Sharing good news of great joy to all people.
Elation Church. This is week number four in our
series we've entitled Self -Control. Now, who's
enjoyed this series so far? Yeah, it's been such
a blessing, right? It's been very powerful. If
you weren't able to make it with us last week,
man, you missed a doozy. That was, oh, wow. It
was incredible. It's available on podcasts and
YouTube. Each Sunday morning builds upon the
other, like when we're in a series. They do build,
but each Sunday morning is like contained within
itself. There is a sermon contained. You know,
you don't have to watch the other ones or listen
to the other ones. But it's important that you
do that, like I said, because they build. What
the word that was given last week. really shaped
what and the direction we were going to go this
week. While I was sitting there and we were talking
about it, we had already sort of planned, like,
this is what we're going to talk about this week,
this is what we're going to talk about the next
week. And while we were sitting there, Dad and
I both felt, and we knew in our hearts, that,
like, okay, next Sunday's got to be this and
go in this different direction. Why is that?
It's because God knows who was going to be here.
Now, I don't know, right? Like, I could guess.
I'd be a terrible guesser if I knew who was going
to be here on any given Sunday, right? Like,
you just never know who's going to walk through
the door. You never know, right? I expect thousands,
but, you know, that typically doesn't turn out,
at least not yet. But you never know who's going
to walk through the door, but God knows exactly
who is going to be here today. And you know what?
He has a word. Listen, not just a generic word.
He has a specific word for you today. Do you
believe that? Every time God speaks, he speaks
to you specifically. And he has something for
you today. Amen? Because his word is what? Alive.
It's living. It's sharper than a two -edged sword.
cutting between soul and spirit, right? So what
a great introduction that was about self -control.
And it's exactly where we're going today. But
yes, we are in a series. I'm going to try to
recap a little bit where we are. If you have
your Bibles, go ahead and turn to 2 Peter 1,
3 through 8. If not, it's on the screen. Read
out of the New Living Translation. And it says
this. By his divine power, God has given us everything
we need for living a godly life. We have received
all of this by coming to know him, the one who
called us to himself by means of his marvelous
glory and excellence. Somebody say amen. Amen.
That is so good. God has given us what? Everything.
Somebody say everything. He's given us everything
we need for living a godly life. All of our wants,
all of our needs. We have received all of this.
How? How do we receive this? By asking? No, by
coming to know him. Knowing God is the most important
thing. As a believer, you need to be in a relationship
with him. It's so cliche as we're, you know,
it's not a religion, it's a relationship. But
really, God wants you to spend personal, intimate,
quality time with him day in, day out. Because
what you need is not a self -help seminar. What
you need is not just more and more information.
You need a word from God. Because one word from
God can change your life. Coming to church ain't
going to change your life. One word from God,
listen, one word from God is going to change
your life. It can change everything. It can change
your family. It can change your home. It changes
your future. Amen. Everything we need for living
God life, we receive all of this by coming to
know him, the one who called us to himself by
means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
Verse four, and because of his glory and excellence,
he has given us great and precious promises.
We talk about the promises of God a lot here
at Elation Church, and he has given us great
and precious promises. And get this, these promises.
These are the promises that enable you to share
His divine nature and escape the world's corruption
caused by human desires. Everybody say, lack
of self -control. So all the world's corruption
is based on a lack of self -control. It originates
in a lack of self -control. That's why self -control,
personally, is important. It's a big reason why
it's important. But the promises of God, that
we receive by faith, by knowing him, get this,
they allow us escape. They promise us escape.
How many of you need some escape sometimes? Yeah.
They promise us escape from the world's corruption
caused by human desires. And also it promises
us to share in God's divine nature. Wow. We share
in the nature of God. That's what it means to
be in Christ, amen? Verse 5, in view of all of
this, make every effort to respond. Everybody
say, make some effort. Everybody say, respond
to God's promises. And get this, because we're
talking about faith here, and it says this, that
we're supposed to supplement your faith, get
this, with a generous provision of moral excellence.
Morality, the right and the wrong, right? That
is founded and moral excellence is grounded and
founded in who God is. It's his nature is where
we find what is right and what is wrong. Anything
less than the perfect God is unholy, is unrighteous,
right? We're supplementing our faith with a generous
provision of moral excellence. Moral excellence
with knowledge, because we're supposed to know
him and know about him and know these things.
