The Parableof

“The Sower …”

By Robert. B .Dalton.© Menorah Publications.Australia 2015.

* Points of distinction and emphasis, are used by our authorship solely tobring light to our dialogue.

* Unless otherwise indicated, all Scriptural references appearing arequotations from the King James Bible ...computer software, E Sword version 10.2.1 © 2013 by Rick Meyers.www.e-sword.net

First Edition (September, 2015.)

Copyright © 2015. Australia by Robert.B.Dalton.Apart from the purpose of private study or review forarchive retrieval, no part may be reproduced without theexpressed and written permission of the authors (and/ or)their agents for “Menorah Publications.”

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Table of Contents.

1. The Parable of “The Sower …”Matthew 13 Verses 3-8 & 18-23

- “The plowers plowed upon My back ...”- “Ripened Husks …”- “Four Hearts …”- “Know, God’s Will …?”- “The Wayside ground ...”- “Stoney ground ...”- “Thorny Ground …”- The Field of … “The Slothful.”- “Weeds and Seeds …”- “Incorruptible Seed …”- “Consider the Ant …”- “The Good Ground …”- “The Field and The Vineyard …”- Christ, “The Firstfruits …”- “The Vine and The Vineyard …”- “Purging ... The Rod Of Correction.”- “Little Foxes, Big Vineyard …”- “Sowing and Reaping …”

God has given the very finest seed for growth

in “the garden of the heart.” And that

“incorruptible seed,” will always produce

the right crop, at the right time,100% of the time. He is that perfectseed, “The Word of God!”

A field, needs to be prepared in order for a crop

to be produced. God is not into the “slash andburn” techniques. The soil of any field, first needsto be cleared of debris and then it requires theblade of the plough:

This “preparation,” for “sowing,” is

called “cultivation.”

1.) The Parableof “The Sower …”

Matthew 13 Verses 3-8 & 18-23

The very same applies to us who are to receive

God’s Pure Seed, His Word into“the garden of our Hearts.”

“Obedience to The EngraftedWord,” always produces, there isalways a result. We need to preparefor what is sown.

It never has been, and it never will be the fault

of “God’s Sure Word,” if you fail in thesteps of preparation to receive:

The standard of one hundred percent effort forall stages of cultivation is therefore normal for thosewho’s desire is produce a good crop and what we

refer to as, “the hundred folder:”

Normal Christian life begins with exactly the

same standard that The Lord Jesus ChristHimself, has committed toward us.

He laid down His Life for us100%! He didn’t die 30%, 60% oreven 99.9%:

It was (and is) 100% and guesswhat, when He rose again from thedead, He was raised from the deadto life, 100%!!!

Normal Christian Life, begins with 100%, andall else is added to this standard in that it multiplies.

“New Life, Eternal Life,” goes beyonditself, it goes beyond the normal.

It goes beyond the natural to thesuper-natural ... because life inChrist Jesus, is “Naturally Super!”

That’s why Jesus said to us,

John 10 Verse 10(b) “ … I AM come thatthey might have Life, and that theymight have it more abundantly.”

There is a principle involved here, it’s called the

principle of “Reaping and sowing,”

Galatians 6 Verses 7-9 “Be not deceived; God is not

mocked: for whatsoever a mansoweth, that shall he also reap.”(8) “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the fleshreap corruption; but he that soweth to The Spiritshall of the Spirit reap Life Everlasting.”(9) “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in dueseason we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Much has been said over the years about

“Christian Character,” which in somecircles has been sadly lacking. Main reason being,is that for too long many have majored on notoriety.

To quick and too desperate for a nametag, their major concern, is themselves.They want the acclaim!

If The Word is not in you, then what comes out

is nothing but you! God’s Word tells us,

that, “Christ in you,” is The Power of Godunto salvation for all them that believe.

John 17 Verse 17

“Sanctify them through Thy Truth:Thy Word is Truth.”

The garden is impartial, it will producewhatever you sow in it. Sow the seeds that produceFaith, seeds that reproduce after their own kind, theincorruptible seed of God’s Word,

Colossians 3 Verse 16(a) “Let The Word of Christdwell in you richly in all wisdom: ... ”

The sower speaks the Word ... you reap what

you sow, “therefore sow, to produceFaith food” Someone has once said, “If youdo not feel close to God ... guesswho moved!”

Contained within the seed, thereis all the potential for life andgrowth.

However small we may feel our Faith is, if weare prepared to let it die, in order to bring forth life -

to “let go and let God,” then He will causethat Faith to grow.

To grow a seed needs:-

1) “Water” ... which is, “the washings ofthe water ofThe Word.”

2) “Earth” ... which is “the soil of theheart,” prepared to receive the Word.

3) “Light” ... which is our relationshipwith Jesus in Worship,Fellowship and prayer.

4) “Warmth”... which I believe speaks of

community, we need eachother’s company and contact.

2 Corinthians 5 Verse 7 “(For we walk by Faith, notby sight:)”

2 Timothy 2 Verse 15 “Study to shew thyselfapproved unto God, a workman that needeth not tobe ashamed, rightly dividing The Word of Truth.”

As natural food feeds and strengthens thebody, we understand that God‘s Word, is

“The food of Faith.”

Psalm 119 Verse 103

“How sweet are Thy Words unto mytaste! [yea, sweeter] than honey tomy mouth!”

Poverty of relationship comes only through

laziness “we need to feed on Him inorder to become more like Him.”

I’ve just this moment heard my own seniorPastor say, (Quote, J.McCaskie 2015.)

“Wisdom, is having the knowledgethat God imparts, and using it …the right way!” (End quote.)

Matthew 8 Verse 13(b)

“... as thou hast believed,[so] be it done unto thee ... ”

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouthspeaks.

Isaiah 26 Verse 3 “Thou wilt keep [him] inperfect peace, [whose] mind [is]stayed [on Thee]: because hetrusteth in Thee.”

God our Father, has Blessed uswith the opportunity to bring muchJoy to His Heart, and Glory to HisName. How has He done this?He’s done it by His Only BegottenSon, Jesus Christ.

Jesus in Perfect agreement withThe Father made the decision to layHis Sinless Life down as a Perfectsacrifice for the sin of the wholeworld.

No man took His Life from Him, He laid itdown and shed His Precious PureBlood to pay the price so that youand I could be reconciled back intofriendship and fellowship with TheFather … now that’s relationship!

Someone once wrote;

“Sow a Thought,Reap an Act;

Sow an Act,Reap a Habit;

Sow a Habit,Reap a Character;

Sow a Character,Reap a Destiny!”

Hosea 10 Verse 12 “Sow to yourselves inrighteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallowground: for [it is] time to seek The LORD, till hecome and rain righteousness upon you.”

We must ask ourselves, when the Son of Man

returns, will He find “Faith” and

“Faithfulness” with those that profess to do

The Will of The Father.

John 20 Verse 21(b) “... as [My] Father hath sentme, even so send I you.”

And that my friend, is the story behind the

parable of “The Sower …” “as you sow,so to you reap!”

Matthew 13 Verses 18-23 “Hear ye therefore theparable of the sower.” (19) “When any one hearethThe Word of The Kingdom, and understandeth itnot, then cometh the wicked one, and catchethaway that which was sown in his heart. This is hewhich received seed by the way side.”(20) “But he that received the seed into stonyplaces, the same is he that heareth the word, andanon with joy receiveth it;”(21) “Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for awhile: for when tribulation or persecution arisethbecause of the word, by and by he is offended.”(22) “He also that received seed among the thornsis he that heareth The Word; and the care of thisworld, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke theword, and he becometh unfruitful.”(23) “But he that received seed into the goodground is he that heareth The Word, andunderstandeth it; which also beareth fruit, andbringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty,some thirty.”

It is one thing to sow seed, but itis quite another thing in regard tothe harvest. Man has long sinceresponded to “The Word ofKnowledge” in regard to theplanting of seed.

It is a rare thing in this day and age to see aman in a field with a burlap bag filled with seedslung over his shoulder. I’ve done it, but only inregard to scattering rough hardy seed. Cast to thewind over burned off and rough ground.

Now, we take to planting direct to the furrows ofthe plough. Or more precisely seed drilled intothoroughly cultivated soil.

Matthew 13 Verses 3-9 “And He spake many things

unto them in parables, saying, Behold, asower went forth to sow;”(4) “And when he sowed, some seeds fell by theway side, and the fowls came and devoured themup:” (5) “Some fell upon stony places, where theyhad not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up,because they had no deepness of earth:”(6) “And when the sun was up, they were scorched;and because they had no root, they withered away.”(7) “And some fell among thorns; and the thornssprung up, and choked them:” (8) “But other fell intogood ground, and brought forth fruit, some anhundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.”(9) “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

“ … Behold, a sower wentforth to sow;”

The Hebrew word for a bag slung over theshoulder for the purpose of casting grain is

“Yalquwt,” and is pronounced “Yal-koot,”(3219.) Grain broadcast in this manner is onlyaccurate in it’s casting according to the direction ofthe wind and the eye of the labourer.

Waste is usually picked off by “the birds ofthe air,” but that’s another lesson in itself.

The real you needs the freshness of God’satmosphere. The very Presence of God is

like “the plough” of The Lord, tilling the goodsoil of the hearts garden. You know, when soil isploughed, weeds cannot gain a foothold. What wasdeep under the soil, is exposed to the sunlight.

Allow The Spirit of The Lord the access He

needs, to produce a good, farrowed field in “thegarden of the heart,” producing good fruit

which will be both pleasing andGlorifying to The Father.

Jesus said,

John 14 Verse 12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hethat believeth on me, the works that I do shall he doalso; and greater [works] than these shall he do;because I go unto My Father.”

In John’s Gospel, Jesus stated this,

John 5 Verse 17 “But Jesus answered them,

My Father worketh hitherto, and Iwork.”

So, we can see from this theme, that work initself, is both enjoyed and participated in by bothThe Father and The Son.

Colossians 3 Verse 23 “And whatsoever ye do, do itheartily, as to The Lord, and not unto men;”

Now we too can join in to Glorify God byourselves working in co-operation with the HolySpirit to help to achieve The Father’sGood Will, Purpose and Good Pleasure, all to theaid and the benefit of those around us.

Psalm 129 Verse 3

“The plowers plowed upon myback: they made long their furrows.”

Those Roman soldiers, were master’s in the art

of torture and degradation, “The scourgers”tore the flesh as ploughmen furrow a field.

Maltreated like a criminal, with their cruel whipsand rods, His back, scored and torn with deepfurrows. Just takes my breath away, that Jesus,mocked and spat on, beaten beyond recognition.Would take the wounds, the bruising, thechastisement and the stripes tearing open His Back… for me and for you.

Ephesians 2 Verses 13-16 “But now in Christ Jesusye who sometimes were far off are made nigh byThe Blood of Christ.”

“The plowersplowed

upon My back ...”

(14) “For He is our peace, who hath made both one,and hath broken down the middle wall of partition

between us;” (15) “Having abolished inhis flesh the enmity, even the law ofcommandments contained in ordinances; for tomake in Himself of twain one new man, so makingpeace;”(16) “And that He might reconcile both unto God inone body by the cross, having slain the enmitythereby:”

Lashed so cruelly, it could be compared to the

tearing of “The Plough,” with the flesh openedin Bloody furrows.

Delighting in their handy work, the laid open thelength of Bodily form. They ploughed the quiveringflesh,

“ .. they made long their furrows.”

No portion of His Back was left untouched by

the hand of “The smitters!”

Isaiah 50 Verse 6 “I gave my back to thesmiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked offthe hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”

What an awesome Saviour our older BrotherJesus Christ:

Isaiah 53 Verse 5 “But He was wounded for our

transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:

the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;

and with His stripes we are healed.”

There can be no illusion here, this is fact,recorded in Roman documents it is real. He was

“Wounded,” He was “bruised,” He was

“chastised and publically berated sothat we could maintain our peace.”

He by those “stripes” claimed for us

“Healing and wholeness” in Him!

His Back was ploughed open, it is “GoodGround,” The Very Best!!!

Luke 9 Verse 62 “And Jesus said unto him,

No man, having put his hand to theplough, and looking back, is fit forThe Kingdom of God.”

There is no point in putting yourhand to the plough and turningback, if the going gets a bit tough.

Jesus was once asked,

Matthew 22 Verse 35-36 “Then one of them, [whichwas] a lawyer, asked [him a question], temptinghim, and saying,” (36) “Master, which [is] the greatcommandment in The Law?”

The crafty fellow wanted to put thecommandments of God Almighty into a pigeonholeto suit his own convenient standards. What didJesus do with this, His answer covered both the OldTestament Law and the introduction of the New.

Matthew 22 Verses 37-39 “Jesus said unto him,Thou shalt love The Lord thy God with all thy heart,and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”(38) “This is the first and great commandment.”(39) “And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt lovethy neighbour as thyself.”

And then He adds,

Verse 40 “On these two commandments hang allthe law and the prophets.”

In other words, get down to where

“the rubber meets the road!” Don’t just

“talk the talk but walk the walk!”

2 Corinthians 6 Verse 1(a) “We then, [as]

workers together [with Him], …”

Luke 3 Verses 16(b)-17 “ ... He shall baptize youwith The Holy Ghost and with Fire:” (17) “Whose fan[is] in His Hand, and He will thoroughly purge Hisfloor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; butthe chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable.”

In other words, as you are baptised in The Holy

Ghost, you can expect the “fire of Hisrefining,” to progressively burn out the chaff of

“self.” Wheat and it’s husk, are part of the sameplant; the grain might well be ripened, but the huskof it’s old nature may well and truly be still firmlyattached.

I had been watching the grain harvestersbringing in the crop of corn from the fields behindour house. So often The Lord surrounds us withthese prophetic lessons. To which we are very, verygrateful. Being a very practical person, I am not one

to want to readily “read” something into the thingsthat we see. But some things, just cannot beignored and will not go away, until the task is boughtto completion.

“Ripened Husks …”

Saints under instruction, are Saints on the

“purging floor,” the husk and chaff of their oldnature, is progressively being dealt with by God’srefining fire ... The Spirit of burning, The Holy Ghost.

All we possess apart from Christ, is but

worthless “husk and chaff,” and shall yet beburned and put to the fire of His refining.

John 12 Verse 24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you,Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth muchfruit.”

When Jesus died and was buried, He wasburied alone. He was laid in a borrowed tomb, it

was “borrowed” because He would only beresting His body there until The Holy Spirit raisedHim in triumph on the third day.

Jesus died alone, but He certainly didn’t risealone!

The new grains of wheat, have to be gatheredtogether into the garner, but the chaff, is burnt. Ourstorehouse, our garner, is the local Church, theplace of our refining. Just what are we storing in ourstorehouses?

Are they filled with ripened husks of grain ... fullears of corn? Or just vessels containing little but theresidue of wood, hay, stubble and straw?

Don’t know about you, but I want storehousesoverflowing with grain!!!

The light of Christ, can be obscured in our life,

if the “bushel of self,” is not removed ...“the bushel of former days!”

The object of the refiners fire, is to burn out

“self,” that we might “decrease, whilstChrist, who is the light in usincreases in our lives!”

God, is not looking for storehouses full of

“wood, hay, stubble or straw.” He islooking for storehouses full of ripened grains, thefruit of His Righteousness.

Only Jesus, was born of “incorruptibleseed ... we had to become bornagain, by incorruptible seed!” Or are

we “honeypot Christians,” sweet to thetaste and too smooth for our owngood?

We must have the kind of character thatGlorifies God in all that it does that in all things webecome like a poultice drawing out the rot and

pointing to Him who is both ...

“healing and wholenesspersonified:”

God’s value system, builds respect for “self,”because it’s based on His Character, not ours …there is a mighty big difference!

The Very same Nature and Character reflectedto us in His Only Begotten Son The Lord JesusChrist.

This is “the key” to “dying to self,” it

discovers that “to live for Christ, is gain!”

“Self,” cannot die, unless The Natureand Character of Jesus is firstbirthed in us!

John 12 Verse 24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you,Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth muchfruit.”

I remember the words of the cousin of Jesus …John, The Baptist. John proclaimed,

“Behold, The Lamb of God, Whotakes away the sin of the world.”

“Hear ye Him!”

John 1 Verse 29 “The next day John seeth Jesuscoming unto him, and saith, Behold The Lamb ofGod, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

Prior to this he declared,

Matthew 3 Verses 11-12 “I indeed baptize you withwater unto repentance: but He that cometh after meis mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to

bear: He shall baptize you with TheHoly Ghost, and with fire:”(12) “Whose fan is in His Hand, andHe will thoroughly purge His floor,and gather His wheat into thegarner; but He will burn up the chaffwith unquenchable fire.”

John 1 Verse 27 “He it is, who coming after me ispreferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am notworthy to unloose.”

John 3 Verses 27-33 “John answered and said, Aman can receive nothing, except it be given himfrom Heaven.” (28) “Ye yourselves bear me witness,that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sentbefore Him.” (29) “He that hath the bride is theBridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, whichstandeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly becauseof the Bridegroom’s Voice: this my joy therefore is

fulfilled.” (30) “He must increase, but Imust decrease.” (31) He that cometh fromabove is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly,and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh fromheaven is above all.” (32) “And what He hath seenand heard, that He testifieth; and no man receivethHis testimony.” (33) “He that hath received Histestimony hath set to his seal that God is true.”

I guess that by now, we are starting to get apeek at what lies ahead. Two cousins that playedtogether as children and then each separated asthey grew to manhood to,

“ … go about ourFather’s business.”

John proclaiming The Kingdom of God openingfor men on earth. And preaching The Way prepared

through “Repentance and Baptism.”

Jesus declaring, “I AM, THE WAY,THE TRUTH and THE LIFE!” “Noman comes to The Father, but byMe!”

Then He, laying His Sinless Life down throughthe travesty of a mockery of a trial and accusation.The ultimate manipulation of religion to try todestroy He who came to save!

Yet at the same time, He was there as anopen testimony to declare to we who follow Him.

John 15 Verse 8 “Herein is My Father glorified,

that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be Mydisciples.”Jesus often sat in The Temple and taught, He nowcalls each individual to,

“Come, learn of Me ...”

Come, to the place where we can sit at Hisfeet, and learn of Him!

Matthew 11 Verse 29 “Take my yoke upon you, andlearn of Me; for I AM meek and lowly in heart: andye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Sometimes, a Christian can appear to be atodds to the world. We are living in the world, butChrist’s Way, will not always rub well with those thatare fighting conviction in their hearts.

A Christian, can appear also tobe an odd character, but character,is what Jesus is here sitting toteach us.

Sometimes the disciple, is called to,

“Go down, in order to rise up!”

“Be weak, to be strong!”

“To be poor, in order to be rich!”

“To be empty, in order to be full.”

“Admit they are wrong, so that all can bemade right!”

“Be happy, when feeling the worst!”

“Forsake, in order to have!”“Give, in order to receive!”“See the invisible!”

“Hear the inaudible!”

“Love someone he’s not necessarily seen!”

“Expects to go to a place he’s never seen, byvirtue of One who lived, died and rose again fromthe dead, way before he was ever born!”

“Still, he carries out conversationswith Someone who does not appearto be present:”“And knows, that which cannot beunderstood!”

“He knows that though he may be old and grey,

he has still much to learn.”“Yet, he knows that his Redeemersees him as perfectly perfect, andcompletely complete!”

“He rests in the confidentassurance of one who knows, that he is not a

copy but an original from The Hand ofa Holy and Awesome Creator!”

There comes a time in life, when I guess youbegin to take stock. The Kingdom of our God andHis Christ have a different value system to that of

“the world,” and our “flesh nature.”

It is good, that we can use “checks andbalances” to gauge our “progress ingrowth, the growth of Grace.”

The Lord Jesus speaking “by the pen” ofBrother Matthew, has already indicated to us that

people often can and do have trouble “hearingThe Voice of God.”

Well, isn’t it obvious, that if we don’t readHis Word, then we will not hearwhat he’s saying to us in the firstinstant?

That’s why The Bible was written, so thatwe would have on hand a readyrecord of His Word of instructiontoward us!

Personally, I have a hearing deficit, I haveprayed, and do believe for totally healing andrestitution of my hearing. But I have troublepublically wearing my hearing aid.

On the other hand, I don’t have trouble wearingglasses to help me read! My we are stubbornthings, sometimes, we are just plain strange. Andwe even have the audacity to complain about notbeing able to hear The Voice of God.

We are constantly surrounded daily by the dinof voices and the noise of our busyness. Then wemoan about not being able to hear!

Often, I think we are to distracted by thevolume and we keep expecting God to boom outHis Voice over the top of this rubbish!

Why should He??? Isaiah once looked to hearGod’s Voice, but it was not where he expected it to

be … it was in “the wee small voice, weneed to listen.” That’s how He gets our

“undivided attention.”

“He who has ears to hear …

listening!!!??”

1 Kings 19 Verses 9-14 “And he came thither unto acave, and lodged there; and, behold, The Word ofThe LORD came to him, and he said unto him,What doest thou here, Elijah?”

(10) “And he said, I have been very jealous for TheLORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel haveforsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars,and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even Ionly, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”(11) “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon themount before the LORD. And, behold, The LORDpassed by, and a great and strong wind rent themountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before

The LORD; but The LORD was not inthe wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but

The LORD was not in theearthquake:” (12) “And after the earthquake a

fire; but The LORD was not in the fire:and after the fire a still small voice.”(13) “And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that hewrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, andstood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold,there came a voice unto him, and said, What doestthou here, Elijah?” (14) “And he said, I have beenvery jealous for The LORD God of hosts: becausethe children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant,thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophetswith the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and theyseek my life, to take it away.”

There are times I think that The Father mustroar with laughter at the amusing way His childrenbehave.

And we have the hide to say that our ownchildren have behavioural issues? Just who did theylearn from? I do what I do, in regard to my hearing,but I have no trouble using the glasses to read.

I have no trouble using my dentures forchewing but if I make time to stop and listen to Himtalking to me I have trouble chewing over what he’ssaid, in order to apply it to my life!

And still I want Him to boom out His Voiceabove the din of my distractions … strange littleman!!!??

“Eyes to see,”“Ears to hear,”“A tongue and lips to tasteand see!”

“Hands to touch,”“A nose to smell,”

And we wonder why we have trouble with oursenses!

I came out to the garden this morning, the airwas crisp, it was still, the birds delighted in themorning sun. It was quite, The Lord whispered to

my heart “to look, to write, to see andhear.”

I saw the sky, the blue of Heaven’s skirt. Theglow of the sun, His Handiwork, the clouds.

Then He said in “the garden of myheart,” “In seeing, see, in hearinghear,” I was hearing The Voice ofour God! Thank You Jesus!!!

My hand trembles at His Touch, The Anointingof His Holy Spirit flows … I write, please Lord,please tell me more. His reply to my soul,

“You have much to hear!”

