March 1, 2013: Volume 2, Number 9
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MORE WITH
30 60 100 MINISTRIES |
March 2, 2013, 11:30 AM ETAFA Channel, 30 60 100 MINISTRIES Revelations TV Series March 22, 2013 - April 2, 201330 60 100 MINISTRIES Training and Coaching in Guatemala 
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| Greetings! | In this issue of The Cultivator, we continue with Part 3 of 4 in our Parable of the Sower series. Jesus compared various conditions of the human heart to four kinds of soil in a farmer's field. Each type of soil identifies whether our heart is fickle (not adequately cultivated and prepared to receive God's Word), or fertile (ready to receive the Word and bring forth good fruit.)
Today you'll read what happens when God's Word sprouts in the third type of soil, one with Weeds that Prick and Choke.
 While in Costa Rica, we saw God's Word fall onto fertile hearts. Take a minute to listen to our brothers and sisters share their stories in these video testimonies. We know you will be inspired as we were!
Keep growing!
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BACK 40 HEADED TO GUATEMALA
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Thanks to your partnership, we will travel to the village of La Esperanza near Quetzaltenango, the second largest city in Guatemala, on March 22 - April 2 to coach and train elders and young leaders using Spiritually Healthy Leaders� materials. During Holy Week we will hold 7 workshops as well as and preach and teach at services in the local church three times. We are honored to be able to minister with God's people in this remote area! In the meantime, will you please continue to pray for God's anointing on the Back 40 as a long-term effort? Thank you for your sacrificial partnership!  |
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 Feature: YOUR HEART : FICKLE OR FERTILE SOIL?
Part 3: Ouch! These Weeds Prick ... and Choke! | This devotion is part 3 of 4 in a series based on The Parable of the Sower. Just as the Sower sowed good seed, so God uses a variety of ways to plant His seed - biblical truth - in the soil of our hearts. We receive His seed through studying the Bible, hearing a message, holding a conversation with a believer, reading other Christian books and resources, and even through life's circumstances.
Our responsibility is to prepare and cultivate the soil of our hearts so that as we receive God's Word, it can grow in us and produce the best possible yield of spiritual fruit. Each of the four kinds of soil in the field represent a different heart condition, determining whether our heart is fickle (not adequately cultivated and prepared to receive God's Word), or fertile (ready to receive the Word and bring forth good fruit.)
OUCH! THESE WEEDS PRICK ... AND CHOKE!
In the Parable of the Sower Jesus compares a farmer's field to our hearts, describing how the seed of God's Word lands in four types of soil. But only one type of soil produces a healthy crop. Three do not.
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Image: Wikipedia
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Weedy Areas: a Special Scenario
Of the three types of soil that do not produce a harvest, the seed sown among weeds (Matthew 13:7) presents an altogether different scenario from the seed sown on the hard path (which is snatched away before it sprouts) and the seed sown in rocky soil (which withers soon after germinating).
In this third type of soil, the Word actually takes root and grows. Yet as the plants are growing, weeds also sprout and grow alongside these plants. Because they compete for nutrients, sunlight, and room to grow, the weeds become a threat to the health and maturation of the crop.
Weeds are the pitfalls that can choke God's Word and cause us to be unfruitful: wealth, worries, cares of this life, temptations, and desires for other things.
Weeds Are Inevitable
Even the most meticulous farmer - or most disciplined Christian - must deal with weeds. No matter how carefully a gardener prepares the soil, weeds will inevitably pop up during the growing season, whether in escaping the clearing and preparation process or being dropped by birds and insects onto the field afterwards. Likewise, maturing Christians regularly face temptations to sin, regardless of how diligently we prepare our hearts to receive God's Word. Wise Christians expect weeds of temptation to sneak into their hearts.
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Image: Dreamstime
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At issue here is not that there will be weeds, but how to deal with them.
Do You Have a Weeding Strategy?
Weeding a field is a process undertaken with care. Strong, broad-leafed weeds may upend the young crop roots because they are so much larger. Thorned weeds with hooked leaves and stalks can pierce the new seedlings and the farmer's skin.
The same is true with weeding our hearts. As weeds of sin and temptation grow larger, they become harder and harder to remove, and pose a greater risk to damaging the good planted therein. Catching weeds of sin early allows you to pull them out before they overtake God's truth in your life. Some of your heart's pitfalls may prick and even injure the seedlings of truth in your heart. The process is most successful when conducted diligently and repeatedly. A well-weeded heart, like a well-weeded field, has a stronger chance of producing a fruitful yield.
Wise Christians have a weeding strategy. They expect their hearts to be littered with pitfalls and are willing to face them in order to have a fertile field. That's why they check their heart's garden each day to catch what's there, deal with the pricks from the thorns ... and pull the weeds.
How about you?
Growth Point
Weed out the pitfalls in your heart to prepare for a good yield.
Scripture
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. (Matthew 13:7, NIV)
Prayer Points - How are "weeds" different from the "rocks" in the field of your heart?
- List some of the "weeds" that spring up regularly in your heart.
- Ask God to show you the next step to weeding your field.
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What People Are Saying ...
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 "Thank God and thank you for permitting this blessing in Costa Rica -- by letting Dalton and Vicki come and help order our lives. They taught us how to walk as good Christians and put our confidence in Christ. Blessings and greetings to all." Katherine Aguilar Gonz�lez. Costa RicaHear more testimonies from Christians in remote areas served by 30 60 100 MINISTRIES staff here.
Find out more about equipping, coaching, and training opportunities with 30 60 100 MINISTRIES here.
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