And knowledge with self -control. And self -control
with what? Patient endurance. You have to have
some self -control to patiently endure in this
life. Amen? And patient endurance with godliness.
and godliness with brotherly affection, affection
and genuine love for your brothers and sisters
in the faith, for the body of Christ, and also
brotherly affection with love for everyone. So
it extends outside of the four corners of this
building. It extends into the world around us
with love, genuine love and affection for everyone
around us. Amen. Verse 8, the more you grow like
this, the more productive, everybody say productive,
and the more useful, say useful, useful you will
be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So self -control, we're supposed to supplement
our faith with it, and when we do, we're able
to be more productive and more useful in the
kingdom of God. So we're called here, we're commanded,
supplement your faith with a generous provision
of self -control. And this word, as we've seen,
is in cretea. It means in, in the sphere of,
in cretos, dominion or mastery. And as we've
been talking about, it means dominion within,
self -control. And in the definition of the word,
it's telling us that it's self -control of our
actions, thoughts, and feelings. 1 Corinthians
9, 24 -27 uses this word discipline. And throughout
your Bible, sometimes when it says discipline,
it's actually the Greek word there is the same.
It's meaning self -control. It's using the same
word here as we've seen. And these verses say
this, Don't you realize that in a race everyone
runs, but only one person gets the prize. So
run to win. Amen? Run to win. All athletes are
disciplined and exercise self -control in their
training. An athlete doesn't train really, really
hard to lose. I don't know of anyone who plays
a game and they're really trying. They're just
like, I'm going to fail today. I don't think
anybody who plays in the World Series is going
to go, you know, I've came all this way, but
it doesn't matter if I win or lose. Sometimes
that's the way the world looks. works and looks,
right? But God's here telling us to run to win
with, get this, with a vision of a reality of
you winning and you're running and chasing after
it. And because of that vision, that, that built
up imagination of like, you see yourself winning
the world series. Guess what? You're going to
train and train harder than you've ever trained
before. Right? Because when you have a vision
in your heart, it creates discipline to take
you into your future. Okay? We listening? We
bobbleheading? Yeah? I like it. I like it. So
run to win. Look to your neighbor and say, run
to win. It's time to run to win. Next, they do
it to win a prize that will fade away, but we
do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose
in every step. I'm not just shadowboxing. I discipline
my body. This verse specifically talking about
self -control of the body. Paul is saying I put
my body under submission, yielding to the Holy
Spirit within me, right? He's saying I discipline
my body like an athlete, training it to do what
it should do. Again, that moral excellence, do
what it should do, right? according to God's
standard, divine standard of who he is. So self
-control then, as we've learned, is essential
to living with purpose and living with victory,
living in victory. Amen? And we know Galatians
5, 22 through 23, tells us that the Holy Spirit
produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Love,
joy. peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self -control. A lot of times
we focus on all the other ones, right? And we
kind of leave self -control out because it involves
some effort on our part. And we don't like that.
We don't like to do any effort. We just want
God to kind of zap us with whatever he has for
us, right? So our running definition here from
our study is that self -control, it's proceeding
out from within oneself, but because it's a fruit
of the Holy Spirit, it's not by yourself. It's
not by oneself, right? As we've seen, we have
a helper. We have someone to help us have self
-control. And then a self -control, if the Holy
Spirit is involved, guess what? It means that...
My control can go beyond my natural ability.
It means that my circumstance and my situation,
no matter how dark, no matter how glim, get this,
the Holy Spirit gets involved and I can have
self -control to overcome. What naturally, what
natural self -control cannot do, what the world
says can't be done. God can do through you. He
is waiting to work through you. He needs our
cooperation, right? And true mastery from within
can really only be accomplished by the power
of the Lord. We need him. We need him each and
every day. And we've learned we can't control
everything or everyone around us. You can't control
where you were born, the family you grew up in,
the experiences that happened to you, right?
But what you can control and what determines
your future is your self -control, is controlling
yourself. You have control by the help of the
Holy Spirit. So self -control often is just viewed
as abstaining from excess, as we've talked about.
Most people just view it as just, oh, well, I
have control over not doing this certain thing,
right? But for the Christian, it goes a step
beyond that. It involves a positive mastery and
direction of one's energies and desires, listen,
towards godly purposes. So we can accomplish
things that in the natural could not otherwise
be accomplished, right? Because our life has
meaning and purpose when it's found in who God
is. And when we're chasing and energized and
focused towards, right, directing all of our
energy, all of our passions towards him, towards
knowing him, that's when our situations begin
to change. Amen? And today, we've kind of talked
about this, and we're kind of leading on this
journey, and this is where God has us today,
this morning. is this verse. It's very familiar
to a lot of people, but it's Proverbs 4 .23,
and this will be the basis of today and this
morning's message. To guard your heart above
all else. When we see above all else, it should
create a flag in us when we're reading our Bibles.
When we see these phrases like that, that most
importantly, it's like, whoop, we need to pay
attention, right? Our antennas need to go up.
We need to be like, well, what is this? Above
all else, guard your heart, for it, your heart,
determines the course of your life. That's a
big statement. Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life. This
word guard, in Greek, the definitions are to
keep, to observe, to preserve, protect, maintain,
watch over, custody over, imprison it. We're
imprisoning our heart. But listen, guard, when
I started thinking about a guard, I'm like...