There is a glow in my heart that say’s, this is

“the grain” that I want in my storehouse:

Jesus used the description of harvested grainas a wonderful way of showing us why it is

important for “whole grains” of wheat to have

“The Husk” removed.

If grain that is harvested has “the husk”intact, then it will not be stored well for later use. Asa matter of fact, you are inviting the spread ofmould.

Grain is normally harvested when ripe, and the

“ripened husks” are winnowed. This is theprocess whereby the grains themselves, are tossedinto the air and as they do, they rub against eachother to remove the outer sheaf or husk.

God’s desire, is that we play an active role towork with The Holy Spirit in and through our lives toremove the excess baggage. To remove the old

covering, so that the “pure whole grain” willremain.

And there be no “Bushel of self,” there

be no “Bushel of former days!”

A bushel measure, was a standard measureand filled a woven basket made to the bushel sizeand was used to store that measure in a dry andsafe manner till it was required to be used:

Matthew 5 Verse 15 “Neither do men light a candle,and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; andit giveth light unto all that are in the house.”

You stick a lighted flame under a dry wovenbasket and it will either smother the flame, or setfire to the house!

“I must decrease,in order that He increase!”

Grain, was bought to the “threshingfloor,” and there it was threshed. The sheaves,were beaten with a rod or with a winnowing fork inorder to separate the grain from the stork.

Once the pile of grain was a reasonable height,it was time to see the leathery husks come off. Toachieve the removal of the husk, the grains weretossed into the air to land on a round cane basket.They were then flipped up into the air, until the huskblew off into the breeze.

Winnowed grain, de-husked, and dry, nowready for proper storage in the garner or granary tillthe time of use. All the husk, was then burned off

Matthew 3 Verse 12 “Whose fan is in His Hand, andHe will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather Hiswheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaffwith unquenchable fire.”

Luke 8 Verses 11-15 “Now the parable is this: Theseed is The Word of God.” (12) “Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil, andtaketh away the word out of their hearts, lest theyshould believe and be saved.” (13) “They on therock are they, which, when they hear, receive theword with joy; and these have no root, which for awhile believe, and in time of temptation fall away.”(14) “And that which fell among thorns are they,which, when they have heard, go forth, and arechoked with cares and riches and pleasures of thislife, and bring no fruit to perfection.”(15) “But that on the good ground are they, which inan honest and good heart, having heard The Word,keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

1Luke 8 Verses 11-15 teaches us that there are fourdifferent types of hearts:

i) “The unregenerate heart,”ii) “The hardened heart,”

iii) “The clogged heart,”iv) and “The pure heart.”

1 Missler, Chuck & Nancy. “The Way of Agape:”(Understanding God’s Love)

Koinonia House. P.O. Box DCoeur d'Alene, ID 83816-0347U.S.A. (1999 edit.)

“Four Hearts …”

The first two types of hearts, refer to

“unbelievers.”

“The unregenerate heart,” refers toa person who is definitely not a believer because itsays the seed of the Word of God has fallen, not in

this person’s heart but “by the wayside.”

“The hardened heart,” refers to aperson who hears and receives the Word of Godwith joy but, because he has no root in himself (heis as hard as rock, no seed can penetrate the hard

heart), “in time of temptation [he] fallsaway.”

The last two hearts are ...

“the clogged or choked heart,”“it’s a sin-covered heart,” with none ofGod’s Love flowing. The Lord will not fill anunclean vessel.

And “a willing heart,” ready, willing andthereby able, to do all God’s Will.

Both of these last two hearts are descriptive of

believers, the “clogged or choked heart”is the one who allows the “cares and richesand pleasures of this life” to choke out(or grease over) God’s Life within him.

Therefore, “he brings no fruit toperfection or completion” it’s eitherunripe, our sour: In other words, he never

experiences God’s Life (His Love) for himself, butmore importantly, he is not able topass it on to others!

“The pure heart,” however, is one whonot only receives the seed of God’s Word in his

heart, but he has chosen to both keepand to obey God’s commands.

Matthew 5 Verse 8

“Blessed [are] the pure in heart: forthey shall see God.”

This is the reason as to why they are Blessed,they are seeing God at work in their midst, and theyare ready able and willing to be in the very midst ofGod’s work, not their own agenda!

This person “Loves God with all hisheart, soul, mind and strength:”Therefore this person, because he is an “openvessel,” brings forth much fruit.

This is the one who is making the effort toLoving God with all his heart because he is doingthe Will of God from his heart.

Do you want to “Glorify and bringGlory to The Father?” This, then, is howwe can work with The Spirit of His Holiness toachieve just that …

John 15 Verse 8 “Herein is my Father Glorified, thatye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

“The Sower.”(Luke 8:11-15; Matthew.13:18-23; Mark 4:3-21)

The sower is The Lord, Theseed is The Word of God, The rootis the Word implanted in our hearts.The soil relates to and reveals thecondition of our hearts.

Biblically there are four types of hearts:

The first is an “Unregenerate heart,”Seed falls “DOWN BY THE WAY,” out ofthe heart, it has no soil at all, Luke drawscomparison to Matthew’s dialogue.

a. He hears The Word in an unbelieving or doubtfilled heart.

b. Therefore, he is not able to understand it.c. The enemy comes along and snatches the seed

away.

The second, is a “Hardened heart;” the

seed falls into “STONY PLACES,” there isno depth of soil, it is a hardened and impenetrableheart.

Believe me, there are some pouting stubbornpeople out there that adamantly refuse the counselof God’s Word.

Zechariah 7 Verses 11-12 “But they refused tohearken, and pulled away the shoulder, andstopped their ears, that they should not hear.”(12) “Yea, they made their hearts as an adamantstone, lest they should hear The Law, and TheWords which The LORD of hosts hath sent in HisSpirit by the former prophets: therefore came agreat wrath from The LORD of Hosts.”

Romans 2 Verses 4-6 “Or despisest thou the richesof His Goodness and Forbearance andLongsuffering; not knowing that The Goodness ofGod leadeth thee to repentance?” (5) “But after thyhardness and impenitent heart treasurest up untothyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelationof The Righteous Judgment of God;” (6) “Who willrender to every man according to his deeds:”

a. They hear The Word but they have a shallow andsuperficial heart.

b. They will even accept and receive with gladnessGod’s Word of instruction, they believe for a while.

They “taste of the goodness ofThe Word,” but they spit it out anddo not consume it as it’s meant tobe!

c. The Seed, is not allowed to take proper root andgrow. It may even sprout for a while, but the firstsign of a trial and the seed is scorched, it withersand dies.

The third type, is a “Covered heart:” It isa choked heart, covered with thorns, brambles andbriar. The ground is clogged and it is unproductivesoil. The seed cannot even touch the ground:

a. Hears the Word but has a choked-out andtroubled heart. It is a heart that is caught up indistractions and the cares of the world.

Luke 10 Verse 41(b) “… thou art careful andtroubled about many things:”

b. These folk are prone to what is referred to as

“Doublemindedness,” in that the cares ofthe world and pleasures of this life cause God’sSeed in heart to be quenched and stifled.Luke 21 Verse 34 “And take heed to yourselves,lest at any time your hearts be overcharged withgluttony self-indulgence, drunkenness, and cares ofthis life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”

c. These lives then become unfruitful and barren.

Mark 4 Verse 19 “but the worries of life, thedeceitful pleasures of wealth, and the desires forother things come in and choke the word so that itcan’t produce a crop.”

Hebrews 6 Verse 8 “However, if it continues toproduce thorns and thistles, it is worthless and indanger of being cursed, and in the end will beburned.”

So you can see, that there remains for each ofus the onus of responsibility. But, there are many

that are not prepared to “walk the walk.”

4. “Perfect heart” The Seed falls into

“GOOD GROUND,” it is receptiveand a cleansed heart, willing to doall God’s Will.

Luke 8 Verse 15 “But the ones on the good soil arethe people who hear The Word but also hold on to itwith good and honest hearts, producing a cropthrough endurance.”

a. They hear The Word in a clean, open, and willingheart.

b. They are “Singleminded,” and allow God’s

Life to both “grow and flow.”

c. They are constantly devouring “THEWORD:” not just tasting it, but literally eating

The Word,”

d. These people bear much fruit in their lives.

Proverbs 12 Verse 12(b) “ … the foundationof the righteous is productive.”

How does this “willing-hearted” personknow God’s Will?

1. God’s Will is found in His Word!

Psalm 32 Verse 8 “I will instruct thee and teach theein the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee withmine eye.”

Psalm 119 Verses 9-12 “Wherewithal shall a youngman cleanse his way? by taking heed theretoaccording to Thy Word.” (10) “With my whole hearthave I sought thee: O let me not wander from Thycommandments.” (11) “Thy word have I hid in mineheart, that I might not sin against Thee.”(12) “Blessed art Thou, O LORD: teach me Thystatutes.”

From The Old Testament, right through TheNew Testament, there is constant declaration thatWill for us is contained right there in His Word.God’s Word right from the start, we are informed,that if you truly desire to know God’s Will, Purposeand Good Pleasure in our lives, then it all isrevealed to us in His recorded Word for us, TheBible.

“Know, God’s Will …?”

2. God’s Will, is to Love Him and toLove others. (Matthew 22:37-39)

Matthew 22 Verses 37-40 “Jesus said unto him,Thou shalt love The Lord thy God with all thy heart,and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”(38) “This is the first and great commandment.”(39) “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love

thy neighbour as thyself.” (40) “On these twocommandments hang all the lawand the prophets.”

3. The way we learn to know God’sWill, is to be in His Word daily.

Know within your own heart, that “God didnot give to man religion, He hasgiven to each of us the capacity forrelationship. And this comes by andthrough The Lord Jesus Himself.”

You want to know Jesus on a personal level,ask Him into your heart by Faith: As you walk withHim, testify of this relationship that you are buildingwith those around you. Communicate with Him bytalking to Him in prayer; it’s as natural as that!!!

Proverbs 8 Verses 32-34(a) “Now therefore hearkenunto Me, O ye children: for blessed are they thatkeep My Ways.” (33) “Hear instruction, and be wise,and refuse it not.” (34) “Blessed is the man thatheareth Me …”

a. Have a daily reading plan.b. Write out your questions to Him (one at a time)It’s always good and constructive to put youthoughts down on paper.

Then if you get stuck for some reason, thenyou be able to show Pastoral oversight where youhave questions. It’s always good to ask, that’s whatleadership within The Church is all about.

James 1 Verses 5-6(a) “If any of you lackwisdom, let him ask of God, thatgiveth to all men liberally, andupbraideth not; and it shall be givenhim.”(6a) “But let him ask in Faith …”

God will answer through Scripture,

Psalm 119 Verse 40 “Behold, I have longedafter Thy precepts: quicken me in ThyRighteousness.”

Psalm 119 Verses 45-47

“And I will walk at liberty: for I seekThy precepts.” (46) “I will speak of ThyTestimonies also before kings, and will not beashamed.” (47) “And I will delight myself in ThyCommandments, which I have loved.”

Psalm 119 Verse 50(b)“ … for Thy Word hath quickened me.

Wait and expect Him to answer and He will.

Jeremiah 33 Verse 3 “Call unto Me, and I willanswer thee, and shew thee great and mightythings, which thou knowest not.”

There is a lot to be gained from calling to TheLord, it’s another way of saying open your mouthand speak to Him!

Ephesians 5 Verse 17 “Wherefore be ye notunwise, but understanding what The Will of TheLord is.”

4. Then, it’s entirely up to you to acton His Word. “Obedience,” requiresa decision … “to do:”

Pray and acknowledge God is in control,tell Him what you are about to do. Ask Him toblock it, if it is not His Will.

Our responsibility, is to have clean hands, anda pure heart, a willing heart. Then it’s God’sresponsibility to show us what His Will is. But weneed to know, that sometimes God’s Will is not whatwe expect.

Isaiah 55 Verses 8-9 “For My Thoughts are not yourthoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith TheLORD.” (9) “For as The Heavens are higher thanthe earth, so are My Ways higher than your ways,and My Thoughts than your thoughts.”

Jeremiah 29 Verse 11“For I know the thoughts that Ithink toward you, saith The LORD, thoughts ofpeace, and not of evil, to give you an expectedend.”

Do you want to be well pleasingto The Father, I’m sure you do youwouldn’t have read this far if thisdialogue wasn’t speaking to you.

John 17 Verse 10 “And all Mine are Thine, andThine are Mine; and I AM glorified in them.”

1 Peter 4 Verse 11 “If any man speak, [let himspeak] as the oracles of God; if any man minister,[let him do it] as of the ability which God giveth: thatGod in all things may be glorified through JesusChrist, to whom be praise and dominion for everand ever. Amen.”

2 Timothy 2 Verse 7 “Consider what I say;and The Lord give theeunderstanding in all things.”

1 Corinthians 3 Verse 18 “Let no man deceivehimself. If any man among you seemeth to be wisein this world, let him become a fool, that he may bewise.”

Between us and God’s Wisdom is the “valleyof humility,” where we have to lay aside worldlywisdom. We have to become fools in the eyes of theworld that we may really enter into God’sWisdom.

“Some things may be taught withthe mouth, but the majority of whatGod says, is caught in the heart!”

Proverbs 4 Verses 18-22 “But the path of the just[is] as the shining light, that shineth more and moreunto the perfect day.”(19) “The way of the wicked [is] as darkness: theyknow not at what they stumble.” (20) “My son,attend to my words; incline thine ear unto mysayings.” (21) “Let them not depart from thine eyes;keep them in the midst of thine heart.”(22) “For they [are] life unto those that find them,and health to all their flesh.” (distinctions mine.)

“ ... Keep them in the midstof thine heart.”

Psalm 126 Verses 5 “They that sow in tears shallreap in joy.” (6) “He that goeth forth and weepeth,bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come againwith rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”Isaiah 55 Verses 10-11 “For as the rain comethdown, and the snow from Heaven, and returneth notthither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bringforth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower,and bread to the eater:” (11) “So shall My Word bethat goeth forth out of My Mouth: it shall not returnunto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which Iplease, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto Isent it.”

Matthew 13 Verses 3-9 “And He spake many things

unto them in parables, saying, Behold, asower went forth to sow;”(4) “And when he sowed, some seeds fell by theway side, and the fowls came and devoured

them up:” (5) “Some fell upon stony places,where they had not much earth: and forthwith theysprung up, because they had no deepness ofearth:” (6) “And when the sun was up, they werescorched; and because they had no root, theywithered away.”

(7) “And some fell among thorns; and the

thorns sprung up, and choked them:” (8) “Butother fell into good ground, and broughtforth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold,some thirtyfold.”

(9) “Who hath ears to hear, let himhear.”

“The Wayside ground,” was ground

that was compacted underfoot. “Pathways,”are a prime example of “groundtrodden under foot!”

Matthew 7 Verse 14(b) “ … narrow is the way, whichleadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it.”

Remember the story of “salt,” that hasbecome contaminated, it is useless and thrown outinto the street to be trodden under the feet of men.

Matthew 5 Verse 13 “Ye are the salt of the earth:but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall itbe salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but tobe cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

“Passer’s by,” do nothing but compacttrodden down soil! There is no commitment to them,

they are just “passing by:” Travellers ontheir own road, with their ownagenda.

“The Wayside ground ...”

Interestingly, from my own youth, the name of a

major outreach in Sydney Australia, was “TheWayside Chapel” at Kings Cross run by Rev.Ted Noffs. Kings Cross, and The Village, was thehabitat of the Hippie.

It attracted all types from the society of Sydney.From drunkards to drug addicts, women of the night

and every other character … it did then, andit still does:

But we must first let the lesson reveal itself forwhat it is. The first type of soil in the field is referred

to as “Wayside ground.”

The seed falls on the ground as it is planted,but to no avail: And what does the enemy of oursouls do?

“ … then cometh the wicked one,and catcheth away that which wassown in his heart.”

Psalm 140 Verse 5 “The proud have hid a snare forme, and cords; they have spread a net by thewayside; they have set gins for me.”

Matthew 13 Verses 18-23 “Hear ye therefore theparable of the sower.” (19) “When any one hearethThe Word of The Kingdom, and understandeth it

not, then cometh the wicked one,and catcheth away that which wassown in his heart. This is he which received

seed by the way side.”(20) “But he that received the seed into stonyplaces, the same is he that heareth The Word,and anon with joy receiveth it;” (21) “Yet hath he notroot in himself, but dureth for a while: for whentribulation or persecution ariseth because of theword, by and by he is offended.”

(22) “He also that received seed among thethorns is he that heareth The Word; and the careof this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, chokethe word, and he becometh unfruitful.”

(23) “But he that received seed into the goodground is he that heareth The Word, andunderstandeth it; which also beareth fruit, andbringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty,some thirty.”

Notice if you will, that the focus of the dialogue,

is directed toward “the soil” and “the heart.”“The seed,” is “The Word of God,The Gospel.”

The Good News as to what God is doing in thehearts and minds of men. Yet some are stillindifferent and some just do not want to hear!

The second type is “Stoney ground,”and it is infiltrated by rock, stone and all manner ofbarriers and hindrances to the tilling of the soil.

The heart of this one is all excited and receivesthe seed. He receives it with readiness, but littleimpression is made. After the flurry of initial growth,the shoots of this plant just wilt, bend over and die!

A parable tests the heart ofthose that would be within it’s rangeto be heard.

Hebrews 4 Verse 12 “For The Word of God is quick,and powerful, and sharper than any twoedgedsword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of souland spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is adiscerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

There is no need for us to fall into the trap of

trying to psycho-analyse the “thoughts andintentions” of others.

“Stoney ground ...”

Conviction of sin, of Righteousness and of

Judgement, is the work of The Spirit ofHoliness … Himself!

Don’t quench His marvellous work,

“He restoreth my soul …!!!”

There’s no need “to spiritualise whatyou psycho-analyse and call it aword from God, when it’s nothingmore than the gift of suspicion!!!”

“Assumption and presumption,”have no part in His role! And if you think for amoment that it does, then my friend, you need totake stock and repent of these delusions. May

sound a little “up front,” but I believe there is aneed too!

Proverbs 27 Verse 6 “Faithful are thewounds of a friend; but the kisses of anenemy are deceitful.”

Much damage has already been done by

“the accuser of The Brethren;” don’t

ever forget, “he’s a liar, from thebeginning, and the father of them!”

Matthew 13 Verses 3-4 “And He spake many thingsunto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sowerwent forth to sow;” (4) “And when he sowed, some

seeds fell by the way side, and the fowlscame and devoured them up:”

Luke 8 Verse 11(b)

“ … The seed is The Word of God.”

Chickens tend to “scratch in thedust,” the aim of false testimony, isnot to boost your profile and score“brownie points” with God … He’snot impressed!

That’s the problem with the hypocrite,

they are not like other men, thinkabout it:

Luke 18 Verse 11(b) “ … God, I thankthee, that I am not as other menare, …”

Man came out of the dust of the ground, it’s theenemy that crawls on his belly to feed on the dust ofthe ground.

Genesis 3 Verse 14 And The LORD God said unto

the serpent, … upon thy belly shalt thougo, and dust shalt thou eat all thedays of thy life:”

Cold, stoney, hard hearted people really have

no place in The Kingdom of our Godand His Christ. In fact, they are like the thiefwho even on the cross refused to repent of his sin.

He became company with the betrayer …Judas, both sons of hell, and enemies of

“The Cross!”

Romans 6 Verses 4-5 “Therefore we are buried withHim by baptism into death: that like as Christ wasraised up from the dead by The Glory of The Father,even so we also should walk in newness of Life.”

(5) “For if we have been planted together in thelikeness of His death, we shall be also in thelikeness of His Resurrection:”

“Birds of the air” wait in readiness to

consume “wayside seed” it falls on ground

packed hard by the “foot-traffic” of

“wayside travellers” who are only interestedin their own agendas:

They are good company for “stoneyplaces” with little or no soil for seed to grow to

maturity. They are “shallow people,” with nodepth of heart.

Matthew 13 Verses 5-6 “Some fell upon stonyplaces, where they had not much earth: andforthwith they sprung up, because they had nodeepness of earth:” (6) “And when the sun was up,they were scorched; and because they had no root,they withered away.”

These folk shrivel up when the heat is on, theyare scorched because they have not root and they

soon wither away and die. “Their Faith, islike the dust in the wind!”

Matthew 13 Verse 7 “And some fell among thorns;and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:”

Man could only offer to The King who stoodbefore them that which was in their heart and their

hands … “Thorny bush, a crown ofdisgust:”

At the mock trial of Jesus, the Roman soldierstook great delight in every type of ridicule. Theywere not content in beating and whipping Him. Theypunched and probably kicked Him.

They spat on Him and did every detestablething. Then they wrapped Him with a purple robe

and smashed that horrible “crown of thorns”onto His Head.

Beaten to a pulp, a Bloody mess, defiled,mocked and ridiculed now this jammed onto Hisskull!

“Thorny Ground …”

You could not even begin to imagine the

torment and mental anguish, the “bombs ofthe mind kind” that He must have suffered.

But He took it all for us, mentally,physically and spiritually. Those thathave suffered the grinding mentalanguish of “the dark night of thesoul,” they know exactly what it means.

The torment, and heaviness that try to grind

you into the ground. Jesus suffered “the crownof thorns,” so that our minds, could be crowned

with thoughts of His “Right-Wise-ness,”think on this!!!??

Thorns pierce and torment,thistles prick and probe and thebriar entangles and traps. Gracecannot grow well without a “trueand humble heart,” God resists “theproud.”

Pride only makes for rock hardcompact soil. Soil which is only fit togrow thorns in “the garden of theheart.”

We need to understand, that this is where the

revelation lays, “God’s Place of dwelling,Almighty God’s Tabernacle.”

First it was “Eden’s garden,” then

“The Tent of meeting.” From Tent to

“Temple,” and now, “The Garden ofThe Heart!”

God desires to dwell with His Created man and

He’s chosen to do that in this “Two-leggedTabernacle” in the very “Garden of ourHearts!” For the heart, there is much good to

gained by the “incorruptible seed ofGod’s Word.”

Pure and Holy, The Word became flesh so

that we might “know and grow.”

John 1 Verses 10-14 “He was in the world, and theworld was made by Him, and the world knew Himnot.” (11) “He came unto His Own, and His Ownreceived Him not.” (12) “But as many as receivedHim, to them gave He power to become the sons ofGod, even to them that believe on His Name:”(13) “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the willof the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

(14) “And the Word was made flesh,and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His Glory, TheGlory as of the only begotten of The Father,) full ofGrace and Truth.”

When God is touching the heart,

“conversion,” is taking place.

Ezekiel 36 Verse 26 A new heart also will I giveyou, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I willtake away the stony heart out of your flesh, and Iwill give you an heart of flesh.”

