Part 7 (1/2)
Chapter 16.
Choked!
Now we come to the third type of person who heard G.o.d's Word and how they responded to it.
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the l.u.s.ts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19 In addition to the four different types of hearts that the Word of G.o.d was planted in, this parable also speaks about a progression. You first start out not having any desire for the Word of G.o.d at all. The Word is like water off a duck's back. It's in one ear, and out the other. That's the first person.
The second person liked the Word of G.o.d, and was excited about it, but they didn't have any root in themselves so no fruit was produced.
The third person is someone who has learned enough truths that they are excited about the Word and have meditated on it enough that it's beginning to take root. There's a real life and vibrancy coming out of them. The Word of G.o.d is starting to produce results in their life, but then they get occupied with the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the l.u.s.ts of other things, so fruit production ceases.
Personally, I feel that in my life I've come through periods of being like the first and second type of person. I believe that I'm moving out of being like the third type of person and into the fourth type, where I am beginning to be productive. However, I still deal with some of these same things I've battled before. I still get occupied with things other than what G.o.d has really called me to do. I believe that affects a lot of us.
CONSTANTLY BOMBARDED.
In our day and age, we have access to information that previous generations never had. Do you realize that most generations prior to the 1950s were basically isolated? It took a long time for news and information to get around. So people lived in these smaller communities, and they didn't have all of the pressures and cares of this world inundating them the way that we now do. Today, if something happens on the other side of the globe, we hear about it nearly instantaneously. We can turn our television on and watch live coverage of it. It is easier than ever for you to literally take the problems of this world into your life as they are presented in up-to-the-minute detail. Whereas, in previous generations, it would have taken weeks, or even a month, to find out what had happened and by that time, the situation would probably have been over so it didn't cause the same level of anxiety, worry, or care, today we live through crises after crises in real-time.
Today we are being constantly bombarded not only by news and the problems of this world, but also by all kinds of entertainment. We have an abundance of television, movies, and video games. Also, it seems that on the job, people are working harder than ever before. Americans are some of the biggest workaholics on the face of the earth. Individuals who work forty hours a week are the exception. Most workers put in more. People are just pouring themselves into all this information and activity, and it will choke the Word of G.o.d.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that G.o.d wants us all to leave life and enter a monastery so we can just sit there and study the Word twenty-four hours a day. That's not what I'm talking about. However, I am saying that meditating in the Word takes time. It takes quant.i.ty time, not just ”quality” time, for the Word to take root on the inside of us. Many of our lifestyles today are not conducive to the Word of G.o.d taking root in our life.
Sadhu Sundar Singh was a powerful Christian who lived in India in the early 1900s. He saw great miracles, including multiple people raised from the dead in one day. This brother had a tremendous ministry.
Around 1910, Sundar traveled by boat from India to New York City. It took him a month or two to get there because of the mode of travel. Due to this, he had a year's worth of meetings lined up in the United States. He got off the boat in New York City, spent thirty minutes walking around town, and then decided to get right back on the boat to return to India. He remarked that there was no point in ministering to the people in America, that their lifestyle would not allow the Word of G.o.d to take root in their hearts. And this was a hundred years ago! Yet, it's the same truth we're talking about right here. The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the l.u.s.ts of other things enter in and choke the Word. (Mark 4:18-19.) TAKE DOWN TIME.
Busyness is not conducive to spirituality. There needs to be a balance to life, but most people aren't walking in it. Most of us are far too occupied with things other than G.o.d and His Word. If you were to ask the average person how they're doing, the majority of their responses would center around how busy they are. When I'm asked that question, I sometimes answer, ”I'm busier than a onearmed wallpaper hanger!” Many people say, ”I'm busier than I've ever been.”That's pretty typical. Yet, according to Mark 4, it's busyness like this that will stop the Word of G.o.d from working in your life and producing fruit. You need time sitting and soaking in the Word of G.o.d for it to be able to release its power in your life.
Many people talk about having ”devotion” times. To them, this means doing a little five minute devotion in the morning when they first get up. I admit, there is some benefit to that. However, if you're just trying to squeeze five or ten minutes of trying to hear the Lord's voice and stay your mind on the things of G.o.d, but the rest of the day you are running around at a frantic pace, you aren't going to have the Word of G.o.d produce fruit in your life. It takes some down time.
Be still, and know that I am G.o.d. Psalm 46:10 You have to be still and quiet yourself. If I get really involved, busy, and going at a frantic pace, it takes a period of time for me to sit down, slow myself down, before I can get to where I can hear G.o.d from my heart. It just takes me awhile. If I've been preoccupied with something for a longer period of time-perhaps days or weeks-and I haven't had time to be still and know that He is G.o.d, then it takes me awhile to penetrate and break through that barrier to where I'm listening and tuned in to the spirit realm. If I have been spending lots of time with the Lord and am very sensitive to Him, I could get occupied and busy with something for an hour, and just nearly step immediately out of that and go right back into the spirit realm. But if it has been days or weeks that I've been preoccupied with something else, it takes me some time-not just quality, but quant.i.ty time-to quiet myself, get still, and allow the Word of G.o.d to work in my life.
