The Parable of the Sower, Part One

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

Matthew 13:1-3 

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

This scripture is from the Parable of the Sower spoken by Jesus in the New Testament.

Jesus said that understanding the Parable of the Sower was the key to understanding all of the other parables he spoke. Have you ever taken time to really chew on the word and digest what Jesus is saying in this most important parable? 

The sower of course is the Lord Jesus Christ and the seed is the word of God which is being sown in our hearts. The birds of the air are a picture of the enemy, Satan and the powers of darkness. 

These enemies come into our lives to steal the word and stop it from finding place in our hearts. They use every scheme they can to prevent spiritual growth in us and to take our thoughts off of spiritual things.

  Do you ever wonder why you can sit and read a magazine and be completely uninterrupted but the minute you start to read the Bible, everyone seems to want your attention?

How many times have you sat in a Bible Study and your mind seems to drift a million miles away? 

You think about the favorite T.V. show you saw or how well your favorite sports team is doing, when all while, the Word of God is going forth. 

The birds of the air are stealing the word from your heart! They are distracting your mind and taking it in a different direction. They don’t want the word to take root in your heart and produce life in you. 

There is a war against the word! 

  If we were honest every one of us has been there. We battle distractions and tiredness but it’s important to keep our minds engaged in what’s happening and to have ears to hear what is being said! The Bible says these are perilous times and we do not want to be distracted from the simplicity and purity of being devoted to Christ. 

  Lord help us today to really hear what you are saying to us and to listen to your word and allow it to be planted in our hearts on good soil. Help us not to be "hearers" only but to walk out the word in our daily lives. In Jesus name, Amen.

The real fear of the Lord is the fear of missing God. What if He is speaking and we are not listening?

The Ripple Effect part two

  In 2 Corinthians 10:4  Paul the Apostle mentions that the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world and that they are mighty in God to pull down strongholds.

What is a stronghold?

It is something that has a "strong hold" upon you.

There is nothing in your life that God cannot conquer if we seek Him and we trust Him. 

In verse five Paul mentions taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. God would not ask us to do that if it were not possible. It's through struggles that I learned to fight the, "fight of faith."

We don't let those thoughts remain there, we take them captive.

When those thoughts come we say, "Father right now I take that thought captive, I don't receive it into my heart," and then we stop thinking about it. We can start thinking about things above, in God's kingdom where righteousness dwells. (Take some time to look up Colossians 3:2 and 2nd Peter 3:13)

We can't watch or listen to garbage and let it affect our lives or our outlook. These things will take root in our heart and manifest in our lives if we don't stop letting these things in and instead start renewing our minds with the word of God.

Now listen....I'm not going to be the judge of what anyone watches or the music they listen to but If you are watching or listening to garbage it's going to find root in your heart and be expressed in your life.

In 1st John it tells us that Jesus came into the world to break the power of the devil. (See 1 John 3:8)

There is nothing in your life that God can't conquer and overcome if you will just trust Him. You can talk about wanting to be free from things in your life but if you are not willing to deal with the thoughts of your mind and to cry out to God for change, you will never be free of the actions that come out of your life.

Just like God changed me in the area of fighting, it took a lot longer to be delivered from other things, like lust. As I have mentioned in the past, some things take longer to overcome because we have to learn to use the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. I had to learn by falling down and getting up and crying out to the Lord and even enduring through suffering.

 As we learn to deal with the thoughts of our lives there is one thing I believe that is very important to mention.

 Just because a thought comes into your mind, that doesn't mean that you have sinned. I have found that it is when that thought comes and you allow it to stay and meditate upon it.

Consider the scheme of holding a grudge against someone. What is referred to in the church as, "Unforgiveness."

 Let's say you are at the supermarket and you see someone you know and you smile and wave at them but they walk right past you without even stopping to say hello or acknowledge you.

