The Thorns of Carnality

 Matt 13:7
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

The thorns in our lives that keep us from growing in our faith and grace take on many shapes. The main throne that keeps our roots from getting firmly established and grounded in the Lord is the thorn of carnality. Carnality is not a popular topic among many progressive thinking “Christians”. Many feel it is a thorn that can’t be removed, we just need to keep them from overtaking us. But scripture says, “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Roman 8:7). This thorn keeps many from growing and being all that God desires one to be. The carnal mind is pulled toward self and the desires of the flesh. It seeks to make sure that self is first and is cared for. Paul said we are to present ourselves a living sacrifice to God, fully surrender our heart, soul and mind to the will of God. Take self off the throne and put Christ first in our lives. This work of living sacrifice is also called sanctification. Allowing God to set us up apart, making us a holy vessel for His service. The Holy Spirit is given right away to move in us, and through us to accomplish the will of God. The thorns of carnality often spring up unaware and choke out the seed of the Gospel that was planted. The things of the world and the cares of life have a way of stifling Christians from growing to maturity. God’s desire is to remove the thorns in our lives so that we can be fruitful for the kingdom and live in harmony with the will of God

Abstain From Sin

 1 Peter 2:11
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
Unbelievers of this world judge Christians by the fruit they manifest. They do have high expectations that Christians will live a life that mirrors the life of Christ. Our influence for Christ is demonstrated by how we treat others. Our words of testimony have very little impact on others if our lives are not consistent with the teachings of Jesus. Peter admonishes believers not to give in to temptations to fulfill sinful desires that we may face. If we give in to the flesh, we are no different from the world that lives in their sin. Living for Jesus is a transformational life. The old things of the world have passed away, and all things have become new. Being a follower of Jesus is being a light to the world around us. When the world sees the good works that Christians do, they recognize that Christians are not like others, they are selfless, giving, charitable and kind. If they observe Christians giving in to sinful behavior, they lose respect for those who call themselves Christians. The bumper sticker, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” can give the impression that Christians are still sinners. Christians have been delivered from sin and are now called to be saints of God.  Christians are not perfect, they are still subject to human shortcomings and mistakes, but the heart can be made perfect before God. This world is not our home, we are only passing through. Like a vapor, we are only here for a short time. What little time we have, may it glorify God in heaven.

Winning Souls

 Proverb 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

The soul of man is trapped and is held by Satan. From the fall of Adam and Eve, the soul of man has been made captive to sin and darkness. A child, as innocent as it may be, was born with the nature of sin in his heart. The battle to “win” back God’s creation has been fought from the beginning of time. It is the desire of God that souls be brought back into fellowship with Him. Winning souls is to convert others from their sinful ways and win them over to Christ. To win is to teach and persuade others of the claims of Christ in their heart.  Teaching them that the source of life is found in the tree of life. Righteousness and right living is to confess our sins, trust in the blood of Christ to cleanse our heart from sin, and live righteously before Him. As Christians, we are to be ambassadors for Christ, doing what we can to convert others to follow Christ. Our first responsibility to win others to Christ is to live a life that reflects the image of Christ. Our words and teaching are discarded when our lives are not consistent with the teaching. It is through the teaching of the word in harmony with our lives that others can be won to Christ. It is possible to win others to Christ without walking them through the "Roman road to salvation." Our life should be a living Bible, seen and read by all men, but there is power in the spoken word. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Roman 10:10. Let our fruit be that of righteousness and our lives win others to Christ.

Disobedience to God

 Gen. 2:17
​​ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The fall of Adam and Eve points to a tree placed in the garden. The tree was put there for a purpose. God does all things with a purpose. The tree of knowledge tested man’s obediences to God, the one who created them. The command was simple, “Don’t eat this fruit”. God’s commandments are given for man’s good.  A tree with fruit that God forbid them to eat. The fruit was no doubt a fruit to be desired. Eating of the forbidden fruit would open Adam and Eve to the dark evil ways of sin. It was not so much the fruit itself, but the disobedience of Adam and Eve that caused them to plunge into darkness, causing their hearts now to seek the pleasures of evil.  God made man a free moral agent, the ability to choose right, or wrong. God did not predestine Adam and Eve to make the wrong choice, they could have abstained from the temptations of Satan, but they choose to listen to the deceptive lies of Satan and disregard God's words. We all have choices to make each day. Sometimes choices are made without all the information, but such choices are not willful disobedience to God’s word. But, “Thus saith the Lord.” are made clear in His word. Our human judgment may falter, but we can have a heart perfect toward God. Draw close to God, and He will draw close to us. Follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and do what He saith. 

Abide in the Vine

 John 15:4
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

As much as we may try to be a good person and do what we think is right, it still comes short of bearing the fruit that God requires. In the secular world that we live in, the number one priority is humanity, unfortunately half the US population does not consider you to be human until your lungs take the first breath outside of the mother’s womb. Humanism is a religion or way of life that puts humans before it will be considered the creator of humanity. Humanism seeks to bear fruit without Christ. Real fruit can only come from abiding in the true Vine. All other fruit is fake fruit that appears to be the real things, but is not derived from the true source. Your fruit is fruitless in the eyes of God, if it does not stem from the true source. He or she may be a good person because they act good and do good deeds, but such is not necessarily evidence that such a person is abiding in Him.