What's a good definition beyond that? Like that
kind of gives us a good mental picture of a guard.
And so I just looked it up online, just Googled,
and Scout Security says this, and I think it's
really good. It says, guards conduct patrol to
identify and mitigate potential threats before
they escalate. So they're walking around, right?
Whatever they're protecting, whatever they're
guarding, they're constantly monitoring it, looking
at it. assessing it, evaluating whatever they're
guarding. And also they enforce, listen, they
enforce access control. They grant or deny access
based upon valid identity or authorization. And
I think this is a really good definition when
it comes to this word, when we're talking about
to guard our hearts. We need to evaluate our
hearts this morning because we're not just here
and we're applying today. God has a word for
you to change your life. And if we got to identify
and mitigate potential threats before they escalate,
we got to enforce with the help of the Holy Spirit,
we enforce what has access to us, to our hearts.
We grant it, we deny access based upon God's
moral excellence. So we have a guide. We have
a light into our path, right? And we grant or
deny access based upon the word of God. Amen?
And this word for heart, listen, directly translated
as the heart, can also be translated as feelings,
will, and intellect, the center of everything.
We're not guarding our physical organ, just in
case you're confused. I'm not asking you to walk
around with some big, like, breastplate or something
like that to guard. I've got to guard it. I've
got to be careful. No. It's guarding our feelings,
guarding our will, and guarding our intellect,
our center. Everybody say our center. Our center
is what this word is talking about. Our heart.
Did you know? We are a three -part being. We
are a spirit. We're a spirit being. We have a
soul, and we live in a body, in a flesh suit,
right? And at salvation, the spirit is made new
unto Christ. That's the part of us that is saved,
is our spirits are made new to him by the Holy
Spirit in us. Amen? Makes us new. But what doesn't
change is our souls. That doesn't immediately
change. Our bodies don't just immediately transfer
into our new body. Wouldn't that be great if
that happened, you know? All of a sudden, it
just, boom, and everything's perfect. And that's
why all throughout Scripture, it talks about
us having effort and working towards, working
towards, right, the transformation of the soul.
Right? And the renewing of the mind, the transformation
of our bodies, and self -control in our flesh,
yielding to the Spirit of God, and He helps us
and transforms us into God's image because it's
a process. It's a process for our souls and our
bodies to be... the way God wants in his perfect
standard, right? That's a process that requires
effort on our parts. But our spirit at salvation
is just made new unto him. That's why we're promised
salvation. Amen? So guard your heart above all
else. Before I move forward, the definition of
your soul is your mind. Everybody say mind. Your
will and your emotions. and your emotions. That's
in line with what this word about heart is, your
feelings, your will, and your intellect, right?
So it's talking about we're guarding our souls
because what's in your soul, listen, determines
the course of your life. What's in your heart
determines your outcome. determines your end,
your exit, your issue, your borders, your escapes,
and what your life produces and springs forth
from within you. Determines the course of your
life. So what this is saying, see, when the Bible
says to guard your heart, I love these things,
these commands from God. I love that. Some people
look at commands and they're like, oh, that's
kind of oppressive a little bit. No, commands
are really great. You know why? Because if they're
inspired by God, listen, and we read them in
Scripture, and God tells us to do something,
He's not going to tell you to do something that
He hasn't given you the ability to do. So His
command, His word, therefore gives me the authority
and the ability to perform whatever action that
He's called me to. So therefore, he says to guard
your heart. Therefore, I have the power and the
ability to. I have control over what I allow
into my heart. I have control over what I allow
into my feelings. I have control over what I
allow, my passions, my desires, my will, what
I allow into that. What wakes me up in the morning?
I have control over my intellect, my mind, what
I think about. Amen? And a guard would always
look at the easiest points of entry, right? They
don't stand at the back of the lot. If they're
guarding a house, you know, they wouldn't stand
in the very back corner, right? They're going
to stand at the entry point. Because that's where
the greatest threat could come in. That's where
the access point is. That's the weakest point.
So that's where the guard stands. So it's important
that if we're guarding our souls, guarding our
hearts, our mind, our will, and our emotions,
that we understand where our access points are.
Our points of entry to guard are our eyes, what
we see, our ears. What we hear, what we listen
to, and our thoughts. If you're not aware, not
every thought that you think comes from within
you. You know, not every thought. Sometimes the
enemy can bring a thought into your head. Sometimes
your past experience can bring a thought into
your head. Your chemistry can produce a thought
in you. That weird to think about. And sometimes
God can produce a thought in you. And then you
have a choice. Who are you going to believe?
What are you going to continue to think on? What
are you going to act towards, right? And it's
interesting. You know, growing up, my parents
were always very concerned about and they watched
over for me as a child what I saw. what I watched,
what I was allowed to see. They were concerned
about that. A lot of times these days, and even
a lot of my friends growing up, their parents
just let them do whatever they want to do, right?
