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.

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!

Overcomers - 2

What do we need to overcome in this world – in our everyday life?

We need to overcome our flesh(which produces sin), the world(which corrupts our soul) and the Devil(who ultimately aims to make us fall) – just as Jesus overcame each of these when Satan tried to tempt Him.

Galatians 5: 16-18
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

There is a constant battle in us – between our flesh and our spirit – to gain control over us – our soul. The spirit has communion with the Holy Spirit and the flesh has contact with the corrupt world. When we exercise our God given "free will", we either give our flesh the control or surrender to the Holy Spirit. Whatever proceeds from the flesh produces sin and death, but whatever proceeds from the Holy Spirit within us produces the working of the perfect will of God in our lives. The flesh has to be slain in order for the Spirit to have dominion over us. Only the Holy Spirit knows and can teach us the right thing to do, the right thing to say – at every moment. But if we want to listen to and obey the gentle words of the Holy Spirit, our noisy flesh (or our “Self”) has to be put to death. The working of the ‘cross’ in us, puts our flesh to death, and makes us die to our ’self’ and gives the Holy Spirit the control of our lives.

Jesus said,
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” - Matthew 16:24

Why do we need to die to self?

Only when we die to ’Self’, can the Holy Spirit work is us enabling us to:
Overcome the lusts of the eyes and the flesh (Galatians 5:19,20)
To be uninfluenced by the passions of the world (To be in the world, but not of the world)
Resist the Devil (Only the Holy Spirit can help us use the right weapon in the armor of God to battle the Devil)
Please God in whatever we do
Carry out the Perfect will of God (for the “free will” has now been surrendered to the control of the Holy Spirit)
Be Sanctified and continuously pursue the Holiness of God (Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!)
Pay the price for the Kingdom of God and to take up the cross daily
Bear the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23)
Paul makes it very clear that the will of God for our lives is that we should be Overcomers, sanctified continuously through the Holy Spirit.

I Thessalonians 4:3-8:
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

What exactly is “Dying to self”?

Dying to self is to allow the moulding of the Potter – accepting those times of crushing, those disappointments that crush our ego, those uncomfortable circumstances that conflict our self interests, those times of rejection from the world, those times of patient endurance during trials – which denies our self of its own will, which shapes us more into His Image everyday. Dying to self is also to invite the Holy Spirit everyday and asking Him to slay our flesh whenever it raises its sinful ugly head. Dying to self is not a one time thing – it is a continuous process of surrendering of our selves to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-25

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Remember we are to walk in Spirit – which suggests that “Dying to Self” , which is nothing but “Being an Overcomer” is not a one time process, but a continuous walk with God (just like Enoch) through the leading of the Holy Spirit, which transforms our sinful souls each day into the likeness of Christ. Amen!

As a side note, being an “Overcomer” is not trusting on “deeds” rather than Grace, but in fact, it is just the opposite! Doing NOTHING of our own (through the flesh), but denying our Self and surrendering to the leading of the Holy Spirit and through the Grace of Jesus, we “Overcome” the flesh, the world and the Devil. Salvation is a one time process, that is by Grace through Faith in Jesus and His work on the cross. Sanctification, on the other hand, is a continuous process, through the work of the Holy Spirit. Bottom line is, we need to “walk in the Spirit” that slays the “works” of the flesh, to be an Overcomer and a true disciple of Jesus Christ!

Overcomers - 1

Revelation 3: 21
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Jesus was an Overcomer and He wants each one of us to be the Over-comers of this world.  To be an “Overcomer", it simply means that we need to overcome the lusts and passions of the world, just the way He did, so that the world (or more precisely the prince of the world – the Devil) cannot have a dominion or control over us.

Why do we need to overcome?

We have a constant battle with the evil spirits (even though we may not be aware of it!), which try to trap us into the clutches of this sinful world and stop us getting nearer to God. We are so vulnerable to these attacks (on an everyday basis!) that it is impossible to claim the victory over Satan without fighting it the way Jesus did.

If we do not overcome the world, in no time we would be enslaved by the Devil and we would be steadily heading to Hell even without we knowing it. We cannot please God in our actions if we of not overcome the world.

Are you an overcomer?

If we are constantly following the pattern of this world, being easily influenced by worldly advice, giving into temptations of sin, fearing the world (or in other words, pleasing the people), falling prey to the deadly sin of pride – it is a serious alarm that we are in a great danger!! We may be living in a great deception if we live worldly lives and still believe we live for God. An Overcomer has the world under his heels (never allows the world or worldly systems to influence/control him) – remember that Jesus crushed the head of Satan, the prince of the world, by his heel and so should we, Amen!

