are placed in is different from the one I am in, God knows how to grow someone spiritually when we stay connected to Him!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or wither away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Year of Parables – Episode 14: While Matthew has a more famous parable about wheat and weeds, Mark included a lesser known parable focused on seed planting that might be even more powerful, and it is a parable that challenges us about what we are called to do verses what we are called to let God do. Discover how a short, four-verse parable can reframe someone’s life!

Join the discussion. Share your thoughts on this passage.

Loving a Betrayer: Mark 14:17-21

Published April 1, 2026 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Mark 14:17-21 (NCV)

¹⁷In the evening, Jesus went to that house with the twelve. ¹⁸While they were all eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will turn against me—one of you eating with me now.”

¹⁹The followers were very sad to hear this. Each one began to say to Jesus, “I am not the one, am I?”

²⁰Jesus answered, “It is one of the twelve—the one who dips his bread into the bowl with me. ²¹The Son of Man will die, just as the Scriptures say. But how terrible it will be for the person who hands the Son of Man over to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”

Read Mark 14:17-21 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

During the last supper Jesus had with His disciples before the crucifixion, Jesus shares a statement that many of us would consider very insensitive and mean. Jesus didn’t have to share anything about the upcoming betrayal, but He chooses to do so, and while trying to keep the other 11 disciples from being surprised at what would happen that night, Jesus actually causes more confusion.

Mark tells us in his gospel that, “While they were all eating, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you will turn against me—one of you eating with me now.’” (v. 18)

This surprises the disciples, and they all have doubts that it could be them. Mark describes their reaction by saying, “The followers were very sad to hear this. Each one began to say to Jesus, ‘I am not the one, am I?’” (v. 19)

It is only after this string of identical questions that Jesus responds, and in His response, we find something incredibly insensitive. Mark tells us that Jesus answered by saying, “It is one of the twelve—the one who dips his bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will die, just as the Scriptures say. But how terrible it will be for the person who hands the Son of Man over to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.” (v. 20-21)

In a subtle but direct statement, Jesus says that it would have been better had Judas Iscariot never been born. That is a pretty mean thing to say. Even though it was predicted that one of Jesus’ followers would betray Him, had Judas Iscariot not been born, or if He had not been chosen as one of the twelve, one of the other disciples would have stepped in to fill that role.

Not only that, but Jesus had been talking about His upcoming death and resurrection for weeks – maybe even months – up to this point, and this truth hadn’t sunk in to the disciples minds. I wonder what would have happened if there was not a betrayer included among Jesus’ followers.

Before time began, everything was put in place to point to that specific weekend. If none of the disciples chose to betray Jesus, I wonder how Jesus’ arrest would have happened. Maybe a Pharisee spy would catch sight of Jesus and His followers leaving the city and go tell the leading priests. Or maybe someone else in the garden would see them and go and turn Jesus’ location in for a reward.

But knowing that Jesus’ betrayal was predicted and knowing that it would happen on that specific night, even though Jesus shares a mean statement, He still loved Judas Iscariot. Right up to the end, He gave Judas every opportunity to change his heart and mind. Jesus knew it was Judas, and instead of kicking Judas out of the disciples circle, He allowed him to stay and He chose to continue loving His betrayer.

This is an amazing picture of God that we don’t usually see. Jesus chose to love the one who betrayed Him, and while it may have been better if Judas Iscariot had never been born, God did bring him into this world, and Jesus chose to love and include Him. This emphasizes the truth that God and Jesus love sinners, including you and me, and even when we mess up, God still loves us.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Measuring Our Attitude: Luke 6:37-42

Published March 31, 2026 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 6:37-42 (NIV)

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

³⁹He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

⁴¹“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴²How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Read Luke 6:37-42 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

One of the most widely circulated verses in the “prosperity gospel” crowd can be found during one of Jesus’ famous sermons. While it is hinted at in Matthew’s gospels’ famous “Sermon on the Mount”, Luke describes it in greater detail in the sermon called the “Sermon on the Plain”.

But like what often happens in our sound-bite culture, only half the truth is shared – and in this case, while each verse in Jesus’ key point can stand alone, when put together, we see a clearer theme communicated.

Luke tells us Jesus preached, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (v. 37-38)

Too often, we are tempted to focus on the giving and receiving section of this verse, but Jesus is really describing a principle that relates more towards our attitude than our wealth. The key statement in these two verses is the last one: “For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (v. 38c)

This idea describes not only the giving side of the topic, but the whole attitude focus of both verses. The principle here is that we will get from the world what we give into it. How we look at the world will eventually become the way the world (i.e. others) look at us.

But it isn’t an equal ratio – this principle is intentionally unfair. Linked closer to the final phrase than the one before it, the second last statement speaks to the unfair nature of this principle: “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.” (v. 38b)

Both statements use the word “measure”, but the unfair statement describes how we actually get a more concentrated result than we give. If we chose to extend a little grace on a regular basis, we may find ourselves receiving grace in a much greater, more concentrated forms.

This truth is relevant in all areas of our attitude, but I believe Jesus draws our attention onto these four (judging, condemning, forgiving, and giving) because He knows these have the greatest power over the quality of our lives. A welcoming, friendly, forgiving, generous person is much more pleasant to spend time with than a judgmental, condemning, grudge-keeping, stingy person. Those who follow and apply Jesus’ words will simply have better relationships. These better relationships may translate into more material wealth, but not necessarily.