And then they were concerned about what I listened
to. And then they were concerned about what I
was thinking about. And they guarded over me.
But when I got older, when I reached a certain
age, my parents no longer guarded that. They
could not shield that from me, right? So I had
to make my own decisions about what I deemed
was right, what I deemed was wrong, what I wanted
to allow access into my mind, into my emotions,
into my wills, right? And that's when things
get messy. A lot of us believe, and the world
has told us, that, you know, it don't matter
what I see. It don't matter what I watch on TV
or watch on the movies. That has no consequence
to me. What I listen to, whether it be music,
whether it be podcasts, whether it be social
media, you know, now we live in a culture that
just... Anything I see, anything I hear, I just
believe it. We don't check nothing. We just instantly
just, yeah, that's true. And a lot of us, we
can see the consequences of that and the negative
consequences of that. But what are some of the
other things? What are we listening to? What
are we putting our eyes to consistently and we
think that there's no consequence to? What are
we thinking? What are we allowing access into
our hearts? Don't fool yourself. This is not
fun to talk about, but it's true. It's a word
that we all need to hear. We need to be careful.
We need to be on guard because what you're seeing
is coming into you. What you're listening to
is coming into you. What you're thinking about,
come on, has power over you. And it doesn't matter
how powerful you think you are. That's just pride.
And guess what? Pride comes before the fall.
Every person who ever felt, they felt like, I
got this under control. This doesn't affect me
like some of those other people. I'm strong in
my faith. Come on. Anyways, stepping off, moving
on. Today, we're going to be looking at, because
I believe this is a great example that God gives
in his word, and it's a story, and he gives it
as a parable. If you're not familiar what a parable
is, a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly
meaning. It's an analogy, if you will. And Jesus,
while he was on earth, he often, when he was
in a big crowd, he would begin to speak in parables,
just telling these stories. Now, and his disciples,
his best friends, they would look at him and,
you know, later on in the day, they would come
and they'd be like, so what, Jesus, what were
you talking about? You know, you were telling
this story, and what did it really mean? You
know, like, I felt like there was something there.
And Jesus looks at him with this one, too, and
he goes, you know, if you can't understand what
I was saying then, you'll never understand anything
else about the kingdom of God. So this parable
is pretty important. And it's a parable talking
about a farmer. a person who sows seeds into
different fields, into different environments,
into different soils, and the results that is
produced. And what we're reading today is actually
Jesus' explanation to his disciples. This parable
that Jesus gives is recorded in three of the
four Gospels. The account that we're going to
read today doesn't specifically mention heart,
but in Matthew it specifically does. And so I
want to break it down to you. The farmer, he
plants with his words. And what he speaks, he
is sowing, and the seed that he is sowing is
God's Word. It's interesting that all throughout
the Bible, is wrapped in this agricultural language.
And it's not too peculiar, though, because this
is the way the world works. And if God created
the world, and this is how he intended it to
be, we're going to see that mirrored all in every
stage, in the spirit and in the physical, right?
And so we see that the seed that the farmer sows,
that he speaks, right, is God's word. And when
you think about a seed, the seed, any seed contains
the substance and the power within it to bear
fruit. I plant, we plant okra. I mean, if you've
ever had okra before, fried okra is good stuff.
With some ranch, it's good stuff. Go see Robert
and Alyssa and get some good fried okra. Anyways,
shameless plug. Okra, when you plant it in the
ground. Listen, when you plant okra in the ground,
you just plant one little seed. I mean, it's
a little tiny thing. And, you know, you give
it a few months, that time goes by, and then
all of a sudden you have a five -gallon bucket
of okra off of one plant. It produces a great
harvest, and that's why a lot of people like
it, right? Some people don't. It's slimy and
whatever. If you handle it right, it's good.
But anyways, there's power within a seed. There's
power within it. God's word is powerful to produce
something in our lives, not just spiritual. It's
powerful to produce substance in our lives, to
bear fruit, to reap a harvest from it, from God's
word. And the soil is our hearts. It's our hearts.
It's our souls. It's our mind. It's our will
and our emotions, right? So now we're going to
look at four types of soil. In verse 15, it says
this. So the seed that fell on the footpath,
everybody say footpath, represents those who
hear the message only to have Satan come at once
and take it away. When you think about a footpath,
you think about the road often traveled, the
one that everyone goes down, that the act of
walking that way over and over and over again
creates tough dirt, tough ground. Because it's
the way that everyone travels, right? And it
represents those who hear the word. They hear
it. They're in an environment to hear it. But
then Satan is able to take it away because, listen,
the word can easily be stolen from a heart that's
too hard to receive. Do you realize Satan can
steal the word of God from you? It's not enough
for you to just hear it. God's Word has to be
in you. It's not enough to just read it and like,
okay, I did my religious duty today and I've
read the Word, I've read the Bible, right? I
finished my reading this week. That's not enough.