God can turn waste-land intofarm-land, Good seed, produces agood crop where as, bad seedproduces little except for timewasted due to careless choices.

Isaiah 43 Verse 19 “Behold, I will do a new thing;

now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I willeven make a way in the wilderness,and rivers in the desert.”

“Obedience,” allows God’s Hand to

direct “The Plough” but caution, where cautionis warranted.

Luke 9 Verse 62 “And Jesus said unto him, Noman, having put his hand to theplough, and looking back, is fit forThe Kingdom of God.”

I want to round off this section in regard to

“The Thorny Ground” by saying,

“persecution,” is a barbed thorn; once it startsit’s growth, it is very hard to put down!

“Thorns” and “Weeds,” came with thecurse of the ground of Eden.

“Worldly cares,” choke and strangle

because they distract from the purity of “TheGood Seed from God.”

“Deceitfulness of riches” snare the

heart to compromise in “leisure, easy andlaziness.”

2 Corinthians 9 Verse 6 “But this I say, He whichsoweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and hewhich soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not wrong to rest and

have leisure at the appropriate time but thereare many that dive straight intoslothful behaviour and are unable tocorrect themselves.

In the same manner, it’s not wrong to prosperand be rich. Many in modern society are muchricher than their poorer counterparts.

2 Corinthians 9 Verses 9-11 “(As it is written, Hehath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor:his righteousness remaineth for ever.”(10) “Now he that ministereth seed to the sowerboth minister bread for your food, and multiply yourseed sown, and increase the fruits of yourrighteousness;)” (11) “Being enriched in every thingto all bountifulness, which causeth through usthanksgiving to God.”

Some people have too much, they are unableto rightly administer the responsibility of wealth.

We must remember with passion, that ourstewardship is toward our provider,Almighty God.

Luke 6 Verse 45 “A good man out of the goodtreasure of his heart bringeth forth that which isgood; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of hisheart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of theabundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

Matthew 12 Verses 1-8 “At that time Jesus walkedthrough the grain fields on a Sabbath. His disciplesbecame hungry and began picking heads of grain toeat.” (2) “When the Pharisees saw this, they toldhim, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is notlawful to do on the Sabbath!”(3) “But he told them, “Haven’t you read what Daviddid when he and his companions were hungry?”(4) “How is it that he went into the house of Godand ate the Bread of the Presence, which was notlawful for him and his companions to eat but wasreserved for the priests?” (5) “Or haven’t you read inthe Law that on every Sabbath the priests in theTemple violate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?”(6) “But I tell you, something greater than theTemple is here!” (7) “If you had known what ‘I wantmercy and not sacrifice’ means, you would not havecondemned the innocent,” (8) “For The Son of Manis Lord of the Sabbath.”

With all illustrations, there are two sides to the

story. Jesus unfolded “The Parable of TheSower” to those who would receive Hisinstruction. Now, The Holy Spirit expands to us theother side.

Proverbs 24 Verses 30-34 “I went by the field of theslothful, and by the vineyard of the man void ofunderstanding;” (31) “And, lo, it was all grown overwith thorns, and nettles had covered the facethereof, and the stone wall thereof was brokendown.” (32) “Then I saw, and considered it well: Ilooked upon it, and received instruction.”(33) “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little foldingof the hands to sleep:”

The Field of … “The Slothful.”

(34) “So shall thy poverty come as one thattravelleth; and thy want as an armed man.”

As you “Sow, so too do you Reap.”

Job 4:8 Even as I have seen, they that plowiniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

As people pass us by in life, we do tend toobserve each other. Travellers tend to take note oftheir surroundings.

Solomon, the son of King David, passed by thefield of one of his subjects. Like any ruler, youngSolomon was one who liked to be informed. Heliked to observe for himself, and here he finds anovergrown and rundown farm. Needless to say, thevineyard is also an overgrown mess.

Ecclesiastes 10 Verse 18 “By much slothfulness thebuilding decayeth; and through idleness of thehands the house droppeth through.”

Though both the field and the vineyard have

“good soil,” yet they were in a deterioratedstate.

How is any garden, let alone an entire farm andvineyard supposed to take care of itself? It’s just notdone!

We have been placed by God in the business

of “Share-care!” We are meant to be goodstewards of the Gifts and Fruits that are stored in

“The Garden of our Heart ...”

Is our King just to pass us by? Or is He withinsight of a well kept estate!!!??

Does He see an ordered and productiveresidence a place that cries to the eye,

“Welcome in, Most Sovereign Lord!”

Or on the other hand, is it overgrown and

producing “weeds and not seeds!!!”

Over run with thorns, nettles and briar, even thewalls are broken down and in need of repair. Stockare roaming where ever they can gain food to

survive. We would do well toremember, The King Himself, isserved by “The Field” … there is anexpectancy of harvest.

Good came from the observation of a slothfulservant. A wise man receives instruction byexample and learns from it. After all, this is the aim

of teaching by “Parable and analogy.”

The principles of teaching and instruction

involve both “seeing,” “hearing” and

“doing:”

Proverbs 6 Verses 9-11(a) “How long wilt thousleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thysleep?” (10) “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a littlefolding of the hands to sleep:” (11a) “So shall thypoverty come as one that travelleth, …”

Just one look was enough to show the Kingthat the Farm and the Vineyard was owned by alazy sluggard:

Proverbs 24 Verses 30-34 “I went by the field of the

slothful, and by the vineyard of the man voidof understanding;”

Straight away, the owner of the field hadattracted a name for himself. The Field of

“The Slothful,” The Vineyard of the man,

“void of understanding;”

From this lesson, we gain an important piece ofinstruction. That is, that there is a differencebetween one man and another!

There are times in life that we all tend to reveal

“what is on the inside by how welook and present ourselves on theoutside:”

Or to put it in another perspective,

“you show by your actions, who’syou are!”

When Jesus is The Lord and Saviour of ourlives, there are things that we used to do, that weno longer want to be part of. We just have no desireto be back where we used to be. We have removedourselves by His guiding Hand, right out of the

“pig-pen.”

God has given us all the voice of ourconscience, “this is the way … walkin it!” And the sooner we do, thebetter off we will be!

On the other hand, if we don’t, thevoice of our conscience gets quieterand quieter till we have little chance to hearbecause we have hardened our hearts.

Solomon saw that this was the condition of thismans heart, and declared in the passage, that hewas,

“ … the man void of understanding;”

This man had reached the point of

“no return,” a slothful man, does notthink! He just couldn’t be bothered:

Because of his lazy life style he looses theability to weigh things up for himself. He is unable torationalise and think constructively.

Amazingly, it isn’t very long at all till hedevelops within himself a very strong

“don’t care attitude!”

This type of foolish behaviour, will often leadhim to be very defensive in his attitude and one who

“knows everything about anything!”

They say that “a little knowledge canbe a dangerous thing” and this is a primeexample of just that.

To the ear that was sensitive to God’s Voice,there was instruction for this wise young King evenin the weeds, the thorns, the briars and the thistles.

Anyone who has had anything to do withhorticulture knows that a few weeds are the sign ofa good and healthy garden. Reason being, is thatweeds in themselves are what is referred to as

“pioneering species.”

Weeds tend to penetrate their root structure farbelow the surface of the soil. Apart from removingtoxins from the soil, as they decay they releasenutrients to the soil surface as organic matter forsurface dwellers to feed on.

Whatever you see in this life, take care toconsider it well, and you will receive instruction

even from a “lazy person.”

This man had a vineyard, but he let it go, it runrampant. He has a field, but it was weed infestedand overgrown.

We have all been Blessed with Gifts andcapabilities but do we use them? Or are we too

comfortable “sitting on our Blessedassurance!!!??”

Listen to what Jesus has to say on the matter,

John 5 Verse 17 “But Jesus answered them,

My Father worketh hitherto, and Iwork.”

Though scratched, stung, trippedup entangled at times and pricked bythorny bushes, we can learn not tobe overcome but pull out the slasher andreduce them to feed for the compost heap!

The sluggard has proved to be an emptyheaded, foolish person. Full of pride and his ownself-esteem, one who refuses to take for himselfinstruction. A man void of understanding and unableto show proper stewardship of that to which he’sbeen entrusted. Even the maintenance of his oursoul.

“Knowledge” without “application,” isnothing more than “information.” The Lord is in the

business of “transformation” through

“revelation” not “head knowledge,without heart application!” (R.B.D.)

Here’s two very interesting passages from thebook of Hosea.

Hosea 8 Verse 7(a) “Because they sow the wind,they will reap the wind storm ...”

Hosea 10 Verse 12 “Sow in Righteousness in yourown interest, reap in gracious Love, break up yourown unprepared ground; It is now time to inquire ofThe LORD, until He comes to pour outRighteousness for you.”

If you are “sowing seed,” you will want to

be, “Right/Wise,” in the manner in which it isdistributed. There is a mighty big different to sowingseed so that it is distributed evenly across theground then seed which is just cast to the wind!

What Hosea is saying by The Hand of TheLord, is to be wise, not in self-interest but given withthe thought in mind that the harvest is not only foryour benefit but for all.

Sow only for yourself, and you will gather to

yourself a whole mess of “temporary!”

Ephesians 5 Verse 15 “So, then, be careful how youlive. Do not be unwise but wise,”

Colossians 3 Verse 23 “And whatsoever yedo, do it heartily, as to The Lord, andnot unto men;”

The thorns, the briar, the nettlesand bramble all cover the entirefarm. Very little is left unscathed,the field, the vineyard even to theboundaries. All carried thetestimony of corruption, decay andneglect:

We are all hurt by turmoil, trials and testings.

But surely, we gain much strengthenour characters if we receiveinstruction by pushing through to the other sideof the pain, the disappointment and the trial.

See the plough rusting at the edge of anovergrown field; many tend to allow the grass togrow around their ankles whilst sitting on their

“Blessed assurance,” insisting onHeavenly help when they are too lazy to even rousethemselves!

He may have a vineyard and a field but he isno better in his life for what he has!

I think that it’s a sad state of affairs when thehardest thing that he has to do with his day is towake up and make a decision as to how he willspend his time!

Problem being, is that you don’thave to do a thing for weeds togrow and time to speed by … theyjust do, when you don’t!!!

Each one of us has various gifts and talents.

James 1 Verse 17 “Every good gift and everyperfect gift is from above, and cometh down fromThe Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,neither shadow of turning.”

God put Adam into Eden to dress it, tocommune with Him and to enjoy all that The Fatherhad Created.

The possession of the garden, like thepossession of the field and the vineyard involvedresponsibilities … no less than the gifts and callingsof God. Those that stifle and hinder, will beanswerable to The Lord for their self opiniated andmisguided counsel.

The slothful is unwise and his laziness has

cultivated “dumb stupidity,” the man isvoid of understanding!

He doesn’t seem to understand that everythingabout his inner man and outward frame is preciousto The God Who Created him!

For some reason known only to himself, he

despises the thought of being “a field inpreparation.”

This man cannot and will not see beyond thatof his own nose, he care little about what is going tohappen to himself after he breaths his last and

passes from “time into Eternity.” “He isvoid of understanding!”

He is unable to understand that you can takenothing with you when you are gone from here.That’s the ironic thing, we have no knowledge norunderstanding of the environment from which wewere born, that is, from our Mum’s own body.

Yet The Lord Himself, has declared to us,

Psalm 139 Verses 13-17 “For Thou hast possessedmy reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’swomb.”

(14) “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully andwonderfully made: marvellous are Thy Works; andthat my soul knoweth right well.”(15) “My substance was not hid from Thee, when Iwas made in secret, and curiously wrought in thelowest parts of the earth.” (16) “Thine eyes did seemy substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy bookall my members were written, which in continuancewere fashioned, when as yet there was none ofthem.” (17) “How precious also are thy thoughtsunto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”

What an awesome revelation that was grantedto the heart of King David! This just verifies to us,that our Wonderful Heavenly Father has it all in

control. Whether we see it or not, allHe is asking of us is that we walkwith Him and communicate!

I for one, am not going to stop declaring thatwhich is etched onto my heart,

“A man can take nothing with himinto Eternity, except that which isstored in his heart!!!”(R.B.D.)

This phrase, has become a personaldeclaration for me inspired by a precious Brother inChrist who’s handy work I had the honour of seeingwhen I was seven years old.

(A man with an experience, is never at mercy ofa man with an argument:) I was there, present andsaw with my own eyes his handiwork written inchalk on the pavements of Sydney’s streets.Arthur Stace bowed his knee more than half amillion times to write in perfect copperplate script

the word, Eternity, there for all to see. It

wasn’t until many years later, when I became aminister of The Gospel that The Lord etched thesewords on the tables of my own heart.

Surely then it is my own passion for

“relationship” with The Son of all Grace, TheLord Jesus Christ that I share both the lesson andthe warning of The Lord’s Own instruction there forthe pulse of your own heart dear Brother or Sister.

“Time,” stands still for no one, death catches

“the sluggard” and traps him unawares. Bythen, it’s far too late. Hell, is full of people who had

the best of … “intentions!”

Each and every one of us is “called,appointed and Anointed of God” tofunction in the realm and the area that He has seenfit to place us in.

Are we really going to allow “a lazyattitude and stinking thinking” to keepus away from The Presence of our Almighty God?

The Christian who is lazy in his outlook andservice for our King has no idea as to what potentialhe is losing. By laziness, we do more to cultivatethat which will produce a harvest for only

“the enemy’s camp:”

If “the garden of your heart”produces nothing in the field or the vineyard to thehealth and welfare of all. Then we are falling short inour stewardship toward Almighty God.

Proverbs 16 Verse 28 “A froward mansoweth strife: and a whisperer separatethchief friends.”

The words “soweth strife …” because of

“Frowardness is in his heart, …”

Proverbs 6 Verse 14 “Frowardness is in his heart,

he deviseth mischief continually; he sowethdiscord.”

“Weeds and Seeds …”

Proverbs 6 Verse 19 “A false witness that speaketh

lies, and he that soweth discord amongbrethren.”

The verb “Frowardness,” means, literally,

“sends forth,” which may signify “scattersas seed” or “hurls as a missileweapon.”

This is the character of a perverse man, whodistorts the truth, gives a wrong impression, who’sheart motive revolves around his own agenda; sucha one occasions quarrels and actually makes theheart of the hearer feel sick and ill.

And a whisperer separates chief friends out ofenvy and jealousy.

Proverbs 17 Verse 9 “He that covereth atransgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth amatter separateth very friends.”

“Nirgan” is either “a chatterer,” or "awhisperer," unfortunately, this is where we get the

idea of a “chatter box” from.

Proverbs 18 Verses 5-8 “It is not good toaccept the person of the wicked, tooverthrow the righteous injudgment.” (6) “A fool’s lips enter intocontention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.”(7) “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips arethe snare of his soul.”

(8) “The words of a talebearer are aswounds, and they go down into the innermost partsof the belly.”

In Proverbs 18 Verses 5-8, it is translated

“tale bearer.” Also in Proverbs 26 Verse 20and Proverbs 26 Verse 22 say’s,

“Be not called a whisperer,” speaking

of secret slander. “Slanderers,” spread

“Gossip,” and “contention.”

Let a fire that rushes up a hill, it creates it’s owndraught because as heat rises, so too do the flames

spread by the tongue of a “perverse man”sending contentious tongues waggling.

Proverbs 22 Verse 5 “Thorns and snares are in theway of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shallbe far from them.”

Proverbs 22 Verse 8 “He that soweth iniquity shallreap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.”

So, as you can well see, God’s Word is reallyquite specific in regard to the way that we are tohandle these types of situations. Sure the is always

room for “Grace,” but caution, where caution isdue. Much damage has been done in the name of

“compromise:”

Proverbs 26 Verse 21”As coals are to burningcoals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man tokindle strife.”

Proverbs 22 Verse 10 “Cast out the scorner, andcontention shall go out; yea, strife and reproachshall cease.”

If the soul is not farmed for God, it willrevert to it’s old nature and producenothing but the thistles, thorns andweeds, the poisonous seeds of thenature of fallen man!

Our produce has been weighed in the scales,and found wanting!

Daniel 5 Verse 27(b) “ … Thou art weighed in thebalances, and art found wanting.”

Galatians 5 Verses 19-21 “Now the works of the

flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery,fornication, uncleanness,lasciviousness,(unrestrainedthought.”)(20) “Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,variance, emulations, wrath, strife,seditions, heresies,”(21) “Envyings, murders,drunkenness, revellings, and suchlike: of the which I tell you before, as I have alsotold you in time past, that they which do such thingsshall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

For all intent and purposes, if we are notproducing fruit to The Glory of God, then we arecultivating nothing less than

“the produce of sin and misery.”

Love rests upon the head of a man whom Godtransforms! Where it is more than possible, it isprobable for him to walk in God inspired guidance,

Life in The Spirit and not fulfilling “the lust ofthe flesh nature:”

It is Living Life in the excellency of common

union with “The Living God.” It is “Life inThe Spirit,” and not the man-made doctrine ofsinless perfection! Come on, get real, when we

were enemies, Christ died for us, surely thatproves His Love … walk in it!!!??

This seems to be an ideal moment to introducea wonderful quote from A.W.Tozer.

(Quote.) “The widest thing in the entire universe, isnot space; it is the potential capacity of the humanheart. Being made in The Image of God, it iscapable of almost unlimited extension in alldirections.” “And one of the world’s worst tragediesis that we allow our hearts to shrink until there isroom in them for little besides our own selfishselves!” “Of all people, Christians should have thelargest hearts: to them, the narrowing of the heart

(a heart that “shrinks around itself,”)should be an unthinkable calamity.”

“They should instead seek for “innerenlargement” till their “outwarddimension,” gives not a hint of the (enormityor) vastness that lies deep within.” “The modestythat hides a spacious interior under a simpleexterior must be most pleasing to God.”

(end quote, inclusion and distinctions mine.)

Godliness, can be best described as “God-Likeness,” in that He enfolds the world in HisHeart, and at the same time He embraces you, meand the whole of Creation and all the knownUniverse’s (plural.)

Now, that’s a description of One Who certainlyis everywhere at all times, and in all places. That’swhat religion has for years termed

“Omnipresent” … “The Living God,The God of Abraham, Isaac andJacob. Our Father In Heaven. Wow,Wow, Wowwww! How big, is yourheart within!!!?? Yes, we do have along way to go!!!

There is a great example of a heart enlargedafter God’s Own. The history of The Church, hasgiven us many great Brothers and Sisters in Christ,saints of whom the world was not worthy.

Hebrews 11 Verses 38(a)-39(a) “(Of whom theworld was not worthy:) …” (39) “And these all,having obtained a good report through Faith, …”

Augustine, was such a man and was heard to

have whispered to The Lord, “Narrow, is themansion of my soul, enlarge Thouit!”

The heart that is so enlarged with the capacityof God’s Own Love, desires only to be like our

Great God of Love! They are the largeststores of seed grain on the planet:

Hear Paul’s own words to The Church atCorinth.

2 Corinthians 6 Verses 11-13 (ASV)“Our mouth is open unto you, O Corinthians, ourheart is enlarged.” (12) “Ye are not straitened in us,but ye are straitened in your own affections.”(13) “Now for a recompense in like kind (I speak asunto my children), be ye also enlarged.”

We can never pay to much attention to ourinner lives. Human character has been in a constantstate of degeneration for years. An old sage oncestated,

“What the parents allow inmoderation, the children will alwayscarry to excess!”

Human character building, has not received theattention that it deserves. We as Christians, areheld with direct responsibilities not only to recogniseand respond to Christ in each other, but toparticipate with The Holy Spirit and see

“The Divine Nature” rise up within each ofus.

The fact is, that Christianity revolves around

“relationship” with a person, that person, isalive and present, active and participating.Upholding, encouraging and supporting all …

That Person, is The Risen,Resurrected Son of The Living God,The Lord Jesus Christ … Himself!

Romans 9 Verse 29(b)

“ … Except The Lord of Sabaothhad left us a seed, …”

The only true object of Faith placed in the

bosom of the heart, is a Faith thatdeclares only of Jesus, The Lord,God’s Christ:

“The Cross,” “The Blood ofAtonement,” “The Priesthood of TheSaviour;” All are embodied in ThePerson of Holiness in the flesh …Jesus Christ Himself.

Matthew 13 Verse 3 “And he spake to them many

things in parables, saying, Behold,The sower went forth to sow;”

2 Corinthians 9 Verses 9-10 “As it is written, Hehath scattered abroad, he hath given to the poor;His Righteousness abideth for ever.”

“Incorruptible Seed …”

(10) “And he that supplieth seed tothe sower and bread for food, shallsupply and multiply your seed forsowing, and increase the fruits ofyour righteousness:”

The greatest understanding of God’s Grace, isthe experiencing of it:

God’s Word, is described by Peter, as

“incorruptible seed.”

1 Peter 1 Verses 22-23 “Seeing ye havepurified your souls in obeying TheTruth through The Spirit unto unfeigned loveof the brethren, see that ye love one another with a

pure heart fervently:” (23) “Being bornagain, not of corruptible seed, but ofincorruptible, by The Word of God,which liveth and abideth for ever.”

It is The Word of God or more literally what wecould describe as a Word from God. From His lips,to our ears, and from our ears, to our hearts.Nothing else, in all of Creation but man himself isable to receive and respond to God’s Word!

He has said,

Isaiah 55 Verse 11 “So shall My Word bethat goeth forth out of My Mouth: itshall not return unto Me void, but itshall accomplish that which Iplease, and it shall prosper in thething whereto I sent it.”

Spoken from The Lips of PureHoliness, The Lord God Almighty.

John 1 Verses 1-5 “In the beginning was The Word,and The Word was with God, and The Word wasGod.” (2) “The same was in the beginning withGod.” (3) “All things were made through Him; andwithout Him was not anything made that hath beenmade.” (4) “In Him was Life; and The Life was TheLight of men.” (5) “And The Light shineth in thedarkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.”

Jesus is God’s Grain of Life, He is both “TheBread of Heaven” and “The Puregerm of wheat.”

He is “The Grain” that fell to the ground

and died, but therein lies the beauty, “TheGrain” bought forth the full husk, and “TheHusk of Wheat” added to the “Harvest.”

It’s important for us to remember that it was

Jesus who went to “The Threshing floor ofCalvary,” He the pure incorruptibleseed the complete germ of Truth:

Wheat germ, is the pure heart of the seed. It

has no husk, no sheaf, no chaff, nofibre. It is “pure heart,” it is grain that hasbeen sifted, sorted and opened apart to expose andleave only he pure heart from within:

Grain needs to be fit for sowing and only

“The Sower,” knows or suspects the power ofpotential for growth that lies locked within each ofthe single grains that are carried out to the fieldready to be sown.

Matthew 13 Verse 11 “And he answered and saidunto them, Unto you it is given to know themysteries of The Kingdom of Heaven, but to them itis not given.”

