Parable of the Sower

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

The Parable Explained

“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Being the Wrong Type of Soil

I’ve noticed that when I quickly share a new insight or revelation, I lose the benefit of that very thing. I’m so excited to have had the thought, that I immediately want to share it with someone else – usually someone I think needs to hear it more than I do. I share it with someone, who inevitably pats me on the head with verbal praise and/or appreciation, and I walk away satisfied. This is the problem.

Jesus addressed this concept in Matthew 6:16-18

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Fasting is an act of humility and contrition. It is a humbling of oneself by choosing to go without food either due to overwhelming sorrow or in collaboration with daily prayers earnestly seeking the Lord for something.

Motive is EVERYTHING

But there were people in Jesus’ day who played it up to get attention. They WANTED everyone to know they were fasting so that they’d be seen as holier and more respectable for their discipline. Jesus says that they’ve already received their reward in full. They put on a show and got the admiration and respect of the people. In other words, the outward display was a front for the true intention of getting public recognition.

The BETTER way is to get dressed and groomed and behave as though you are NOT fasting, so that your heart is certainly NOT focused on getting men’s attention, but rather God’s. If we choose to sacrifice and humble ourselves for God, He will reward us. If we do it to perform for men, they will reward us. It’s a question of whom we want to give us a reward.

Which Soil Am I?

I’m still trying to decide which type of soil this describes. I think sharing revelation too quickly makes me the rocky soil. I am the man “who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.”

Are you tracking with me? In my mind, these two passages of Scripture are intertwined in my experience. I’ve become the rocky soil because I share the word too quickly and fail to develop deep roots. I am at risk of falling away at the point of trouble or persecution. I wish Jesus had explained what the rocks symbolize. Save that for another prayer. In the meantime, I have a dilemma.

To Blog or To Grow?

Have I arrived at the wrong conclusion? I don’t think so. When a revelation comes, I have two choices: write it in my journal, or write it on my blog. Which will I choose? I don’t have the energy to write it twice. By the time I get a thought out, I’m done. I’m wiped. I have two choices, and this is why I sometimes regret that I ever started blogging. If I’d just stuck with my journals, I’d have a ton more content and I’d theoretically be simmering a lot more revelation. But my 6+ blogs have drained the life out of me. And yet, I can’t abandon all of them. All but two, maybe. But not all.

Maybe it’s a mood swing. That’s very possible. Maybe I’ll see it differently tomorrow. But for now, I look at my life, and I wonder: should I be blogging at all?

Father, show me the answer. Show me how to blog and not give away the seeds I should be holding.

Let me understand the teaching of your precepts*;
then I will meditate on your wonders.

Psalm 119:27

One of the ways I want to grow, Father, is by meditating on Your wonders. Your great deeds tell me about who You are. I can see how You’ve responded to the cry of Your children in times past. And since You are unchanging, what I learn about you from the past is who You are today.

Your wonders are marvelous

When I meditate on your wonders, I most often reflect on the universe. I picture seemingly infinite space. I see planets, comets, stars, galaxies. Such beauty as one could only imagine. You are the God who created such beauty as could never be replicated by another.

This is one aspect of who You are.

I confess that I have a little trouble with Your immutability (never changing), because You also commanded the Israelites to kill man, woman, and child in the cities of the promised land. It’s hard to say and fully believe You are the same God who would do this, yet who later says He wills that none should perish.

I’ve heard speculation as to Your motives. I don’t know exactly what I believe. Some things I just don’t understand. I’m not throwing out the baby with the bath water. I’m not discarding my faith in You because of a paradox. But I would benefit from deeper comprehension. Teach me of Your ways, O Lord.

You called yourself my Father. You see me as Your son. It is one thing to ponder Your creation, but there is so much more to Your wonders. So much more. Show me Your wonders, Father. Cause them to pass before my focused attention so that I may perceive Your nature and Your character.

Demonstrations of Power

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.

