PREPARING THE SOIL
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
One of the things that we can all agree on is that Jesus spent a great deal of time with parables. He used parables to explain teachings from God to his disciples, but he used parables mostly to describe the kingdom of heaven to those whose eyes were spiritually open. Jesus explained these parables to his disciples to say that for the world around them these parables became no more than good stories, but to those whom God had prepared to receive his word and his teachings about the kingdom the parables that Jesus taught had a much deeper meaning.
One of the things that we as Christians; and I use that in terms of those of us who say we follow Christ, need to realize is that not all of us will be able to immediately understand what God is trying to say to us. It is for that reason that we need to prepare our hearts and minds to receive his word to us. As early as is found in Matthew 13: four Jesus taught the parable of the sower he was using parables in this way so that those whose hearts were prepared to receive the truth would be able to hear God speaking the truth to them, and for those who were just curious, or who were looking for possible ways to trap him these parables became simply good stories. This brings me to the need to let you know that not everyone who attends church today; in the same way as for those who would attend a gathering of people around Jesus when he taught, not everyone is interested in truly finding out about the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone is there to worship God, and not everyone who is there has worship and praise on their mind or in their heart. When God draws the hearts of men to himself the enemy is also drawn to prohibit men and women from hearing the word or understanding what is being said about the kingdom of heaven.
Simply put whenever we make an attempt to share God's word, or to worship God and praise his name we can also be sure that in some way the enemy will attempt to use distractions among us to make sure that those who have the most trouble with concentration or staying on point with the message that is given will be the first to be attacked and distracted. This is one of the areas where we as the church need to understand our responsibility. For a very long time now the church has missed its calling of ministry and duty as a part of the kingdom of heaven. God's Holy Spirit has always been the one who has been commissioned to draw people into the church while it has always been our commission to minister to those whom God draws. Interestingly enough the parable in Matthew 13: that Jesus uses right after the sower is the parable of the weeds where he speaks of good grain and unusable weeds growing in the same field. When the servants asked the Lord if they should go and try to remove the weeds from the field he simply said "NO" let them continue to grow together until the day of harvest when both the weeds as well as the good grain will be harvested together, and then separated. That answer was given so that none of the good grain would be uprooted and harmed, but would grow right beside the weeds. In many different ways today within the church it is very difficult for us to tell where these weeds are except through the fruit that they bear. In many ways our lives mimic that of a field of grain in that among the first steps taken for any of us to become fruitful is to prepare the soil that we are planted in. For many of us that means that we must change the circumstances we find ourselves in. There are a large number of people who are addicted to various things in life other than drugs. These things may consist of habits, or lifestyles that harbor behaviors and thoughts that prevent us from being able to concentrate on God's word. These changes may even deal in part with people and places we hang out with. These addictions may very well be disguised in forms of family and friends, but we can always tell what is trying to pull us away from a closer walk with God through the end result of our relationship with it. The soil of our lives can mean many different things, and it can go in many different directions. Within that soil we can find treasures and pitfalls, stumbling blocks and blessings. In order for us to really know what we are planting God seed with in we must do some digging within ourselves. I hope you will consider some of what were talking about in this discussion, and that you continue to pray that God might provide some insight into the soil of your life. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
One of the things that we can all agree on is that Jesus spent a great deal of time with parables. He used parables to explain teachings from God to his disciples, but he used parables mostly to describe the kingdom of heaven to those whose eyes were spiritually open. Jesus explained these parables to his disciples to say that for the world around them these parables became no more than good stories, but to those whom God had prepared to receive his word and his teachings about the kingdom the parables that Jesus taught had a much deeper meaning.
One of the things that we as Christians; and I use that in terms of those of us who say we follow Christ, need to realize is that not all of us will be able to immediately understand what God is trying to say to us. It is for that reason that we need to prepare our hearts and minds to receive his word to us. As early as is found in Matthew 13: four Jesus taught the parable of the sower he was using parables in this way so that those whose hearts were prepared to receive the truth would be able to hear God speaking the truth to them, and for those who were just curious, or who were looking for possible ways to trap him these parables became simply good stories. This brings me to the need to let you know that not everyone who attends church today; in the same way as for those who would attend a gathering of people around Jesus when he taught, not everyone is interested in truly finding out about the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone is there to worship God, and not everyone who is there has worship and praise on their mind or in their heart. When God draws the hearts of men to himself the enemy is also drawn to prohibit men and women from hearing the word or understanding what is being said about the kingdom of heaven.
Simply put whenever we make an attempt to share God's word, or to worship God and praise his name we can also be sure that in some way the enemy will attempt to use distractions among us to make sure that those who have the most trouble with concentration or staying on point with the message that is given will be the first to be attacked and distracted. This is one of the areas where we as the church need to understand our responsibility. For a very long time now the church has missed its calling of ministry and duty as a part of the kingdom of heaven. God's Holy Spirit has always been the one who has been commissioned to draw people into the church while it has always been our commission to minister to those whom God draws. Interestingly enough the parable in Matthew 13: that Jesus uses right after the sower is the parable of the weeds where he speaks of good grain and unusable weeds growing in the same field. When the servants asked the Lord if they should go and try to remove the weeds from the field he simply said "NO" let them continue to grow together until the day of harvest when both the weeds as well as the good grain will be harvested together, and then separated. That answer was given so that none of the good grain would be uprooted and harmed, but would grow right beside the weeds. In many different ways today within the church it is very difficult for us to tell where these weeds are except through the fruit that they bear. In many ways our lives mimic that of a field of grain in that among the first steps taken for any of us to become fruitful is to prepare the soil that we are planted in. For many of us that means that we must change the circumstances we find ourselves in. There are a large number of people who are addicted to various things in life other than drugs. These things may consist of habits, or lifestyles that harbor behaviors and thoughts that prevent us from being able to concentrate on God's word. These changes may even deal in part with people and places we hang out with. These addictions may very well be disguised in forms of family and friends, but we can always tell what is trying to pull us away from a closer walk with God through the end result of our relationship with it. The soil of our lives can mean many different things, and it can go in many different directions. Within that soil we can find treasures and pitfalls, stumbling blocks and blessings. In order for us to really know what we are planting God seed with in we must do some digging within ourselves. I hope you will consider some of what were talking about in this discussion, and that you continue to pray that God might provide some insight into the soil of your life. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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