The Parable Of The Sower: The Seed Among Thorns And Its Meaning

I’ve been looking at the parable of the sower, and taking a closer look at Jesus’ explanation of this parable. With this, I’ve been able to address the seed on the path and the seed on stony ground. Today, I’ll be looking at the seed that fell among thorns. Just to recap, the places where the seeds fell represents the heart of the individual, in other words they became like that as a result of what they’ve often been feeding their minds with. So when the seed comes, it is their way life that would determine what they would do with the Word or the seed.

Now for the seed among thorns, the Amplified version of Mark’s account would be more elaborate. First of all Mark 4:7 and 4:18 and 19. Verse 7 says, “Other seed [of the same kind] fell among thorn plants, and the thistles grew and pressed together and utterly choked and suffocated it, and it yielded no grain.” Verses 18 and 19 of Mark 4 says, “And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word; then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness and riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless.”

Wow, the thorns must be dangerous, but why does the individual in question like thorns. Ecclesiastes 1:2 says, “‘Vanity of vanities’, says the Preacher; vanities of vanities, all is vanity”. The Amplified version puts it this way, “Vapour of vapours and futility of futilities, says the Preacher. Vapour of vapours and futilities of futilities! All is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and vainglory). Verses 3 and 4 says, “What profit does man have left from all his toil at which he toils under the sun? [Is life worth living?] One generation goes and another generation comes, but the earth remains forever.”

The last question in verse 3 which says, “Is life worth living?” is actually the thorn, but those living this life where their heart is full of thorns do not know that their life is full of thorns because the life according to them is full of pleasures, delight, glamour, riches, passionate desires and so on. But the scriptures call them, “false glamour”, “deceitfulness of riches.” Which would imply that the passion with the heart of thorns is not satisfied, he feels something is missing in his life.

Many of us may think the life of a person with a heart of thorn is the life full of extravagance; partying, living a rough life. This is true, but not completely true. Have you ever taken a good look at your life, if you’re not one of them, why am I saying this? I’m not here to give you a guilty conscience. Verse 19 of Mark 4 says among the things that choke the Word are cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age.

What we fail to understand is that simple things like rushing to work because you woke up late is anxiety and care because your job is on the line. Simple things like being anxious over the lack of food, clothing and shelter; not having children, having financial debt, no job and so on. These things affect almost everybody. But guess what, the man who woke up late most likely forgot to through the scriptures where the Word is present or went through it in a hurry and not properly grabbing anything thus not allowing the Holy Spirit to direct their day. The same thing applies to the person who is scared of not having food, clothing, shelter, job, children, finance, standard health, and so on. My point here is that we gradually begin to forget what the Word says over the challenges we find ourselves because we’ve started losing focus on the truth and have started believing the fake, and as a result of this our cares and anxieties overwhelm us and choke the Word and it becomes unfruitful.

Yes, it clearly states in the parable of the sower that this person heard the Word, therefore having in mind to make use of it; so the person could be one who goes to church. It also states that as the Word is chocked, the seed becomes unfruitful, that means the person most likely sowed the seed, probably spent time with the Word, but when worries came, gradually forgot what the Word says.

Simple things make us lose the mark; we may have been living this life before the Word came in; as I said it is what we do after that matters. In man’s quest in taking care of his anxieties and cares, he is distracted with pleasures, deceitfulness of riches, cravings, passionate desire for things, all because he wants his problems solved.

Jesus said in John 16:33b, “In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] AMP. Jesus was speaking to His disciples about their lives as Apostles, in the world. It is normal for cares and anxieties to come our way, but they are not meant to overtake us because Jesus has conquered them on our behalf and this is what we are to hold on to.

There are things that would have been done to cut down the thorns, or the stony ground and the pathways being transformed into good soil when the Word is received. This would be explained in the next blog where I would write on the good soil and how this heart is the only one of the four that made proper use of the Word and got great benefits.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

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For prayers and comment send them to my Google+ account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

The Parable Of The Sower: The Seed On The Stony Ground And Its Meaning

Still on the parable of the sower, last time I wrote on the first type of soil, the seed sown on the path way and how the devil came to steal the Word away. I made it clear that everyone receives the same message but it is what we do with it that makes the difference. As I also said, the first individual who allowed the devil to take the Word away was idle, that is he never felt it was important to make use of the Word, thereby allowing the devil to take the Word away from him easily.

 The devil won’t take anything from you unless you give room to take it. Still, on the first type of heart, the heart was hardened, not ready to change so the seed had no effect. And as you know, in the spirit realm, there is no sitting on the fence, you’re either in or out, and not in between. Today, I will be taking a closer look at the second person, that is, the second type of heart, the one whom the seed was cast on stony ground, why there was a stony ground and how this could be avoided.

