The Sower

In the 4th chapter of Mark, Jesus told a parable about a farmer who sowed seed in a field.  The parable was so plain and simplistic, yet carried a hidden meaning; as did all of Jesus' parables.  Judging by the disciple’s reaction, the meaning of this parable was particularly difficult to understand (also recorded by Matthew and Luke).  And so, Jesus' disciples asked him to explain.  Jesus' answered by saying,  

"...this is (given to you) the mystery of the kingdom of God" Mark 4:10

This word "mystery" derives from the Greek word mysteries (usually as the plural).  In context, it simply means "secret" as in "secret doctrine".  Jesus was revealing to his disciples that some of what he tells them is not meant for others to comprehend.  

In other words, GOD KEEPS SECRETS!  Only those who belong to Him are meant to comprehend His mysteries; thus, this parable.  Jesus went on to tell his disciples that those who do not belong to God will be, 

"...ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding" Mark 4:11-12

Today, confirm that you belong to God with understanding.  Take time to decipher, even if for the first time, the mystery hidden in the parable of the sower. 

Before we decode the mystery, there are a few things to notice in this story which contributes to its meaning.  First, notice what happened at the beginning of this parable.  Before there could be any sowing of the seed, the farmer had to first "go out".   He left the comfort of his living area to work the field with the intension of creating produce.

Next, notice the farmer's diligence.  The fact that seed landed in a variety of "grounds" denotes the farmer's action in sowing.  Had the farmer stood in one spot, or perhaps spread only one handful of seed and then gone back in his house, all of the seed would be in one ground.  Instead, seed spread across what must have been a vast field.   As a result, his seed found its way into multiple locations.  

Lastly, notice the most consistent part of the story; the seed itself.  The seed is the same from the beginning of the story to the end. Notice that, with no change in the seed, the results varied from one type of ground to the next proving that the farmer's seed was good... but some areas of his field containing difficult and unmanageable ground.  This parable illustrates that fruit is not only determined by the seed; but also by the ground.  

So, now let’s decode the story.  First, what is the seed?  The seed is the word of God. 

"...the farmer sows the Word" Mark 4:14

How do we sow this seed?  We "go out".  We leave the comfort of our homes and sow with our mouths (or in my case, with a laptop computer).  The Word of God is GOOD seed.  God sowed His Word in the beginning of this world and it was GOOD.  His Word later became flesh and dwelt among men (John 1:2).  Today, we have the opportunity to sow His word in our fields.  Jesus Christ is God's GOOD seed which will not return to Him void.  

Now, understand that, once we sow God's Word; however, the bible assures us that the enemy of God will come to steal it (Matt. 13:19).  Why does God's enemy want to steal the seed? Because he knows it’s potential.  Satan knows that we have dominion on this earth given to us by God Himself.  He knows we have authority to grow from every "ground" in this earth and he does not.

By "ground", I'm referring to spiritual ground; which is your heart.   Satan steals God's seed; which is God's Word, from our "ground” in an attempt to replace it with his seed... which is fear and doubt.  But Satan's effectiveness in his attempt to steal seed is not determined by the seed; it is determined by the condition of your ground.

So now let’s look at the four types of ground.  In the story, seed fell in "Wayside" ground, “Stony" ground, “Thorny" ground and "Good" ground.  Each of the four relate to the condition of one's heart. 

"Wayside" ground is a heart that's far off of the right path.  Jesus said this type of ground provides nothing but food for birds.  "Stoney" ground is a heart that is too hard to receive seed; or at least, not receive seed deep enough to take root.  Any produce sprouting from a stony heart will have a short shelf-life.

"Thorny" ground is a heart that is too distracted and cluttered with worldly concerns to produce.  Distractions and clutter pull resources away from the seed which kills the seed via dehydration/starvation.   A heart that is cluttered with all the distractions of the world is literally trying to birth good fruit and bad fruit simultaneously; which is the equivalent of a heart trying to serve two masters.  In this condition, according to another parable Jesus told, this poor distracted heart will love one of its masters, but despise the other.  

But the last type of ground, "Good" ground, seems to be Jesus point of the parable. Good ground is a submitted heart; i.e., a heart that belongs to God.  This heart will produce the Fruits of the Spirit in varying quantities: 30, 60 or 100 times what was originally planted in it.

If you submit your "ground" to God (meaning, again, your heart), you will be more than a conquer in this world.  But, if you have not given your heart to Jesus, you cannot grow God's seed; in which case, Satan will gladly come in, take God's seed from you, and then plant his seed as a substitution.  God's seed is GOOD... you've just got to manage your "ground"!  

The mystery of the sower is that the choice is yours!  In the since of being evangelized, your heart is the ground that God is sowing GOOD seed (His word) into; even right now.   Then, in the since of evangelism, you are the sower spreading the Gospel throughout God's field allowing the Word of God to land where it may praying that it encounters GOOD ground so that it can produce 30, 60 or in some cases, 100 times over.   