Nothing in this passage says that the repayment will happen using the same currency or even that it will happen in the same place in history. Jesus’ words are simply a promise that it will happen – and if it doesn’t happen in this life, then God has promised to make it so in the life to come. When we don’t judge, perhaps God chooses not to judge us; when we don’t condemn, perhaps God chooses to not condemn us; when we forgive, perhaps God then forgives us; and when we give, perhaps that becomes an open invitation for God to bless us. It may not happen in the present; God may be saving it for His kingdom that is to come!

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Flashback Episode — Letting Jesus Help: John 6:16-24

Published March 30, 2026 in Audio Journal Entries

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Immediately following Jesus feeding the crowd of over 5,000 people that we looked at in our last episode, our passage for this episode takes place that evening. At the end of our last event, Jesus sends the disciples away, telling them to cross the lake and that He will find them later. Jesus did this because the people present who experienced the miracle of food multiplication wanted to make Jesus their king at that moment. I suspect the disciples would have supported this declaration, and Jesus wanted to stop this from happening.

This leads us into our passage for this episode. Our passage opens with Jesus praying on the mountain by Himself, and the disciples beginning their journey across the lake. Let’s read what happened.

Our passage for this episode is found in John’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will read it from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 16, John tells us that:

¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went to the sea. ¹⁷They got into a boat and started to cross the sea to the city of Capernaum. By this time it was dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸A strong wind started to blow and stir up the sea.

¹⁹After they had rowed three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they became terrified.

²⁰Jesus told them, “It’s me. Don’t be afraid!”

²¹So they were willing to help Jesus into the boat. Immediately, the boat reached the shore where they were going.

²²On the next day the people were still on the other side of the sea. They noticed that only one boat was there and that Jesus had not stepped into that boat with his disciples. The disciples had gone away without him. ²³Other boats from Tiberias arrived near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord gave thanks. ²⁴When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into these boats and went to the city of Capernaum to look for Jesus.

In this event, two details stand out to me.

The first detail is that immediately after Jesus stepped into the boat, the boat reached the shore where they were going. It is possible this was another miracle beyond Jesus simply walking on water, or that John abbreviated the last portion of the trip. The big truth I can learn from the first portion of this passage is that life without Jesus is significantly more difficult than life with Jesus.

Taking this idea a step further, we could also conclude that it is impossible to reach God’s goal for us without Jesus. However, when we are with Jesus, we have already arrived at God’s destination for us.

The second detail that stood out to me is found in verse 22, when we read that “On the next day the people were still on the other side of the sea. They noticed that only one boat was there and that Jesus had not stepped into that boat with his disciples.”

This detail is fascinating to me. The people who had been fed knew that the disciples had taken the only boat when they left, and that Jesus wasn’t with them in the boat when they pushed off from the shore. These people, as well as some others who made the trip across the lake to the place where the bread had been served were all looking for Jesus, expecting to find Him without His disciples.

However, they all were disappointed and too late. This detail tells me that sometimes Jesus is away from His followers, but the best place to look for Jesus is with those who are serving and following Him.

Part of me wonders what would have happened if Jesus had stayed on that shore, and if the disciples had reached Capernaum without Him. What would the crowd have done if they had found Jesus apart from His disciples? Would the crowd have wanted to pressure Jesus into being a king? Would they have demanded more food like the previous day’s miracle?

We might never know, but what we can be certain of is that Jesus walked across the lake to the disciples not just because they were having a difficult time without Him in the boat, but because Jesus loves His followers. Another thing we can learn in this event is that when we are unable to reach our goal, Jesus is happy to come find us to help us get to our destination. The disciples made it part way across the lake without Jesus, but when Jesus came to be with them, He solves the part of the trip they are unable to solve.

In our own lives, when we are dealing with turning away from sin and leaving it in our past, some aspects of this are possible for us to do on our own. However, there will be a point when we have reached as far as we can without Jesus, and when we have come to this place and want to go further, don’t be surprised if Jesus comes and offers His help.

Jesus is more than willing to help us conquer sin in our lives and when we fill our hearts with Him and God’s Holy Spirit, we actively are pushing sin out. The best way to get rid of sin is by crowding our lives with Jesus and serving Him. When we are wholly serving Jesus, we won’t have time for sin, and our focus will be on God’s will for our lives!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Always continue to seek God first in your life and choose to depend on Him for help turning away from sin in your own life. Resolve to focus on what God wants you to focus on and push the sin out of your life by filling it so full of God’s goals for your life that sin cannot break in. Choose to be too busy doing God’s will for you to have time to sin.

Always keep your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and His sacrifice because we cannot earn our salvation through what we do. Jesus earned salvation for us, and the best way for us to say thank You to Him is by walking forward through life with Him and without sin.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God each and every day. God wants a personal relationship with you, and we grow a personal relationship with God when we pray, study our Bibles with an open mind listening for what He wants to share with us, and when we actively step out into His will and His plan for our lives. Life with God can begin today, and life with God extends into eternity!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Flashback Episode: Year in John – Episode 13: When we face trials in life, the best thing for us to do is ask Jesus for help. We might be surprised with how much help Jesus can give us, especially when we look at what happens after the disciples spent a night unsuccessfully trying to cross the lake without Jesus.