Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship!

As most of you know we've been discussing for several weeks now the "Parable of the Sower and Soils" (Mark 4:3-20, Matthew 13:3-23 and Luke 8:4-15). In it Jesus talks about the Word of God as a SEED that has to be sowed into good SOIL in order for it to produce a harvest of FRUIT for the Kingdom of God. The SOIL is the MIND of the Believer and it can't be just any old dirt lying around some place; no, it has to be "certified" GOOD-SOIL so that the SEED will be able to take root and grow into healthy plants that will eventually produce the harvest.

Now in this Parable Jesus also shows us that there are four main types of SOIL that the SEED is going to encounter. In other words there are four conditions of the MIND and they will either receive some or all of the SEED and use it for growth and transformation or fail to receive it and lose opportunities to produce a HARVEST. Just to refresh your memory, here are the four SOIL conditions Jesus identified and you'll recall that three of the four aren't capable of producing any FRUIT:  

1. Packed down soil by the side of the road that's been so hardened the SEED can't penetrate it and the enemy comes and steals that SEED away.  

2. Rocky ground with shallow soil and the SEED can't grow down far enough to develop a healthy root system so the plants are soon scorched by the sun and wither away.  

3. Soil that's full of thorns and the SEED is choked out by the presence of those thorns so it can't grow and produce a viable fruit crop for harvesting.  

4. Good soil with which the SEED is able to produce a healthy crop that multiplies the SEED by thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. 

Now this week we continue to discuss the third type of SOIL where THORNS are making it impossible for the sown SEED to produce a mature harvest. Here's what the SEED has to contend with as described in Mark 4:18-19:

"And others are the ones (people) on whom SEED was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful."

In this scripture Jesus describes three particular EXTERNAL influences that work to choke out the power of the WORD in the MINDS and lives of Believers. By external we mean that they originate from outside the Kingdom of God: NOTHING originates from within the Kingdom that would choke out the Word. Of course, external to the Kingdom of God is the World and scripture warns us over and over again in the New Testament to avoid the World and to overcome it by our FAITH. Here are a couple of scriptures that remind us how it should be:

"Do not love the World nor the things in the World. If anyone loves the World, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the World, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the World" (1 John 2:15-16).

"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the World - our FAITH. Who is the one who overcomes the World, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4-5)?

A Closer Look at the Thorns

Did you notice that Jesus was able to reduce to only three humongous THORN categories all of the things that can possibly come out of the World to spoil us and choke out the Word?

• Worries (anxieties, fears)
• Deceitfulness of riches
• Desires for other things (pleasures)

The first type of THORN is everywhere attacking all people. A lot of people have WORRIES these days because of the economy or the government or the lack of job security or because the TV has convinced many of us that we're sick and need to buy the latest prescription drug before it's too late. Jesus said: "do not let your heart be troubled..." (John 14:1). The Apostle Peter told us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to: "cast all our anxiety on (God)" (1 Peter 5:7). The point is that WORRY isn't supposed to be a part of Christian life. We're supposed to RESIST it and we're supposed to RESIST the devil (James 4:7) and his World system that tries to make WORRY take root in our lives instead of the Word. We're not supposed to just lay there and take it hoping and wishing for our circumstances to change. The truth is circumstances ALWAYS change; in the meantime we're supposed to be resisting the WORRY by casting our cares on Jesus. We've NOT been created to carry a WORRY burden so let God have it and when He has taken possession of the burden, He'll work out the solution. He won't work on it if we insist on carrying the burden ourselves; no, we have to give it up and let the Lord take it over. He knows exactly what to do with it. If we insist on trying to carry it ourselves, WORRY WILL CHOKE OUT THE WORD IN OUR LIVES and stop it from taking root in our MINDS so we can grow.

