DEVELOPING OUR LIFE:

We will look at the Parable of The Sower to find something that will help us to develop our lives to become 100 fold Christians.

Luke 8:5. “A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

God has given us life. Our life is like a farm or parcel of ground deeded to us for life.

God has given each of us, let’s say 1000 acres. It’s up to each individual to work and develop his ground. The ground and the production thereof is what you make of it.

You may say “I had a big disadvantage when I started in life. I was born into a very poor family or born into a race, or culture, or nationality, which gave me disadvantages other people do not experience.” It’s not where you start in life, but where you end up, that matters. I can name you many people who started in life much worse off than you, and made God’s honor role. Nobody else can work your farm. You can’t lease it out to someone else to work. You must take care of your own life.

This study is intended to reach out to both Church members and those who are not. Everyone needs to take another look at their position in life and respond to the need.

We will start this study by looking at a portion of The Parable Of The Sower. Jesus didn’t just tell stories to take up peoples time, but each story has many messages in it. We want to liken this parable to the farm God has given to each of us. Every one of us has all these kinds of soil on the farm God has given us, and it’s up to us to make it bear fruit. In this story a farmer sows seed to produce a harvest. Don’t say that he wasn’t a good farmer, and that he should know better than to sow seeds in ground that hasn’t been properly prepared.  This is a story of our life, my life, your life, not somebody else’s life.

We want to take a good look at our farm. We will look at the areas that are productive and is keeping us looking good among all our friends and neighbors. These are our strong points, but we also have areas which are not productive. We want to bring forth “a hundred fold.” Then life in Christ is not a struggle.

LET US LOOK AT OUR FARM:

Remember God has deeded us a life (farm) to produce fruit unto eternal life.

Matthew 13:8. “But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

By the age of 35-40 you have had time to develop your farm; this is one-half or more of your productive life. Remember I said we received 1000 acres of land, or life to use.  Let’s say you now have 500 acres of productive land. You have a running stream of water that flows into your farm. (Everyone who has the Holy Ghost has a river of living water). You have buildings, barns, storage buildings, a house, fences, cows, horses, and chickens. You are raising corn, soybeans, wheat, hay, small orchard, and a garden. Everything looks fine—but appearances are deceitful.

You need more production. It is hard to make ends meet, paying for 100,000 dollar tractors, trucks, combines, corn pickers, tools of all sort, and 100’s of other things that make a farm go. What do you do? What can you do? You can’t expect to raise two crops each season. You try more fertilizer. You order different kinds of seeds.

These things are helpful but it will only increase production by a small percentage.

What can you do? You need to look at the other 500 acres God gave you. Neglected acres. The neglected portion of your life needs developing.

There are times our Christian life becomes stagnated; things are not flowing as they should. We have tried to develop the “Fruit of the Spirit” Paul wrote about (Galatians 5:22), and some of them we have working in our life. Then we think of the list Peter asks us to consider

2 Peter 1:5 “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If we have only one half of each of these lists working in our lives we are only getting one-half production out of our spiritual farm. What is faith without virtue? Or what is joy without peace? We want every thing on these lists to be operating in our lives.

“For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” (2 Peter 1:8-9).

ANOTHER LOOK AT OUR FARM:

The 500 acres of non-productive land could make you lose the farm.

Matthew 13:4. “And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side,..”

Matthew 13:5. “Some fell upon stony places,..” “And some fell among thorns,..”

The first 500 acres is your strength, everyone has some good points, hardly anyone is completely bad. I want a better future for you, and above all God wants a better future for you. God does not want us to live a nominal Christian life, but He wants a “hundred fold” life from you. Many are struggling along and not being as blessed as they should be. We are now going to look at the neglected 500 acres of my life, your life.

We emphasize our strong points. Everybody talks about your strong points, the areas that are producing fruit. The neglected 500 acres can be made to be productive, it can be developed. You say it’s all overgrown, rocky, hard ground, some swamps, and dark dense woody places. Two or three old cars or trucks started a junk pile which has grown considerably—trees blown over by storms and left to rot away, and gullies that have been washed out by years of neglect.  “No Trespassing,” signs are posted here and there, “Do Not Enter,” “Stay out.”

Are all these kind of things cluttering up your life? I sure hope not. All of these things that fill the 500 acres of your life that are non-productive must be dealt with, cleaned up. God wants to help you. More than that, God wants to get down in the dirt with you. He wants to work with His children. God is willing to do the heavy lifting, things you cannot do. He yearns for our cooperation—But, He will not go where He is not invited. First Thing, take down the no trespassing signs, let God in.

What are you hiding? What is it that you don’t want God to see? Have you got areas of your life that are off-limits to your Pastor, your friends, your wife or husband? No trespassing. Some hidden things need to be uncovered. Dark Places. Some things need to be brought out into the light. Darkness cannot survive in the light. While we hide our faults and failings, they grow larger—they develop a power over us.

Before we know it, we are planning our days around our self-destructive habits, much like an alcoholic plans his days around when he will drink. And the more we hide these faults and weaknesses, the more power they tend to have over us. If they are serious enough and left unattended for long enough, they begin to control our whole life. But when we bring them to the light they lose their power over us.