Taking my reading from the book of Mark 4:5-6 and 16 and 17 using the Amplified version, “other seed [of the same kind] fell on ground full of rocks, where it had no depth of soil; and at once it sprang up; because it had no depth of soil; and when the sun came up, it was scorched, and because it had not taken root, it withered away.” Jesus later went further interpreting it in verses 16 and 17 which says, “And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; and they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away.”

The Amplified version identifies three words which could most likely be synonymous to the word offended and they are: displeased, indignant and resentful. First of all to be offended implies your feelings being hurt; to be displeased is to have a feeling of dislike in a thing; to be indignant is to have an anger aroused by something, or a self-righteous anger or disgust; and to be resentful is having a nature of displeasure stemming from the belief that one has been wronged by others or betrayed.

Jesus said these type of people receive the Word with such joy; you would see them full of so much excitement, but what would have happened, that made them stumble during trouble or persecution. It is simple; it is the spirit of unforgiveness and grudge. Jesus again said in Luke 6:22 and 23, “Blessed (happy-with life joy and satisfaction in God’s favour and salvation, apart from your outward condition and to be envied) are you when people despise (hate) you, and when they exclude and excommunicate you [as disreputable] and revile and denounce you and defame and cast out and spurn your name as evil (wicked) on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and be glad at such a time and exult and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is rich and great and strong and intense and abundant in heaven; for even so their forefathers treated the prophets” AMP.

Jesus said that trials and persecution is part of the package for living the Word, but we weren’t born perfect, even when we received the Word we weren’t perfect either. So can we justify the man with a heart of stone? No! The same answer boils down to what you do with the Word.

The man with a stony heart received the Word with joy, but there wasn’t any root or I’ll say proper foundation when he received the Word. Every Believer is expected to receive the Spirit of perseverance and this has to do with you laying down your life and allowing Christ take over becoming the Lord of your life. When you meditate on the Word, it grows in your heart and the power of Christ reflects in everything you do. But what was the case with the man with the stony heart? He refused to drop the attitude of having grudges; he didn’t have a heart of forgiveness, and God doesn’t use individuals who do not forgive. Luke 6:37b says, “acquit and forgive and release (give up resentment, let it drop), and you will be acquitted and forgiven and released.” AMP. It is not that God hasn’t forgiven us of all our sins, however it is left for us to accept it into our hearts.

For the man with stony heart, why his heart became stony is simply because when he was excited with the Word, he was supposed to focus on the Word and be transformed, just as a farmer takes good care of the seed as it germinates. But no, the man with the heart of stone was busy focusing on those whom had offended him. So when trials and persecution came, just because he wasn’t founded on the Word stumbled easily. In other words, he is just the perfect example of the man Jesus spoke of in His parable when He said, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do the things which I say?” [Luke 6:46]. He who listens to His Word and does what Jesus says is like a man who built his house on the rock, the flood, wind, stream, whatever you may think of, beat against the house, but it wasn’t shaken because it was founded on the rock. Jesus also said, those who hears His Word and does nothing, like the man with the heart of stone is like the man who built his house on sand. The exact things which beat against the house on the rock where the same which beat on the house on the sand. But guess what? The house on the sand collapsed!

The Word strengthens us in every situation, but when you don’t focus on the Word, you use your strength and YOUR STRENGTH WILL FAIL YOU! It is only when you’re well-grounded in the Word, that is allowing the Holy Spirit take over your life, then you would speak like James who said in James 1:2-3, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

In order not to be like the person with the heart of stone, you are to remain in the Word when you receive the Word into your heart beyond just accepting it. Although there are levels in digesting the Word properly. Focus on the Word and not the world. God is always there to help, that is why He gave us the Holy Spirit as the helper. Helper is not just a figure of speech, it really means helper.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send them to my Google+ account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

The Parable Of The Sower: The Seed On The Path Way And It's Meaning

Last time, I wrote on the parable of the sower, explaining that the soil represents the heart of man and also what represents how a man lives and how he makes decisions in life. So today I will take a look at the first type of heart and why he ended up the way he became.

According to Mark 4:3 and 4, it says, “Give attention to this! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.” AMP. In explaining the parable further, Jesus in Mark 4:14 and 15 said, “The sower sows the Word. The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, Satan comes at once and [by force] takes away the message which is sown in them.” AMP. Now, the question here is, even though the Word was sown into the heart of this individual, why was he still vulnerable to the devil?

As Jesus said, the soil represents the heart and I elaborated by saying the heart also represents ones mind-set, what the person has become in making decisions. The Word was sown on the path. On the path, there is nothing that can make use of the Word. In other words, it would just remain there till it wears out. What could cause this? The answer is being idle.