So the questions are: 

#1). What kind of ground are you willing to be? Submitted or resistant?

And then, 

#2). What kind of ground will you place your seed into from now on? 

"In all your getting, get understanding" Proverbs 4:7

WCProductions - Church Mix Vol II

Discipleship

Feeling Powerless

The bible says,

"God has not given us the spirit of fear but of POWER, and of love, and of a sound mind" 2 Timothy 1:7.

The American Heritage® Dictionary defines "POWER" as strength or force capable of being exerted. Power is Effectiveness; it is the ability or capacity to perform effectively. Thus, according to this passage in 2 Timothy, God has given each of us strength to be effective; strength which is capable of being exerted. He has given us the spirit of love, the spirit of a sound mind and the ability to perform effectively. We have been given an unlimited amount of POWER from an all powerful God; enough power to face any circumstance and overcome any obstacle.

Yet, when an emotional situation arises in our life, it somehow erases all of this power that we spend so much time building confidence in. We suddenly feel powerless.

An emotional situation results when a combination of circumstances at a given time is determined or actuated by your emotions rather than reason. Bad news or a bad event usually instigates an emotional situation. You hear the news and your emotions take over your perception of the situation. Suddenly the smooth progression of your life takes an emotional turn for the worse. Where there was once positive momentum to press forward, now swelling emotional forces begin to drive you backward into despair with an inability to regroup. Your spirit of sound mind has left you. You strength is gone; you are unable to be effective. You're powerless.

Most of us blame powerlessness on the initiator. We make this case in our minds,

"if he/she would just do this... " or "if he/she would not have done that... "

This is because our minds substantiate the emotions that we feel. In other words, your mind sees clearly that there was no turmoil before the event took place; however, after the event, there was unrest so the cause is verified. The event or the person must be the reason you feel powerless. It's that person's fault; he/she has taken away your power.

But blame is not the answer. You will never reclaim your power this way. Blame will only keep you engulfed by the miserable emotion in a vicious cycle of replaying the event in your mind and reiterating your position to yourself as if the other person could hear you. At the end of the day, you'll find yourself drained, still searching for answers and spiraling into anger and resentment towards who ever seems to be the source of the disturbance. Too many Christians are satisfied to search only for someone to blame when we feel powerless. As a result, Christians, even though we sing about a powerful God, are emotionally bound... , stuck... , stranded... , trapped in recurring situations of apparent powerlessness that have been repeating for years.

The solution is less complicated than it may seem. The answer to powerlessness is in 1 John 4:4, which says

"You are of God... , and have overcome them: because GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD".

When situations leave you in a state of powerlessness, you must realize that God is greater than that situation and He is IN YOU! What you need is a transfer. Allow me to explain...

At your bank, if one of your accounts has more funds in it than another of your accounts, you can remove the funds from the one account and transfer them to the other at any time. It's called a transfer-of-funds; you can even do it online now days. Well, you can perform this same type of operation emotionally; you can make a transfer of power. When you feel powerless, it means that in your mind the circumstance you are facing holds more power over you than you have over it. This situation, which should not be much of a predicament, seems terrible, even life threatening because of the amount of emotion attached to it. In your mind, the circumstance is substantiated, it is considerably more powerful then you.

To make a transfer, you have to realize that the situation only appears larger than you because your emotions are so substantial, but on the inside of you is perpetual power, i.e. GOD HIMSELF who can put the situation back into perspective. When you conduct a transfer, you defuse the situation in your mind by understanding that on the inside of you is more power than any situation. You can shrink the problem in your mind by realizing God is the greatest power. Victory over any situation only requires that you change your mind. Transfer the power out of that situation.

Critical point: In order to complete a transfer-of-funds from a bank account, you must clear identify which account the funds will be transferred to. It's not enough to just remove funds from an account then hang up the phone. You must complete the transaction. Likewise, when you transfer power from an emotional situation, you must clearly understand where the power is going. The pressure and stress that you remove from that situation must land somewhere. If you don't correctly identify where the weight of that problem lies, you will find yourself in the same predicament again the next day. You must understand to which account you are transferring the power to. You don't want to make the mistake of saying, 

"I am more powerful than the situation... " 

If you do then you've missed the point. You couldn't handle it alone before, you can't handle it now.

I submit to you today that God is the only one who can handle the power that your dilemma holds over you. He can accept that pressure, He can handle the stress. He can take that pain from your situation because He is greater than every situation. 1 Peter 5:7 says

"Cast all your care upon Him; for he careth for you".

God can shrink that overwhelming monstrous situation to the size of a mouse. God's account is the only one large enough to handle the transfer from your situation, and my situation, and your momma's situation, and your daddy's situation, from your pastor's situation, from this world's situation. Jesus says cast all your cares on Him, He cares for you.

The next time you feel powerless, perform a transfer! Say loud and clear,

"Lord, I'm transferring all this anguish; all this anger; all the hurt and all the stress I am feeling to your account. You take the despair, you take the resentment, you take the pain from this dilemma, and I'm transferring it all to you now! My emotional account balance is ZERO. Provide me with peace. Give me the confidence to press forward and be powerful once again!"