What is mysterious, is the fact that peoplerefuse to hear, they listen, but they will not take it in.In just the same way, eyes are blinded to those thatcannot (or will not) see!!!??

The seed is precious, it has God’s Hand ofprotection on it. When it is sown into the heart ofman, things happen unseen, and in God’s Way, notours.

Ecclesiastes 3 Verse 11(a) “He hath made

everything beautiful in its time: also he hath setEternity in their heart, …”

Man’s experience moves him from thetemporary to the Eternal because Almighty God

Himself, has placed within us all that “Godshaped gap” to want to know our Creator.

Nothing can stop God’s Purposes if we trustand allow Him.

Isaiah 53 Verse 2 “For He grew up before him as atender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: Hehath no form nor comeliness; and when we seeHim, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

Want a miracle? Simply plant good seed …nothing can stop God’s Purposes if we trust andallow Him.

Man may plant the seed, but it’s God Whocauses it to grow. Man in all of his wisdom, hasnever been able to figure that one out.

Jesus, raised as a “tender shoot” didn’tdraw on surface water, He dug His roots deep intoThe Father God and punched through into His Will,Purpose and Good Pleasure.

If we are “rooted and grounded inHis Love,” then we know for sure that

“Relationship,” doesn’t just stop at

“Salvation,” there’s so much more.

1 Corinthians 2 Verse 9 “But as it is written, Eyehath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have enteredinto the heart of man, the things which God hathprepared for them that Love Him.”

So, if we have learned anything from this

dialogue, it’s the fact that The Lord ourGod, has much more in store for usthan we could ever comprehend, so“Start Ploughing, and start sowingthat good and perfect seed!!!??”

The Lord of The Harvest, is not only looking for

produce from “The Field and TheVineyard,” He is also, “The FruitInspector …”

The son of King David, Solomonlistened to The Wisdom of God thatwas deposited in his heart, he eventook the example of the ant.

Proverbs 6 Verses 6-9 “Go to the ant, thousluggard; consider her ways, andbe wise:” (7) “Which having noguide, overseer, or ruler,”(8) “Provideth her meat in thesummer, and gathereth her food inthe harvest.”(9) “How long wilt thou sleep, Osluggard? when wilt thou arise outof thy sleep?”

“Consider the Ant …”

Our souls, are the fields and the vineyards,the garden, is in the heart. Dressed and kept, it is aplace and a habitat for a fruitful vine, a productiveorchard and a well dressed field.

What will you offer as a steward to the hand ofThe King? Will you hear?

Matthew 25 Verse 21 His Lord said unto him, Welldone, thou good and faithful servant: thou hastbeen faithful over a few things, I will make thee rulerover many things: enter thou into The Joy of thyLord.”

Proverbs 19 Verses 15-17 “Slothfulness casteth intoa deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.”(16) “He that keepeth the commandment keepethhis own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shalldie.” (17) “He that hath pity upon the poor lendethunto The LORD; and that which he hath given willHe pay him again.

You’ve heard it said so often in life,

“What goes around,comes around!”

The Word of God tells us,

Hosea 8 Verse 7(a) “For they have sownthe wind, and they shall reap thewhirlwind: …”

Surely, that ought to be enough warning initself. But still the fleshly heart refuses to listen, afterall,

“Who am I hurting?”

“Oh,” say’s God’s Spirit prompting your heart,

“Nobody … but yourself!!!”

You want to push yourself further and furtheraway from The Lord? Then keep going!!!

Psalm 119 Verses 9-16 “Wherewithal shall a youngman cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto

according to Thy Word.” (10) “With my wholeheart have I sought Thee: O let me notwander from thy commandments.”

(11) “Thy word have I hid in mineheart, that I might not sin againstThee.”

(12) “Blessed art Thou, O LORD: teach me Thystatutes.” (13) “With my lips have I declared all thejudgments of Thy Mouth.”(14) “I have rejoiced in the way of Thy Testimonies,as much as in all riches.” (15) “I will meditate in ThyPrecepts, and have respect unto Thy Ways.”

(16) “I will delight myself in ThyStatutes: I will not forget Thy Word.”

Story is told of a man who was feeling

“down-trodden” as this man sat in the gutter,he began squashing ants with his thumb. And as he

did, he declared out loud, “useless blinkingthings!” That was, till he heard The Voice of Godecho in his heart,

“ … who is it who’s sittingin the gutter!!!??”

Deuteronomy 28 Verses 1-2 “And it shall come to

pass, if thou shalt hearken diligentlyunto The Voice of The LORD thyGod, to observe and to do all HisCommandments which I command thee this day,that The LORD thy God will set thee on high aboveall nations of the earth:”

(2) “And all these blessings shall come on thee, and

overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken untoThe Voice of The LORD thy God.”

The difference between “The narrowpath” and “The broad road,” is that few

are on “The narrow Way.”

Wide is the road that leads to death and

destruction. The simple pathway toGod’s Blessings is to “hear,” and“obey” His Voice.

Much is made of “hearing with theears … hearing,” but there is none so blindas those that will not see and those that refuse tohear!

Matthew 13 Verses 10-16 “And the disciples came,and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them inparables?” (11) “He answered and said unto them,Because it is given unto you to know the mysteriesof The Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is notgiven.” (12) “For whosoever hath, to him shall begiven, and he shall have more abundance: butwhosoever hath not, from him shall be taken awayeven that he hath.”

(13) “Therefore speak I to them in parables:

because they seeing see not; andhearing they hear not, neither dothey understand.”(14) “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias,

which saith, By hearing ye shall hear,and shall not understand; andseeing ye shall see, and shall notperceive:”(15) “For this people’s heart is waxedgross, and their ears are dull ofhearing, and their eyes they haveclosed; lest at any time they shouldsee with their eyes, and hear withtheir ears, and should understandwith their heart, and should beconverted, and I should heal them.”(16) “But blessed are your eyes, forthey see: and your ears, for theyhear.”

Religion has kept many a good man andwoman locked into legalistic bondage. But this is

not the “diligence” to which we relate, nor is itthat which is preferable.

“ … giving all diligence ...”

This is an issue of the heart, it’s a heart that is

“in Love,” with it’s Saviour. So muchso, that this person has a listeningear for The Voice of his (or herBeloved.

Jesus said,

John 10 Verse 27 “My sheep hear My Voice, and Iknow them, and they follow Me:”

That’s because their ear is ever ready toreceive The Voice carried on the wind!

To be “diligent,” requires a determined actof choice to move toward a certain goal.

A “diligent” response does not happen by

accident! To be “diligent,” often means hardwork, some things just have to be worked at.

All takes time and effort but without a doubt,

hard work is part of a “diligent” person’scharacter. There are underlying supports for the

“diligent” one. These supports are those of

“Trust” and “responsibility” coupled with

“reliability.”

The worlds standards have a struggle because

the underlying threads of “diligence” require

that we show such traits as “integrity,”“honesty” and “transparency:”

Ouch, that must have smarted! But youcan now see as to why God hashigh regard for those that prize“diligent” character within theirheart!

If people know that they can rely on us to notonly finish our given task but to complete it to ourbest ability then they can without question haveconfidence in us. I for one quite like the idea thatpeople know that I can be relied upon. For manyunfortunately they fade away from the tasks athand.

A once treasured vision has become nothingless than a passing fantasy. A hope birthed in theheart that has been neglected, even forgotten andgiven over to the word,

“once!!!”

Is it any wonder that scripture states,

Proverbs 13 Verse 12

“Hope deferred maketh the heartsick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree oflife.”

Staying focused, is what “diligence” is allabout,

Proverbs 12 Verse 27(b) “ … but the substance of adiligent man is precious.”Ecclesiastes 9 Verse 10 “Whatsoever thy handfindeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is nowork, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in thegrave, whither thou goest.”

Sweet spirited, with a fixeddetermination of heart toward TheWill and The Purposes of God.“Diligence,” reveals a heart intenttowards “obedience.”

Philippians 2 Verses 3-11 “Let nothing bedone through strife or vainglory; butin lowliness of mind let eachesteem other better thanthemselves.” (4) “Look not everyman on his own things, but everyman also on the things of others.”(5) “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ

Jesus:” (6) “Who, being in the form ofGod, thought it not robbery to beequal with God:” (7) “But madehimself of no reputation, and tookupon him the form of a servant, andwas made in the likeness of men:”(8) “And being found in fashion asa man, He humbled himself, andbecame obedient unto death,even the death of the cross.”(9) “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him,and given Him a Name which is above everyName:” (10) “That at The Name of Jesus everyknee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things inearth, and things under the earth;” (11) “And thatevery tongue should confess that Jesus Christ isLord, to The Glory of God The Father.”

Hebrews 5 Verses 8-9 “Though He were a Son, yetlearned He obedience by the things which Hesuffered;” (9) “And being made perfect, He becameThe Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them thatobey Him;”

A “diligent soul” is one who casts off the

rubbish of “religious fanaticism” andresponds with a steadfast determination andgentleness revealed by the Prince who dwells within

… Jesus, Prince of Peace.

Truly “diligent” folk have the inherent

capability of being able to “plough” on against allobstacles. Whether they are in hunger, turmoil,persecution even shipwrecked, they turn into the

wind and sail on! And religion has thehide to say that fishermen areunlearned men!!!

Well, they have graduated from “TheSchool of Hard Knocks,” and now, they

are tutored in “The School of The Spirit.”

Matthew 24 Verse 46 “Blessed is thatservant, whom his Lord when Hecometh shall find so doing.”

Which raises the question, “what are theareas of my life” that I can apply

“diligence” toward and thereby give delight to

God our Father simply because ofWho He is … GOD!

Scripture encourages us to,

Colossians 3 Verse 17 “And whatsoever yedo in word or deed, do all in The Nameof The Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and TheFather by Him.”

In other words, whatever it is that I put my handtoo, let all that I do, be pleasing in His sight.

Colossians 3 Verse 23 “And whatsoever yedo, do it heartily, as to The Lord,and not unto men;”

Why would I consciously want to do somethingwhich would again cause separation in ourrelationship!!!??

Each one of us, are two-legged testimonies toThe Grace and wonderworking power of God in ourlives.

Paul made a statement that we are,

2 Corinthians 3 Verses 2-3 “Ye are our epistle

written in our hearts, known and read of allmen:” (3) “Forasmuch as ye are manifestlydeclared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us,

written not with ink, but with theSpirit of the living God; not in tables ofstone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

You and I have been bought with a pricebeyond compare. And it’s only by the indwellingSpirit of The Lord within that we are able to comeanywhere near the standard that he has called usto.

1 Corinthians 6 Verses 19-20 “What? know ye notthat your body is the temple of The Holy Ghostwhich is in you, which ye have of God, and ye arenot your own?” (20) “For ye are bought with a price:therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,which are God’s.”

1Corinthians 7 Verse 23 “Ye are bought with aprice; be not ye the servants of men.”

“…giving all diligence, add to…”

This, is where The Grace and The Peacebecome multiplied, all that He requires of us, is

“diligence.” When He say’s through Peter,

“ … add to…”

He means exactly that. You do it, He suppliedit, now you apply it!

“Add to,” is translated from The Greek

word, “epignosis,” meaning “to becomethoroughly acquainted with, to knowthoroughly, to know accurately, toknow well, to know that you knowthat you know!”

The ant, for us has become the absolute

example of “team player,” the ant does notappear to have an overseer, or ruler.

Proverbs 6 Verse 7“Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,”

Self-motivated, they range far and wide insearch of sustenance; not just for themselves, butfor the well-being and up-keep of the entire nest.

Surely for us then, Christian maturity wouldindicate that we just get the job done without

constant need for instruction … “to do!”

After all, “The Can Do” comes fromGod! The tiny little ant teaches us to prepare for thefuture,

Matthew 6 Verses 19-21 “Lay not up foryourselves treasures upon earth,where moth and rust doth corrupt, and wherethieves break through and steal:” (20) “But lay upfor yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neithermoth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves donot break through nor steal:”

(21) “For where your treasure is,there will your heart be also.”

2 Corinthians 4 Verses 7 “But we have thistreasure in earthen vessels, that theexcellency of the power may be ofGod, and not of us.”

What are the most powerful ants onthe face of the globe? The answer is,

“Par … ants,” those who show a great deal of

“Patie …ants,” followed close behind by

“Obedi … ants,” because all became

learners and then became yearners “to do!”which meant they became,

“Dilig … ants!”Then they became,

“Gi … ants,” in their own right simply becauseof their, heart desire to become,

“Serv … ants!”

Ever on the move, the tireless little ant refusesto stop and take her ease. She rallies to her fellowants and never ceases to amaze at the weight ofbounty that they can carry.

Yet that’s the most amazing thing, they don’tseem to stop and eat, they just

“keep on keeping on!”

Proverbs 6 Verse 8 “Provideth her meat in thesummer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”

Hard working, she labours fromdawn till dusk ...

Proverbs 21 Verse 5 “The thoughts of thediligent tend only to plenteousness;but of every one that is hasty only to want.”

“Industrious,” is an apt description thatcan readily be applied to ourselves. A valued lessonfor the committed Christian in that in all we do, we

should be doing it, “ … as unto The Lord.”

Proverbs 30 Verse 25 “The ants are a people notstrong, Yet they provide their food in the summer;”

Normally docile, she will bite if hindered orantagonised. They do belong to a vast army thathas more than a keen interest in preserving anddefending themselves.

The ant is even known for preserving foodand grain for over the winter period. In order to keepthe grain of seed from rotting, they pinch off the endshoots to stop them from germinating. This allowsthe grain to properly dry and be kept laid up in storetill the time of need:

How steadfast are we in our walk? Even

with worship, fellowship, tithes and

offerings? Storing for the “care andneeds of others.”

Puts a whole new slant on the meaning of,

Malachi 3 Verses 10-11 “Bring ye all the tithes intothe storehouse, that there may be meat in Minehouse, and prove Me now herewith, saith TheLORD of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows ofHeaven, and pour you out a Blessing, that thereshall not be room enough to receive it.”(11) “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground;neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the timein the field, saith The LORD of Hosts.”

God our Father, sees who isserious about seeking Him for whoHe is … God.

Hebrews 11 Verse 6 “But without Faith it isimpossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God

must believe that He is, and that He is arewarder of them that diligentlyseek Him.”

Too many people want to put in

“minimum effort to receivemaximum pay!” What ever happened to, “afair days work, for a fair days pay?”

The right placed zeal within our hearts will leadus unto The Way that He wants us to walk.

Proverbs 19 Verse 20 “Hear counsel, and receiveinstruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latterend.”

Isaiah 30 Verse 21 “And thine ears shall hear a

word behind thee, saying, This is the way,walk ye in it, when ye turn to theright hand, and when ye turn to theleft.”

As we harken “diligently” to “The Voiceof The Lord …” that can only mean that webe attentive to hear. Listening out with a keen ear.How often do we fail to respond to the inner voice ofThe Lord speaking through our conscience? But aswe respond and obey, to the inner promptings wecan and do find it easier to obey.

“This is the way, walk ye in it …”

To hear the secret whisper thatnot many men seem to hear ...

“The inner working.”

God yearns over all of HisCreated, but they do not all listen,they will not hear! Theuncomprehending mind isunaffected by truth! The intellect ofthe hearer may grasp “savingknowledge,” while yet the heartmakes no moral response.

There are not too many out there, that put theirwhole heart into their effort. But The Lord Loves the

“diligence” of those that would try to,

“give their all!”

“Consider the Ant … !”

Matthew 13 Verses 8-9 “But other fell into goodground, and brought forth fruit, some anhundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.”(9) “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Good Ground, will bring produce to harvest at asteady and consistent rate. How do we apply thisprinciple to our lives?

Firstly, all ground is cleared so that there are noobstacles to hinder the progress of

“The Plough.”

The answer to productive soil lies in the

“cultivation of soil.” “Ploughed,”“tilled,” “raked” and “hoed,” to keep it

“good” for productivity, the bed of a field must beworked at. This is no different when it applies to thecultivation of the heart.

No pests to plunder and ravage tender youngshoots, and nothing to stop good productive growth.

“The Good Ground …”

There is a time to plough and turn the soil toface the sun. Nutrition needs to be built up asnaturally as possible, fertilised to boost the potentialof supply!

1 Corinthians 3 Verses 7-9 “So then neither is hethat planteth anything, neither he that watereth; butGod that giveth the increase.” (8) “Now he thatplanteth and he that watereth are one: and everyman shall receive his own reward according to his

own labour.” (9) “For we are labourerstogether with God: ye are God’shusbandry, ye are God’s building.”

Intriguing isn’t it the comments that slip from

the heart of man. God Created “soil,” the “dustof the ground.” And man refers to “soil” as

“dirt:”

“Dirt” implies that it is unclean, filthy or muck,

but “soil,” is the substance of organic life, inbreathed by The Fathers Creative Breath!

Man may plant the seed, but it’s God, Whomakes it to grow!

Psalm 104 Verse14 “He causeth the grass to growfor the cattle, and herb for the service of man: thathe may bring forth food out of the earth;”

John 15 Verse 1(b)

“ … My Father is the husbandman.”

The word “husbandman,” in the Greek is

the word “georgos” from which the name

“George” is derived. God’s Vineyard and His

field, is His Creation. We need to be “faithful”labourers for Him: Like a lot of things in life,

“Growth” cannot occur, without “supply.”There of course needs to be something to feed on!

For the Christian, Jesus has supplied all “theneed for the want of good sustainedgrowth.” How do you think that this in all simplelogic would apply toward our Life in Christ? I believethat the answer lies in the word …

“Relationship!”

“We cannot give, what wehaven’t received!” “We can onlytouch people for God, to thedegree, that we ourselves aretouching God!!!”

I think that Jesus said it best when He said tothe disciples.

John 14 Verse 31(b)“ ... as The Father gave Me commandment,even so I do ...

Arise, let us go hence.”(Distinctions mine.)

In the School of The Spirit, most thingsare caught, not taught - God’s Word is inscribed onthe tables of our heart: We must realise that, youcan only touch people for God to the degree thatyou yourselves are touching God. The move closerto God, is a move deeper into God.

2 Timothy 3 Verse 14 “But continue thou in thethings which thou hast learned and hast beenassured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned[them];”

We would do well to enquire as to what are the

(a) “Basic tenets,” of the Christian Faith?

(b) What are our “Basic FoundationalDoctrines?” The principles ofThe doctrine of Christ ...”

For surely, this is a bed of “Good Soil” with

the capacity to produce a field, fromwhich many souls can glean. For themain, in the majority of fellowships, we see little orno resource structure for the schooling of thoseBrethren who thirst for more:

This in itself, is one of thereasons that many flounder on thebrink of Biblical illiteracy!

There are not many, that can tell you withoutany hesitation, that the three main tenets of TheChristian Faith focus on;

“The Centrality of The Cross.”“The Blood of Jesus.” and,

“The infilling of The Holy Spirit.”

Every denominational sector that names TheName of The Lord Jesus Christ as both Lord andSaviour, should focus it’s belief system around theunfolding of God’s Word concerning these ...

“Three Strong Nails!”

In all humility, there is also contained withinthe instruction of Hebrews Chapter six, a solemn

warning to indeed “carry on,” once you havemade the decision to

“launch out into the deep ...!”

Hebrews 6 Verses 4-6 “For [it is] impossible for thosewho were once enlightened, and have tasted of TheHeavenly Gift, and were made partakers of The HolyGhost,” (5) “And have tasted The Good Word ofGod, and The Powers of the world to come,”(6) “If they shall fall away, to renew them again untorepentance; seeing they crucify to themselves TheSon of God afresh, and put [Him] to an openshame.”

Many, who call themselves part of “God’sFlock” seek to build a New Testament Church,

without a proper foundation of “The ApostlesDoctrine (or teaching.”) Those of,“The principles of The Doctrine ofChrist.” We need to be conscious to heed the

warning to fall on “The Rock,” before “TheRock, falls on you!” Wise men, are wisemaster builders, God, is not in the business of

“D.I.Y;”

(“do it yourself”) builders.

Paul’s encouragement, was to,

1 Corinthians 14 Verse 40“Let all things be done decently and in order.”

Jesus said,

John 8 Verse 32 “And ye shall know The Truth, andThe Truth shall make you free.”

Free, to worship The Father, in Spirit, and inTruth. Free, to remain balanced and level-headed.Free, from religious bondage, free, to sit at TheMaster’s Feet. If we learn of Him, we will not goastray, because He is there with us, and we are with

Him. If we stick with The Truth of “Line uponline, precept upon precept,” then our path,

is a traceable one. We are not dropping “breadcrumbs in the forest.”

This is what happens to those that stray and

start down “the dangerous path of errorand fanaticism.” We need to be on God’s

Path, and not that of our own “trail blazing!”

God desires to keep His Flock safe, whole,

fed and content! Built on the “Solid Rock,”fed, by streams of “Living Water,” nourished

by “pastures green” with abundant growthand health: This is what Paul had to say concerningwhat lay ahead for us as new believers,

1 Corinthians 3 Verses 9-11 “For we are labourerstogether with God: ye are God’s husbandry, [ye are]God’s building.”(10) According to The Grace of God which is givenunto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the

foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But letevery man take heed how hebuildeth thereupon.” (11) “For otherfoundation can no man lay than thatis laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 6 Verse 1(a) “Therefore leaving theprinciples of the doctrine of Christ,

let us go on unto perfection;not laying again the foundation ... ”

Determination requires aconcerted effort!

Why is it then, that many tend to see our growthstages of development like some sort of protractedreligious exercise that needs to be got just right!

2Once we have become schooled and skilled in

the “Foundations of our Faith,” we can

apply ourselves to a walk which helps us to make adetermined choice to progress into the

“growth stages of maturity,”

Hebrews 6 Verses 1-2 “Therefore leaving

The Principles of The Doctrine(Teachings) of Christ, ...Let us go on ... unto perfection; not

laying again The foundation ofrepentance ...from dead works, and of

Faith toward God,”(2) “Of The Doctrine of Baptisms, ...and of Laying on of hands, and of

Resurrection of the dead, and of

Eternal judgment(The Eternal Godhead.”)

2Prince, Derek “The Foundation Series.”Sovereign World Publishing Ltd.

(Revised edit. 1986.)

No.1 - “Let us go on ...”No.2 - The “how to,” called Repentance:No.3 - The “can do,” Faith from God:No.4 - “Baptism ... the waters.”

No.5 - “The Laying on of Hands:”No.6 - “Resurrection of the dead.”

No.7 - “The Eternal Godhead:”

“ ... Going on to perfection ... !”

Colossians 3 Verse 2 “Set your affection on thingsabove, not on things on the earth.”

3You know, God does not just leave youthere, you believe and that’s that! He has placedfar too much within you just to leave you there.The wonderful thing about life in Christ is that itbecomes an ever growing relationship for ourbetterment.