To be idle; you must have heard a popular saying that “an idle mind is the devils workshop”. Well Proverbs 16:27 from the Living Bible says, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece.” To be idle is being vulnerable for so many things. The Word sown is expected to be used immediately, first of all by accepting it. Another reason is being just a hearer.

Another reason is being just a hearer, which of course was what the person in question, that is the one whose Word fell on the pathway did, because it says, “the Word sown [in their heart].” When the Word is sown, it is just as good as walking down the road and hearing a song by the way, which doesn’t concern you. It is what you do after this that makes the difference. Apostle James said we should be doers of the Word and not just hearers alone. In James 1:21-22, it says, “So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls. But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].” AMP.

It is clear with the verses quoted above that the person whose seed fell by the way time, had no intention of welcoming the Word; his heart was hardened from the start. So this was what made it very easy for the devil to come and steal the Word, thus making the person not to retain anything he heard! How do we prevent having the heart represented as the one on the path way? The answer of course is by becoming the one having the heart represented as the good soil, which I would elaborate after bringing to the fore the hearts represented as the stony ground and the thorn bush, which are the next two blogs.

In summary, it is not just about going to church and listening to the Word or reading the Bible. It is the state of your heart that determines whatever you will do with whatever comes in; remember, be the doer of the Word and not just the hearer.

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GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

What Are You Doing With The Word?

There are people I admire so much, but above all I admire is Jesus Christ, yea you may say “of course, why not”; but my admiration is not just out of respect, it is the high level of His wisdom in the way He handles things, how He speaks, the level of His faith in God, His command of authority and many more. I don’t know about you, but He is my role model. Well, my focus here is on the parable of the sower [ref. Matthew 13:3-20; Mark 4:2-20; Luke 8:4-15].

I have always read about the several places the seeds were sown; as Jesus explained, the soil represents the heart, but the same word was sown, the question is what made these hearts different?

The first soil which was the way side, then the stony ground, the one thorns and the good ground. The truth is that the types of soil which represents the hearts are actually the decisions people make, in other words, they are things one has fed his heart with. So, when you receive the Word, it is what you have fed you mind with that determines what you will do with the Word! Let’s take a look at these minds one after the other.

Using the book of Mark, it says, “The sower sows the Word. The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, Satan comes at once and [by force] takes away the message which is sown in them.

And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; and they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away.

And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word; then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless” (Mark 4:14-19 AMP). As I said the different hearts represents what each mind-set is. I intend to make this as an introduction in analysing the types of soil and what each of them really mean. What made the good soil different from the rest?

There is an amount of time given to each person in order to achieve his goal. As we receive the Word, work with it immediately rather than beating around the bush. You are to learn how to use the Word properly, and in the next blog, I intend to elaborate on how to use the Word properly, using the parable of the sower to illustrate this.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send them to my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

Freedom In Christ

Jesus did not come to accept our sacrificial act, but to make Himself a sacrifice for our sins. He didn’t just die alone; He had to rise again to establish the fact that we are completely free from the powers of darkness. [ref. 1^st Corinthians 15:17; Colossians 1:13]

We were all supposed to be sentenced to death but Jesus died in our place, just as 2^nd Corinthians 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” We carried an unclean spirit, but Jesus carried a clean Holy Spirit of God. There was a divine exchange when Jesus was sacrificed on the cross. Jesus gave us His righteousness and took our unrighteousness. So, when He died, He went down to hell.

Now, in order for us to know that we were truly set free, Jesus who went on our behalf was expected to come out victorious which was expected to be a sign to us that our sins have been forgiven and truly set free.

Jesus was down to hell and came out victorious getting that which is rightfully ours, “[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them in Him and in it [the cross]” Colossians 1:15 (AMP). God seeing that then raised Jesus up, “Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11.

Jesus being our representative has given us this power also because we are in Him [ref. Romans 8:17]. This symbolised a new beginning for us, we are no longer condemned because we are under a new Adam [ref. Romans 5:12-21]. This is why “...if any person is in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!” 2^nd Corinthians 5:17 (AMP).

God saw us as condemned sinners because of the old Adam’s fall, but now in Christ He looks at us as being righteous because Jesus is righteous. It’s all because of His love for us and this is the gospel truth.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send through my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from King James Version (KJV)

Christ's Love And Not Fear Compels Us

The earth is not a static place where nothing happens; man does things as a result of the decisions he made. However, there is a driving force involved in making choices; this is seen in every decision made by man. We are the result of the decision we make; but there are times where one is compelled to make a decision. To follow Christ, we have to be compelled before we accept Him, but are people compelled by the right force today? Let’s find out.