The Word of God has to come alive in you. By
the Holy Spirit has to reveal it. The light of
it has to come alive. and transform you. Because
this is not just an intellectual exercise. The
Word of God, listen, it has to be planted in
you in order to produce a harvest out of you.
The Word can easily be stolen from a heart that's
too hard to receive. Often, and I would say probably
the... Probably the biggest thing, the biggest
mistake that we do as people is we rely so heavily
on our own understanding of the way the natural
works and the way everything has been, will always
be, and there's nothing I can do to change it.
And whether it be whatever, science, whether
it be whatever discipline you want to throw in
front of it, it's like... it shows us that there's
repeatability and those things are good up to
a certain extent. But when it comes to the word
of God, we need something specific to change
our lives. We need something specific to transform
us. And when that word is given, whether it be
in a service like this, whether it be some preacher
that you're listening to or just in your own
personal quiet time, when that word is given,
listen, if you just kind of go, You know, that
kind of goes against what I've always thought.
And, you know, I heard someone else talk about
how I can, you know, fix my problem. And I think
that's, you know, there's proven results there,
right? And, you know, I can see that. So if I
do A, B, I'll always get C. So therefore, you
know, I know God's Word is saying I can accomplish
it this way, but in my natural, I can see that
it'll happen. I can know that it's going to happen
this way. And so I'm more trusting and I'm leaning
on giving more weight to my own understanding
than I am the word of God that could take me
to see. Right? It's called pride. And in order
to receive from God, we must humbly accept his
word. We must be receptive. to his word. It's
not enough to just hear it. Because listen, James
1 .22 says this, but don't just listen to God's
word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you're
only fooling yourselves. As we saw in week two,
our actions are based on our beliefs. What you
do is based on what you really believe. You're
only fooling yourself if you say, well, I believe
this, but that's not what I'm doing right now.
I believe this, but no, what you do in this life,
you deem more credible, right? It's what you
genuinely believe. And we're not supposed to
just listen. We must do what it says. We must
act on it, right? John 10 .10, I love this verse,
says the thief's purpose, his purpose. It's very
simple. A lot of people think it's like very
big and he's got all this activity. He's doing
a whole lot, but guess what? His whole purpose
and his whole mission is very simple. It's to
steal, it's to kill and to destroy. Did you know
Satan though doesn't have the power to kill you?
He doesn't have the power to destroy you. He
has the power, though, to steal from you. Listen.
And if he can steal the word of God out of your
heart, he will steal the life that God promised
you. And it will destroy your future. He can't
kill you. He can't destroy you. But if he steals
the word of God from you, you're done. God's
purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying
life. How is that accomplished? By his word.
He gives his word. That's what brings rich and
satisfying life, is his word in you, received.
Amen? So Satan's purpose is to steal the word
of God from you. If the enemy can deceive you,
come on, he can destroy you. He wants to lie
to you. He wants to tell you that you know better.
He wants to tell you that the world knows better
and knows what's best for you and your family
and how you should do things. Come on. Next heart.
Found in verse 16, got to keep moving. The seed
on the rocky soil represents those who hear the
message and immediately receive it with joy.
Woo! Woo! We get excited about it, right? Our
emotions get up. We're just like, man, that was
a good word today, brother. That was good. Woo!
Walk out, be high -fiving. It's a good word.
I heard it. Man, that was what I needed. I got
it. I'm going to change what I'm doing. I'm going
to live differently. It impacts everything. You
know, it was like, this is great. Receive it
with joy. God, that was just the specific thing
that I needed. But what happens? But since they
don't have deep roots, they don't last long.
They fall away as soon as they have problems
or are persecuted for believing God's word. Let's
talk about this for a second. Listen, they don't
have, it means they don't possess it. It means
that they heard it, but it means that they're
not holding on to it by faith. Right? And even
if they do for a season, that don't last long
means temporary for a season. They might hold
on to it for a season, but as soon as some kind
of problem or situation comes up, They just immediately
let go of what God said. The very same word that
could produce a harvest, that could turn their
situation around, they just let go of it and
walk away from it and be like, well, God, this
is better. So they don't last long. And get this,
they fall away as soon as they have problems
or are persecuted for believing God's word. We've
talked on this a lot. in faith act, but it means
this word believing is Lego. It means to lay
forth in words. So it's not just believing, but
it's actually speaking. When you're persecuted
for speaking God's word, when declaring over
your life or your family or your business or
whatever, when you're speaking that and then
you're persecuted because of it, and then you
let go, you discontinue. Because of that persecution.
