Sometimes we tell little white lies, but it is sin and it is big deal to God. it could cost your eternal life in a heartbeat and many think its ok according to the Bible but look again?Scripture reading: 1 Pet 2:11
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts (Greek: craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden.) which war against the soul,
Seeds & Storm.
In this passage Jesus compares; His Word; our acceptance of it; and our spiritual growth as a result of it to the sowing and the sprouting of seeds.
He divided all believers into 4 categories. He explained our role as ambassadors of Christ and then he revealed the character of those who would enter into His Kingdom He warns us; don’t allow doubt, and the trials of life to scare you, choke you, or discourage you. You are going through a rough patch in your life right now but you are still on your journey to heaven. Don’t lose hope! I am with you. Trust in me and you will not lose your salvation. You might not see me right now, but I am with you to the very end!
3Jesus sat the disciples down There was probably someone busy sowing and He said. Listen up guys, God sows the seed of Word. As soon as you hear it, it penetrates the heart and it sprouts - it begins to change you.
The Word gives you the ability to grow and produce fruit. When you accept the Word the seed germinates, it’s a perfect sprout
But something is wrong. Not with the Word though, neither with the seed. Everybody heard the Word but only ¾ of those who hear the Word accepts it. The problem is, we do not Treasure the Word of God in our heart, so, it withers and it dies. There are certain things that prevent growth.
So, in verse 3 we find the
:3 Wayside
They hear, but they refuse to allow the Word to penetrate their minds. They allow the devil to take it from them; they harden their hearts. They hear it but they are offended by it and the devil snatches it away
5-6Stony ground
Hear the Word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they continue in the faith for a time. But they stop growing the soil is shallow the decision and the experience is superficial and weak. Skin-deep. there is not enough nourishment to sustain growth. Their roots wither away due to exposure to the world and its attractions. Difficulties and the lack of Prayer and Bible study starved them. The rejection from the world overpower them. (Not living by the Word), immediately they stumble. The narrow road is too narrow for them (They deny Christ)
7Thorns;
Hear the word, 19 but the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. Compromise - lukewarm, Life is too good! God, you just don’t understand. You just don’t know how much I need this and it makes me so happy. Life is just too dull without it, and besides, you know I need money and the accruements that come with it. (I have responsibilities/ and there are certain things I need and I can’t do without them) It might not be spiritual but it’s so good! Surely you must understand! We are not living in the antediluvian world (It is the 21st century, things have changed, so, its ok) stress and sinful allurements strangles them.
8Good ground,
Those who hear the Word, accept it, and the Word produces fruit in them: (The Word penetrates the heart, and your experience gets deeper and deeper as you allow the things of God to shape your life) seed curl several times metamorphosis
21Then Jesus asked: Do you think it a good thing to extinguish the light of the Gospel or your testimony by hiding it; by covering it up? 22If we are undercover Christians and keep Gods message as a secret. Our secret will be revealed in the kingdom of Heaven 23 if anyone has ears to hear let him hear Jesus is saying, this is serious, this is about your salvation – eternal life, you can’t fool God (can you hear me now).” Then He stressed, 24Make sure you are listening to the right message. (Be careful little ears)
24 Jesus said, If you hear and you listen, and if you accept the Word by applying it. 25 more will be given; but whoever does not have, growth even what he has will be taken away from him.”
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 Jesus said I am planting My Word deep in your heart. Then the seed is supposed to sprout and grow, we don’t even know how, It’s through the providence of God! Mixed with our A.S.K & our sincerity 28 first the blade, repentance and then the head, initial growth and then we mature in Christ. It grows (expands - Leaven) 29 until the season for reaping. Then, ready or not, Jesus will return and He will gather His elect. Our opportunity to grow will end. Sorry!
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
31Jesus said. Faith and our growth in the Word start of very small. It’s like a mustard seed. When we receive the Gospel message for the first time it affects us in a very small way.32 but it grows and it grows and it grows. as we A.S.K. It grows so big that we mature in faith and we draw very close to God We root ourselves firmly in the Word of God and we grow strong branches to reach out and consume Gods glory. We draw so close to God that we reach out to others and we become a shelter in the storm for new born Christians and they can count on us to support them.
35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” When disaster strike and everything begins to get dark Jesus invites us to journey with Him, He says; I will take you to the other side and I will be with you all the way. 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat. And other little boats were also with him other boats are relying on that which is unable to save. So, we leave the crowd and we walk with Him but we send Him to His room, and we say, we will take it from here, go and take a nap. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. Suddenly we experience something that looks like a tsunami! When we are strong the storms gets worse. We stumble and we fall and we are thrown back and forth and in all kinds of directions, we get ourselves into all kinds of trouble. We are being attacked by the devil and it feels as if our spiritual life boat is sinking. We have no peace. The world is floating your boat, you are out of control with no direction and you are being overwhelmed. In fact you will sink soon. We get bombarded with sin. We fill our life with all kinds of snares.