Living in the Vine

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John 15:5- I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Living in The Vine is the name of this personal Bible journal (Blog). The essences of being a Christian is to live and abide in Christ, and to remain always in Him. Having a religion called Christianity without abiding in Him is idol worship and is fruitless. The world measures success by what a person accomplishes in life, but it is all vanity outside of the Vine. The expectation of being part of the Vine is to have a life that will bare fruit. It is the fruit of our lives that testify that we our abiding in the Vine. If the branch does not bare fruit, Jesus said it is of no use and is to be cut off and cast away. We may call ourselves Christians, but to truly be part of the Vine it is essential that our lives show the fruits of the Spirit of God. I judge not, for only God knows the heart. Let us examine our hearts and the fruit of our character. Abide in the word of God, keep His commandments, let your actions show the world what it means to belong to the Vine. As long as we abide in Him, there is no fear of being cut off and cast away.

The Soil of the Heart

Luke 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart…

The good news, the gospel seed is God’s word to us. The words of truth, words of salvation, words of how to live to honor and glorify our Creator. Jesus tells us that not everyone receives truth the same. Cultivating the soil of our heart is our responsibility. Willingness to open our heart to truth and obey His word is the first step in preparing the soil of our heart. We need to be honest with who we are and let the Holy Spirit turn over the hard soil of our heart and allow Him to remove the stuff in our lives that hinder a deeper life in God. An honest and good heart does not find excuses and avoid what is good for the soil. It knows that it needs to be plowed and made ready for truth. When the seed is planted, the results are roots that go deep allowing for times of draught and stability to withstand the harsh conditions of life. The type of soil we are is not predestinated, we have a choice in determining what kind of soil we will be. The choice is wayside, rocky, thorny, or good ground. Let God’s seed of truth grow in your life to produce the fruit He desires of you.

Evidence of Faith

James 2:17- Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Truth is validated by evidence. Without evidence, claims are just speculation and opinion. The discovery of evidence is more likely to lead to truth. The heavens have declared the glory of God and His creation demonstrates His existence. I believe God is because I see His handiwork all around me. I have seen Him work in the hearts of lives of people. People who have come to faith in God, just don’t say they now believe, but there is a change in the way they live. Their faith is evidence in the works they do. It is a simple cause and effect reaction. I believe, I therefore do… The fruits of their lives will demonstrate what they believe. If you say you are a Christian and believe that Jesus is Lord of your life, then the evidence will be seen in the way you treat people and the love you show by giving of yourself to help others. Our works is the life we live. It is the evidence seen by the world that we are who we say we are. Without faith it is impossible to please God, the evidence of our faith in then demonstrated in the works we perform.

The Father of Lies

Gen. 3:4, John 8:44 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die…the devil..for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The devil is a liar and deceiver. His lies are shrouded with enough truth to convince people that they are right. The heart of man has been corrupted and is easily deceived. Before the fall of man, the devil tempted man to give in to their human natural desires. There was nothing wrong with eating fruit in the garden of eden, they were just not to eat this one fruit. Why God put this one fruit in the garden is speculation. Like Job, God knew and allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve. Why did they not just flee, and resist temptation. We are left with many questions unanswered, but this we know, sin entered into the world by one man’s sin, and failed to believe God and obey His commandments. We may not always understand the reasons God say “no”, but blessed is the man who will put their trust in the lord, and lean not to their own understanding. The devil will come and do all he can to deceive you and me into doing what is wrong, but if God said it, we must believe it! Don’t believe the devil, He is a lair and the father of lies.  

River of Life

Jer. 17:8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,…

Drought comes to everyone, Times of distress and unbearable heat. The survival of a plant will depend on it’s source of water. The plant whose roots can tap the water that flows underground, or the plant that can draw from a river near by can survive the heat. The heat of the pressures of life, the heat of conflict, the heat of loss, or the heat of temptation. A tree that reaches the true source of life, and touches the fountain of living water is able to survive the testing of trust. Those who put their trust is God, and not in man’s ingenuity, God will not only keep them from withering  away, but they will continue to bear fruit, and their lives will show the radiance of God’s glory. The heat is indiscriminate, it will affect the ungodly and the godly. Bad things do happen to godly people, but the godly have been planted by the source of living water. They will survive, they will overcome, they will flourish. don’t let the heat of this world destroy you, spread your roots and tap into the River of Life.

Sowing and Reaping

John 4:37 And herein is that saying true, One sows, and another reaps.

It is easy to get discourage sowing the seed of the gospel and not seeing anyone won to Christ by the efforts we make. Weather it is inviting someone to church, or extending the love of God to help someone, God has given all of us a job to do. Ultimately, it is God who gives the increase. Some are given the gift to speak, to engage in conversation to share the grace of God concerning salvation and new life in Christ. Others work hard behind the scenes to show kindness and acts of mercy to people who are not open to preaching, but open to see God’s love demonstrated. Reaping cannot happen without the seed being sowed. If the ground is fertile, the Holy Spirit waters it with conviction. The season for reaping is before us. As we go about planting seed, let us be vigilant to gather the fruit of the harvest for the day draws near and the season will soon be pass.

Our Inheritance

Psalm 47. He shall choose our inheritance for us…”

Read this morning in a devotional that went with last nights sermon. “Some Plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get but little. You are put there by your loving Husbandman, because it is only in that situation that you will bring fruit unto perfection”- Spurgeon. God, the all knowing chooses the valley we walk through because He knows what is best for us. Let us trust His will for our lives even when life does not seem fair. Our inheritance is His plan for our lives.

Doing Good

Gal 6:9 “And let us not be weary in welldoing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Doing good is a nature response of a Christian who is desiring to live close to God. The motivation to do good is not driven by what we can get back in return. But we desire to see the fruit of our labor as we reach out to see others find Jesus. We can become weary of not seeing our efforts bare fruit. We sow the Gospel seed by showing kindness to those who don’t know Him. We also show others that we don’t live unto ourselves, by carrying each others burdens. We cannot give up our efforts in doing good to others and to those who are of the household of faith. We may not see or reap in this life, but in due season, God will give the increase.