Right then a thought comes into your mind, "I can't believe they just ignored me." That's how the enemies schemes start, with a single thought. Suddenly you find yourself having a conversation in your mind about how they treated you and how unkind they were. You're staying up at night thinking about how that person has always been rude and how they must think they are better than you.

Then you decide you are going to confront them about it tomorrow when you see them. You think about what you'll say to them and then what they will probably say back.

The Bible says we are not ignorant regarding the enemies schemes and this is exactly how it starts, with a thought allowed to fester in your mind.

Before you know it you are carrying on conversations in your mind with people who aren't even there. The source of the problem is that you are not taking those thoughts captive.

Again, how do we take thoughts captive...?

You are back at the supermarket and you see that person you know and you smile and wave at them but they walk right past you without acknowledging you. The thought comes into your head....what were they trying to say by that? Why were they so rude?

You must immediately take that thought and pray in your mind, "Father, I'm a little uncomfortable that he ignored me, but Father right now i'm going to choose to forgive. He may have not seen me or maybe he is having a bad day or received some sort of bad news. I forgive him and choose to believe the best about him in Jesus name I pray. Please help him through what he is going through today."

That's how you take thoughts captive instead of letting them take over your thought life.

Or guys, let's say you are watching television and a commercial comes on with a supermodel wearing almost no clothing and that thought comes into your mind. The thought is not a sin, it's when you continue to meditate upon that thought and it leads you to a place of lustful desire, that you do not want to have place in your heart.

Here's another thought....maybe you've been told all of your life, "You can't do anything right," or "you're not important." Sometimes that may be from the enemy or it's just something wrong in your thought life.

You have to stop receiving those thoughts from the enemy and instead think upon what the word of God says about you. Things like......

 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

and...

 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8 NASB

how about...

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. 

Ephesians 2:10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Write this one down and renew your mind with it; 

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well. 

Psalm 139:14 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

We ARE new creations and we must believe what this word says about us not what our thoughts are telling us.

Entertaining sinful wrong thinking may start as a small thing but the ripple effects can change the course of many years of your life.

I remember when I was a young man I had a friend whose dad, who was a believer and he had an affair.

The adultery in his life began long ago. There was a choice he had made years before to live in a secret place in his thought life. 

One day, he was faced with an opportunity for adultery and he made a choice to act upon it, because in his thoughts he believed he wouldn't be caught. 

All of a sudden the price for sin had to paid in his life and he is still trying to recover from the devastation and broken relationships over 30 years later. 

If not dealt with, sinful thoughts always lead to foolishness.

God says before the foolishness comes, he promises to give us the grace and to help us fight the battle. The Psalmist David said, "It is God who taught me to bend a bow of bronze." 

He will teach us how to fight the fight of faith but we must engage in the battle!

As we look to Christ and seek Him in every situation we can engage in this battle and not be overcome by it.

But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head. Psalm 3:3 NASB 

"Never Give up!"  (Winston Churchill)

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The Ripple Effect, Part One

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Matthew 15:18-20 KJV

I hate to disappoint you but there are no, "Good guys" in this broken world. The law of God clearly shuts every man's mouth and there is no one who is just before God. There are a lot of things in life I haven't done because I, was "born again" and became a Christian, going into my freshman year of high school. I've never been drunk, I've never taken drugs and I wasn't sexually promiscuous. Yet going into my high school years there was a light that came into my life and I knew if I died that there was a hell waiting for me.

There was no way to change the person that I was inside and I knew that if I did not change, then what was on the inside was going to come out. I began to cry out to Jesus for mercy and grace because the law had shut my mouth and made me accountable to God.

  Every one of us have been touched by the tragedy of sin, by the ripple effect of the fallen nature. It doesn't matter what your educational background is or your economic status or what country you are from. If you have been born into this world you have been touched by the law of sin and death. The scriptures say that evil things come from within the heart of man. The very first thing Jesus mentions is evil thoughts. Whatever you are allowing in your thought life is going to come out into your life.