One night I saw in a dream, ”Psalms 46:10.” I didn't see the words of that scripture, I just saw the scripture reference. Even though I've ministered from that verse hundreds of times, when I woke up, I couldn't think of what that verse said for the life of me. So, I looked it up. Immediately I recognized the verse as an old familiar friend, but I felt like it must have something more to say to me. So, I meditated on that verse all morning.
I don't believe that verse is only speaking of physically being still. I think it speaks also of stilling our mind and emotions, and there are many other applications. But that afternoon, I decided I would literally sit still for one hour just to see what came of it. It was amazing. I didn't move anything but my eyes. I didn't rock in my chair or s.h.i.+ft positions. I was as still as a stone. I had a deer walk right up to me. A chipmunk crawled up on my shoe. I was still.
I noticed things all around me that I hadn't noticed before. I heard the wind blowing in the trees. It had been blowing all day but my business had distracted me so that I didn't notice it until I was totally still. I counted dozens of chipmunks that I hadn't noticed before. There were thousands of ants that, before I was still, I never noticed. There was so much happening all around me that I was just missing because I was busy.
The Lord used that instance to speak to me that the busyness of this natural world limits our perception of the spiritual world. Or as Jesus put it, the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and the l.u.s.t of other things, choke the Word.
A lifestyle where you are going fast and frantic all the time will stop G.o.d's Word from working in your life. Even Jesus took down time. He was in such demand ministering to the people that were coming to Him that He didn't even have time to eat. So He tried to separate Himself and His disciples by saying, ”Let's go over into a desert place.” (See Mark 6:30-32.) Yes, His goal was to reach people. Yes, He desired to touch as many people's lives as He could. Yet, after He and His disciples had been out on this missionary tour, He was telling the disciples to come apart, rest awhile, and to go over to this desert place. Do you know why the Lord wanted to do that? Jesus did this because He realized that the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the l.u.s.ts of other things will choke the Word of G.o.d.
SEPARATE YOURSELF.
You need some time when you can separate yourself from all the busy activities of daily life, and just spend some time focused on G.o.d. Now, you don't necessarily have to have your nose buried in the Bible. To a degree you will, because you can't meditate on scriptures that you don't know. But if you've already been reading the Bible, you might be able to just go sit on the porch for awhile and pray about what's been going on during that day. You could meditate on the scriptures G.o.d has been giving you and ask Him to show you things. about what's been going on during that day. You could meditate on the scriptures G.o.d has been giving you and ask Him to show you things.
I do that a lot. I built a trail on my property and I walk on it an hour or two a day. I spend that time just meditating on the things of G.o.d, thinking about what He's leading me to do, and meditating on scriptures. We have a little swing out on our patio I like to sit on. You can't see another house from my place, so I like to sit out there and look at the mountains. I just look around, meditate, and think on things. That's an important time.
One of the things that will stop G.o.d's Word from working in your life is just being busy. If Satan came in a red suit with horns and a pitchfork, most of us would resist him, saying, ”No way am I giving in to you!” Likewise, most of us would reject X-rated, and even most R-rated material, or anything else that is just overtly of the devil. But there's nothing wrong with having a j ob, a career, and a family. Working your job and spending time with your family are good and right in their place, but it's not good when we cram so much into our life that we have very little or no time left for G.o.d and His Word. You may be occupying your life with decent things-things that aren't immoral in or of themselves-but if you have no time to sit and meditate on the things of the Lord, it will stop the Word of G.o.d from working in your life.
In my own personal life, G.o.d has dealt with me about a number of things. They aren't sin, but He's told me that I cannot afford to become preoccupied with them. I don't need another hobby. I don't need anything else to do, especially with my personality. I have a compulsive type of personality, which means that everything I do, I do to an extreme. I've had some friends try to get me into doing certain things. They're enjoying it, and it's no problem for them, but I just don't have the time to devote to anything else. I have to keep the main thing, the main thing!
I wish I could somehow or another just make people understand this truth because Satan is really using this to hinder people's personal growth. He draws us into being so busy that we short-circuit G.o.d's provision for us to change. We just get so preoccupied that we don't take the time to spend in the Word and in fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d.
This hinders the change G.o.d wants to bring to pa.s.s.
FELLOWs.h.i.+PPING WITH G.o.d.