The whole of Christ’s Church His Body, comesunder personal tutoring of the Spirit of Grace. Hedoes this because His desire is to see us Blessedfar beyond the level of potential that we were in atour conversion.

3Dalton, Robert.B & Nicola.J “Relationship ... The Heart to heart.”Menorah PublicationsAustralia & New Zealand (2011 edit.)

http://www.menorahpublications.weebly.com/

To follow the footsteps of the Master is to followthe Prince of Peace. The more that we desire to belike Him, the more He prunes, to build the Nature ofHis Character in us.

He came and laid His life down in order that we

might live. That we might get “to know” and

“get to grow” into God by Him.

Jesus is “the Vine” and we are “thebranches.” Now, branches on trees are meant

to bear and produce “fruit.”The fruit we are meant to bear in our lives is

the fruit of the New Nature.

Colossians 3 Verses 12-17 “Put on therefore, as the

elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels ofmercies, kindness, humbleness ofmind, meekness, longsuffering;”(13) “Forbearing one another, and forgiving oneanother, if any man have a quarrel against any:even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.”(14) “And above all these things [put on] charity,

(Love, God’s Love) which is ... thebond of perfectness.”

(15) “And let the peace of God rule inyour hearts, to the which also ye are called in one

Body; and be ye thankful.” (16) “Let TheWord of Christ (the Rhema, heardby the hearing of the heart ofhearts) dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teachingand admonishing one another in psalms and hymnsand spiritual songs, singing with Grace in yourhearts to The Lord.” (17) “And whatsoever yedo in word or deed, [do] all in TheName of The Lord Jesus, giving thanksto God and The Father by Him.”

“Bowels of mercies,” refers to

“Mercy,” that stems from God’s OwnNature to be “Merciful,” which is that hidden

capacity stored deep within the heart of hearts. If a

Christian is unable to “be merciful”and show “Mercy,” then he is unable to

“forgive the seven times seventy!”If this is the case, he is no Christian, because

Christ, is NOT in him: He has in fact, become

an enemy of The Cross!!!

2 Corinthians 13 Verse 5 “Examineyourselves, whether ye be in The Faith;prove your own selves. Know ye not your ownselves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye bereprobates?”

Sometimes, it would do us good, to do a little

“self examination” ... don’t you agree!!!??

The Greek word for the word “Perfect,” isthe word which means to,

“Begin” ... to grow up:”

Gk; “Telios,” literally, “one thathas just now begun the processof ... beginning to grow up.”

How many, “ ... babes in Christ” are

there that you know of, that are trying to teach

others to grow, when they themselves have not!!!

Or more to the point, WILL NOT!”

Ironically this word, was the same word thatThe Lord used when He spoke to father Abraham

and said to him to ... “Walk before Me,and be thou perfect.”

Lord take the “I” out of “Me,” andmake “Me,” like “Thee!”

Genesis 17 Verse 1 “And when Abram was ninetyyears old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram,

and said unto him, I [am] the AlmightyGod; walk before me, and be thouperfect.”

The word “THOU,” means “YOU,” just

as assuredly as it refers to “ME!”

God Himself, made direct reference to Abram

who He desired to be the literal, “Father ofmany nations.”

The Lord God Almighty, found it fitting to want touse this man Abram as an example of His own,

“Perfecting touch on human-kind.”

That is I believe is why The Lord said to him ...

“Walk before Me, and be thouperfect!” “Perfect,” a perfectly unhindered

relationship, one that is untainted by anything that

would hinder it. A relationship unpolluted by “sin:”

“Perfect,” in that sense, also relates tothe Hebrew equivalent, which is the word;

Hebrew, “Tamiym” rendered as

“a complete, mature, blameless andwholehearted desire toward God,His Will, His Purpose, and HisGood Pleasure:”

This my friend, is the depth of intimacy,friendship and relationship that Hewants with ALL of us ... “NOT JUSTTHE SELECTIVE ELECTIVE!!!”

First things first, we know that the “cando” Faith, comes as a Gift from Almighty God.But there needs to be a desire

“to want too,” “I need too!” “I must!”

For all intents and purposes, you cannot

“Go on,” if there isn’t a desire to “want too!”

In regard to the things of God, this is mostmarvellous in itself. The heart desire that paves theway for all instruction comes with the desire thatonly the promptings of The Spirit of Grace canbring:

1 John 4 Verse 19 “We love Him,because He first loved us.”

That drawing, that desire, doesn’t come fromclassroom tuition, it comes as He plants that

“seed desire in the garden of theheart.” Then the choice to respond lies within!

How do you think that He responds to you? I’lltell you, it’s by Him responding with a promisestraight out of His Word.

Jeremiah 33 Verse 3 “Call unto Me, and I willanswer thee, and shew thee great and mightythings, which thou knowest not.”

1 Corinthians 1 Verse 5 “That in every thing ye areenriched by Him, in all utterance, and in allknowledge;”

Ephesians 4 Verse 21 “If so be that ye have heardHim, and have been taught by Him, as The Truth isin Jesus:”

What are the crops that you’d expect to see

from “The Garden of The Heart andthe Vine of God’s Vineyard!!!??”We as individuals, do have a responsibility to thecorporate Field and The Vineyard,We do have a direct responsibility to “The Lordof The Harvest,” this is what He say’s inLuke’s Gospel,

Luke 10 Verse 2(b) “ … The harvest trulyis great, but the labourers are few!

John 15 Verse 5 “I AM The Vine, ye are thebranches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, thesame bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me yecan do nothing.”

It is my conviction, that The Field as such can

be looked upon with three distinct sectionsin mind. Most subsistence farmers of the day, wouldnever limit their production to one crop alone theywould have diversified with much produce ofvarious types.

“The Field and The Vineyard …”

We as Christ’s Disciples, are looking to the

“Growth stages of development”found right there in The Field and TheVineyard in our portion of The Garden ofour heart.

The Farmer would plant close to his home, thecrops from his Field that would be used day today in

the first paddock we would best describe asthose crops that would feed our,

“Discovering Discipleship.”

“The Foundations of our Faith,”Hebrews 6 Verses 1-2

Those things that reveal to us our foundationalteachings that sustain us in Christ.

No.1 - “Let us go on ...”No.2 - The “how to,” called Repentance:No.3 - The “can do,” Faith from God:No.4 - “Baptism ... the waters.”No.5 - “The Laying on of Hands:”No.6 - “Resurrection of the dead.”No.7 - “The Eternal Godhead:”

“ ... Going on to perfection ... !”

The second paddock,

“Growing Discipleship.”

“The Be-atitudes, Love’s Divine Attitudes”Matthew 5 Verses 3-12“Blessed, are …”(1) “… the poor in spirit …”(2) “… they that mourn …”(3) “… they, the meek …”(4) “… they who hunger and thirst…”(5) “… those the Merciful …”(6) “… they, the pure in heart …(7) God’s dear children, the peacemakers …”(8) “… they which are persecuted.”for Righteousness’ sake: for theirs is The Kingdomof Heaven.”

The third paddock,

“Overcomers…Discipleship.”1. “And beside this, giving all diligence ...”2. “... add to your Faith virtue ...”3. “ … and to virtue knowledge;”4.“And to knowledge temperance; …”

(self-control)

5. “ … and to temperance patience; …”6. “ … and to patience godliness;”7. “And to godliness brotherly kindness …”8. “ … and to brotherly kindness LOVE.”

1 John 4 Verse 17(b) “ … because as Heis, so are we in this world.”

1 Corinthians 15 Verses 22-23 “For as in Adam all

die, even so in Christ shall all bemade alive.” (23) “But every man in his own

order: Christ the firstfruits; afterwardthey that are Christ’s at Hiscoming.”

Here Paul, refers to Christ Jesus, as …

“The First Fruits,” He is using the analogy ofa grain of wheat.

Now, seed reveals a basic fact, and that is, thatseed will always produce after its own kind. Youplant a lettuce, you got a lettuce, and likewisecabbage, beans, corn or wheat, all produce, aftertheir own kind:

John 12 Verse 24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you,Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth muchfruit.”

Christ, “The Firstfruits …”

1 Corinthians 15 Verse 37 “And that which thousowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, butbare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of someother [grain]:”

Paul compares The Resurrection of Christ tothe sprouting of a tender young shoot. After theshoot, the bud and after the bud, then the fruit.

1 Corinthians 15 Verses 42-58 “So also [is] theresurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; itis raised in incorruption:”(43) “It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in Glory: itis sown in weakness; it is raised in Power:”(44) “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritualbody. There is a natural body, and there is aspiritual body.”(45) “And so it is written, The first man Adam wasmade a living soul; the last Adam [was made] aquickening spirit.”(46) “Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual,

but that which is natural; andafterward that which is spiritual.”(47) “The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: thesecond man [is] The Lord from Heaven.”(48) “As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that areearthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they alsothat are heavenly.” (49) “And as we have borne theimage of the earthy, we shall also bear the image ofthe heavenly.”

(50) “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and bloodcannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither dothcorruption inherit incorruption.”(51) “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not allsleep, but we shall all be changed,”(52) “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at thelast trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and thedead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall bechanged.” (53) “For this corruptible must put onincorruption, and this mortal [must] put onimmortality.” (54) “So when this corruptible shallhave put on incorruption, and this mortal shall haveput on immortality, then shall be brought to pass thesaying that is written, Death is swallowed up invictory.” (55) “O death, where [is] thy sting? Ograve, where [is] thy victory?” (56) “The sting ofdeath [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.”(57) “But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us thevictory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”(58) “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be yesteadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in thework of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that yourlabour is not in vain in the Lord.”

To those that grow produce, theappearance of the tender shoots atthe appointed season heralded thearrival of the crop for harvest.

In Old Testament times, “The FirstFruits” of the harvest, were bought before The

Lord as a “Wave Offering” giving assurancethat the crop to follow would be both bountiful, andgathered in safety under The Hand of God‘sprotection.

Isaiah 61 Verse 11 “For as the earth bringeth forthher bud, and as the garden causeth the things thatare sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD willcause Righteousness and Praise to spring forthbefore all the nations.”

The sheaf of the first fruits, was the first

“complete or whole fruit of theharvest to rise up out of the seedthat was sown in the earth:”

If Jesus for some reason hadstopped short of His passagethrough death on the cross. Therewould be no corresponding fruit ofGod’s reconciling man to Himself byand through The Person of His OnlyBegotten Son.

Jesus, was buried alone, but when He

conquered death, hell and the grave. He didnot rise alone, many followed Him,though a single grain was plantedat death, the stalk which rose up,never bore just one single grain ofwheat but a whole

“ripened husk …”

Not just thirty fold, sixty fold, but a full hundredfold harvest! No longer a single grain, but a sheaf offirst fruits, the true meaning of …

“The Hundred fold!”

The Blessing of Abraham, was the Blessing of the,

“Hundred fold increase to theobedient in Christ!”

Genesis 22 Verse 17 “That in blessing Iwill bless thee, and in multiplying Iwill multiply thy seed as the stars of theHeaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of hisenemies;”

The Body of Christ, was sown to the earth inmany tears, but God’s Word states,

Psalm 126 Verses 5-6

“They that sow in tears shall reap injoy.” (6) “He that goeth forth andweepeth, bearing precious seed,shall doubtless come again withrejoicing, bringing his sheaves [withhim].”

In Luke Chapter 8 Verses 1-15, Jesus unfolds

“The Parable of The Sower.” “TheSeed,” is “The Word of God” and “TheField,” is “The World” in which we reside.

Within each man there is in own his heart ofhearts, it’s very own garden, the place which gainsthe attention of the parable.

To the crowd that listened, Jesus gave thesame opportunity He gives to us to test our ownhearing of His Word!

“Take heed thereforehow ye hear …!”

In other words, relationship with The Person ofThe Lord our God, is more than just some religioushead trip.

It’s an affair of the heart that producessomething deep within and that is revealed openlyin both your lifestyle and your relationship towardthose around you.

“You show by your actions,whose you are!!!”

The idea of this parable in itself,cuts right across the notion thatparables need some vagueinterpretation. Interpretation thatreveals some sort of hiddenmeaning.

Jesus, in telling this parable of “TheSeed” reveals openly the types of hearts that will

“receive and act” upon His Word:

i) “Wayside Hearts,” are hard heartstrampled with no chance of growth.

ii) “Rocky Hearts,” have no available soil;they have no depth of earth to grow in.

iii) “Thorny Hearts,” are all choked out and ifyou come near them, you are bound to eitherbecome entangled, scratched or choked out:

I sometimes wonder, was this also part ofAbraham’s own observations even in the era inwhich he lived? I feel sure that it must have been,because these observations are part of all strata’sof society in which we partake and live.

From the most simple, to the complicated; so

live the hearts of men! Those that sowGod’s Precious Seed know full wellthat nothing is ever wasted in theeconomy of God.

He, is the only one who can “turn the evilfor the good.”

“Fallow ground” can indeed be ploughed

up, “the Rocky,” can be broken and pulverised

and “the Thorny” can be slashed, burned anduprooted: Nothing, and no one, should ever be

considered as “hopeless.”

As long as there is breath, thereis “Hope!” On the basis of this, all we rejoicewith Paul who knew,

1 Corinthians 13 Verses 11-13 “When I was a child,I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thoughtas a child: but when I became a man, I put awaychildish things.” (12) “For now we see through aglass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know inpart; but then shall I know even as also I am

known.” (13) “And now abideth Faith, Hope,Love, these three; but the greatestof these [is] Love.”

There are two facts concerning Christianity,

i) The Person of Jesus Christ.

ii) The Teachings of Jesus Christ.

Quite basically, you can’t have one without theother, you can’t have Jesus as Lord and Saviour

and not expect Him to offer you “Guidance,”“instruction” and “direction” into the thingsthat The Father has prepared for us to partake of in

the “here and now:”

To quote G. Morgan.4

“He brings with Himself,Holiness and Hope, and we cansee, The Light shining in thedarkness!”

“ … that which is born of The Spirit.”(end quote.)

There is also a warning in this, things that willwant to kill your walk faster than anything that Iknow,

i) The Letter of The Law dictated in Legalism.

ii) The righteousness of “self” portrayed in

hardhearted, stiff-neckedarrogance.

Both are manifested in a “know-all,unteachable attitude:” These are twomassive roots that choke out relationship and growthat poisonous toxic tree of Pharisaical religion!

4Morgan, G.Campbell. “The Gospel according to Matthew.”Oliphants Ltd.33 Ludgate Hill, E.C.4 London. England.

God’s Law in itself, is totally perfect, but man byhimself, cannot adhere to it. He can in no way liveup to the standard of God’s Word.

But The Lord, in His Great and Fatherly Mercy,

extends The Hand of both “Friendship andFellowship” to each one of us through The

Lord Jesus Christ that same crucified Son. Hewho stands ready, willing and ableto forgive all who come to God byHim.

There remains one great fact, that we in ourhumanity have neglected to observe in our

expertise concerning “life.” We generally think

that we are the “be all, that ends all!” That

is, until we are shaken by the fact, that God hasset His Word (His Law) in stone!

Why do you think that an Almighty and a Loving

God would do that? The answer is, becauseHe is … I AM, does not change, wedo!

God in His “Grace” and “Mercy,” set HisWord in stone, so that there could be no argument,

and what does man do … argue!

So, God sent His only BegottenSon and what does man do to Him?

Argue about Who He Is, thencrucified Him!

Man without The Presence of Almighty God inhis heart, is nothing more than a vessel of flesh,

carrying about “self,” and “self-seeking!”Man without The Presence of Almighty God in

his heart, is darkened in his intelligence, alienatedin his affection and inclined to centre his entire

focus upon only “seeing,” “hearing,”“tasting,” “smelling,” and “touching:”

“Life,” in it’s abundance, cannot and will notbe limited to the confines of the flesh realm. Thedictates of our carnal nature … the old man called

“self!”

God’s Blessing, is on the seed of Abraham ...

Hebrews 6 Verses 13-14 “For when God madepromise to Abraham, because He could swear byno greater, He sware by Himself,”

(14) “Saying, Surely Blessing I will Blessthee, and Multiplying I will Multiplythee.” (distinctions mine.)

I don’t know about you, but to me ... there isjust something about dusting off an old book. Thereis just something captivating about gems that are

revealed from “old yellow pages!”

That was what was so exciting for mepersonally when I picked up the original notes thatI’d written for this sermon.

Notes that I’d written some twenty years earlier,notes that I’d used to preach to a community hall fullof dairy farmers and their wives ... notes that werevery relevant then, but extremely relevant now:

When the head, is ruled by theheart, (not the heart ruled by thehead) then, we have the rightperspective in regards to ourlearning.

We must always remember, that the principlesof teaching involve only three basic things.

Those of both “Seeing, Hearing andDoing:”

When these perspectives are right, learningbecomes a vital part of our life-style. There is

always then, a desire “to want too!”

“Learning, hearing and thinking,”play the obvious part toward

“understanding.”

The heart must first of all be made right, then

the “understanding,” can lay hold of the

truth. By this, I mean the “understanding ofthe heart” not just the mental idea ofaccumulated knowledge.

Remember, Jesus said,

Luke 6 Verse 45 “A good man out of the goodtreasure of his heart bringeth forth that which isgood; ... and an evil man out of the evil treasure of

his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for ofthe abundance of the heart hismouth speaketh.”

John 15 Verse 5 “I AM The Vine, ye arethe branches: He that abideth in Me, and I inhim, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for withoutMe ye can do nothing.”

Question needs to be asked, What is it that we

are to produce in “The Garden of ourheart!”

God’s Word provides for us, the most sure andprefect answer.

“The Vine and The Vineyard …”

Most individual farms, geared for the maintoward being self-sufficient. All for the support of

“the household and as supplier ofthe local village or community.”

“The Garden” would look to us like that of

a productive field with a vineyard full ofthe pleasant aroma of sweet smelling grapes!

What type of “produce” do you think that

the field was to bring forward from “TheGarden of the heart!!!??”

What type of “fruit” do you imagine thatwould be both a pleasant aroma and sweet to thetaste?

The only answer to that would have to be

“The Fruit of The Holy Spirit.”

Seed, will always produce after it’s own kindGod’s Incorruptible seed will produce in each of us,The Fruits of The Nature and The Character ofChrist Who dwells and resides within!

“Fruit is an expression of character.”

The fruit of God’s Own Character, is birthedand reproduced in the life of the believer. The moregood ground of obedient response that Godencounters and cultivates, the greater theproductivity.

John 15 Verse 8 “Herein is My Father glorified, thatye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.”

I think that this is a fairly reasonable analogy,fields to produce, vegetables and grain, with avineyard full of the pleasant sweet smelling aroma

of “much fruit,” to The Praise and Glory of TheFather.

There can be a beautiful harvest of

“Divine Fruit” through simple humility andhearty response to His work within.

To the obedient servant, God can and does

actually duplicate, in human character, theattributes of His Own Person, TheNature and Character of Jesus.

As God, by The Holy Ghost, reveals new areas

of my life into which He wishes to move and work.My responsibility is to allow Him tohave His way, to fulfil “His Will,” “HisPurpose” and “His Good Pleasure.”

Philippians 2 Verse 13 “For it is God which worketh

in you both to will and to do of [His] GoodPleasure.”

As He steadily and assuredly takes over moreand more ground in my daily experience,

the crop of “His Righteous Fruit,” will

gradually increase from 30 to 60 to even the

100 fold increase. Remember the words ofPaul,

“To Put off, in order to Put on:”

Well, now we are told the reason for this

instruction, is so that we can “put away thatis in a place of safe-keeping; thosetreasures of the heart of hearts!

Both words indicate storage in an arearequiring effort for safe-keeping. Your heart is meantto be a treasure house of God. What have you gotdeposited in it for safe-keeping?

2 Corinthians 4 Verse 7 “But we have this

treasure in earthen vessels, that theexcellency of the power may be ofGod, and not of us.”

We can readily see from this, that knowledgeand academic abilities, are certainly not wrong.(As some would want to seem to suggest!)

But, it is up to you, to guard whatit is, that you store in the treasure-house of your heart.

Much better, to have knowledgeof “The Holy,” in order to be able toact on that information and be,

“a doer of The Word!”

James 1 Verse 22“But be ye doers of the word,

and not hearers only,

deceiving your own selves.”

2 Chronicles 16 Verse 9(a)

“For The Eyes of The LORD run toand fro throughout the whole earth,to shew Himself strong in the behalfof them whose heart is perfecttoward Him ...”

1 Corinthians 2 Verse 9 “But as it is written, “Noeye has seen, no ear has heard,and no mind has imagined thethings that God has prepared forthose who love Him.”

What He’s looking for in us, is tosee The Nature and The Characterof His Son reproduced in each ofus.

He does this by and through TheHoly Spirit at work in our hearts todevelop “Fruits” meet for HisRighteousness / Right/Wise/ ness.

“ … Herein is My Father glorified,that ye bear much fruit; …”

When we become “Fruit bearers,” we

are bearing within ourselves, The Natureand The Character of Christ who dwells

in our hearts by Faith.

“The Fruits” of,

LoveJoyPeaceLongsufferingMeeknessGoodnessTemperanceFaithGentleness,

and they all come from …

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

We in turn need to make an active choice in

“obedience” to fill our hearts andminds with “The Fruits of His Love.”

Jesus is “the Vine” and we are “thebranches.” Now, branches on trees are meant

to bear and produce “fruit.”

The fruit we are meant to bear in our lives isthe fruit of the New Nature.

Notice if you will that these can also bedescribed as the Fruits of Holiness because theyare the fruits of the Nature and Character of theSinless Son portrayed in The Holy Spirit who Jesus

promised to us as “another Comforter.”

Notice also if you will, that the very first three of

these fruits are “Love, Joy and Peace.”Without the “Love,” there can be no “Joy” and

without the “Joy” there can be no “Peace.”

Jesus is “the Love” of God in the flesh and

in His Presence is “fulness of joy” simply

because He is “the Prince of Peace.”

Now notice if you will, the second triplet of fruit;

that is “Longsuffering,” “Gentleness”and “Goodness.” Without the “Love” there

will be an inability for “longsuffering.”“Selfishness” is a “short tempered

beast!” Without the enabling to “love theunlovely,” there will be no “longsuffering,”only intolerance!

Without the “Love” there will be no “Joy”because “Joy” is complete in “Love.” It rolls in

as “Gentleness” and is complete in

“Peace” and that in itself reveals the

“Goodness” of God.

“Peace and goodwill toward men!”

The third and final triplet is that of “Faith,”“Meekness” and “Temperance” (or self

control). “Faith,” is the gift of God to strengthen

the relationship of “heart to heart.”

It readily responds to build itself in “Love.”It is full of “Joy” at the response and totally in

“Peace” because it has the “can do” in

“Longsuffering.”

“Faith” like “Love” is “gentle andnurturing,” desiring to see the very best in all.