It's the thought that becomes the seed of what happens in your heart. Stop and think about that for a minute.

If you look back in the book of Genesis, during the time of the flood that destroyed all creation, God didn't send the flood because the acts of man were evil. He sent the flood because their thoughts, what they were meditating on, was continually evil. (See Genesis 6:5) God cares about your thought life and your thoughts are open and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account,(Heb. 4:13 paraphrased).

When we come to the Lord, there are still ways that we react that we have learned from this world. Now that we are Christians we are not supposed to war anymore like we used to. (See 2 Corinthians 10:4) When I came to the Lord, God would convict me about the ways I would react to people, just as I had when I was lost. God would send difficult people into my life to teach me to think and respond the way he wanted me to. There is not going to be change in our lives without suffering. I had to learn not to fight according to the flesh but to live by the Spirit.

   I remember as a young man getting a job at a lumber yard and word got around that I was a Christian. At lunchtime one of the men grabbed me and held my arms and taunted the other men to hit me. They started hitting me in the legs and were laughing at me. There was a time that I would have hit back and fought with all I had. God had worked a change in my heart and when they saw I wasn't going to fight back it all stopped. Later in the day, one by one they all came and visited with me and asked about my faith in Christ. They saw that there was something different in my life.

  God wants to raise up a testimony in YOUR life but it involves suffering and change and a willingness to trust Him. 

God's word is true and He wants to bring a change for the better in your thought life. His word is like water that washes us and renews our mindset. (See Ephesians 5:26) If you don't seek the Lord and renew your mindset, what you are letting have place in your heart will manifest itself in your life. Jesus is our hope, our champion deliverer and as we seek Him He will be faithful to renew our thought life.

 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Philippians 4:8

  to be continued next week.....

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If I Had God's Power...

Imagine if God said to you today," I am giving you ALL of my power!"
The power we are talking about is like in the book of Genesis when God said,"Let there be..." and it would happen.  The power of the spoken word to where whatever you speak, it would happen.

What would you do with that power?

You might say, I would eliminate suffering,

remove evil from the world,

fix the problems my friends and family are experiencing....

Although we would hesitate to say it, many of us have thought that, "If I were God, I would do things differently."

Am I the only one who has ever thought this?

Who hasn't asked God why he allows the things that He allows?

Let me say this, if in your mind you are thinking you would do things any way differently from God then you are judging Him as being less than and yourself as being greater.

You see the problem is, we don't have all the information in front of us. The things that look awful and sorrowful and painful aren't always what they seem at face value. God has allowed those things to happen for a reason we are unaware of.

God cannot make anyone love him so He allows people to choose whether or not to pursue Him, even to make choices for good or evil. God wants us to passionately love Him and do what is pleasing to Him. Yet He gives us a choice.

If I were to ask you what does Romans 8 tell you we would think of scriptures like;

 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The scriptures people don't always mention include;

"We are like lambs being led to the slaughter"

and

"we are daily being given over to death."

We walk through the hard times and we really do feel like lambs led to the slaughter. In the place of passionate love when your heart has been met by Jesus, our heart cry becomes,

"Lord, you are worth everything that I am walking through." 

It is as we walk through these things that God is removing the dross from our hearts. We are brought to the place of, "God you are all I have."

   There was one time in my life that I cried out to God for something I thought was best for me but it wasn't happening and I was heartbroken. Life wasn't working the way I thought it should and I cried out to the Lord, "God why? I can't keep going on like this."

 God spoke gently to my heart, "Andy, when you are ready to say, not my will but yours be done, there will be healing for your heart." Life wasn't working the way I thought it should but I didn't know the things that God knew. I didn't know that what was the absolute best for my life was coming down the road.

God is sovereign and knows what is best for us and He is looking for passionate love from hearts that trust him. Will you let go and trust Him today for your life and circumstances? Will you trade what you think is best for what He thinks is the best for your life? Would you trade what you want in this world to know and love God deeply and passionately?