The second THORN has to do with money and possessions. A lot of people think their circumstances could be overcome by a lot of money. That's not a true concept and that's what Jesus meant by using the word "deceitfulness." We believe riches will set us free, but anything that comes from the World comes with a lot of trouble, enough trouble to choke out the Word in our lives. The World tries to convince us we have to have it, that we should go into debt to achieve it, that we should chase one get-rich-quick-scheme after another until we catch one. But that's all deceitful. It's based on lies and won't produce the result we're hoping for. Riches from the World bring worries and compromise and come with strings attached. There's a better way to financial abundance by letting God do it as per the following scripture:

"It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it" (Proverbs 10:22).

In other words, when God's behind our provision, when it comes from His blessing and GRACE, then it won't have any of those negative things attached to it. That's the SORROW part we don't want to have to deal with, the part that comes with the World's materialism. Resist the World's riches, seek first the Kingdom of God for all your provision and you'll avoid the SORROW. God can certainly provide riches too, everything belongs to Him anyway. But the riches of God come with NO SORROW. Hold out for His riches instead of falling for the deceitfulness of what the World has to offer.

And then finally there's the third kind of THORN called the "desires for other things." What this is referring to are the "pleasures" of life one can find in the World that are distinct from the "riches" of the second THORN. All of the pleasures of the World are based to one degree or another on the lust of the Flesh and involve unrighteousness. Anything that puts our Flesh in control of our actions or pursuits or decisions or priorities or emotions are by definition UNRIGHTEOUS. It does not come from the Father because the Flesh lusts against the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) and God is Spirit (John 4:24). Besides, who wants anything that doesn't come from Father God?

"For all that is in the World, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the World. The World is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:16-17).

Jesus said we have to be IN the World but we're no longer OF it. We have to deal with it but we're supposed to OVERCOME it. We're supposed to RESIST it instead of doing things day after day the same way the World does them, and saying the same things and manifesting the same ideas and worries and wrong priorities. We're supposed to come out of the World and be different, to be a source of light that can be shined in the extensive darkness, to be an example of the MIND renewal that only the SEED is capable of producing. To do that we have to cut our ties to the World, to eliminate our dependencies and attractions and lusts that take us there over and over again.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2).

If you have a lot of THORNS in your life today it's because you're still too close to the World. Ask God to help you remove all those THORNS and then start meditating on the Word of God every day and every free moment you have. Soon that WORD will begin to work a mighty miracle that no other kind of SEED can perform. This SEED can actually help you prepare your SOIL, to TRANSFORM it so that as you receive that same SEED it will find good SOIL where it can take root and grow and flourish so you can become FRUITFUL for the Kingdom of God.

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on February 8. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), compelling you to PROSPER in every area of life!

Sinners' Prayer

If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you need to and you can do it today just by saying out loud the following simple prayer:

Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.

If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.

And, when you get a chance have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer today and believing what you said:

Romans 10:9

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 2:8

Prayer Requests

If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM eastern time. Agree with us for God to answer your petition.

http://www.creditcounseling.net/prayer-request.aspx 

Donations

If you've been edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, you may want to consider making a SEED FAITH offering to support the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7). God has instructed us to simply provide folks with an opportunity to sow seed into good ground so in due season you'll be eligible to reap a harvest and the rest is up to you as the Spirit leads. For your information PLN is a nonprofit gift to the Body of Christ so your financial offerings will usually be tax deductible (consult your tax advisor). Just go to the secure Shopping Cart on the Cornerstone web site by connecting through the following link. We appreciate your support and generosity.

http://www.creditcounseling.net/shop/item.aspx?itemid=1 

About Prosperous Life Newsletter

PLN is an outreach ministry of Make A Way Ministries and has been published continuously since January 1998. It's an e-publication about life in the Kingdom of God and is sent ONLY to our email list of MINISTRY MEMBERS. If you're reading this and aren't yet on our growing email list, please let us know and we'll be so very happy to add you to the list.

© Make a Way Ministries, Inc.

P.O. Box 1164

Granbury, Texas 76048