“Faith in Love is Love in action.”

It knows that “meekness is notweakness!” It knows that “temperance”works with “meekness” hand in hand for it is

“power under control.” The power to see

“forgiveness” “foster repentance” and

“release in blessing!”

“… Against such there is no law …”

Fruitfulness is not measured bythe number of converts you areprivileged to contribute to.

But it is the revealing of godlycharacter in the outworking of yourlife, the portraying of “God’s Love inyou ... Christ in you, the Hope ofGlory.”

John 15 Verse 16(a) “Ye have not chosen Me, but Ihave chosen you, and ordained you, that ye shouldgo and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit shouldremain: ...”

Love in itself, never stands alone as a solo fruit,it is always connected with other virtues orattributes of God’s own Divine Nature.

Hence, we have the complete balance of TheFruit of The Holy Spirit, those of ...

Proverbs 11 Verse 30 “The fruit of the righteous [is]a tree of Life; and he that winneth souls [is] wise.”

“Fruitfulness” glorifies God and afruitful walk denotes the faithfuldiscipleship. Love in action, Lovemotivated the Joy of abiding Love.

Love justified and approved byworks meet for “Righteousness.”

John 15 Verse 1 “I AM The True Vine,and My Father is the husbandman.”

The Father God is the Husbandman. He bringsforth the conditions for growth. In the balancedgrowth and nurturing of the Holy Ghost, the fruitmatures and hence portrays the Nature of the Son... in the life of every believer.

Jesus in this sense, plays a dualrole in that He is not only “The TrueVine,” He is also “the Rock of oursalvation.” And as the Rock, He isour only sure and safe anchoragefor the roots to lock onto!

“Jesus, The Living ResurrectedCHRIST, the complete work ofCalvary’s expression of LOVE.

The Stone that the buildersrejected, “Rock of our Salvation!”

Philippians 1 Verses 9-11 “And this I pray, thatyour love may abound yet more andmore in knowledge and [in] alljudgment;” (10) “That ye may approve thingsthat are excellent; that ye may be sincere andwithout offence till the day of Christ;”

(11) “Being filled with the fruits ofRighteousness, which are by JesusChrist, unto the Glory and Praise ofGod.”

Philippians 4 Verse 17(b)

“... I desire fruit that may abound toyour account ...”

Just as the soundness of theroots of a good fruit tree is indicatedby its fruit.

We can see this in the life of each person, in

the fact that “what comes out of themouth, reveals the condition of theheart!”

This passage is a source of greatencouragement to those who live their lives godly inChrist Jesus but it is also a warning to those whoare without ...

Matthew 7 Verses 16-20 “Ye shall know them bytheir fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figsof thistles?”

(17) “Even so every good treebringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupttree bringeth forth evil fruit.”

(18) “A good tree cannot bring forthevil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forthgood fruit.” (19) “Every tree that bringeth not forthgood fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”

(20) “Wherefore by their fruits yeshall know them.”

There you have it, relationship with The LordGod Almighty is a heart to heart relationship. Itbegins with the individual and proceeds to thecorporate Body (the Church.)

It begins with the individual and your very ownheart response. Without which, the relationshipcannot proceed.

The Father welcomes back … yes, runs out tomeet the wayward son and rejoices over his return.That is both yours and mine.

Scripture says in John 15 that God the Fatheris the husbandman, the vinedresser. Now, in orderfor the Vine to produce fruit, the Vine has toundergo …

“pruning.”

I have pruned vines and I want to tell you thatthese cold frozen pre-dawn prayer times cancertainly carry you through the blood and the painthat even these prunings have to endure.

I don’t really know if we even stop to thinkabout the pain and blood and blisters and strain thatthe vinedresser has to endure all day long! That isfrom before the sun rises after the frozen start of awinter’s morning to the setting of the sun at the endof a tiring, pain filled day. There are many things in

this “time bound” life that seem to stretch yourFaith to its limits. But as we have said,

“character can best be described asto how you are (how you reallycarry yourself) while there appearsto be no one else around!”

When you ask Jesus, to come into your heartby Faith to be your Lord and your Saviour, where doyou think that He resides?

Within your heart !!!

Luke 13 Verses 6-9 “He spake also this parable; Acertain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard;and he came and sought fruit thereon, and foundnone.” (7) “Then said he unto the dresser of hisvineyard, Behold, these three years I come seekingfruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; whycumbereth it the ground?” (8) “And he answeringsaid unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till Ishall dig about it, and dung [it]:”

(9) “And if it bear fruit, [well]: and ifnot, [then] after that thou shalt cut itdown.”

The pruning of branches isprofitable for the bearing of healthy,well formed, matured fruit!

Fruit which is both pleasant tothe eye and sweet to taste.

The old growth being trimmed away, gives the

vine a chance to concentrate its efforts on that of the

new.

“Purging ... The Rod Of Correction.”

In the spring, when the buds of new growth are

forced open by both the rising of the sap and the

warmth of the ground, the old wounds ofcorrection, the prunings of theprevious year, are healed and the vine

in new leaf produces new and wholesome fruit.

God’s remedy for fruitlessness ispurging or pruning ... everysickness of growth, cut away by“Love’s Divine correction” andyielding in its place, a potential for

“healing and fruitfulness!”

Jeremiah 17 Verse 10 “I The LORD search the

heart, [I] try the reins, even to give every man

according to his ways, [and] according tothe fruit of his doings.”

John 15 Verses 1(b)-2 & 4 “... and my Father is the

husbandman.” (2) “Every branch in me that beareth

not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch]that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, thatit may bring forth more fruit.”

Verse 4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As thebranch cannot bear fruit of itself,except it abide in the vine; no more can ye,except ye abide in Me.”

Hebrews 12 Verses 5(b)-11 “... My son, despise notthou the chastening of The Lord, nor faint when

thou art rebuked of Him:” (6) “For whom TheLord Loveth He chasteneth, andscourgeth every son whom hereceiveth.”(7) “If ye endure chastening, Goddealeth with you as with sons; forwhat son is he whom the fatherchasteneth not?” (8) “But if ye be without

chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then

are ye bastards, and not sons.”

(9) “Furthermore we have had fathers of ourflesh which corrected [us], and we gave [them]

reverence: shall we not much rather be insubjection unto The Father ofspirits, and live?”(10) “For they verily for a few days chastened [us]

after their own pleasure; but He for [our]profit, that [we] might be partakersof His Holiness.”11) “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to

be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward ityieldeth the peaceable fruit ofrighteousness unto them which areexercised thereby.”

Matthew 12 Verse 33 “Either make the tree good,and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt,

and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is knownby [his] fruit.”

The development of “Divine Fruit,” in the

life of an individual, plays a vital and extremely

important role.

One that cannot be overlooked if folk ever

expect to progress into maturity in their growth and

development in Christ.

Paul the apostle, spoke to us concerning ...

“The More Excellent Way.”

1 Corinthians 12 Verse 31(b)

“ ... and yet shew I unto youa more excellent way.”

2 Peter 1 Verses 1(b)-4 “ ... to them that haveobtained like precious Faith with us through TheRighteousness of God and our Saviour JesusChrist: (2) “Grace and peace be multiplied unto youthrough the knowledge of God, and of Jesus ourLord,” (3) “According as His Divine Power hathgiven unto us all things that [pertain] unto life andgodliness, through the knowledge of Him that hathcalled us to Glory and Virtue:” (4) “Whereby aregiven unto us exceeding great and preciouspromises: that by these ye might be partakers ofThe Divine Nature, having escaped the corruptionthat is in the world through lust.”

I am of the firm conviction, that the

“more excellent way,” was the way of

“Growth and development of fruitsmeet for Righteousness.”

Further confirmed by Peter theapostle, who was given by“The Lord of Love,” sevenwonderful keys to ensure thegrowth and development of futuredisciples of The Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter 1 Verses 5-12 “And beside this, givingall 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 brotherlyKindness; and to brotherly KindnessCharity (Love).”

(8) “For if these things be in you, andabound, they make [you that yeshall] neither [be] barren norunfruitful in the knowledge of ourLord Jesus Christ.” (9) “But he that lackeththese things is blind, and cannot see afar off, andhath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”(10) “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligenceto make your calling and election sure: for if ye dothese things, ye shall never fall:” (11) “For so anentrance shall be ministered unto you abundantlyinto the everlasting kingdom of our Lord andSaviour Jesus Christ.” (12) “Wherefore I will not benegligent to put you always in remembrance ofthese things, though ye know [them], and beestablished in the present truth.”

Quote. G. Campbell Morgan.

“Faith,” is the root principle, and thismust first be developed until itreaches the ultimate fruitage, whichis “LOVE.” (end quote.)It is rather apparent from the above diagram that thestages of progression, are stages of growth

upward ... and out of “self,” into

“DIVINE LOVE:”

Each stage of progress dependent on prior

growth, without the “diligence of ourFaith,” there can be no “Virtue or moralexcellence,” without adding

“Knowledge,” to “Virtue,” there can be no

“Temperance or self-control.”“Knowledge” in itself, does not dispense with

the need to administer “Morality.”“Self-control” being the obvious

prerequisite for essential “endurance.”

The “Longsuffering” of “endurance,”contains within it “the virtue” of “moral

excellence.”

This does not mean, that we are to all run offand become Puritans. But it does mean that we areto live up to godly expectation. It is critical, when weunderstand that endurance calls us

to add to “the patience of temperance”... “godliness.” Add to “godliness,”“Brotherly kindness,” and then, if thesethings abound in us ... then, and only then can we

know fully that we abound in …

“DIVINE LOVE:”

Let it be understood, that participation in the

cultivation of the fruits of “Divine Nature,The Nature of The Character ofChrist Jesus” ... is just the startingpoint.

Holiness of life begins in theNOW!

Jesus comes, and resides withinour hearts, and it’s into our hearts,that He desires to deposit thatwhich we carry through this life tothat of the world to come!

“A man can take nothing withhim into Eternity, except that whichis stored in his heart!” (R.B.D.)

Ecclesiastes 5 Verse 15 “As he came forth of hismother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as hecame, and shall take nothing of his labour, which hemay carry away in his hand.”

As there are nine majorcomponent parts to our beatinghearts, so too, ironically there arenine fruits of The Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of God’s Holinessfound in the Person of Jesus, God’sLord and Christ.

Those Fruit are all those thatstore readily, deep in the recessesof our own hearts.

Here at least, we can carry with us, “themarks of the world to come.”

Look at what Paul saw, when he spoke of the

“Virtues of Christ and of the Purityfound in Jesus’ Own sinless Natureand Character.”

Philippians 4 Verses 7-9 “And the peace ofGod, which passeth allunderstanding, shall keep yourhearts and minds through ChristJesus.”(8) “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever

things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure,whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things

[are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue,and if [there be] any praise, think on thesethings.” (9) “Those things, which ye have both

learned, and received, and heard,and seen in me, do: and the God ofpeace shall be with you.”

What are the things that we are to …

“See, Hear, Receive and Learn,”from Paul’s own example:

i) Things that are ... true,(Truthful.)

ii) Things that are ... honest,(Honesty.)

iii) Things that are ... just,(innocent.)

iv) Things that are ... pure,(clean.)

v) Things that are ... lovely,(beautiful.)

vi) Things that are ... good report;(Those things that provide encouragement.)

vii) If [there be] any ... virtue,(or moral excellence.)

viii) And if [there be] ... any praise,(uplifting.)

These are those “Gems of hiddenvalue,” those precious treasures hidden in thedeep recesses of the heart?

The Gems of The Nature andCharacter of Christ Jesus,“The Prince of Peace:” That’s samenature and character beingdeveloped and outworked in bothyou and me!!!??

For all intent and purposes, if we are not

producing “good fruit” to The Glory of God,then we are cultivating only for ourselves.

Proverbs 10 Verses 12-13(a) “Hatred stirreth upstrifes: but Love covereth all sins.” (13) “In the lipsof him that hath understanding wisdom is found: …”

Did you just notice what Scripture said?

“ … but Love covereth all sins.”

Communion, is just like marriage in that it takestwo to communicate their hearts toward each other.

“Little Foxes, Big Vineyard …”

“It takes ‘two’ to decide to walk inunison, but only ‘one’ to end it!”

NO COMMUNICATION, NOCOMMUNION, NO COMMUNION... NO UNION:

In the Song of Solomon Chapter 2 Verse 8 we

have the picture of “The Groom” leaping the

high places and calling to “His Bride” the cry, isto,

Verse 10 “Rise-up my fair one andcome away …”

The scene of the courtship, now changes as

“The King,” refers directly to “His Dove.”He hides her in the “cleft of The Rock.”(Verse 14)

In the preceeding verses, the king has hid hislove in the cleft of the rock. Jesus is The Rock andwe are hid in Him as a …

“Bride in preparation.”

Over in Isaiah's book, it states,

Isaiah 65 Verse 8(a) “Thus saith the LORD, As thenew wine is found in the cluster, and [one] saith,Destroy it not; for a blessing [is] in it: …”

Song of Songs 2 Verse 15 “Take us the foxes,the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines[have] tender grapes.”

What the king is doing here in Verse 15, isdeclaring his warning for her to be on her guardagainst the multitude of what would seem to besmall distractions - that would lead to obvious sin orseparation in their proposed marriage and union.

The wise king knows full well the underminingeffect that sin’s corroding influence can have on herlife as she prepares herself as a spotless Bride forthe wedding.

The little foxes can only run through the rows ofthe vines and nip at any fruit which may be cominginto season.

The fruit of tender grapes, shows the possibilityof spoiling through having to tolerate the bruisingeffect of the little foxes constant nipping!

The encouragement to “take them,”means that “The Bride” in catching hold of

them can control their effects, before they getout of control:

Samson’s mischief among the cornfields of thePhilistines is a prime example of the way that

“little foxes” can spoil!

The payback was a mischievous form ofretribution for what the Philistines had done againstSamson.

By placing a flaming torch between the tails of150 pairs of frightened and terrified foxes, thenlighting them and setting them loose amongst thecornfields, all three hundred of them.

Samson assured the spontaneous outbreak offires in many locations at the same time -impossible to extinguish, let alone to contain.

This occurred during the time of harvest,

destroying both “the harvest, the grain,the stubble and hay and next yearsgrain for the future crop.”

Thereby weakening and impoverishing thewhole country because of the fires that raged.

As the fires spread, they destroyed not only theharvest and the standing corn, but the nearbyvineyards so that there would be no wine.

Right along with the destruction of both thevineyards and the wine store, the next to fall werethe olive groves so that there would be no oil!

Just stop for one minute to look at theimplications and the effects that this would havetoday amongst the congregation of

“The Church.”

The fire burns, one spark causing manyoutbreaks, destroying grain for harvest that is meant

to produce much, for the “Great Harvest.”

The next thing to shrink from the intensity of itsheat is the vine and its relationship to the fruit andthe branches.

Our God does not desire strange fire in our

midst! God’s Fire, is “The RefinersFire,” not some counterfeit

“Flame-out!”

The other area of influence in the firesdestructive rage is that of the olive groves which is

symbolic of ... “The Anointing, no oil, noanointing, the lamps of the virginssoon go out!”

“Beware the little foxes, that byflattery pretend kindness but whoseaim is to bring destruction throughtheir falsehood!”

“Little foxes,” try to avoid detection as

they hide in the shadow of the vine. Like “thetares” in the wheat field, we do not dwell alone ...they are in the vineyard, but they can only nip fromthe shadows.

They are not part of “The Vine” and the

only way they can try to partake of “The VinesNature,” is by consuming the fruit!

But as “the tares, had to growamongst the wheat ... the bad fishalso swam with the good.”

They remained only until they were separated

like “the sheep from the goats” by“The Lord of The Harvest:”

We are the ones that cultivate the garden ofour hearts and as labourers in the vineyard, theresponsibility rests with us to ask help of our Lord.

We need to ask for Godly counsel to deal withthese cruel nippers that spoil the vines.

“ ... for our vineshave tender grapes.”

In other words, lambs and the fresh new budsof fruit, are the yield of our pastures, vineyards andfields and as undershepherds, the protection ofthese tender ones rests with the Pastoral role.

They all need protection from the cruelty of

these …

“Ambushers of the night.”

Foxes are worriers of young lambs, and as acat worries a mouse to death. Foxes usually try toconfuse the ewes and separate the young lambwhich it then unbalances by continually snapping atits rear. It does this until the lamb collapses fromblood lose or is terrified with fear.

Then the fox lies alongside its prey to snipchunks a nip at a time out of the young lambs rearquarters to consume it alive.

Excited by the struggles of the lamb, this cruelbeast literally bleeds and tortures its quarry to deathfor the fun of it.

I can see now why God takes such a dim viewof those that use their mouths to consume alive andtoy with the lives of others.

We can now see, the king's warning to theShulamite woman resounding throughout TheChurch in this hour,

“ ... be guarded, be watchful,there is a prowler!”

Zechariah 13 Verse 6 “And one shall say unto him,What are these wounds in thine hands? Then Heshall answer, Those with which I was wounded inthe house of My friends.”

“Mischief-making,” is the

“firebrand” set in the tails of little foxes allowed

to run rampant in the vineyard of the Church ...we are to gain control!

Proverbs 26 Verses 20-22 “Where no wood is,[there] the fire goeth out: so where [there is] notalebearer, the strife ceaseth.” (21) “[As] coals [are]to burning coals, and wood to fire; so [is] acontentious man to kindle strife.” (22) “The words ofa talebearer [are] as wounds, and they go down intothe innermost parts of the belly.”

The Hebrew word for “talebearer” is,

Hebrew, “Rakiyl,” pronounced, “Raw - keel,”meaning a scandal monger, one who travels aboutboth slandering and carrying tales. The Greek word

is, Greek, “Nirgan,” and pronounced “neer -gawn,” meaning “one who whispersand rolls the pieces together inorder to promote slander.”

Yes, talk does come cheap, especially when it

is “cheap talk” arising out of ... “stinkingthinking!”

Hebrews 12 Verses 14-15 “Follow peace with all[men], and holiness, without which no man shall seeThe Lord:” (15) “Looking diligently lest any man failof The Grace of God; lest any root of bitternessspringing up trouble [you], and thereby many bedefiled:”

The thoughts and manipulationsof bitterness and other little foxes such as,

“malice” and “contentions” are nothing,compared to the mother of all whichis “gossip.” She breeds both“mistrust, suspicion” and ultimately

“fear.” All with one intent, to bothworry, unsettle and confuse theflock. To which God's Word is specific.

Proverbs 22 Verse 10 “Cast out the scorner,and contention shall go out; yea, strifeand reproach shall cease.”

Little foxes and big foxes all have sharp teeth:

“You do not abandon that which isvulnerable and defenseless!” Yes, thisis a sad, sad day in which we live where folk

constantly verbalize how great they are. Thendesert the charges to whom theyhave been given the guardianship.

Such is, and always shall be, thespirit of the hireling … “First sign ofa new carrot, and they’re off!”

The double-tongued ascribe constantly to the

art of “man-pleasing” and are so apt in theflowery use of the tongue.

This same conceited tongue used to blessAlmighty God, so readily responds to curse Hiscreated ... man.

By the competent use of smooth, oily wordsthat conceal the true heart intent. James was onewho hit the nail on the head when he said,

James 3 Verse 10(b) “ ... these thingsought not so to be.”

James 3 Verses 12-17 “Can the fig tree, mybrethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so[can] no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”(13) “Who [is] a wise man and endued withknowledge among you? let him shew out of a goodconversation his works with meekness of wisdom.”(14) “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in yourhearts, glory not, and lie not against The Truth.”(15) “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but[is] earthly, sensual, devilish.”(16) “For where envying and strife [is], there [is]confusion and every evil work.”(17) “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure,then peaceable, gentle, [and] easy to be intreated,full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, andwithout hypocrisy.”

There is only one true wisdom, it proceeds from

Him who is both “gentle, meek” and “lowlyat heart.” It is displayed by His nature carriedin the vessel with a true spirit of meekness andtemper, that is balanced in its display. In otherwords, it is out worked in the life:

It shows the true gold bearing relationship, thatbears calm reason and is best suited to speak it toothers.

It clambers not for the acclaim but knows

“wisdom produces the meekness,”it knows “meekness, is notweakness,” it is, “The Fruit ofHoliness, not religious pretence!”

This in itself gives the ability to both “endureand turn the other cheek!”

It knows its strength in God, because its

wisdom increases and it lays no trust in the “foolsgold of experience or being expertsof days gone past!”

Interestingly, James hits on three distinct thingsto draw a parallel.

i) “a tree.”ii) “a vine” and

iii) “a spring.”

In order for the wisdom that is from above to beeffective in the life of the believer, the vessel needsto be untainted.

The wisdom of which we talk, is first “pure,peaceable, easy to be intreated (orreceived)” and definitely “withoutpartiality.”

In order for the “two-edged” sword toproceed from the word of our mouth, there needs tobe the retraining of the waggling tongue of our oldnature.

The “law of sin and death” has been

conquered and now the “law of The Spiritof Life” is shown by The Presence of Him who isThe Tree of Life.

And we, willingly abiding in the corporate

function of “The Vine” of His Glory, as TheChurch of Jesus who is both Lord and Christ, our

Great High-Priest, A-men!

God’s Word states,

Colossians 3 Verses 8-9

“But now ye also put off all these; ...

1. - anger,2. - wrath,3. - malice,4. - blasphemy,5. - filthy communication out of your

mouth.”6. - Verse 9 “Lie not one to another, ...seeing that ye have ... put off ... theold man with his deeds;”

With the instruction to “put off” we canreadily see that this list of things too put away from

us are all to do with the mouth, and it takesYOU to make the choice TO DO!

Whilst chatting with a very dear friend, he toldme of what the Christian musician Don Franciscosang in a song that he’d heard just recently;

“Love, is not a feeling, it’s an actof the will!” “If you want to be loved,start by loving!”

There really is no excuse for arrogance,rudeness and resentment ... because you can restassured, that those that do these things that

“ … ought not to be so!”

They are manifesting nothing less than the

fruits of our “old nature” and not puttingon “The nature of the New!”

You can rest assured, that if a Brother or Sister

carries these areas of “arrogance,rudeness and resentment,” then it willnot be long at all before they begin to tolerate,

“anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,filthy communication and lyingtongues:” See, there is a “slipperyslope!”

Here, Paul relates to “garments,” when hespeaks to the Colossians. That is why he says thatwe are to

“Put off ... and Put on!”

At the Cross of Jesus, an exchange has takenplace. He has taken our old, tattered garments, andexchanged them for new ...

“The Robes of His Righteousness.”

Isaiah 61 Verse 10 “I will greatly rejoice in TheLORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for Hehath clothed me with The Garments of Salvation,He hath covered me with The Robe ofRighteousness, as a Bridegroom decketh Himselfwith ornaments, and as a Bride adorneth herselfwith her jewels.”