The Story of the Talents

In many Christian circles, there is a word which has become taboo over the past several years. That word is: "Work".

Let me explain...

For most of the 20th Century, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was reduced to referring only to the story of the Death, Burial and Resurrection. And that word "Work" was implemented in the context of the phrase, "Don't get caught with your WORK undone... "; which is not biblical, but was very popular. There was a since that, even though Jesus died to open the way for salvation for us, there was still a since that salvation had to some how still be earned by us.

But in this century, a very important element of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been added; or to put it more actually, reinserted. This element is, "Grace".

Grace is the outcome of the Death, Burial and Resurrection of our Savior. We are now removed from God's wrath which the rest of the world will one day face. Its not because we don't deserve God's wrath; its that God's wrath was satisfied for us. The cost was paid by the blood of Jesus Christ. He is our sacrificial lamb and now there is no price left to be paid.

However, now that the "legalistic", "work for your salvation", attitude has been taken from the table and the "Full and Complete" story of the Gospel has been rediscovered, this has driven many Christians to the opposite extreme: LAZINESS!

The fact that we don't exchange the work of our hands for salvation, doesn't mean that there is no longer any work to do. The book of James makes it very clear;

"A person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone... " James 2:24

For those in this generation who still feel a calling to "Work" for Christ despite being called a "Legalist", there is a parable of a rewarding tale of how God, the Lord of the Harvest is faithful and just to bless His children for their faithfulness.

This parable appears in the book of Matthew, the 25th chapter, as one of the multiple stories which Jesus told that provided a verbal portrait of the Kingdom of God. Luke also records this parable in the 19th chapter. Jesus tells the parable because, according to Luke,

"... they thought that the Kingdom of God should immediately appear" Luke 19:11

Apparently the crowd needed to be informed that God is looking for each of us to do a great work for Him, but for some reason they were content to sit and wait for the Kingdom of God to just "arrive" on its own (kind of like now... ).

In this story, Jesus used the example of a "talent" which was a medium of exchange equal to money, but could just as easily be considered anything of use or of value. Luke uses the term "mina" in the parable which is roughly three months wages (there is no debate that this story is referring to money; both Matthew and Luke record that Jesus referred to the subject as being money at least twice).

The first man in the story was aggressive with what he was given. He used everything that he was entrusted with and as a result, was able to bring his master a large increase. Another of the men was also aggressive. He was given less than the first, but notice the percentage of increase he brought to his master was the same. But, the last of the men was doubtful and negative. He doubted that he could ever be successful so he decided not to try at all. Instead he hid his talent where no one could see it so that when his master returned he could just give back what he had been given.

The problem with the third guy was; he thought more about what could go wrong then what was going to go right. He could not see past his doubts and would rather break even than face the possibility of losing out completely. He was doubtful and he was plagued with fear. He was afraid of failing with what his master had given him. He was afraid of disappointment and most of all, afraid of his master. He clearly thought to himself,

"what if I lose this talent? My master is a mean man, etc., etc."

He refused to put his talent to work because he was sure his work would fail so he devised his own plan for what he thought would insure a since of victory. He figured he'd just give his master back the seed that he was given. This way, he could guarantee he wouldn't return to his master empty handed.

God has entrusted each of us with things of value. Those talents could be internal talents such as physical ability, mental capacity, learned skills, acquired trades and experience. Or they could be external talents, (things not stemming from you but affecting you) such as a societal status or relationships with other talented people having access to great resources. Our master wants us to pursue all types of increase: spiritual increase, physical increase, increase in faith, increase in peace, increase in finances, and overall, an increase in our relationships with Jesus Christ.

However, instead of pursuing a great work, too many of us "hide out". We are so convinced any endeavor we attempt will fail that we choose to keep our one little talent hidden when God wants us to take charge of five talents and turn them into ten!

God has given you gifts, but it's up to you to do something with it! If you are satisfied with no work to prove your faithfulness, then that is what you will have. And you will never see an increase of talent because you refuse to make an effort just like the third man in this story who was "hiding out" because increase looked impossible.

Things are SUPPOSED to look impossible from time to time! You are SUPPOSED to find yourself doing things that you've never done before! You are even SUPPOSED to find yourself doing things that scare you! But God has to move you beyond your own understanding to move you away from depending on yourself and into trusting Him. God has to lead you out of your comfort zone; away from a place where the fear of losing everything will cause you to hide. The truth is, the only real way to overcome fear is to do that very thing which you fear! Remember, many things done in society today were once things which were very scary; which no one had done before less than a generation ago!

Stop hiding your talents in the ground! Stop hiding your money in the bank! Stop hiding from the church officers trying to recruit you! If you have money, make an investment! If you can sing, join the choir! If you are dependable, become a trustee! Stop hiding and get to WORK! The result will be a great and abundant increase in several areas of your life to give you more than you've ever had before as you do more and more of what you have never done!