You see, seed must mature in the ground. And
the kingdom of God operates around seed. It operates
around time and harvest. Caitlin and I, we've
been working on our grass in the backyard. And
if you know anything about grass, it's very tricky.
to like get it established and like get it working,
right? So she goes, she buys this seed, she throws
it out. And what happens? Nothing. You know,
it's like you throw it out there and you just
say, how many bags of seed have we bought? And
you just like, you throw it out and you're just
like, all right, grow. Do your thing. And we
would walk out every single day and look, you
know, like the next day we planted it. And then
the day later we open up the door and we're like,
where's the seed? Do you see anything? Anybody?
You know, like, where's it there? Because we
want things instantly, right? And we think God
just operates in this instantly all the time.
Now we see God doing some instantaneous things.
But when we look throughout Scripture, the precedence
is there's always time involved. God gives a
promise, he gives his word, and then it requires
self -control to patiently endure for the season.
And your season is, the length of your season,
the duration of it is impacted, what? By your
faith, by the quality of the soil in your heart,
and by you aligning your words with God's words
and speaking those things which be not as though
they were. Seed must mature in the ground and
also it must be watered. If I planted grass seed
out in my yard and I never watered it and I expect
to produce a harvest of grass, beautiful lush
grass, they would call me a psycho. Right? I
have to water it, especially here in Florida.
I can't just depend. You know, it rains sometimes.
Occasionally. And it's good, but there's been
many seasons where it didn't rain, right? Because
it's not just all up to God. God's not holding
out on us. He's waiting for us to get involved
and exert some effort of self -control. And watering,
therefore, would be laying forth in your words
what God says. So the word that he's given you
in your heart, you put your words in agreement
with it to produce the outcome that is promised
in his word. And then you got to protect it,
right? A rocky soul would need to be, you know,
raked and need to be prepped. Also, when we get
into environments where God's word is being spoken,
we need to prepare our hearts to receive. But
constantly speaking God's words, allow it to
grow deep roots into your heart, your mind, your
will, and your emotions. And self -control, listen,
self -control means not letting what people say
keep what God says out of your mouth. Self -control
means not letting what people say keep what God
says out of your mouth. If you're not persecuted
for talking, you know, if someone's not coming
against what you're saying, you're probably not
speaking the word of God enough. You're not being
loud enough. The whole world is very loud on
what they believe and what you should believe,
telling you what to think and how to think, right?
As Christians, we need to be speaking just as
loud. Not in a derogatory way or to belittle
someone, but because we have the truth. We have
the power of God. It's the only thing that's
going to matter. It's the only thing that's going
to save people's souls. It's the only thing that's
going to make a difference in four corners. It's
the word of God. It doesn't matter how many social
media posts. It doesn't matter how many, you
know, events and all these things. No, it's the
word of God that's going to transform this area
for Christ. We got to keep what God is saying
in our mouths. You know, a good example is this,
is when someone says, next time someone says,
you know, the struggle is real. That's a good
one. Have you ever, you know, someone's just,
you're talking and they're just like spiraling
or whatever. And you're just, you're sitting
there just like, you know, the struggle is real.
God's word in your mouth looks like this. Looks
like this. Yeah. The struggle's real, but the
victory's real. God is real. His presence is
real. His word is true. I walk in victory. I'm
not a victim. I have victory in Christ. I am
in him. He is in me. I'm the head. I'm not the
tail. I am above. I am not beneath. I'm blessed
going in. I'm blessed going out. I'm blessed
when I rise. Come on. I'm blessed when I go to
sleep. My family is blessed. My house is blessed.
My animals are blessed. My children are blessed.
My grandchildren are blessed. Their great -grandchildren
are blessed. Amen? The struggle is real, but
the word of God is real too. And we can overcome.
We can escape the world's corruption. Listen,
we can escape the world's corruption by standing
on. Come on, by faith, by standing on the promises
of God. You start saying that, you'll face some
persecution. God's word needs to be in your mouth
in order to impact your life and to produce a
harvest in your life. And you're not just saying
it to just say it, but it's because the word
of God is in you. And you're not going to allow
that to have access to your heart and to your
soul when someone says, well, that's just the
way it is. That's just the way life happens.
That's what's normal and that's what's acceptable.
You've got to stand in your heart and say, no,
that's not the truth. Because only the truth
of God will set you free. When we take control
of our words and speak what God says, we become
like a farmer sowing seed. We're sowing seed
into our future, and we water that seed by confessing
his words, by confessing by faith what God has
already placed in our hearts, not our own imagination.
of what some kind of thing that we want to happen,
not our own understanding that we're projecting
into the manifestation of the cosmos. No, we're
standing on the word of God. We're confessing
the word of God in our homes, in our lives, in
our business, in all those things. And we got
to do that. If I only watered my grass once a
day, do you think it would grow? You think if
I watered it twice a day, am I just going to
have this beautiful lush yard three times a day,
four times? I don't know if I could do it, you
know, 10 times. That'd be too much. That's preposterous.
I can't do that. If I want seed to grow, though,
I'm going to have to water it. Consistently,
even. I got to wake up in the morning and water.