What a discovery we have found in this studywonderful, wonderful Instructor!

John 15 Verse 26 “But when the Comforter is come,whom I will send unto you from The Father, evenThe Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from The

Father, He shall testify of Me:”

Why should we find it strange that God would

have it for us to “put off,” these six things?

The direct irony being, that six is the numberused to discribe man in his old a fallen state.

The last in the list portrays the nature of who isbehind the scenes pulling at the strings of puppetsthat are unable to control themselves. God Himselfshows us that it’s the nature and the character of

“the liar ... and the father of them.”

Here exposed by all six traits of this dirty andseparating nature. Why is it that people cannot

understand the simplicity, that to say,

“NO,” makes you stronger!

Oh, The Grace, The wonderful BlessedGraciousness of God in that He would ask of ourparticipation with Him.

“Work it out, with fear andtrembling, put it off!”

Colossians 3 Verses 12-16

“Put on therefore, ... as the elect of God,

holy and beloved, ... bowels of mercies,kindness, humbleness of mind,meekness, longsuffering;”

(13) “Forbearing one another, andforgiving one another, if any man havea quarrel against any: even as Christforgave you, so also [do] ye.”(14) “And above all these things [put on]charity (Love), which is the bond ofperfectness.”(15) “And let the Peace of God rule inyour hearts, to the which also yeare called in one body; and be yethankful.”(16) “Let The Word of Christ dwell inyou richly in all Wisdom; teachingand admonishing one another inpsalms and hymns and spiritualsongs, singing with Grace in yourhearts to The Lord.”

“Put on therefore, …”“... as the elect of God,holy and beloved, …”

There is only one whose nature is Holiness

Personified and that is, The Nature andThe Character of Jesus who is both“Lord, and Christ!”

Without a doubt, there are definite keys here toliving life to it’s fullest in Christ.

In order to be able to “put on” the new man,we must know without a doubt, that Christ IS all in

all and “put off the old!”

You see, “new deeds,” comewith “The New Nature.”

1. - “bowels of mercies,”2. - “kindness,”3. - “humbleness of mind,”4. - “meekness,”5. - “longsuffering;”6. - “Forbearing one another,”7. - “forgiving one another,”8. - All covered by the over-

garment of “Love, thebond of Perfectness.”

1 Thessalonians 5 Verse 8 “But let us, who are of

the day, be sober, putting on The Breastplateof Faith and Love; and for an helmet, TheHope of Salvation.”

This passage is very unique to us in that it

gives direct refence to “The Breastplate ofFaith and Love,” which, is “The BreastPlate of Righteousness.”

It is the same piece of battle armor that TheLord of Hosts wears. And it’s the very same piece ofarmor that is set in place to guard the tables of ourhearts.

Placed right there with “Love” it is a guard

for “The Tabernacle of the heart!”

Isaiah 59 Verse 17 “For He put on Righteousnessas a Breastplate, and an Helmet of Salvation uponHis Head; and He put on the garments ofvengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as acloke.”

We, dwelling in Peace with the riches of TheWord of God who is by Nature the completenessand the fulness of The Godhead.

Jesus is the “finished work of God” in

human form, HE IS, “Divinity veiled inhumanity.”

James 1 Verse 4 “But let patience have [her] perfectwork, that ye may be perfect and entire, wantingnothing.”

Some of the least discussed fruits of The Holy

Spirit are those of “patience, endurance”and “longsuffering.”

Again let it be affirmed that without thedevelopment of these particular fruits within ourlives, we will make little or no progress to the stage

of maturity whereby we will be both “mature,content” and “wanting nothing.”

In other words, coming short in no area of ourlives. So now we can understand the importance of

the development of both “patience,endurance” and “longsuffering.”

As Paul encouraged the Colossian fellowshipto develop and guard the fruit as its being grownand prepared for the harvest.

If you cannot forgive, then your forgiveness is

rather “short-sighted.” God who is rich inmercy toward us, forgave us when we were theenemies of Christ and of all that the Cross stood for.

Jesus said,

Luke 7 Verse 47 “... she who is forgivenmuch, … loves much!”

James 1 Verses 19-27 “Wherefore, my beloved

brethren, let every man be swift tohear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”(20) “For the wrath of man worketh notThe Righteousness of God.”(21) “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness andsuperfluity of naughtiness, and receive withmeekness the engrafted word, which is able to saveyour souls.” (22) “But be ye doers of the word, andnot hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”(23) “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a

doer, he is like unto a man beholding his naturalface in a glass:” (24) “For he beholdeth himself, andgoeth his way, and straightway forgetteth whatmanner of man he was.” (25) “But whoso lookethinto the perfect law of liberty, and continueth[therein], he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doerof the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

(26) “If any man among you seem to be religious,and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his ownheart, this man’s religion [is] vain.”

(27) “Pure religion and undefiledbefore God and The Father is this,To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,[and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

“Pure religion and undefiled,” isclean, transparent and crystal clear ... it isabsolutely unpolluted in any way, shape or form.

It has nothing to hide and what’s more it is so

clean, that nothing can take refuge in it orpollute it!

It is like the plastic preserving film

“Gladwrap,” it seals to preserve intact and inso doing shows openly its heart motive is one ofintegrity in serving the Lord.

It pleases God not man ... it is most

assuredly not “a man-pleaser” nor “namedropper” trying to impress and draw attention toits own misguided experiences.

“Pure religion and undefiled,”knows how God as Father feels for His children andsees His perspective to comfort, protect and directand shelter in times of need.

And He does this through people like you andpeople like me!

This in no way gives us latitude or license tosuddenly be so arrogant as to profess ourselves as

“self appointed,” fathers of the Faith orfathers in Israel as the terms are so readilydisplayed like little religious merit badgers.

“Pure religion and undefiled,” ...is the purity of “relationship.”

Quote, “God did not gives usreligion but He did give usrelationship by and through His onlyBegotten Son, The Lord JesusChrist Himself.” “Either we have thatrelationship or we do not!” “ ... If wedo not then the onus mostassuredly is on us to do somethingabout it!” (Dalton)

“Pure religion and undefiled,” ...is nothing short of pure relationship that responds toThe Father-heart of God. It will reach out beyonditself to touch others and meet them at their point ofneed.

“Compassion, Mercy” and

“Kindness,” can never keep a“record of wrongs.”

It has removed “THE BEAM”from its own eye ... it is impossiblefor it to give an “EVIL REPORT!”

5 Quotes from, “Pentecostal Ministerial Ethics.”by Harry Leesman.

“A Minister must be absolutely trustworthy inmaintaining the confidences of pastoral work.People’s personal confessions of sinful behavioursand confidential statements during Counsellingmust be treated as a sacred trust.”

“A Minister should avoid public references topastoral situations if there is even the slightestpossibility of identifying the persons concerned.

5 Leesment, Harry “Pentecostal Ministerial Ethics” (1988 edit.)61 Templeton Street,

Cook. A.C.T.Australia. 2614.

Even illustrations showing a Counsellee in apositive light must first be cleared with the personconcerned.”

“A Minister should not start or pass on gossip.He should also gently but firmly stop others from sodoing. He should never speak critically of anyone,particularly those within the church. An indiscreetcomment by a Minister will be remembered longafter the most eloquent sermon has been forgotten.”end quote:

Life, is far too short, to be set to waste,majoring on minor issues. So, so many trivial thingsseparate even the closest of friends. God hasworked in our own lives, to build and create genuineLove, and it all starts with friendship.

You have probably heard it stated, “If youwant friendship, go make friends:”

This we do by communicating our hearts,

“we relay verbally, the expression ofour hearts via the vehicle of thetongue.”

In the exact same way, we can choose to end arelationship, it is unpicked, by the words of ourintolerant mouth. Usually, this occurs the moment,that someone supposedly offends us!

Proverbs 18 Verse 19 & 21 “A brother offended [isharder to be won] than a strong city: and [their]contentions [are] like the bars of a castle.”

Verse 21 “Death and life [are] in the power of thetongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruitthereof.”

We have all been betrayed at some stage ofour lives, by both the words of our mouths, and thewords of others ...

“only a friend, can betray a friend!”

Proverbs 18 Verse 24 “A man [that hath] friendsmust shew himself friendly: and there is a friend[that] sticketh closer than a brother.”

He is the one, that surely knows best, thewoundings of the mouths of friends.

Zechariah 13 Verse 6 “And [one] shall say unto him,What [are] these wounds in thine hands? Then he

shall answer, [Those] with which …I was wounded [in] the house of myfriends.”

I am sure, that more times than not, we woulddo far better to,

“keep our thoughts to ourselves ...keep our mouths shut!”

I have said it before, and I will continue tobroadcast the word that God laid in my own heart,

Quote, “Whoever or whatevercontrols your heart, controls yourmind; whoever or whatever controlsyour mind ... controls you!”end quote. (Dalton)

Hosea 8 Verse 7 “For they have sown the wind,and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk:the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, thestrangers shall swallow it up.”

We are responsible for every word that we

speak. Some times, our words, canbe as useless as chaff in the wind.

At other times, our words can become like

thorn seeds blown in the wind and just lookingfor a place to take root and causethe life to be choked out!

I don’t want to be held responsible for thedestruction of potential in someone else and I’msure that you don’t either!

But, you can be sure that “what you say,is what you get!” We indeed, “sow tothe wind but we reap the whirlwind.”

Ecclesiastes 10 Verse 12 “The words of a wiseman’s mouth [are] Gracious; but the lips of a foolwill swallow up himself.”

What would happen, just how ready would webe ... if it was suddenly decreed that every time wemet each other, we would do so with the greeting ...

“Greetings to you, may everyword that you’ve ever spoken aboutme, bless you ... yourself, athousandfold!”

I wonder perhaps, would we be so ready then,to receive back the thousandfold blessing of thoseself-same words with which our tongues have soblessed others?

“IF NOT ... HOLD YOUR TONGUEAND ZIPPETH THY LIPS!”

Ultimately, you can teach peopleout of deception:

Proverbs 17 Verse 28 “Even a fool, when he

holdeth his peace, is counted wise: [and] hethat shutteth his lips [is esteemed] aman of understanding.”

When one’s “outlook” is “inward,” he

constantly returns to “self,” and a manwrapped up in “self,” makes for avery small package! Sometimes folk talk soloudly, that they become like a classroom full ofseven year olds, all clambering to be heard aboveeach other ... but still,

“Grace, allows for growth!”

You’d better believe it, if youever expect to recieve it!

In James Chapter One, James makesreference to what is referred to as,

“The trio of Graces.”

(1) “swift to hear” - (ready, to receive.)

(2) “slow to speak”- (think about what you say!)

(3) “slow to wrath”- (Better to hold your tongue!)

James 3 Verse 6 “And the tongue [is] a fire, a worldof iniquity: so is the tongue among our members,that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on firethe course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.”

“A hypocrite, is too busy listeningto himself, to be bothered practisingwhat he preaches …”

He’s too busy in the manufacture of his own

“self-righteousness” so busy in fact that hereally has no time to listen for God.

(Yet for all intents and purposes, heor she creates the impression, thatthey do!!!)

Often, they fall into the trap of thinking that they

are the only one who is hearingfrom God!

They are in fact so pre-occupied, that they wantconstantly only to spread their own agenda, theirown gospel at the expense of God’s.

Proverbs 17 Verses 4 & 7 “A wicked doer givethheed to false lips; [and] a liar giveth ear to anaughty tongue.”

Verse 7 “Excellent speech becometh not a fool:much less do lying lips a prince.”

Proverbs 12 Verse 17 “[He that] speaketh truthsheweth forth righteousness: but a false witnessdeceit.”

So much so, that if people don’t respond, theyreadily go over into the area of fabrication andfantasy to stretch their delusions as the truth andcall a lie, a fact!

Proverbs 21 Verse 23 “Whoso keepeth his mouthand his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”

That little spark of criticism given in the

(so-called) right heart of “guiding pastoralcounsel,” can often be misinterpreted byimmaturity when people choose unwise preference

for an “over the back fenceconfidante!”

When the word is repeated back, it is so oftencoloured by additions added either consciously orinnocently and unfortunately, that spark gets flamed

by “the gossip gospel” into anoutbreak of discontentment.

It only takes a breath, and you have a raging

forest fire of “mal-content” ... all sparkedby one word, carried by a wind of“mistrust.”

It has been found so often to be true, that

“people who cannot or will not trust,are usually people who cannot betrusted!”

When tongues are aflame with pernicious evil,they are descriptive of one that is out to ruin anotherby slander.

There is a Greek word for this perniciousbehaviour,

Greek; “apoleia,”

Meaning, “perishable waste,damnable waste leading todestruction.” In other words, words thatdestroy and bring ruin and that have even thepotential to influence others to backslide away fromtheir relationship to God. The reference is pointed,

in that it marks the word “mischief” in the

“use” and “abuse” of the tongue.

Men have both waged war and resolved towardpeace by the use of their tongue. But there is onethat is worse still, because it’s the one that plots,

“It’s mischievous intent as an act ofchoice!”

Proverbs 29 Verses 20 & 22-23 “Seest thou a man[that is] hasty in his words? [there is] more hope ofa fool than of him.”

Verses 22-23 “An angry man stirreth up strife, and afurious man aboundeth in transgression.”(23) “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honourshall uphold the humble in spirit.”

As we have seen, there are disastrous effectsthat the tongue can produce: but like all that is setbefore us, ultimately we do have choice in thematter!

Let all of us take stock, andchoose to do good … A-men!

“The seeds of Love,” are the seeds of

“Grace,” “Mercy,” “Truth” and

“Compassion,” all fertilised by the substance

of “Faith” and “Watered” by “The Word”of God! Good planting everyone, God’s Richest.

There comes a time in life, where “dignity,has to rise above that of stupidity!”That’s the realisation of “the prodigal,” who’s

come to their “right mind.” “Right mind,right heart!”

2 Chronicles 16 Verse 9(a) “For The Eyes of TheLORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, toshew Himself strong in the behalf of them whoseheart is perfect toward Him.”

Man in his mortal state, has deep within adesire for God, he has a Gift from God, aconscience. And even from a child, he has the in

built ability to know “right from wrong, andgood from that which appears asobviously evil!”

“Sowing and reaping …”

He has a desire that his heart knows full well,but as often as not, his head denies what his heartis really saying to him!

Galatians 6 Verses 7-8 “Be not deceived; God is notmocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall healso reap.” (8) “For he that soweth to his flesh shallof the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth toThe Spirit shall of The Spirit reap Life Everlasting.”

Every man, woman and child, in every peoplegroup across the world, and for all time to comehave been and will be born with the God-given

“Gift of Conscience.”

Either we listen to the voice ofour heart of hearts, or we refuse toand choose to do that which “weknow,” is wrong.

Every man, woman and childmust at some stage takeresponsibility for their own actions.

Eventually, we all have to “reap, what wesow:”

For the child, they are not really held to account

before what is called, “the age ofunderstanding,” for the main, any child

younger than the age of twelve. But after “theage of understanding,” they are required

in their “growth stages ofdevelopment” to begin to take

“ownership” of their own actions.

Jeremiah 4 Verse 3(b)

“ … Break up your fallow ground,and sow not among thorns.”

The Bible tells us,

Hebrews 11 Verse 6 “But without Faith itis impossible to please Him: for hethat cometh to God must believethat He is, and that He is arewarder of them that diligentlyseek Him.”

If you are a “religious” person, then you

will be inclined to “chase the reward:” You

crave “The Gift,” to the neglect of “theGiver!”

“ … without Faith it is impossibleto please Him!”

You have perhaps forgotten,

Romans 11 Verse 29 “For the gifts andcalling of God are withoutrepentance.”

Why should Almighty God have to repent ofgiving you something that is untainted? God canuse an unclean vessel if He chooses, but He can’t

fill it! If He did, “the Gift” would be stained bywhat lies within!

James 1 Verse 17 “Every good gift and everyperfect gift is from above, and cometh down fromthe Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,neither shadow of turning.”

God Almighty, is not interested in you “pointscoring” by “good works.” Those works of

“self appointed righteousness” He

calls “filthy rags!”

The religious trample over each other to try to

“point score” with God.

Isaiah 5 Verse 20 “Woe unto them that call evilgood, and good evil; that put darkness for light, andlight for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, andsweet for bitter!”

“Isaiah 30 Verse 1 “Woe to the rebellious children,saith The LORD, that take counsel, but not of Me;and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit,that they may add sin to sin:”

Jeremiah 23 Verse 1 “Woe be unto the pastors thatdestroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saithThe LORD.”

Matthew 23 Verse 13 “But woe unto you, scribes

and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut upThe Kingdom of Heaven againstmen: for ye neither go inyourselves, neither suffer ye themthat are entering to go in.”

Luke 11 Verse 52 “Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye

have taken away The Key of Knowledge:ye entered not in yourselves, andthem that were entering in yehindered.”

So we can readily see, that God’s Word has alot to say about those with the wrong heart. You canby wrong choice be sowing the wrong seed!

Isn’t it wonderful to know that The Lord JesusChrist has done it all?

“It is finished …!”

Al that He is asking, is that we take “timeout” whilst dwelling on this earth. Take the time,and make a concerted effort to communicate with

Him, “The Eternal One.”

What does this mean for us? To some, it

means everything, because Christ is their “all inall:” They are passionate for Him, their heart isreal for Him. Like Mary Magdalene, they pour theirtears over His Feet. They know,

“How lovely are the feet !”

Christ has become for them their “All inall!” When Paul wrote to The Church at Galatia, hewas saying to them,

Just as the potential for harvest is contained inthe seed, we cannot expect a good harvest frompoor quality grain. Whether we are sowing to goodor evil. Either way, seed produces a harvest.

“For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the fleshreap corruption; …”

Yes, sin definitely has it’s downward spiral;

“The Wages of sin is death.”

“ … but he that soweth to TheSpirit shall of The Spirit reap LifeEverlasting.”

This very instant, I myself am gleaning grainfrom the fields of a spiritual Boaz. The name of thisnearest kinsman, is Dwight. L. Moody, and his littlebooklet, was published in 1896.

Deteriorating, and falling apart, yet the old

yellow pages are thrusting forth “MuchGolden Grain” to the pen of this scribe.

Jesus, is The Author and The Finisher and TheHoly Spirit, is The Teacher but he requires that youand I work alongside with Him, to put meat on thebones!

Wonderful Jesus, I thank you and am gratefulfor the faithful storage of Brother Moody and thepotential that is rising from the seed of his pen.Seed that is evident and seed sown by The Spirit ofHoliness:

What an excellent analogy, Moody penned TheWords under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit. Whoin due time relayed the structure of this dialoguenow presented from an ever increasing harvest tothe heart of you who now reads.

“The future, will be a harvest of thepresent!”

The opportunity for “sowing, willnot last forever, time slips throughour fingers second by second,moment by moment. Once it’sgone, it’s gone! ”

God has Blessed us with “windows ofopportunity,” let’s never let the chance to

share “His Love and The Seeds ofFaith” go by!

Don’t fill your bellies with contentment and

consume “The Grain” meant for planting anddeprive someone else of a future harvest!

Jesus left “The Great Commission”in place for each of us to be able to work along withand along side The Holy Spirit.

The mission statement and the mandate of TheChurch to,

“Go Ye …”“Speak Ye …” and

“Do Ye …”

To this, we can only add that just like thedisciples of yesteryear, we cannot help but speak ofthose things of which He has shown us!

John 3 Verse 11(b) “ … We speak that we doknow, and testify that we have seen;and ye receive not our witness.”

When Jesus said to,

Matthew 28 Verses 19(a) & 20(a) “Go ye therefore,and teach all nations, …”

Verse 20(a) “Teaching them to observe all thingswhatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I AMwith you alway, even unto the end of the world.Amen.”

Do we think that this injunction was only for theselected few!!!?? I think not! It was (and is) for all

who call Christ’s Body … “Church!”

To us that means, we join with those who’shearts burn within them. As He continues to teachus walking day to day on our way.

When God gave to men, The Gift of The Holy

Spirit, I don’t ever recall there being “a gift ofsilence!”

Luke 24 Verses 36-45 “And as they thus spake,Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saithunto them, Peace be unto you.” (37) “But they wereterrified and affrighted, and supposed that they hadseen a spirit.” (38) “And He said unto them, Whyare ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in yourhearts?”

(39) “Behold My Hands and My Feet, that it is IMyself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath notflesh and bones, as ye see Me have.”(40) “And when He had thus spoken, He shewedthem His Hands and His Feet.” (41) “And while theyyet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said untothem, Have ye here any meat?” (42) “And they gavehim a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.”(43) “And He took it, and did eat before them.”(44) “And He said unto them, These are The Wordswhich I spake unto you, while I was yet with you,that all things must be fulfilled, which were written inthe law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in thepsalms, concerning Me.” (45) “Then opened Hetheir understanding, that they might understand thescriptures,”

He opened the understanding of the disciplesthen, just as He does for His disciples right now!

Jesus did not just lay down the guidelines forlife on this planet as from Matthew Chapter 1 Verse1 through to Revelation Chapter 22 to the lastVerse 21, say, A-men, close The Book and sitdown.

No, He is both The Author and The Finisher ofour Faith. The Touch of Faith reaches through outthe entirety of The Book from Genesis Chapter oneto Revelations last Verse He didn’t just give TheBook, He is The Book!

He is “The beginning and TheEnd” and till He comes back for us, or we die andgo to Him. The outcomes and the expectations ofThe Lord are still the same,

2 Corinthians 9 Verses 9-10 “(As it is written, Hehath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor:his righteousness remaineth for ever.” “Now hethat ministereth seed to the sower both ministerbread for your food, and multiply your seed sown,and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)”

Acts 4 Verse 20 “For we cannot butspeak the things which we haveseen and heard.”

Matthew 28 Verse 20 “Teaching them to observe allthings whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.Amen.”

Our God is The One Who turns things around,here we go again, God looks into the unlookable,the heart and it’s intent. Even a heart surgeon can’tdo that, and he has the privilege because of God’s

“Word of Knowledge” to the medicalprofession to repair the damage to many a brokenheart.

But he cannot see … “thethoughts and the intents” of theheart of hearts! What an amazingFather we have!!!

1 Samuel 16 Verses 6-7 “And it came to pass, whenthey were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said,Surely The LORD’S Anointed is before him.”(7) “But The LORD said unto Samuel, Look not onhis countenance, or on the height of his stature;

because I have refused him: for The LORDseeth not as man seeth; for manlooketh on the outward appearance,but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

You can’t see what God see’s, your perception,is not God’s. A perfect heart, is a heart with rightintent, it’s a heart, that longs for The Lord to revealHis Purposes in our midst, and is excited about it.

1 Corinthians 2 Verses 9-10 “But as it is written,Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither haveentered into the heart of man, the things which Godhath prepared for them that Love Him.”(10) “But God hath revealed them unto us by HisSpirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, thedeep things of God.”