LET US GET THE JUNK OUT OF OUR LIFE:

Some things need to be gotten out of our life, they stagnate the stream God placed within you when He gave you the Holy Ghost.

Matthew 13:4. “Some seeds fell by the way side,..” (Hard trodden path)

Matthew 13:5. “Some fell upon stony places,..” “And some fell among thorns,..”

The Holy Spirit cannot operate in a vessel (life) that is full of trash. Start by cleaning up the mess that has accumulated. You say, “My life is a mess.” But God has seen messes before—He has helped clean up worse messes than you present. God wants to clean up the “junk” in your life, pull up the stumps, and get the rocks hauled out. He wants to help drain the swamps and get the stream flowing in your life; He wants to help smooth out the gullies so your land can be cultivated.

In the 1930’s my family moved to a very old and a very large farm, over 1500 acres. About one-half of it was productive land that could be plowed with a mule team, about one-forth was woods, while much of the rest was rocky, stump-filled and lay idle covered with wild growth. For three years, during the time when there was no crops to plow, or harvest, my dad and I, as a very young boy, took the wagon and team of mules to those non-productive areas and hauled wagon load after wagon load of rocks out and piled them along the river bank. It seemed like we were wasting our time, and the job would never get done.

At other times we would pull stumps by taking a long pole and chaining one end to the stump and tying the mules to the other end of the pole and twisting the stump out. If the stump could not be twisted out that way we dug under the stump and put 3 or 4 sticks of dynamite to blow it out. We cleared an acre at a time, not an acre a day but an acre at a time. Slowly but surely crop-land was cleared, productive land.

Today, many years have passed and the farmers are working the once-waste land that my dad and I cleared not realizing what it once looked like.

So let’s get started on the non-productive areas of our life. God will help us in every area that we ask Him to. We may not clean everything out in one day or a week or a month, but today is a good time to start. The progress will make you the happiest person you can be. Every little thing, or big thing, we get done will make our lives more towards the “100 fold” Jesus is looking for.

THE FIRST STEP IS CONVICTION:

Let us get started on the 500 acres of non-productive areas of our life.

Acts 2:37. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost brought conviction to the hearts of those who heard it. They had been brought face to face with their sins and it so moved them, convicted them, that they wanted to make things right. So we find that the first step to God is conviction, it bring us to the reality, the awfulness, of our sins.

Jesus said that the Prodigal son “came to himself.” “I don’t need to be here.” I hope the Holy Ghost has worked on your heart in some of the things I have said. Old time preachers called it “Conviction.” That’s the way the Holy Ghost works. It convicts us of our sins. It makes us realize that we are sinners. That’s what conviction is.

John the Baptist’s preaching brought conviction on the multitude. What a preacher! When the people were brought face to face with their sins they were moved to act. Mark 1:5 tells us “They came confessing their sins and were baptized by John.”

A woman was brought to Jesus one day having been caught in adultery, and the men wanted to stone her. Jesus stooped and wrote in the sand, and then said, “He that is without sin let him cast the first stone.” “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst” (John 8:9).

Some people are convicted and just walk away. They do nothing about it.

I’ve seen people who were under conviction, lose their appetite, and lose sleep fighting conviction. Conviction brings us before God just as we are.

Conviction leads to confession. “I am a sinner.” Admit your sins. John writing to church members, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10).

Jesus didn’t come for the healthy; He came for the sick (sinners). He established His Church to carry on His work. So if we see things in our lives that are not right, own up to it, confess it to God in prayer. Then turn away from it. Conviction leads to confession, confession leads to repentance, the next step to cleaning up, and making our life productive.

CONFESSION LEADS TO REPENTANCE:

Conviction, confessing, and repentance. These are the steps that lead to a life that will bring forth the fruit Jesus demands of us.

Romans 7:23. “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

We all do things that are wrong, and that makes us a lesser person. We say things that hurt others, or hurt others by not saying things, like I’m sorry, pardon me, or forgive me. These things originate in the heart. Deep down we don’t want to think, say, and do these things. I don’t want to be the lesser person—I really want to be the best version of myself.

Paul recognized where the trouble lay, and in Romans 7:22-25, he tells us that there is a conflict between the spirit of man and the flesh. Yet he also tells us there can be victory over the flesh through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance was the message of John the Baptist, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). Jesus’ message, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). You say, “I repented a long time ago.” Yet I say Christians need to repent. Repent is a powerful word. Repentance is a powerful event when it takes place in our lives. Repent means the same as it did 2,000 years ago. Repent means “to turn back to God.”

We find ourselves turning back to God many times a day—in ways small and great. It is not a matter of guilt and it is not a shameful thing. It is simply at His side I am a better person, a better husband, brother, friend, employee, and citizen.

Do you need to turn back to God? Do you need to repent? We turn away from God in small ways—just for a moment—other times in much larger ways. Turning our backs on God is an inner action.

It is quite possible for people to turn their backs on God and still go to Church on Sunday. They still pay their tithes—and go through the motion of Church life. The external actions don’t guarantee the internal disposition.