 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:8-11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Revelation 3:18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

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Fall in Love with Jesus

The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.)
The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

‘But in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’

Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

    The Pharisees were watching the disciples eat with unwashed hands and began to find fault with them.

The word, “Pharisee,” means, a separatist and the Pharisees were constantly looking to find fault with others because it made them look better. Jesus said that the Pharisees are always looking to put themselves in the seat of Moses, a place of prominence or authority for all to see them. You can constantly see this type of behavior even amongst those in the church. 

One person is upset because their co-worker was promoted but their own hard work wasn’t noticed. Another complains because they didn’t get the raise they wanted. Someone is passed over for a ministry opportunity given to someone with less experience than they have.

We are desperately seeking the acceptance of others and to promote ourselves. We want others to recognize us and say something good about us. 

In the book of James chapter 3 verse 16, we are told that wherever there is strife(selfish ambition), there is disorder and every evil thing. 

Listen, I can remember when Joyce Green first invited me to come into the prison and preach. She would get up to introduce me and would start to share some scriptures with the men. Before I knew it the service was over and I didn’t get to teach anything. This happened many times and I began to get frustrated and grumble in my heart. When I finally came to the place that I was just as content to sit and visit as I was to teach and share, God began to open up doors for me to preach. 

 I remember a few years ago, I was in one of the prison units and a young guy came up to me who was recently saved. He asked me what he needed to do to become a minister. Maybe he thought I would tell him some classes he could take or books he could read. I told him that all he had to do is fall in love with Jesus Christ. 

  The moment you begin to pursue ministry, people become objects to get you where you want to go. When you pursue the person of Jesus Christ, when it’s His timing He will open up doors to minister that no man can shut.

I genuinely believe God is raising up Shepherds in these last days. Shepherds with hearts like His. 

First He wants to get to the root of selfish ambition in our hearts. Then we will be truly seeking to please Him and not just seeking to promote ourselves. 

The word “ear” is in the center of the word “heart”. If you want to know what’s in your heart, listen to what’s coming out of your mouth. Sometimes you can’t really see what’s in there, but God is faithful to show you through those around you. 

As we are steadfastly seeking the Lord, He is constantly uprooting things in our hearts. Our part is to continue to agree with Him and come to the light.

Lord help me to love you more than selfish ambition or the approval of others. Help me not to seek to promote myself but to encourage others in knowing you. Open my eyes to see the hurt and need around me. Help me hear your voice and walk in obedience to what your Holy Spirit would have me to do. In Jesus name, Amen.

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Love is Not Optional

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:3 

English Standard Version (ESV)

     When I wake up in the mornings my prayer is, "Lord, today to the best of my ability, I want to love you with all my heart and I want to learn to love the people you put in front of me.
 I want to learn what that means."

That is how I usually approach each day.
God teaches us and will put people and circumstances into our lives to teach us to love.
 He'll speak gently to our hearts, "I want to love that person." Then he will guide us how to demonstrate his love to that person.

 As long as we think of love as an option, we will not walk in the kind of love that God intends for us to walk in. So often we know its the right thing to do but we choose not to because we don't want to.
Love is not an option, it's something that's going to happen in our lives if Jesus Christ is your Lord.

   Remember in  Luke 10:25 a lawyer asked Jesus, "What I should do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asked him what does it say in the law? One of the reasons I think it was important that Jesus pointed him to the law is because there is no way we can accomplish this apart from God.

 The lawyer replied that you must love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.
How do you accomplish that? I believe it's accomplished by faith.

We must trust God to accomplish it in us and keep walking in the light He shows us. 

     How often do we pass up the opportunity to love those around us, to show kindness and extend mercy to others. Are we quick to listen and be kind or to judge and be critical?
You would be much less likely to judge and be critical of others if you knew where they had come from and had walked in their shoes.