There are many people today who accepted Jesus as Lord because we Believers told them they would go to hell if they don’t accept Jesus. They tell them about the sins they commit and how God will punish them if they don’t accept Jesus. [True, hell is real]. But in accepting Jesus, this is done after the compelling by the Holy Spirit.

God gives mercy to those who are not saved several opportunities to get saved and they are obvious signs that the unsaved cannot deny it (ref. Romans 1:20-21). This opportunity happens over and over till the second coming. This is when those who deliberately don’t accept Jesus go to hell. My point here is that fear is not the way Jesus taught us to win people to Him; the way Jesus taught us is through love!

The bible says God so loved the world [ref. John 3:16], this is to imply He wants us back with love in order to save us from the disaster prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus showed this aspect of love in the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus asked those who wanted to cast stones at her to cast stones if anyone was without sin, since no one was without sin they dropped their stones and left. But the point here is that someone had the freedom to cast stones at the woman but didn’t, who was that? Jesus! He was without sin. When Jesus noticed that the woman’s accusers had gone, He said to the woman, ‘“Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said “No one Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”’ John 8:10-11. This was an act of love; the woman naturally would stop her act of adultery because she was shown love instead of condemnation. Note that Jesus didn’t support sin but He didn’t condemn her.

However, what we have today is Believers spelling out the sins of people, instead of spelling out the love of Christ. It is explaining the love God has for us by sending His Son to die for us and what He did on the cross that really gets one saved; because then the unsaved would truly know God loves him and would want to follow Christ. But people just talk about the sins committed and how they would suffer is they don’t repent; so people turn to Christ to save their heads, but this is not genuine repentance. This is why we find half baked Christians today, because they can’t defend the scriptures, why? This is because the entire bible talks about the love and mercy of God towards man. The bible says in John 3:17 that, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. This verse comes immediately after the verse which explains how God loves us.

Apostle Paul when explaining the Ministry of Reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5 said in verse 14, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” NIV. The Message puts it thus, “Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.” The point we have to understand is that condemning people doesn’t actually save them, it makes them worse and frustrated. This is when the person sins more and struggles not to sin; but when the love of Christ is what is shown and nothing else; this transforms their lives toward Christ.

Remember, it’s about Him and not us; we were never qualified. When we focus on ourselves we won’t have the opportunity of focusing on Christ. This was what happened to Adam and Eve; they lost their focus on God and started to focus on themselves. It is our focus on Christ that transforms us and not the focus on our faults. His strength is perfect in our lives and this is the gospel truth.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send them through my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from King James Version (KJV)

Know Your Right As A Believer [reviewed]

The other time on the topic 'Be Careful For The Wiles of The Devil', I wrote on the how the devil deceives Believers by imitating the God. Well today, I'll elaborate a little more on that, showing  Believers how to know their right.

The bible says “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” Ephesians 6:12. Many a times, some Believers misinterpret this a lot; true the devil attack Believers with deceit but it is not for us to focus on him or to ask him to die when we pray, it is not in our place! The question we are to note is, how did the devil get to you in the first place?

We should know that the devil CANNOT touch a believer. Why? It is because we have been bought by Jesus. The devil doesn’t have a conscience like man, so he shows no mercy, he wants every believer dead that is, have every believer in his court.

Remember Jesus disarmed the devil completely, the only ability the devil has is deceit. Now, what are his intentions in deceiving Believers? He was banished from heaven permanently and the things he wanted were given to man, as man had total control over the earth. So, he hates man and wants man to be sentenced along with him on the last day.

As Believers, we are alive in Christ, Christ is our life, our heart, our all in all, thus without Him we can do nothing. This is what the devil doesn’t want, so he does everything to distract believers using his deceit schemes such as bringing things that negate the believers stand with that of Christ. He does this involving our five senses. For instance the devil deceives a believer that he is feverish, but in the real truth the man is not feverish till he affirms he is. This is because our words contain power on whatever we declare. So, if the believer says he feels feverish he becomes feverish because he declared it into his life and he has been deceived by the devil.

Believers must remember that the devil cannot inflict sickness, disease or anything contrary to the finished work of Jesus because taking sickness for example; Jesus bore all our infirmities we would ever face when He died on the cross. By the stripes of Jesus we were made healed [ref. Isaiah 53:4-5; 1^st Peter 2:24].

So, when you feel anything that is contrary to the finished work of Christ, rather than confessing what is felt, confess your stand in Christ which is the truth. If the Word says you were healed and you are feeling sick, then someone is lying and it can’t be God! Our confessions must be by faith and not with our five senses which the devil always use to deceive us. Meditate on the finished work of Jesus Christ and its benefits to you.

Remember, the devil shows you what is NOT REAL. Only focus on Jesus and you will not fall for the wiles of the devil. All these benefits we get are because of Jesus’ love for us and this the gospel truth.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send through my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)