The Soil and the Seeds- Matthew 13

 The Soils and the Seeds  - Matthew 13

   " But he that received  seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understands it; which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty , some thirty."  vs. 23

1.Good ground- kalós – beautiful, attractively good; good that inspires (motivates) others to embrace what is lovely (beautiful, praiseworthy); i.e. well done so as to be winsome (appealing)

All of us who are here I trust are trying to be this so that we can lead holy and happy lives here and be fit for the life to come. 

" We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it."  Madeleine L 'Engle

---the distractions are out there for us.  Dr. Mike Bechtle in his book asks how can we " keep positive perspective in the tough situations?

-Become a connoisseur of truth.  Surround yourself with people who build positively into your life. Choose your inputs carefully.  Set appropriate physical and emotional boundaries for the crazy people.  Don't try to fix everyone else. Don't sweat the wrong stuff."

Our Lord in the parable in this part of Matthew says in vs. 19 that those that hear by the way side and do not understand it are hindered by the wicked one , who catches the word that was sown in his heart,  so that they don't understand it.

The stony soil has no root and the seed receiving it with joy in the beginning .  Tribulation and persecution come and he is offended.  vs. 21

Receiving seed among the thorns hears the Word , but the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word and he becomes unfruitful. v. 22

Changing our perspective was very helpful we said the other day.  " What can we control? Ourselves.  What can we not control?  Everything else."  Dr. Mike.

Here is an illustration of that perspective change, On a cold January day, a forty-three-year-old man was sworn in as the chief executive of his country. By his side stood his predecessor, a famous general who, fifteen years earlier, had commanded his nation’s armed forces in a war that resulted in the defeat of Germany. The young leader was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. He spent the next five hours watching parades in his honor and stayed up celebrating until three o’clock in the morning.

You know who I’m describing, right? It’s January 30, 1933, and I’m describing Adolf Hitler and not, as most people would assume, John F. Kennedy. The point is, we make assumptions. We make assumptions about the world around us based on sometimes incomplete or false information. In this case, the information I offered was incomplete. Many of you were convinced that I was describing John F. Kennedy until I added one minor little detail: the date. This is important because our behavior is affected by our assumptions or our perceived truths." from the pastorsworkshop.com

As Robert E. Lee ( played by Martin Sheen, 1993)was supposed to have said in the movie, " Gettysburg"---" This is good ground for my boys."

2.  Hear the Word with understanding. The heart here is good ground.  But it must be watered by the Word to grow.--the understanding comes from the Holy Spirit inspiring us reading the Word of God to believe what God is saying.

On Heaven and Hell

"There’s a story of a young girl on a plane who was reading her Bible, and there was a businessman sitting next to her. He looked over to her and he said, you don’t really believe that do you?” And she said, why yes I do”. And the businessmen than said, you really believe that Jonah was swallowed up by a whale. “Well it was actually a big fish” she responded. Okay, a big fish. You don’t really believe he’s in heaven do you? And the young girl responds “well yes of course I do, and I plan on meeting him there some day. Well what if he isn’t there? The business man replied. “Well then you can meet him” she replied." thepastorsworkshop.com

Unfortunately we live in an age that discounts the Scriptures.  They are not even received in some churches that follow the culture instead of God's understanding of creation.  

3. Lastly those who hear the word, and understand it also bear fruit..vs 23

---People who are on the good ground don't let the Devil, or anyone else set their agenda to serve God with all their hearts, minds and souls.  They don't let the " care" of this world , v. 22 choke the fruitfulness of the Word in their lives.

That Greek word care means their attention is divided. mérimna (see 3307 /merízō, "divide") – properly, a part, separated from the whole; (figuratively) worry (anxiety), dividing and fracturing a person's being into parts. 

We can have joy as Christians and should have if we choose to live realistically .  " Life is filled with ups and downs. Healthy people learn how to live with both."  Dr. Mike

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.