Exodus 3:19-21

Father, You performed such wonders before Egypt’s pharaoh and the Your people in the days of Moses. You demonstrated Your power – Your supremacy over any gods the Egyptians worshipped. You gave testimony to Your own omnipotence.

Show us throughout Scripture other great examples of Your wonders. Remind us of Your wonders in our own lives. That we may see you with new eyes. With fresh understanding. With renewed hope and trust.

*Precept – a commandment or direction given as a rule of action or conduct; an injunction as to moral conduct; maxim; a procedural directive or rule, as for the performance of some technical operation.

“So we went in and had a look and thought, Oh no! This is the end of the earth! This is like as hard as you can get. This is hyper arid. And it’s ten acres of almost dead flat. Completely salted landscape, 400 meters below sea level. The lowest place on earth. 2 kilometers from the Dead Sea. About 2 kilometers from where Jesus was christened. Hardly got any rainfall. Temperatures in August that go over 50 degrees Centigrade…”

See the amazing video after the jump.

Geoff Lawton of the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia

“Everybody farming under plastic strips. Everybody spray, spray, spray. Everybody’s putting synthetic fertilizer on. Overgrazed with goats. Just like maggots eating the flesh down to the bones of the country. Literally like maggots, giant maggots, eating it to nothing.

So we designed a system that would harvest every single bit of rainwater that fell on it. On ten acres. That’s one and a half kilometers of swell, water harvesting ditch on contour. And when they’re full, one million liters of water soak into the landscape. And they’ll fill quite a few times over a winter. And then we heavily mulch those swells with organic matter which was trash from organic fields nearby.

Life in the Desert

“We put that almost half a meter deep. So we saved that, and mulched the swells, which were about two meters wide and half a meter deep on the trench. Then we put micro irrigation underneath the mulch. And then on the uphill side of the water harvesting trench, we put nitrogen fixing very hardy pioneer desert trees, which help shade and reduce wind evaporation, and help put nitrogen back into the soil. And structure the soil for us. And then on the lower side of the trench, we put fruit trees. Major date palms as the long-term over story. Then we put in figs, pomegranates, mulberries, guavas, now some citrus. Within four months,  we had figs a meter high, with figs on, which is impossible.

We trained up some locals, got a translator who has a degree in agriculture in Jordan University. He got onto his mates in the agriculture department and said, ‘Well, you couldn’t grow figs. We’ve grown figs. You better come test the soil. No matter what you say, we’re either growing in salty soil what shouldn’t be growing, or we’ve desalted the soil. And we’d like to know what we’ve done.’ They came in, and the salt levels were dropping, and they became interested…”

This is amazing. Many thanks to Geoff Lawton and staff for providing us with such an amazing and inspiring example of restorative stewardship.

Just One of Many Applications

You might wonder why you’re watching a fascinating video on restoring barren salty desert into lush green life giving soil.

“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

I was severely tempted to make this a very spiritual post, about our “mandate” to subdue the earth and what not. But that’s artificial. That’s not where I’m coming from.

My REAL purpose in posting this is to share where we’re at as a family. There’s a family vision being formed which includes, but is not limited to, stewardship of the earth. When I saw this video, I got excited. I want to do this. It’s not ALL I want to do, but I want to be part of transforming a piece of this planet into something lush, thriving, and beautiful.

Those of you who know me know that, these days, I’m more of a thinker than a get-your-hands-dirty kind of guy. But it’s almost as though I recognize a call from the earth to reconnect to it in a way I never have before, but was intended to.

- John Paul Jackson, from Spirit to Spirit Understanding

We’re out there to love people. We can’t carry the heavy burden of what if. If we love the person and we believe that Jesus came to bear the heaviness and weight of the punishment of sin, you will see people healed.

You’ll never live by faith if you hold to the “yes and no” gospel. “I don’t know what God’s will is. If He doesn’t heal them, I’ll go back and reconcile my thinking.” No! It’s “Yes and Amen!” through Him. God is saying YES.

