GROWING AMONG THE WEEDS
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
As I look back on my life I can now see the many different times when I was influenced by other people who had their own agendas in going to church or in even believing in Christ, and when I allowed myself to be influenced by these people I found my growth in Christ personally either slowed down a lot or it stopped all together.
There is much that can be said about the weeds we encounter along the way as we grow in the church because for the most part that is where the weeds are making the greatest amount of difference because they are right in the church body with us, and they are allowed to grow right beside us. There must be a greater purpose for this kind of tough love from God as we encounter those who constantly seem to want to make each move made in the Church more difficult than it needs to be? Once again we turn to the scripture found in Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43.
I want for you to notice this parable starts out with good seed being sown in a field and then an enemy coming along in the night and sowing weeds among the wheat. Today's church looks very much like this in many ways. We have a tremendous amount of good seed that is sown and growing well in the church today, but along with that good seed is weeds that are put there by the enemy of God. One of our jobs as a child of God is to grow enough in the Spirit to be able to discern who those people are, and stay clear of their influences. How will we be able to know who these people are? It is really very easy for the most part...these are the people who are always leading us away from the conversations we want to have about Christ or they are constantly bringing up problems instead of working toward solutions. Many times these are the people who when they are helped by the church just get more helpless as to begin to be a drain on the church. In particular many of these people don't seem to want to witness or be a part of the unity of a body of believers...instead when ever they are around they tend to lead things away from Christ and not to Him, and on their own you would probably never hear them say anything about Christ in their lives. The most dangerous kinds of weeds , however, are those who know how to lead people away from God through their personal philosophies that are not Christ centered. These people tend to pick up on any new kind of teaching that floats around and then they quickly spread it throughout the church.
There is a way that we can all be aware of these weeds, but we must let go of the control and allow God's Spirit to lead us as we speak to and deal with people from all of these various walks of life in the Church body. The word tells us that the Spirit of God will verify for us the Spirit of God in other people by discerning what other say and do with regard to Christ. We literally come to the point at sometime in this world where we won't be able to trust what we hear others say...and that point is already here where we cannot believe the things that others are calling the truth. These things must be compared to the word of God and they must hold up to the standard of truth that God has set and not what men come up with.
The only way that we can hope to combat this kind of thing is to know the word of God personally, and know where we can go find the truth. Personally I have a great number of studies done that I trust that lead me back to the word of God so I can find the truth. I know them to be true because I have tested them, and you need to find that same kind of help for yourselves. Even with the things I tell you here I want for you to read the passages for yourselves and pray for yourselves to find the answers. This is way too important to leave to chance. We are all called to that deeper walk that makes us feel somewhat uncomfortable at times. It is the realization that we are held accountable for what we choose in life...even if it is to be apathetic about what goes on around us. We are growing either in the middle of a weed patch, or we have weeds that are growing among the harvest...either way there will be a harvesting of the grain at some point; a separation of the two things...weeds and grain, and a day of judgment. You make the choice...May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
As I look back on my life I can now see the many different times when I was influenced by other people who had their own agendas in going to church or in even believing in Christ, and when I allowed myself to be influenced by these people I found my growth in Christ personally either slowed down a lot or it stopped all together.
There is much that can be said about the weeds we encounter along the way as we grow in the church because for the most part that is where the weeds are making the greatest amount of difference because they are right in the church body with us, and they are allowed to grow right beside us. There must be a greater purpose for this kind of tough love from God as we encounter those who constantly seem to want to make each move made in the Church more difficult than it needs to be? Once again we turn to the scripture found in Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43.
I want for you to notice this parable starts out with good seed being sown in a field and then an enemy coming along in the night and sowing weeds among the wheat. Today's church looks very much like this in many ways. We have a tremendous amount of good seed that is sown and growing well in the church today, but along with that good seed is weeds that are put there by the enemy of God. One of our jobs as a child of God is to grow enough in the Spirit to be able to discern who those people are, and stay clear of their influences. How will we be able to know who these people are? It is really very easy for the most part...these are the people who are always leading us away from the conversations we want to have about Christ or they are constantly bringing up problems instead of working toward solutions. Many times these are the people who when they are helped by the church just get more helpless as to begin to be a drain on the church. In particular many of these people don't seem to want to witness or be a part of the unity of a body of believers...instead when ever they are around they tend to lead things away from Christ and not to Him, and on their own you would probably never hear them say anything about Christ in their lives. The most dangerous kinds of weeds , however, are those who know how to lead people away from God through their personal philosophies that are not Christ centered. These people tend to pick up on any new kind of teaching that floats around and then they quickly spread it throughout the church.
There is a way that we can all be aware of these weeds, but we must let go of the control and allow God's Spirit to lead us as we speak to and deal with people from all of these various walks of life in the Church body. The word tells us that the Spirit of God will verify for us the Spirit of God in other people by discerning what other say and do with regard to Christ. We literally come to the point at sometime in this world where we won't be able to trust what we hear others say...and that point is already here where we cannot believe the things that others are calling the truth. These things must be compared to the word of God and they must hold up to the standard of truth that God has set and not what men come up with.
The only way that we can hope to combat this kind of thing is to know the word of God personally, and know where we can go find the truth. Personally I have a great number of studies done that I trust that lead me back to the word of God so I can find the truth. I know them to be true because I have tested them, and you need to find that same kind of help for yourselves. Even with the things I tell you here I want for you to read the passages for yourselves and pray for yourselves to find the answers. This is way too important to leave to chance. We are all called to that deeper walk that makes us feel somewhat uncomfortable at times. It is the realization that we are held accountable for what we choose in life...even if it is to be apathetic about what goes on around us. We are growing either in the middle of a weed patch, or we have weeds that are growing among the harvest...either way there will be a harvesting of the grain at some point; a separation of the two things...weeds and grain, and a day of judgment. You make the choice...May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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