Monday 28 March 2016

Seeds Vs Weeds

Seed from the Word and Weed from the world

Matthew 13: 24-25
24 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

Comparison between Seeds and weeds

Seed – Word of God – Produces good fruit
Weed – A wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants, anything that is NOT of God and tries to steal away the Word of God – stunts the growth of the seed and produces nothing useful

Source:
Seed comes from God (as it is the Word of God) through the Bible or when we pray or through His people
The weed comes from Satan through the world (media, entertainment, our social community, friends, family) or through our own flesh

Purpose
Seed produces good fruit and weed stunts growth

Distinguishing a Seed from a Weed

When you get a thought and you do not know if you should dwell on it? We can distinguish the seed from the weed like so:

1.  Seed always comes from the Word of God (and is based on TRUTH) and NEVER contradicts it whereas a weed is against the Word of God
2.  Seed promotes Faith and Weed (which disguises itself as facts) promotes Fear
    • Remember that the world can provide 10 bad reports (12 spies of Israel who spied Canaan) when God provides 2 good reports. Its upto us to choose to believe what Joshua and Caleb say and to filter out the other negative reports. They may be facts but not the TRUTH. The Truth (Seed) feeds Faith and the weed feeds Fear!
3.  Seed takes you closer to God and a Weed pulls you away from God

Control Growth of Weeds in your life

1. Weeds from the outside
  • Flee from the sources that are under the control of Satan - Media, Cinema, Internet, ungodly relationships
  • God removes the sources sometimes by removing your best friend who keeps you from God - just allow and accept it! 

2. Weeds from within 
  • When our flesh triggers impure selfish thoughts, let the Holy Spirit to de-seed those weeds
  • Allow God’s pruning - unhealthy branches affect the growth of the overall plant/tree

Feed the Seeds, not the Weeds

The Parable of the Sower – Mark chapter 4:14-20

14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
  1. Wayside - Hearing the word but not paying attention to it, not meditating on it
  2. Stony ground with no roots - No relationship with God - (A deep relationship with God everyday grows our roots in Him)
  3. Thorns - cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things
  4. Good soil – hearing the Word, accepting it and being ready to obey
Growth Boosters

1.   Sun - Jesus, the Sun of righteousness – Salvation

Malachi 4:2: 

But to you who fear My name
 The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
 With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
 And grow fat like stall-fed calves.

2.  Water - the Holy Spirit (Washing of water by the word) - Sanctification

Ephesians 6:26,27: 

that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

3.  Manure – Surrender everything - Dead, decayed and broken parts of your life - surrender it to God and He will turn it for your good! God delights in taking the broken pieces and He mends them with His unimaginable creativity to create new blessed lives - 

I Samuel 2: 8
He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
To set them among princes
And make them inherit the throne of glory.

Summarizing:

The Way of the Righteous – Psalms 1

 "Never leave ground for the Weeds"

1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
    Nor stands in the path of sinners,
    Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

"Delight in His Word and meditate on the Seed"

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    And in His law he meditates day and night.

"Be cleansed through the Holy Spirit (rivers of water) and bear good fruit (prosper) by doing God's perfect will for your life"


3 He shall be like a tree
    Planted by the rivers of water,
    That brings forth its fruit in its season,
    Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

Tuesday 8 March 2016

A delay in the answers for your prayers?


Are you in a season where you feel that there is a delayed period of waiting? Does it seem that it is taking forever to get that problem resolved, that issue sorted out, that prayer being answered? Am currently in a season of waiting myself - with no clue on how long it is going to take to see the breakthrough in my life - and I know how painful/frustrating waiting can be. This morning as I was listening to the sermon by Joel Osteen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEaX1iw38Ck), I was encouraged in my spirit to keep believing, to keep trusting my loving God.

I just want to share two reasons why God may want us to wait before He provides us with the “answer” or what we call a “blessing” in whatever area of our lives we are currently in trouble.

God is more interested in our character, than our comfort – Rick Warren

The life of Joseph is a perfect example where we see how God uses “delay" to mold and refine the chosen vessels before they are ready to handle a blessing. “Blessing" is “dangerous” until our hearts are conditioned and trained to trust in God alone, which is very evident in the life of King Solomon. We know that King David went through a lot of troubles and extended periods of waiting and delay before God’s promise was fulfilled in his life (becoming the King of Israel) and we see how David was a man after God’s own heart (For God shaped his character through the troubles!). King Solomon on the other hand, received blessings in a very tender age, and he himself quotes this in the Proverbs, “An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.” - Proverbs 20:21. So God prepares us, refines us and deepens our root in Him - before He can give us His blessings, so that our foundation is in the Rock of Ages (Jesus) and not on sinking sand (Earthly blessings).

God loves us too much to give us "less than the best"

A delay is often a sign that God is preparing us not just for a blessing, but for a miracle - that will reveal God’s glory in a greater way.  We all know about this family that Jesus loved – Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus. I started pondering upon this verse lately and found much comfort in it during my own waiting.

John 11:5,6 -  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.

I love the way this verse has been arranged. First we see that Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus and SO, he delayed the blessing (healing, in this case) for their dying brother Lazarus. Martha did not understand why Jesus (who loved them) wouldn’t arrive on time, to save Lazarus. Jesus deliberately took more time and “allowed” the death of Lazarus because He was preparing not a blessing (healing) but a miracle (a resurrection) for the family He loved! The story doesn’t end there – We read on to see the resurrection of Lazarus and John 11:45 says, Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. The “delay" opened the way for a miracle and the revealing of God’s glory in a greater way leading many into His kingdom. Martha would now be convinced that the “delay” was worth it in the end!

If you are in a bitter waiting period, you are in good company. Keep trusting our never failing God and in the end, just like Martha, we will know that His timing was perfect and what He has prepared for us – is worth every pain.

Isaiah 55:8-9

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Amen!