If you are going to see effective change-the Word of G.o.d producing fruit in your life-you must start spending some quant.i.ty time fellows.h.i.+pping with G.o.d through the Word. You have to take these truths, plant them, and keep them in your heart. Some people don't like that, but it's just the way the kingdom works. This isn't necessarily the way that we would have decided to have it done, but this is how the Lord told us His kingdom operates. Since He's the Lord, it's going to work the way that He says, not the way that you choose. This is something that I have to deal with all the time. I constantly have to make time and force myself not to get too busy.
Although I'm not tempted to go out and do any of those things that the church calls ”sin,” G.o.d has to deal with me often about getting so preoccupied with the ministry. It's the things concerning the ministry that crowd out my time to fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d and study His Word. The Lord has had to deal with me over that. If I can become too preoccupied and busy with ministry-things that are good and are about helping other people-so that the Word of G.o.d is being choked and hindered in my life, what can happen in other people's lives who are being occupied with pursuing their careers and running their kids all over town all week long? are about helping other people-so that the Word of G.o.d is being choked and hindered in my life, what can happen in other people's lives who are being occupied with pursuing their careers and running their kids all over town all week long?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not here to tell you what you can or cannot do. However, you maybe one of these people who love G.o.d, place an importance on His Word, and want to see the fruit, but are so occupied with all kinds of ”good” things that the seed of G.o.d's Word is being choked out in your life. Many Christians are simply involved in too much. They're constantly taxiing their kids here, there, and yonder, and they're involved in everything the church has to offer. If you're not careful, it will choke the Word of G.o.d and keep you from being productive. These things aren't bad-just natural.
STAY HOME.
While in Vietnam, I had a lot of time on my hands. I wasn't one of the ”grunts,” guys who were out in the field constantly hiking every day and engaging the enemy. I did see some action, and there was a lot of danger a.s.sociated with being on that fire support base. However, to a large degree, it was boring just sitting there on a hill. I was a chaplains a.s.sistant a.s.signed to brigade headquarters. I was on the battalion level. This meant that there was n.o.body directly over me because I reported back to people forty-five miles away. This was why I had such a huge amount of time on my hands.
With so much time to spare, I just started poring over the Word of G.o.d as much as fifteen or sixteen hours a day. I studied through the Bible all day long. I would go on bunker guard every single day and spend four hours praying and communicating with the Lord.
After over thirteen months of just constantly being in the Word and praying, I returned home to the USA ready to go to church and be with other Christians again. Since I had a car, I became the taxi driver for some younger friends as we drove all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We often stayed out as late as one or two o'clock in the morning attending prayer meetings, revival meetings, and even allnight prayer meetings.
Although that sounds good, after being back from Vietnam for about a month, I began to recognize my spiritual sensitivity to G.o.d was diminis.h.i.+ng. My heart wasn't as focused on Him as before. I wasn't doing anything sinful or wrong, but the Lord spoke to me saying, ”This going to church every night is killing your relations.h.i.+p with Me.”
Now, you may not understand that. In fact, you may be tempted right now to think I'm anti-church. Let me a.s.sure you, that's not the case. However, I was going to church every single night-seven nights a week. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, there was always someplace you could go. Plus, we had prayer meetings in the morning and other meetings during the day. I was so involved in doing all of these things-G.o.dly things-that it was choking the Word of G.o.d out of my life. So one of the things the Lord told me to do was to stay home at least two nights a week. He specifically instructed me NOT to go out with my friends to a revival meeting, convention, or prayer meeting, but to stay home studying the Word and fellows.h.i.+pping with Him. I needed to get back into the flow of a personal relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d.
WEEDS.
All this busyness is like weeds sprouting up all around the stalk of corn you planted. The soil only has so much nourishment. Those weeds will suck much of the moisture and nutrients out of the ground, which will keep the seed that you want to grow from really producing and bearing fruit. This is what happens to us when we get so occupied doing other things. They don't have to be bad things, it's just that we're so occupied with them that it saps our attention and energy. We don't really have any time to be able to focus on and fellows.h.i.+p with the Lord.
Honestly, do you fall asleep every time you try to get quiet and study the Word of G.o.d? Are you so busy that you aren't even getting a full night's sleep? Many of us are cramming so much into our lives, and it's not improving the quality of it. We've just become busy. That lifestyle needs to change.
Are you seeing the change in your life that you desire?
Are you bearing the fruit that you know G.o.d wants you to bear? If not, I challenge you to start spending some quant.i.ty time just focused on the things of the Lord. I'm not going to put certain requirements on this time because it may vary from person to person. If you go from spending no time to spending thirty minutes a day focused on G.o.d-with everything else out of your mind- you'll see tremendous benefits. Perhaps you've already been spending thirty minutes a day, but the Lord is drawing you in deeper. You just need to make a decision that you are going to start taking away all of the things that choke the Word of G.o.d in your life.
Chapter 17.
Less There was only one soil that really produced the intended fruit. It's this last type of heart that the Word of G.o.d was sown in.
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.