Before I go to bed, I got to go out there in
my gym shorts and water the grass. Hope that
it grows. But I got to water it. And so many
Christians, we just want to, you know, we receive
the word with joy and we want to speak it good
for a week. And when that seed doesn't grow,
we're out there going, I don't need this. This
ain't working, God. Come on now. You know, I
did this. God, I was happy about it. I received
it. I heard it. I know I believed it. And I did
everything that you said. And I did it good and
hard for like a month. It's funny, nothing in
the world works like that. If you diet for a
month, guess what? Nothing's going to change.
You might lose like a pound or something. It's
going to immediately come back. Come on. It's
going to come back. Because, listen, what has
power to change in your life, listen, come on,
what has power to change your life is not what
you do occasionally. It's what you do consistently,
day in, day out. What matters most to you is
what you wake up passionate about to do. It's
what brings you joy, what brings you energy.
If that is not the word of God, you will not
see the fruit and the rich and satisfying life
of God evident in your life. You got to water
that word continually, day in, from when you
rise to when you go to sleep, your life is honoring
and watering that seed. Next soil, next heart.
The seed that fell among the thorns represents
others who hear God's word, but all too quickly
the message is crowded out. Do you realize the
word of God can be crowded out? Crowded out by
the worries of this life, the lure of wealth,
and the desire for other things. Anything that
exalts itself above God in your life. Come on.
desire for other things. So what? No fruit is
produced from that seed. Did you know that worry
can choke out God's word? I think we know that,
but sometimes the enemy deceives us with worry.
This is kind of a tricky one specifically because
sometimes we like to justify our worry with like
concern. You know, I'm just concerned about it.
I'm not really worried, just concerned about
it. Same word, same thing. It's a lie of the
enemy. If it's causing emotions in you of whatever,
of fear, that should be an indicator because
emotions are great indicators, but terrible leaders
should never be led by your emotions. But emotions
empower you. Listen, emotions empower you and
energize you towards godly purposes. And that's
why you have them in your heart. That's why you
have them. Because they empower you and propel
you to take hold of the vision that he's placed
in your mind and heart. But worry, listen, the
enemy loves to use worry. One time I was even
praying about someone. God laid somebody on my
heart to pray for them. Good thing. Good Christian
thing to do. So as I'm going to work, I'm praying
for them. You know, I'm thinking about them.
That's called intercessory prayer, by the way.
So you're interceding on someone else's behalf.
You're praying for them. You're concerned. It's
like, God, you know, the Holy Spirit just brought
them up into my heart, and I'm thinking about
them, praying for them. Don't know what's going
on. And then the next day, that happens again.
And so I'm praying, I'm praying. And then all
of a sudden, it happens again, and I'm praying,
I'm praying. And then all of a sudden, my prayers
turn. And I felt it in my spirit. But I didn't
do anything about it. All of a sudden, I begin
to be upset because I realized that this person,
you know, the enemy had painted this picture
where this person wasn't doing right. They weren't
living right. They weren't taking hold of what
they need to, you know, and I'm just like, they're
just falling away. And I care deeply. So I'm
praying and I'm praying and I'm praying, trying
to like. Cause something to change in them and
turn them. And I'm just, I'm praying, I'm praying,
I'm concerned, I'm passionate. My emotions are
now getting involved because now I start getting
angry. Because I'm like, why isn't things happening?
Why didn't it change? I'm angry now and I'm kind
of filled with this rage. Like, why isn't it
changing my situation and what I see? And all
of a sudden, the Spirit just kind of like helped
me see and helped me know. That this praying
is good. But I had fallen into worry. And the
enemy had used this to deceive me and to control
me to take a good thing and make it the worst
thing. And that can happen. You see it time and
time again when you're talking to someone and
all of a sudden they're just about their kids.
About my kids. I don't know what my kids are
going to do. I don't know if they're going to
make it in life. You know, they're just dumb
and stupid and all, you know, and you just don't.
Come on, come on. And they're just like, oh my
gosh, I don't know what they're, they're just
making all these bad decisions. But I'm praying
God's word and I know, but I'm just concerned.
I'm worried. I don't know what's going to happen.
You know, the life, the world is just so tough
and everything around is just too hard. You know,
but God promises his protection. But, you know,
I'm just I'm praying extra today. It's funny
because it's true and we do it. Right. Worry
will choke out God's word. Render it ineffective
in your life from producing fruit. Don't you
realize that being consumed by the pursuit of
money prevents God's word from being established
in your heart? When you say money in church,
everybody just, you know, gets all, no, don't
talk about money. We don't want to talk about
money, but get this. You know, the people that
are most consumed with money are typically the
people who don't have it. The people that are
trying to chase it each in and morning, you know,
it consumes them. But sometimes the people who
have it do and they're consumed by it. But it
looks a lot different than just chasing money.