   Allow the Lord to love others through you today. To listen compassionately instead of expressing your opinions. To not judge or point a finger but to speak the truth with grace as the Lord leads you. Are we willing to be vulnerable and let others know where you came from and what the Lord has done for you?

   Lord teach us today to get out of our comfort zone, to listen, to show compassion and to be ready to share what you ask us to, when you give us the opportunity. Give us ears to hear your still soft voice speak to our hearts when you want us to share and when to be silent and listen.  Help us to be teachable today so that you can lead us into all truth. In Jesus name, Amen.

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STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND

On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. 

Luke 6:6 (NASB)

   What is it in your life that has become an obstacle or a part of your life that seems to hinder you?

Jesus, standing in a crowd, called the man with the withered hand to get up and be the center of everyone’s observation. 

He then proceeded to command him to do something he can’t do. To stretch forth his withered and crippled hand. 

At that moment the man had a choice to listen to Jesus or to simply refuse. 

I have been in situations where I was called to stand up and didn’t want to be the focus of the crowd, has that ever happened to you?

Yet here Jesus asked the man to stand and asked him to do something impossible for him to do.

 How many of you reading this have a obstacle in your life and feel like God is asking you to do something you can’t do?

How about in regards to God’s word? Have you ever felt like God was asking you to do something you can’t do? 

You may have said in your mind, “God commands me to love my neighbor and even my enemies but I just don’t know how to love,” or “You just don’t know about my past or my family history.”

I don’t know what your obstacle is but His command is beyond our ability in our own strength.

What it demands from us, is a willingness to believe. That’s the gospel! Believe and be saved!

Do you believe God is able to save you wholly and completely? Do you believe He is able to take the deformity of your life and cause it to be stretched forth and be supernaturally healed? 

What is it in your life that has become an obstacle or deformity to you? Like the man with the withered hand, something you hope no one else notices? Something that frustrates you, that only the person closest to you knows about? 

What will you do when His command comes to you? What if the command is to walk in love, or to be holy as He is holy? What if it’s to be sanctified? 

These commands seem burdensome and we feel like we cannot accomplish them. 

We cannot do these things on our own, they have to be done by faith. 

Are you ready to get rid of the excuses and do what God is calling you to do? 

Listen friends, the man with the withered hand got up and had the willingness to believe. Then Jesus enabled him to do what he was not able to do which was to heal him as he stretched forth his hand by faith. 

Jesus can take that withered portion of your life and bring healing as you get rid of the excuses and stand up when He calls. 

Lord, please help us to be truly honest with ourselves and cause us to believe that you can take the withered portion of our lives and bring restoration. In Jesus name, Amen.

“Draw me after you and let us run together!

Song of Solomon 1:4

ARE YOU PERSUADED?

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 King James Version (KJV)

   If I’m trying to persuade you of something and you’re of a different opinion, I’m trying to change your mind to see things the way I do. 

When you put a republican and a democrat together they are trying to convince each other to move over to their side. 

In the same way, God is trying to convince you of His love for you. To demonstrate that He is for you and that He loves you despite your past or even the difficulties and circumstances of your life. 

   It was not easy for the Apostle Paul to learn this after his past life persecuting Christians and throwing them in jail. Paul went into the desert for three years after his conversion, then there was a period of 14 years of training that he went through. Then the day came when he could say he was fully persuaded of God’s love for him. 

When you believe Jesus loves you, the “fruit” or proof is that you will stop grumbling and complaining against Him. 

When you trust His sovereignty you will joyfully accept whatever has come into your life. You know He loves you and you trust His guidance and direction in the midst of your circumstances.

You learn to realize that He sees something you do not see and that He has your best interests in mind. God really does want His best for you in this world and in eternity. 

 Choose to trust Him today as you walk through your trials, being fully persuaded of His love for you.

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” 

2 Timothy 1:12 (KJV)

 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Acts 14:22 King James Version (KJV)