38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. (Note, Jesus is not scared, the storm don’t faze him, He won’t lose any sleep over storms) And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
We have effectively silenced Him out of our lives and we get frustrated when we go it alone. We are losing everything and we ask indignantly – Where are you Lord! “Do you not care that we are perishing”!
39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
Jesus is still there; He is waiting for us. He is calling out to you, and guess what? He is in the same boat with you, ready to rescue you. Should you decide to give it a go in your own strength, taking your eyes of Jesus, you will fall again, but as soon as you cry out to Him, He grabs your hand and he lift you out of the water. Trust in Him and Jesus will let you walk on the same water that was about to consume you.
Jesus will rebuke Satan and call peace into your life, “Peace, be still!” (Sit, stay)
40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” “Why are you losing hope, don’t you believe in my power. We think our desire to sin is greater than Gods salvation
What were they thinking? We are sinking! Waives are sky high, Water lightning, danger and great power. The Boat is weak and it’s breaking – They are losing the fight and it is scary - They were cold & wet & weak. It was dark and they starred death in the face. They knew it was the end. They gave up; they had no more to give! So, let’s sink. Its over! But as soon as they stopped trying, they noticed Jesus, they must have thought: Brother, are you serious, Look at this guy! We are trying to save our lives and He is not pulling His weight, as a matter of fact, He is taking a nap! He is more heavenly minded than earthly good. He is supposed to be the Master but He doesn’t even care, He is totally unreliable. We had such high hopes for Him. With the feeling of being let down, surprised and confused Peter politely said, Master, do you not care that we are sinking? We believed in you (we fall and think Jesus does not care)
They must have stared into the silence, looked at each other and said, WOW, WOOOW! What just happened here?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” Listening to the water dripping from their faces they must have asked; Who is this guy! This is too big for us. Who’s got that kind of power He talks to a tsunami, and it actually obeys (inanimate, like our problems and temptations) they were awe struck “Who is this guy? This is divine power! This must be GOD.
Trust and obey and let Jesus calm the storms in your life.
Conclusion
What went through those disciples’ minds as they struggled to stay alive that day? They were wet, cold and exhausted. Things were out of control and they were overpowered. They scared and bewildered and they did everything humanly possible to save themselves, I wonder if they remembered to pray? They were overwhelmed. They thought, this is the end for sure. There is no use trying anymore. We did what we could, the writing is on the wall, lets write our farewell notes and die. Experiencing separation from God is scary. Matthew knew he was ‘n hot head, He relied on His own power. He wrote this to encourage us. When you go through a storm and you are frustrated - trust in Jesus, Jesus is bigger than your storms. He loves us he cares for us and he wants to save us; even if we don’t think so.
He is asking, do you know the master of the wind, Jesus can and He will calm your storm. Stop trying and start relying and the sun will shine again. Don’t doubt Jesus. You might feel overwhelmed and scared but your storm is a test of faith.
They had done all there is to do and everything fell apart. The only thing left to do was to throw water out of the boat and hang on. There wasn’t time or occasion to think or to call out to Jesus. He is the preacher, they are the experienced fisherman, but they knew they would die this time. end They didn’t even think about Jesus, what could He do anyway.
Which seed are you? Are you growing or are you dying, are you allowing the Word of God to sprout and penetrate your heart to produce fruits in your life, or are you an undercover Christian. are you ready for the harvest? It will come you know, there will not be a sequel. Will you allow God to lead you and will you stay with Him, He is more than able to calm your storms you know, He can save you and give you faith and victory. He cares and He touch us with divine power
Isaiah 30 21
And though the Lord gives you
The bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
So, how do I protect my seed? Pray a lot; study the Bible - a lot. Get a separate Bible just for highlighting and mark it. Highlight all of the verses which teach you how to live and how to overcome. Start by working your way through the New Testament; and when you are done, read these verses again, and again, and again…… Praying each time, before and after you do. The devil will try to stop you. You will suddenly get very busy, preoccupied, and overwhelmed with other things. Stay the course! Don’t quit, asks Jesus save you no matter what it take! This is a prayer you should pray till he comes again - every day all day! Never quit. Be sincere and keep on keeping on. Remember the Bible calls us to abide in the vine. Keep on abiding; Claim the promises and the verses of empowerment. Here are some important things to include in your prayers: Lord show me the truth, Lord take me through sincere repentance, Lord show me the way, Lord lead me till the end, Lord keep your words in my mouth, let me never stop thinking and praying about you. Lord, you promised to complete me unto the end. Please complete me? Lord, show me deeper things. Be aware, the Lord will take you places! Work the works of God by believing in His salvation! and Keep on Asking and Seeking and Knocking (A.S.K.) Ask for your teachers and the Lord will lead you!