Sometimes it's just the thing that drives everything.
The deep. affection and passion for the things
that money can bring you. And instead of relying
on God's word for fulfillment in your life, you
rely on, well, down the road when I have money,
my life will be fulfilled. When I have this house,
when I have this job, when I have this car, when
I have this thing, my life will look real good
and I can serve you and I can give and I can
do everything. You know, when I get to this place,
This good place, God, my life will be complete.
And you're just waking up, constantly striving,
pursuing, doing all those things. We all do it.
We all do it. But you got to make a conscious
decision to have self -control, to not allow
it control you. Do you understand that when your
greatest desires and affections are for things
other than God, his word will not be effective
in your life? It becomes an idol to you that
you're bowing down to, that you're submitting
to. James 1, 14 through 15 says this, Temptation
comes from our own desires, which entice us and
drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful
actions. And listen to this. And when sin is
allowed to grow, this agricultural language is
all throughout the Bible. When sin is allowed
to grow, it gives birth to something in you.
If it's not taken out, if you're not guarding
your heart, listen, it births within you. It's
allowed to grow and it gives birth to death.
God's word in you gives birth to life. Sin in
you allowed to grow gives birth to death. So
get this verse 21. So get rid of all the filth
and evil in your lives and humbly accept the
word of God has planted in your hearts for it
has the power to save your souls. Think about
it. It's saying souls here. We're not talking
about salvation. We're talking about the believer
here. Not allowing sin to grow in the heart and
life of a believer. Not for your salvation, but
because it will. It doesn't matter. If God's
word is not in you and growing, it will not produce
a harvest. The promises of God won't take effect
in your life. Our souls. need salvation, need
to be yielded, submitted to Christ. Our minds
need to be renewed unto Him. Our emotions need
to be renewed unto Him and transformed into His
likeness, into His image. Amen? Just like a farmer
removes weeds from the garden, because weeds
take the nutrients from the soil. Just like a
farmer has to go in and remove the weeds from
the garden, we must get rid of these weeds. Listen,
why? Why is it important? To allow the room for
the word to grow. Don't think that you can just,
oh, well, I'm getting a word, I'm getting a word,
I'm getting a word, and maybe you're not seeing,
you know, it's not getting in you. Maybe it's
not coming alive to you. Listen, you need to
evaluate the soil of your heart and what's in
you already, because what's in you, listen, will
keep you from experiencing God's best for you,
right? We have to remove these weeds of worry,
remove this weed of where everything else matters
more to us than God, remove this pursuit of money,
right? That can't be in our lives and expect
to hear from God. Well, we'll hear from him,
but we won't receive the word that he's promised,
right? So we got to be careful. We got to weed
out. We need self -control to guard our hearts
from worry, the lure of wealth, and desire for
other things. And lastly, and I'm done, verse
20, and the seed that fell on good soil represents
those who hear and accept God's word and produce.
and produce a harvest 30, 60, and even 100 times
as much as been planted. Seed must be planted
in the ground in order for it to grow and become
what it's created to be, just like God's Word
must be planted in your heart before it will
make a difference in your life. You've got to
come to God humbly, ready to receive, and empty
so He can fill you up. That's why fasting is
so important. So we empty, right? We empty of
ourselves to fill, to feast on the word of God.
Because man does not live by bread alone, but
by the word of God, amen? God's word must be
planted in your heart before it will make a difference
in your life. God's word produces a harvest only
in those that hear and accept it. You and I,
we have to hear. and accept the Word. Amen? A
receptive heart accepts, receives, and delights
in God's Word. Delights in it. Brings the fruit
of the Spirit. Right? God's word brings, it produces
that harvest in our lives of love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and
self -control. We have to receive it. And then
we delight in it. We just sit around and just
think about God's word. We dream about it. It's
fulfillment in our lives. Amen. We think about
it and it changes us. Amen. So a guarded heart
continually receives. And a guarded heart, it
weeds. It's on patrol like a guard going around
constantly weeding. And then it's constantly
feeding on that word. It's bringing that word
to your remembrance and constantly feeding on
it. It's watering it with your words. We must
control what has access. Listen, we must control
what has access to our hearts. Because what we
allow in our hearts, what we allow into our mind,
excuse me, what we allow into our mind, what
we allow into our wills and our desires, what
we allow into our emotions, listen, determine
the course of your life. So above all else, guard
your heart. God's word is good seed. It has the
power within it. And it will grow and produce,
listen, 30, 60, 100 fold. The increase, listen,
is not dependent on the seed. Its multiplication
is not dependent on what's in the seed, because
what's in the seed can produce the same. It's
dependent, listen, it's dependent on the soil.
It's dependent on the watering of it. It's dependent
of your words. Impact the multiplication and
duration it takes to receive the harvest. Amen.
So we must allow God's word for us to grow in
us. and produce a harvest. This online worship
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