THORNY PLACE
I believe this series has been a blessing. It has blessed me so much and I hope it blessed you as well. The scripture tells us that the word of God is living and active, in the book of Prophet Isaiah, God referred to his word as a seed. So far, we heard that this living word, this seed from God can be snatched by the enemy and if the heart is a hard place, its work can be limited because it didn’t take deep roots to grow and today we will see that the word of God can be choked.
There was a day God spoke to me with this parable of the sower and I saw myself in all of them; The wayside, the hard place, the thorns, and the good soil and frankly, I am learning everyday to have God’s word in me so He can do his work in and through me. So when I talk about this thorny place episode, I pray I am not speaking from up there,and I hope you see my heart. I have had my fair share of worrying and today we will look at how it affects God’s word and what I believe you can do be delivered from the thorny place.
You are officially welcome to this podcast, ….
Here, we behold Jesus through his word, having seeing, hearing ears and yielding heart to do the will of the Father. I am glad you are here, may God keep you in his light.
Anchor
MATTHEW 13 ‘On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
The Parable of the Sower Explained
18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
…And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them
Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
THORNS-cares of this world/ deceitfulness of riches.
First, I am led to say that the needs of life; food, clothing and shelter are necessary for survival, God knows that. In regards to food, In Genesis 1:29 ‘And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. In the very next chapter we see God make for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
So, you see that from scripture those things you need that very quickly causes you to worry God cares about them more than you know and He provides them for you. Adam did not tell God he was hungry before God gave Him food and even when Adam made fig leaves for a covering, God changed it, using the skin of a lamb, even then preaching the message of the gospel.
In Matthew chapter 6, where the Lord Jesus taught his disciples what to pray, He mentioned in the prayer that ‘God should ‘give us this day our daily bread’. All this is so you can see that God is not alien to our needs.
I am saying this to get you to a place where you will understand that even before you ask for your daily needs for survival or the desires of your heart, God cares about them too.
In
Matthew 6:25-34
New International Version
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25-34
The Message
25-26 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. 27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Deceitfulness of wealth
In Matthew 19:16-30
A rich young man came to Jesus with a question about eternal life and when Jesus responded, he was disappointed and he went away.
The Rich Young Man
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,[b] when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold[c] and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
About the deceitfulness of Wealth, I remember Jesus’ statement in Luke 12:15, He said, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
The son of the living God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. He who made all things, came down from heaven and he is telling you and I not to worry about possessions and to not lust after them, why do you think he said that? I believe it is because whatever we allow to sit at the throne of our hearts, we begin to worship. Worship is attention.
Nothing should take the place of God in our life and when anything does, be it the worries of this world or the deceitful nature of wealth, his word gets choked and that makes the person unfruitful.
You cannot have the fullness of life the way God wants it outside of Christ. You worrying will not save you neither will amount of money you have in your bank account.
Let me bring balance here, Jesus is not against wealth, He is against anything be it worry or love of money which will take you away from Him.
Illustration- integration into life.
That rich young ruler we read, met Jesus and his questions about what he must do to have eternal life suggests something.
Please pay attention.
See, this man keeps the law, you know, He is a good man, He is rich but there was something missing in his life. Even though he is ‘A GOOD MAN” His question about eternal life tells us that his ‘good works’ and his wealth did not fill the gaping hole in his heart that is meant for Jesus. Jesus saw that and asked him to sell everything and give it to the poor and then come and follow Him and he was disappointed.
Now, no one said it was easy, it is not easy to remove the financial security you have built for yourself. Jesus did not say, sell some, he said sell everything and to give it away.
In other words, that your possession, that thing that you own that now owns you, I want you to sell it and be generous with it. Give it away. He couldn’t do it. I wish He did. Because he missed out on the most important possession he could have- Salvation.
He chose his earthly possessions over eternal reward in Christ.
The money he thought he had actually had him instead.
So
You are chasing that job, that business, you are worried about what to eat and the deeper you think, the more stressful you are and the more God’s word to you is choked, so what can you do?
See, if you see yourself worrying over the cares of this world or chasing that wealth which should be a tool in your hands for advancement of God’s kingdom but instead you are lusting after it so much that you said in your heart, I must get and have this money by all means, no matter what it takes.
Now is the time to repent. Change your mind, turn away from this lifestyle and come to Him through Whom all things consist and who cares for you.
What should you do instead?
Application
* Seek first- Matthew 6:33
‘ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’
God wants you to seek him first, seek his kingdom, seek his righteousness. In every kingdom, there is a king and that king reigns. Does God and his word through his spirit reign in your life? When Jesus said in Matthew 6 ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done’ is that a reality for you? Is God your king? Does he order your steps or do you order it yourself and ask him to bless it? If God says seek me first then these will happen. Trust God, they will.
He already cares for you and in him you have provision for all that you need but when your gaze is on things rather than the creator of things, being unfruitful will be inevitable, so please seek Jesus first.
You seek him by first accepting his gift of salvation- If you are yet to give your life to Christ, consider doing so today. Jesus will literally change your life if you give your life to Him. You give it to him by asking him to come into your life to be your saviour and Lord. From that moment, you will begin to see a tremendous change as you come to his church- the gathering of brethren, read his word and pray. I Pray God raises people who will guide you to a bible believing church where you will be established.
* Be anxious for nothing- Phillipians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
There are many things that can make us anxious, from our basic needs to chasing that office promotion, getting married, having children, fending for our loved ones, starting that business, a lot of things and frankly what Jesus said in Matthew 6:27 is the best response to worry ‘Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Worry changes nothing, it drains you and I pray you receive God’s grace to move from worrying to worship. When those thoughts come, flip the coin, worship God instead. Praise Him and minister to Him, remember all the good he has done and thank him earnestly.
Trust me, I am a living witness to this. Worship instead of worrying.
You might say, ok, Oma I heard you, seek God, be anxious for nothing by worshipping Him so what next, is that it? But I still have this problem and that problem. well …
Ask for wisdom in Faith
James 1:5-6 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 win
Asking for wisdom is a sign of humility. You recognise that I cannot do life without Christ and you go to the God who created the heavens and the earth and you ask him to give you insight or applicable knowledge towards that which you desire to have to be provided for God in his infinite goodness will give you. ‘gives to all liberally and without reproach,’ that means your position is ask and receive.
You go to Him, Father, Please give your wisdom regarding this matter, I have this project I need to do, I am struggling and I need your help. Father, we are currently running out of food supply, please show me what you have provided for us.
Do not limit God or exclude him from some areas of your life because you think they are too small for him.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. -1 Peter 5:6-7
In conclusion,
You can’t be the same when you encounter Jesus, His word lives to transform your life and you need to give it time to grow and bear fruits.
Remove the thorns- the worrying and the deceitfulness of wealth and let God work in and through you.
Music
Thank you for spending time with me today.
My name is Oma and this is Living through God’s eyes.
Here, we behold Jesus through his word, having seeing, hearing ears and yielding heart to do the will of the Father. I am glad you are here, may God keep you in his light.
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Ciao, Shallom shallom, See you next week, stay blessed.
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