It’s amazing how easy this really is. You don’t have to will God to do something. People like me have believed incorrectly that God will not heal or speak if our lives are not perfect. But his love for the lost and hurting is so great that He has chosen to use us as imperfect vessels.

This is power evangelism – being a real person and praying over people’s needs and healing them.

He makes an intriguing statement I hope he explains in further detail later:

There is actually an application of each of the seven pieces of furniture in the tabernacle to the seven organs in our body as well as the seven layers of skin we have, but that is another topic.

I LOVE that. Our God is such a God of mystery and deep meaning. I love how He buries meaning deep within everything for us to uncover. I can’t wait to read the explanation of how our organs and skin are related to the seven pieces of furniture in the tabernacle.

But for now, let’s look at the Brazen Laver, where John Paul shares the first two of four points of importance:

Self-Recognition – Scripture tells us that the Word of God (Bible) is a mirror and as we look into it we see our defilement in light of his Holy nature. It also tells us, that just by reading it we are washed – inside and out; to expect to be washed that deeply without reading the Word of God, is naïve at best. I have met no one who could do it. That’s why it’s a long way to the Rooms of Mystery – washing is a daily process and some of our stains run pretty deep.

Washing of Regeneration – The two primary purposes of washing are to reveal all uncleanness as seen by the mirror effect and it is to cleanse or “wash clean” everything that cannot enter the Holy of Holies, those things you see, things others see, and the things that no one sees. In many aspects the blood is the solvent that dislodges the stain and the water is what washed the blood off the hands and clothing. Here at this Laver, you rid yourself from your passions, mindsets, strongholds, and any other thing you can see as you look into the water. Later you will find that each spot, wrinkle, or blemish that is not purged will eventually exalt itself against God and all He is. Inside the Sanctuary – in the Rooms of Mystery, this can be dangerous.

I’d like to think of myself as further along in the maturation process than I really am. It’s so easy to mistake wit or intelligence for maturity. In the end, I see myself still standing at the Brazen Laver, at the beginning of the process, ridding myself of passions, mindsets, strongholds, and anything else that stands in the way of my pursuit of Christ.

Still, it’s encouraging to know that there’s a process, and that God laid out a map to encourage us along the way.

So it’s time to return to what I already know. I sow the truth into my mind and my spirit. Then I act on the truth with a heart of love and compassion for the lost who do not know.

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; ⁷the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Romans 8:5-8

Where is YOUR mind set? What are you focused on? What fills your mind’s spare time? We are to set our minds on what the Spirit desires.

How do we know what the Spirit desires?

First, we know that if we have been born again, Jesus lives inside of us, and we have Holy Spirit as our counselor and comforter. So we have direct access to God. We don’t have to beg, plead, or hope that He will speak to us. God speaks to us all the time.

“My sheep hear my voice, and they know Me.”

So if we’re not hearing God, it’s up to us to quiet down the other voices and thoughts that distract us. If you ask, you will receive. If you seek, you will find. If you knock, the door will be opened. But sometimes the seeking is more of a half-hearted “hail mary” to God where we don’t even wait around for a response.

Take 15 minutes tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. Find a secluded space. Ask God to speak. Have a Bible and a journal or paper available. Listen to the thoughts, feelings, and other things you sense inside. Write them down. Don’t interrupt the process to question what you’re writing. Just write, and evaluate after.

I challenge you to a test. This won’t hurt. much.

Change What You Listen to For ONE Day

That’s right. For one entire day. I challenge you to watch/listen to two sermons from iBethel.tv and confine your music to ONLY worship music. Throughout the day, evaluate yourself. Are you less moody than usual? Less critical? More or less irritable?

I spent two months listening to nothing but worship and watching sermons from the right kinds of people (who you listen to is important to, obviously). I’ve never felt more in-tune with God than I was during that period.

I still get in my worship and sermons, but I had to find some balance in other areas as well.

I want you to try it and tell me what happens to you.