Have you turned your back on God? Very few people turn their backs on God completely. Maybe it is in one or two areas of our lives, just a little corner of our heart. Is there an area of your heart that you have turned your back on God?

Every journey towards something is a journey away from something.

2 Chronicles 7: 14. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

If we need to turn back to God, we also need to turn away from whatever led us away and keeps us away. Maybe certain people have led you to stray from God. Perhaps possessions have distracted you or certain pleasures have seduced you into walking a wayward path.

Whatever it is that distracted you it is important to realize that you cannot journey back to God and at the same time stay where you are. That is why Confession is first then repentance. Sometime it is as important to know what you are journeying from as well as it is to know what you are journeying towards.

Repentance is turning your back on the distractions and walk towards God. The journey to God is a journey away from the defects of your life. Question, “Are you willing to turn back to God? Are you willing to be more like what God is calling you to be? Come to Reality: Confess “I am a sinner and I need to be saved. I need to be saved from myself and from my sin.”

I assure you sin and evil are real. There is a lot of evil in the world. The line that separates good from evil is cast down the center of my heart and your heart. The battle is within. So the question is, “are we willing to fight the battle?”

There are many people who love us, parents, family, friends, but they cannot save us. That is what makes us eligible for membership in the Lord’s Church. He didn’t come to save the healthy; He came to save the sick. We are imperfect but capable of change and growth. 

We are all imperfect but perfectible. The Church holds me in my weakness, comforts me in my limitations, endeavors to heal me in my sickness, and nurture me back to full health in Christ.

The Church manages to harness all my efforts and struggles, not only for my own good, but for the good of the entire Church and humanity. This is just a small part of incredible mystery of the Church.

I ask again, “Are you willing to turn back to God?” “Do you want to be all that God wants you to be?” “Do you want to be a 100 fold Christian?”

THE GRACE OF GOD:

Let us ask ourselves, “Will what I am about to do help me to become the best version of myself?”

Titus 2:11. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;”

1 Peter 5:5b “… “be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

Grace is the power of God alive in us. It heals the wounds that our sins have created and helps us to maintain moral balance. Grace helps us to persevere in the pursuit of virtue. It enlightens our minds to see and know which actions will help us becomes all God created us to be, 100 fold Christians.

Grace inspires us to love what is good and shun what is evil. Grace is not a magical illusion, it is mystical and real.

When we come to an altar, we should come first to reconcile ourselves with God and receive forgiveness, this is not just a cleansing experience, it is also a strengthening experience. We all need forgiveness; we all need cleansing and strengthening.

We, above all, need to bring our sins to the altar, confess them to God, and ask His forgiveness.

It is an opportunity for you and God to work together to form a better version of yourself. It will increase our desire for holiness, and that is a desire we should fan with all our energy. If we are serious about being a Christian, then it is imperative that we are serious about doing the will of God.

“Teaching us,..” If a person desires to excel in any sport, they need a good coach to teach them, mostly, the things they are doing wrong, and then show them a better way. A similar thing exists in our relationships. God gives us husbands and wives, sisters, brothers, and parents and friends, to help us to see things as they really are.

There is no relationship more precious in the world than the friendships of people we love, trust, and respect enough to allow them to correct us when they see things as they really are.

We need to be constantly mindful of our ability to deceive ourselves and our tendency to distort the way we see things in our relationship with God and our relationship with other people. Paul tells us, “For the grace of God … hath appeared.. teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present world.”

BREAK UP YOUR FALLOW GROUND:

The Jews were a nation of farmers, and it is therefore a common thing in the scriptures to refer for Illustrations to their occupation, and to the scenes with which farmers and shepherds are familiar.

Hosea 10:12. “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 13. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies:

Fallow ground is ground which has once been tilled, but which now lays waste, and needs to be broken up and mellowed, before it is it is ready to receive grain. To break up the fallow ground, is to break up your hearts, to prepare your minds to bring forth fruit unto God. The mind of man is often compared to the ground in the Bible.

The word of God is the seed sown there, the fruit representing the actions and emotions of those who receive it. To break up the fallow ground therefore, is to bring the mind into such a state that it is fitted to receive the Word of God.

Sometimes your hearts get matted down, hard and dry, until there is no such thing as getting fruit from them until they are broken up, and mellowed down, and fitted to the Word. It is this softening of the heart, so as to make it feel the truth, which the prophet calls break up your fallow ground.

If you intend to break up the fallow ground of your hearts, and make your minds sensitive on the subject of religion, you must go to work just as you would to get your mind on any other subject.

Instead of keeping your thoughts on everything else, and then imagining that by going to a few meetings you will get your feelings started, go the common-sense way to work, as you would on any other subject.

It is just as easy to make your minds feel on the subject of religion as it is on any other. God has put these states of mind under your control. If people were as uncaring about moving their limbs as they are about regulating their emotions, you would never get anywhere.

Break up all the ground and turn it over. Do not “scrape” it, as the farmers say; do not turn aside for little difficulties; drive the plough right through them, dig deep, and turn the ground up, so that it may all be mellow and soft, and fit to receive the seed and bear fruit “an hundredfold.”

James & Mary Lee Thornton

www.Godsgrazingfield.net