You are not an overcomer if,

• You give in to the temptations of sin
• Your focus is in the worldly systems such as education, job/career, entertainment, politics
• You fear the world and constantly try to please the people in your life instead of pleasing God
• You are easily influenced by the patterns of this sickening world – Fashion, trends
• You have worldly heroes/role models (Anything we adore apart from God, is an idol)
• You are overburdened with the cares of the future or the guilt of the past
• You live a life with no thought of Heaven

Prayer:
Father God, I thank You for this beautiful day. Analyze my life, my intentions and my inclinations to see if it pleases You. I want to be not just an ordinary believer, but an “Overcomer”, following the example of Your Son, Jesus Christ. If I am held captive by the clutches of the world today, please reveal it to me and convict me by Your Holy Spirit and help me be an “Overcomer”. I pray in the mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.

Battling with Divine Authority

Luke 10: 19

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

When we face the problems of our life, we turn to God and pray. Often, we may find that we do not get complete deliverance. I believe that it is because we do not deal with the problem correctly and that we need to identify the root of the problems first. If the problems are because of our "Self" and our sinful "flesh", we need to keep praying and believing God till we get complete deliverance, because we cannot overcome our "Self" or "flesh" by our own efforts. God will slay our "Self" by chiseling and pruning us through various trials. But if the problems are brought by the devil, clearly, we need to use the battle strategy here! God has already given us the authority to not only resist but also fight against the devil. When it becomes clear that it is the enemy who has paralyzed us, hurt us, keeping us ineffective and unproductive, we need to overcome it by exercising the authority that is in the Name of Jesus and by claiming the power that is in the precious blood of Jesus.

  Now, how do we understand or identify the root of our problems? With our mind? With our rational thinking? Absolutely not! Only the HOLY Spirit can enlighten us with the real source of the problems. It is therefore important, that we rely on the HOLY spirit every day, for understanding the strategy that we need to opt, for overcoming the problems that we face; for only HE can help us understand the root of the problems and the effective way to deal with them. In Matthew chapter 17 verse 21, Jesus talks about another way of battling against devil. He says, "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting". So Let us invite the HOLY Spirit - who is the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of power - into our hearts everyday - and HE will help us overcome the devil and to live a victorious life in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

He gives Wisdom

James 1: 5, 6
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

  

  God loves to give. He is a Giver of all good things. Although God knows what we need, HE always expects that we ask HIM what we need and receive it, so that we can know by experience, how Good our God is. Another reason may be that whenever we ask something to someone, we acknowledge the fact that we lack something and we humble ourselves, to ask, what we lack. When we acknowledge our lacking and humbly ask God to fill us with HIS wisdom, we understand the significance of GOD'S grace. Otherwise, if God provided us with HIS wisdom even before we asked for it, we would take it for granted and will fall into pride.

  Whatever we may be in need of today, we just have to ask HIM and God will pour it out on us. For a fruitful spiritual life, we need wisdom to choose the right things, the wisdom to always trust in God, the wisdom to love God and the wisdom to know God. God specifically promises to grant wisdom - But only to the one who asks! Apart from asking, the verse says that we need to believe that we would receive what we ask for. When we ask God, God answers us from Heaven for sure and our answer starts its journey towards us, but it takes Faith (on our part) to receive that answer from God. So let us acknowledge our lacking, humble ourselves and ask God for HIS spirit of wisdom and believe with no doubt, that God will send down HIS HOLY spirit (The spirit of wisdom) who will lead us in the right way and teach us what we need to do today. Amen.

Faith with Actions

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The Bible gives a beautiful and an apt definition of what Faith is. Faith is the substance (or the core and significant matter) of things hoped for. What do we hope for? God has given us wonderful promises and has also planted unique dreams, gifts and talents in each one of us. Knowingly or unknowingly, these dreams are manifested as the desires of our hearts, the things that we hope for. We may hope for restoration, for increase, for promotion, for improvement, for security, for limitless peace, for abounding joy, or for true and perfect love – Unless and until we have “Faith” that is proved by actions – these remain mere dreams. The main solid base for all the things we hope for is "Faith" - which has its roots in GOD'S Word.

 Someone has beautifully illustrated faith with this simple story. Once upon a time, in a small village, there was no rain for many years and as a result, the people suffered in drought. The villagers, decided to pray for rain. The next day they all gathered for prayer and only one child came with an umbrella. That's faith. The story ends there but I believe that the village was blessed with rain thereafter, and the faith of the little child should've been the reason behind that blessing. God is not moved when we just pray for the things that we hope for. God expects that the "substance" and the "proof" of Hope has to be shown by us. Science may need proof of things that are. But God wants us to show the evidence and proof of things that are not – that are yet to be; that evidence is named as "Faith".

James chapter 2 verse 17 says, "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead". Let us demonstrate a live faith and God is pleased when we demonstrate our faith, just like that child, which proves that we simply believe in HIM and NOT the circumstances. Faith believes that no matter what happens, GOD'S Word will never fail and that our prayers made in the center of GOD'S will can never go in vain. We may not have seen GOD'S best in our lives yet, but Faith is the evidence and proof - that we have deep in our hearts - of all the things that God has in store for us. Amen.