We need to turn around, and see nothing butGod. That’s the true meaning of the word

“Repentance, looking toward Godalone!”

The heart of a lion readily responds to the roarof The Lion of The Tribe of Judah! Cowards flee to

hiding places but “effectual impassioned”saints punch through as communication called,

“Prayer” rises from their hearts,they pursue and breakthrough!

I just want to swing over to the book ofZechariah to clarify my point.

Zechariah 4 Verses 1-10 “And the angel that talkedwith me came again, and waked me, as a man thatis wakened out of his sleep,” (2) “And said unto me,What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, andbehold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl uponthe top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, andseven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon thetop thereof:” (3) “And two olive trees by it, one uponthe right side of the bowl, and the other upon theleft side thereof.” (4) “So I answered and spake tothe angel that talked with me, saying, What arethese, my Lord?” (5) “Then the angel that talkedwith me answered and said unto me, Knowest thounot what these be? And I said, No, my lord.”

(6) “Then He answered and spake unto me, saying,This is The Word of The LORD unto Zerubbabel,

saying, Not by might, nor by power,but by My Spirit, saith The LORD ofHosts.” (7) “Who art thou, O great mountain?before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: andhe shall bring forth the headstone thereof with

shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.”(8) “Moreover The Word of The LORD came untome, saying,” (9) “The hands of Zerubbabel have laidthe foundation of this house; his hands shall also

finish it; and thou shalt know that TheLORD of Hosts hath sent me untoyou.” (10) “For who hath despised theday of small things? for they shall rejoice,and shall see the plummet in the hand ofZerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes ofthe LORD, which run to and fro through the wholeearth.”

There we have it, The vision of The Holy Spiritas God’s Light, The Lamp, The Seven branched

Lamp stand called, “The Menorah.”

“ … those seven; they are the eyesof the LORD, which run to and frothrough the whole earth.”

Here The Lord speaking to Zerubbabel makethe statement,

“ … Not by might,nor by power,

but by My Spirit, …”

Then down in Verse 10(a) The Lord declares,

“For who hath despised the day ofsmall things …?

“The least, the small, theinsignificant,” Paul considered himself to bethe least of The Apostles, even unworthy of thename.

1 Corinthians 5 Verse 9 “For I am the least of theapostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle,because I persecuted the church of God.”

Yet out of his heart came “The engraftedWord” set there by The Holy Spirit to launch

onto the world stage the recorded Word of God. Somuch input from a man now converted and on firefor God!

Ephesians 3 Verses 1-12 “For this cause I Paul, theprisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,”(2) “If ye have heard of the dispensation of theGrace of God which is given me to you-ward:”(3) “How that by revelation he made known unto methe mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,”(4) “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand myknowledge in The Mystery of Christ)”(5) “Which in other ages was not made known untothe sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His HolyApostles and Prophets by The Spirit;”

(6) “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs,and of the same body, andpartakers of His Promise in Christby The Gospel:” (7) “Whereof I was made a

minister, according to The Gift of TheGrace of God given unto me by theeffectual working of His Power.”(8) “Unto me, who am less than theleast of all saints, is this Grace given, that I

should preach among the Gentiles theunsearchable riches of Christ;”

(9) “And to make all men see what isthe fellowship of the mystery, whichfrom the beginning of the world hathbeen hid in God, who created allthings by Jesus Christ:”(10) “To the intent that now unto the principalitiesand powers in heavenly places might be known by

The Church the manifold Wisdom ofGod,” (11) “According to The EternalPurpose which he purposed inChrist Jesus our Lord:”(12) “In whom we have boldnessand access with confidence byThe Faith of Him.”

The thoughts and the intents of their hearts areGod’s, and via their lips, they break on through allinvisible barriers!

I ain’t shutting up!I ain’t quitting!I ain’t giving up!I ain’t backing down!I ain’t giving up on God’s Willfor my family or myself!

2 Kings 20 Verse 3 “I beseech thee, OLORD, remember now how I havewalked before thee in truth and witha perfect heart, and have done thatwhich is good in thy sight. AndHezekiah wept sore.”

“Intensity,” keeps the pressure applied!

“Persistent,” “fervent” and it becomes

“effectual” and it avails “much!”

Isaiah 38 Verse 3 “And said, Remember now, OLORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked beforethee in truth and with a perfect heart, and havedone that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiahwept sore.”

Why do you think that the man “weptsorely?” because he did not want to die thinkingthat he’s in some way let God down: His heart was

after God’s Own Heart! That’s God’s “can do”in operation!!!

James 5 Verse16 (b) & (c)

“ … pray one for another, …”

Verse (16c) “ …The effectual ferventprayer of a righteous man availethmuch.”

God is looking for that heart thatwill carry out “His Will,” “Purpose”and “Good Pleasure,” “those thatdelight to do!!!”

2 Chronicles 16 Verse 9(a) “For The Eyes of TheLORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, toshew Himself strong in the behalf of them whoseheart is perfect toward Him ...”

Sometimes good intentions are turned aroundthe wrong way. Especially by people who aredefensive and take things from a totally lopsidedperception.

The “self-righteous,” will always judgeafter their own standard and call it God’s. Becausethey are unable to focus on the heart of God.

Their intentions are always bias toward theirown opinions, so were, and so are

“The Pharisee!”

God’s Word is full of God … God starts with

The Word. “In the beginning” you need to

start with the basics of “The Word.” What doesGod say about what you are doing in His Word!!!??1 Peter 1 Verses 22-23 “Seeing ye have purifiedyour souls in obeying The Truth through The Spiritunto unfeigned Love of the Brethren, see that yelove one another with a pure heart fervently:”(23) “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, butof incorruptible, by The Word of God, which livethand abideth for ever.”

We are often confronted with the statement,

“Nothing lasts forever!”

Just how wrong can that statement be!!!Here’s what The Word of God has to say on thematter:

Psalm 119 Verses 89 & 160“For ever, O LORD, Thy Word is settled in Heaven.”

Verse 160 “Thy Word is true from the beginning:and every one of Thy Righteous Judgmentsendureth for ever.”

Like it’s Author, God’s Word is Eternal,

“From Everlasting to Everlasting.” It

is “Alive and Active.” It is

“incorruptible” and “ … it will notreturn to Him Void.”

God’s Word will achieve what Hedeclares, because it is a Word fromHim Who is Pure and Holy!

“Incorruptible Seed …”

Isaiah 40 Verse 8(b) “ … but The Word ofour God shall stand for ever.”

Listen to what Isaiah continues to declare,

Isaiah 55 Verses 6-11 “Seek ye The LORD while Hemay be found, call ye upon Him while He is near:”(7) “Let the wicked forsake his way, and theunrighteous man his thoughts: and let him returnunto The LORD, and He will have mercy upon Him;and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”(8) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neitherare your ways My Ways, saith The LORD.”(9) “For as the Heavens are higher than the earth,so are My Ways higher than your ways, and MyThoughts than your thoughts.”(10) “For as the rain cometh down, and the snowfrom Heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereththe earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that itmay give seed to the sower, and bread to the

eater:” (11) “So shall My Word be thatgoeth forth out of My Mouth: it shallnot return unto Me void, but it shallaccomplish that which I please, andit shall prosper in the thing wheretoI sent it.”

Right from the very beginning, Almighty

God, The Eternal One reached out of “Eternity,”the place of His Habitation.

Genesis 1 Verse 3(a)

“And God said, …”

From cover to cover, from Genesis toRevelation, the entire Bible, is God’s Word to us:

John 1 Verses 17-18 “For the law was given byMoses, but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ.”(18) “No man hath seen God at any time; the onlybegotten Son, which is in The Bosom of The Father,He hath declared Him.”

From Eden’s garden to the wanderings in thewilderness. Man’s wayward heart hardened likestone, so God etched His Word in rock.

“And God said, …” became,

“It is written!”

There could be no denying that which waswritten in stone. Yet, still man chose his owndevices. That is, except for the rare few who chose

(and who choose) to Love God for WhoHe is … The Lord God Almighty:

The Lord foretold that His intention was toreconcile His wayward creature. He was about toinscribe His Word on the tables of Man’s heart andgive him a tender heart to choose.

Ezekiel 36 Verses 26-27 “A new heart also will Igive you, and a new Spirit will I put within you: and Iwill take away the stony heart out of your flesh, andI will give you an heart of flesh.”(27) “And I will put My Spirit within you, and causeyou to walk in My Statutes, and ye shall keep MyJudgments, and do them.” (28) “And ye shall dwellin the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shallbe My people, and I will be your God.”

Such is “The Grace,” “The Love”and “The Mercy,” The Way of

“Incorruptible Seed.”

Now , you just can’t do that with corruptedseed! Can you now see how God can use TheWords printed in black ink in old books of yellowedpages to touch the very heart of His Created …man!!!??

Psalm 138 Verse 2(b)

“ … for Thou hast magnified ThyWord above all Thy Name.”

John 1 Verses 1-18 “In the beginning was

The Word, and The Word was withGod, and The Word was God.”(2) “The same was in the beginning with God.”

(3) “All things were made by Him;and without Him was not any thingmade that was made.”(4) “In Him was Life; and The Lifewas The Light of men.” (5) “And The Lightshineth in darkness; and the darknesscomprehended it not.”(6) “There was a man sent from God, whose namewas John.” (7) “The same came for a witness, tobear witness of The Light, that all men through himmight believe.” (8) “He was not that Light, but wassent to bear witness of that Light.”(9) “That was The True Light, which lighteth everyman that cometh into the world.”

(10) “He was in the world, and theworld was made by Him, and theworld knew Him not.”(11) “He came unto His own, and His own received

Him not.” (12) “But as many as receivedHim, to them gave He Power tobecome the sons of God, even tothem that believe on His Name:”

(13) “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will

of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”(14) “And The Word was made flesh,and dwelt among us, (and webeheld His Glory, The Glory as ofThe Only Begotten of The Father,)full of Grace and Truth.”(15) “John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying,This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh afterme is preferred before me: for He was before me.”

(16) And of His Fulness have all wereceived, and Grace for Grace.”(17) “For the law was given by Moses, but Graceand Truth came by Jesus Christ.”(18) “No man hath seen God at anytime; the only Begotten Son, whichis in The Bosom of The Father, Hehath declared Him.”

Thoughts are the seeds of actions, God’sWord, is called incorruptible seed,

1 Peter 1 Verse 23(b) “ … not of corruptible seed,

but of incorruptible, by The Word ofGod, which liveth and abideth for ever.”

We need to let The Word’s of Jesus Christ

“dwell in us richly.”

Jeremiah 29 Verse 11 “For I know the thoughts thatI think toward you, saith The LORD, thoughts ofpeace, and not of evil, to give you an expectedend.”

When we follow “the seeds ofinstruction,” we are able to grow into that

“Faith, that works by Love.” As we grow,His Word grows in us, we in turn grow in Him to

walk “uprightly in The Master’sFootsteps!”

2 Timothy 1 Verses 12(b)-13 “ … for I knowwhom I have believed, and ampersuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have committed untohim against that day.” (13) “Hold fast the form ofsound words, which thou hast heard of me, in Faithand Love which is in Christ Jesus.”

When we walk with God in the garden of our

own soul, who alone but The LordJesus Christ can walk there with us!

When we “think” on Him, we dwell with Him,when His Word wells up within us; Who alone canthat be, but The Spirit of His Holiness. In Him dwellsall The Fulness of The Godhead bodily, The Lord

Jesus Christ, Full of Grace and Truth!

You know, it is with great and intense Love thatI Love each and every one of my nine children. Butat this moment, I want to focus for a while on mydaughter Ruth.

My wife Nikki, is now with Jesus in Glory, butbefore Ruthie was born, we were Pastoring in NewZealand. And, Nikki used to say to me that she wasintrigued by the lady called Ruth in The Bible andher story.

The way that she gleaned for grain in the field

of Boaz her nearest kinsman. She said, “Youknow, I feel that this child, is a littlegirl for us and that The Lord isprompting us to name her Ruth.”Reason being, is that I am gleaning good grain fromthe fields of my husband, my Boaz.

That’s when she smiled and laughed and Isaid that she perhaps was to write a book titled,

“A woman like Ruth …” Her dry sense of

humour was revealed in her reply, “Oh, Iwouldn’t want to appear to be;Ruth …less!!!??”

There is a lot to be said for that, Ruth gleaningin the fields of her nearest kinsman. Why just this

day, my fifteen year old Lydia asked me, “Dad,who’s my next of kin!!!??” “WhyHoney, that’s me your Daddy, I’myour next of kin.” “That is, till I go tojoin Mum with Jesus!”

1 Peter 1 Verses 18-23 “Forasmuch as ye knowthat ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,as silver and gold, from your vain conversationreceived by tradition from your fathers;”(19) “But with The Precious Blood of Christ, as of alamb without blemish and without spot:”(20) “Who verily was foreordained before thefoundation of the world, but was manifest in theselast times for you,” (21) “Who by Him do believe inGod, that raised Him up from the dead, and gaveHim Glory; that your Faith and Hope might be inGod.”

(22) “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeyingThe Truth through The Spirit unto unfeigned Love ofthe Brethren, see that ye Love one another with apure heart fervently:”

(23) “Being born again, not of corruptibleseed, but of incorruptible, by TheWord of God, which liveth andabideth for ever.”

That’s been said, to say this, “take care inwho’s field you choose to glean forgrain!” Choose only those grains that are heavy,

ripe and bowing to “The Son;” God’s OwnIncorruptible, there to produce “TheTrue Hundred fold!”

“I went by the field of the sluggard… the best advice,

is to keep going!!!”

Bibliography of reference material.

a’ Kempis, Thomas “Imitation of Christ.”Blackie & Son Ltd.

(London/Glasgow.)

Bridges, Jerry “Value for all Things.”Devoted to God.”

“The Practice of godliness.”Navigator Press, 1983 edit.

Dake, Finis. Jennings “Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible.”Dake Bible sales. P.O.Box 1050.Lawrenceville, Georgia. 30246. U.S.A.

(11th edit. 1993.)

Dalton. Robert.B & Nicola.J (a) “Children of the Dust.”Menorah Publications. N.Z. (2007 edit.)

(b) “The Tabernacle and It’s Rituals.”Menorah Publications. N.Z. (1992 edit.)

(c) “The Centrality of The Cross.”Menorah Publications. (edit.2006 N.Z.)

(d) “The Law of Love.”Menorah Publications.

(edit 1997 Australia.)

Darby, John Nelson. “Synopsis of the Books of the Bible.”Copyright 1995 L. Hodgett

Francis, Rodney. W. “The General Epistle of James.”Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry.

Harbour Light Ministries.Hamilton. New Zealand. (1996 edit.)

Henry, Matthew “Commentary On The Whole Bible.”

Hendrickson Publishers. (1991 edit.)

Hira, Peter. “Home Group Study Series.” Vol.2New Zealand (1985 edit.)

Kidner, Derek. “The Proverbs.”The Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries.Inter-Varsity Press.Leicester, England. (1996 edit.)

Leesment, Harry “Pentecostal Ministerial Ethics.”October 1988 edit.61 Templeton Street, Cook. A.C.T.Australia. 2614.

Lockman Foundation, “Amplified Bible.”(chapter reference notes.)Zondervan Bible Publishers.(1987 edit.)

Marshall, I. Howard “The Acts of The Apostles.”(Revised edition)

The Tyndale New TestamentCommentaries. Inter-Varsity Press.W.B. Eerdmans Publishing. Co.

Grand Rapids.Michigan. U.S.A. (1994 edit.)

Missler, Chuck & Nancy “The Way of Agape.”(Understanding God’s Love.)Koinonia House Publishing. U.S.A.(1999 edit.)

Moo, Douglas. J “The Letter of James.”(Revised edition)

The Tyndale New TestamentCommentaries. Inter-Varsity Press.W.B. Eerdmans Publishing. Co.

Grand Rapids.Michigan. U.S.A. (1993 edit.)

Morgan, G.Campbell. (a) “An Exposition of the Whole Bible.”Marshal Pickering;

Harper Colins Publishers.77-85 Fulham Palace Road,

London. W6 8JB.England. (1959 edit.)

(b) “Handbook for Bible Teachersand Preachers.”Baker Book House (1994 edit.)

(c) “The Gospel according to Matthew.”Oliphants Ltd.33 Ludgate Hill, E.C.4London. England.

Mounce, William D. “Mounce’s Complete ExpositoryDictionary of Old &New Testament words.”Zondervan Press. (2006 edit.)

Murray, Andrew “The Blood of The Cross.”Whitaker House Publishers.

Myer, F.B “The Way into The Holiest ...Expositions of The Epistle

to The Hebrews.”Lakeland series. (1968 edit.)

Payne, J.Barton “The Theology of The Older Testament.”Zondervan Publishing. (1978 edit.)

Ryle, J.C “Expository thoughts on Matthew.”Banner of Truth Trust.3 Murrayfield Road,Edinburgh. Scotland.EH 12 6EL (1986 edit.)

Spurgeon, Charles. H. “The Soul Winner.”Whitaker House (1995 edit.)

Strong. James “The Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible.”Hendrickson Publishers, Massachusetts.

U.S.A. (1991 edit.)

Thompson, F. Charles “Thompson Chain Reference Bible.”B.B.Kirkbridge Bible Company, Inc.

(K.J.V. 1964. edit.)

Tristram, Dr “Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary.”

Vine, W.E “Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old andNew Testament Words.”

edited by F.F.Bruce.World Bible Publishers.Iowa Falls, U.S.A. (1981 edit.)

TM

Menorah PublicationsCatalogue 2014.

Series, “Discovering Discipleship … ”

Hebrews 6 Verses 1-2

No.1 - “Let us go on …”No.2 - The “how to,” called …

Repentance:No.3 - The “can do,” Faith from God:No.4 - “Baptism … the waters.”

No.5 - “The Laying on of Hands:”No.6 - “Resurrection of the dead.”

No.7 - “The Eternal Godhead:”

“ ... Going on to perfection ... !”

The first of a three part series of Bible Studies,these lay the foundation teachings of our Faithbased on Hebrews 6 Verses 1-2. Good for youngdisciples, each lesson is prepared so it can be usedas private, group or classroom study material.

Series, “Growing Discipleship …”

“The Be- Attitudes, Love‘s Divine Attitudes”Matthew 5 Verses 3-11

1.“Blessed” … “are the poor in spirit.”2.“Blessed” … “are they that mourn.”3.“Blessed” … “are the meek.”4.“Blessed” … “are they which do hunger.”5.“Blessed” … “are the merciful.”6.“Blessed” … “are the pure in heart.”7.“Blessed” … “are the peacemakers. ”8.“Blessed,” “are they which are persecuted.”

If you “be in Christ,” then it stands toreason, that whatever curved balls are thrown

to you in this life, you will “Be-in-Christ’s-Attitude,” and not react in an inappropriatemanner. As hard as that may be!

“Blessed are …” relates to the presenttense, to the here and now, not only to the future.But from here, to there and beyond!

This second of a three part series of Biblestudies, are designed to help understand thedevelopment of our Christian Character in our dayto day walk.

Series, “Overcomers…Discipleship.”

That ye might be ... “partakers.”Peter 1 Verses 1-11

1.) “And beside this, giving all diligence ...”

2.) “... add to your Faith virtue ...”

3.) “… and to virtue knowledge;”

4.) “And to knowledge temperance; …”

5.) “ … and to temperance patience; …”

6.) “ … and to patience godliness;”

7.) “And to godliness brotherly kindness; …”

8.) “ … and to brotherly kindness charity(or LOVE.)”

Our third in the Discipleship series, is

“Discipleship that Overcomes,”

And is titled,

That ye might be ... “partakers.”

These lessons come from the second letter ofPeter and work well alongside the previous series

entitled, “The Beatitudes” which cover thedevelopment of our Christian Character.

If a man has come to the place of little or nogrowth, then surely, he has remained as a babe. Ifhe has not given himself over to be dealt with byThe Spirit of Grace, then he is marked by the arm ofthe flesh.

He is still a Christian, but a carnal Christian, ababe in Christ. But if he completely surrenders hiswill to The Holy Spirit, he will rapidly and willinglychoose to put down the deeds of the flesh andbecome what God’s Word calls a

“Spiritual man.”

Copy-right ... personal observations.

To those Brethren, that have laboured long andhard in The Word of our God ... I take time to Bless them publicallyfor their endeavours to pass on that Holy Ghost inspired Wordthroughout His Church ...

Hebrews 6 Verse 10 “For God [is] not unrighteous to forget yourwork and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His Name,in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

Therefore, edify The Body of Christ, encourage and exhort;but remember, if you are tempted to call the work of another yourown, you are the one that will in the end be held responsible foryour actions. “The Spirit of Grace,” gave the work to the hand of“the scribe,” who faithfully put pen to paper. Plagiarism, is not onlyillegal, it is immoral; above all, we must ...

Romans 12 Verse 10“[Be] kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly

love; in honour preferring one another;”

So I exhort you in The Name of our Lord and Saviour, to feelquite free to use the material with which The Lord has so blessedus and those before us, bearing in mind that the pre-eminencebelongs to

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself ...

Your brother in His service,

Robert .B. Dalton.

Matthew 10 Verse 8(b) “ ... freely ye have received, freely give.”

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“The stronger the foundation,the brighter the future!”

1 Corinthians 3 Verse 11“For other foundation can no man

lay than that is laid, …which is Jesus Christ.”

Let us join together to,

“Church the Un-Churched,Teach the Un-Taught,”and most of all,

“Reach the Un-Reached ...for Jesus!”

“Go Ye ... !”“Speak Ye ... !”

“Do Ye ... !”

About the author.

Born and raised in inner Sydney, N.S.W. Australia, Robertwas a child when the likes of Arthur Stace, Alan Walker and TedNoffs ministered to Sydney in the nineteen fifties.

The Lord spoke to Robert at the age of seven, outside of theold Cleveland Street Congregational Church. For many years, hecontinued to live for himself. That is, until The Lord again spoke tohim in The Bay of Plenty in New Zealand. He received JesusChrist into his life as Lord and Saviour in February, 1980. BeingWater Baptised in April, Born Again and Filled with The Holy Spiritin May of the same year.

Bob and Nikki married, in October of 1987 and have anawesome family of five plus four of Bob’s older children withaltogether and to date nineteen Grandchildren.

Bob has compiled and published materials helpful for growthand development in Christ Jesus. Sadly, but with great joy, Nikkipassed into Glory to be with our Lord. 21st July, 2014.

Over the years, Bob has ministered as a Pastor/ Teacher andfunctioned as itinerant Preacher with a strong call to Missions.

His desire, is to see more folk, coming out of themselves,and going deeper into personal relationship with our Lord andSaviour, The Lord Jesus Christ.