Thursday: Weeding the seed

But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is February 26th, and in just a couple of days we will be out of February ... come on, spring ... I am so ready for spring! Today is Family day on this line, a day we pray for families, and I ask this today as you pray for my family and I pray for yours -- Are we really that much different? Think about it over the next few days. Think about this ... It has been brought to my attention by the first person to receive these messages. She is Cherokee and uses the screen name of "Razzzincane". This lady has inspired me before, and I am praying that her words to me via email yesterday will turn into a message soon.

Working those seeds: As you know, this week we have been, well, getting our garden ready. On Monday, we worked the earth, on Tuesday, we got our seeds or plants and put them in the ground. Yesterday, we put on the fertilizer and water. Today, well, today we are going to do the really hard part! We are doing the back-breaking work of pulling the weeds, those nasty, nasty weeds that will overtake a garden in a heartbeat if we do not keep ahead of them. We must protect our seeds and plants as they grow, for surely the weeds will grow bigger and faster and end up killing off our work if we let it. Maybe we should go back and thank Adam for this ... just a little blame on this one.

Adam was placed in a garden with all the things a man could want, well, except a woman, so God made him Eve. We all know that story. Then they sinned, and listen to these words right from God ...

Genesis 3: 17 To Adam He said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it' (the very first first commandment), "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (NIV)

Matthew 13: 25 "But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared." (NIV) These are the words of Jesus my dear brothers and sisters.

Ok, so now we really know why we have those dreaded weeds in our garden, it was because Adam and Eve broke the very first commandment that was given by God. Keep your fingers off that one tree. Men, don't you dare blame it on Eve or even the snake, for under God we men are to be head of the household, and for Adam should have told Eve a solid NO. But they failed and sin came ... and so did the first punishment, and ladies you did not escape it either. In fact, I think God handed you more punishment than he did men. First, you must put up with men, (just kidding on that one, but it is a fact). Because of this sin, this very first sin, men get to pull weeds, but ladies get the pain at childbirth ... and trust me on this, if men had to bear the children and have that pain, there would be no more kids, because we are wimps when it comes to pain, when compared to women. Hey, I got off my subject.

So brothers and sisters, let's now look at our garden, you know the one we are putting forth for our Lord Jesus. We have prepared the garden or the one or ones we are working on to bring to Christ. We have planted the seeds about Jesus on the minds of those folks, be it flocks at a church being worked by the pastor, or we are working the garden one-on-one helping people to become saved. We feed and water our seeds, those who we are working with by helping them to understand and use a Bible and other material they need to stay in touch with God. This should include good solid worship time, prayer time, and going to a good church (there are good ones out there and also some really bad ones).

Today, we talk about pulling the weeds. What does this mean when it comes to working the fields of Harvest for our Lord Jesus? We need to see that the ones we are working with do not fall into the hands of Satan and his very, very big team of workers. Let me tell you that he will send in many, many weeds. These weeds will appear in many forms. Satan will bottle the weeds, you know those booze bottles. I am not saying that a glass of wine will hurt you, but I will say that the booze that comes in those bottles are like the weeds in a farmers field, and they will overtake us if we let them. It does not always take a lot of it, sometimes it is where and how it is served. Men, do you really need to get a beer and some chicken wings at Hooters? And ladies, do you really need to make money so much that you take off your clothes to earn it? Hooters is just one example I am putting out there today as weeds in the garden. There are others. The corner bar ... think about it, if you hear of gunfights, or just fights, does in not happen most at those bars, or when we think of fights in a house, family fights, how often is one or both drunk or high on drugs? Oh drugs, did I mention that they grow like weeds in the garden? Cars, boats, stuff, when we let it take over our lives, it can become weeds in the garden. Now I am a car, bus, truck nut and I have a collection that some think is way out of line. Although I do not have big ticket vehicles, I do have a lot, but still they could become weeds if I put them ahead of God in my life. I might have at one time, I do not now. But I still like them, and like to work on them. What am I saying here? Here is a test ... If you cannot use something for the good of the Kingdom of God, ask yourself, should I have this or is it a weed in my personal garden, my walk with Christ? If you have stuff, and most of us have stuff, how much of it can you really use in your walk with God, how much is just for pretty, and how much really is weeds? Go ahead ask yourself that.

As I wrap this up for today, I want you to think one more time about the weeds that can kill off the plants as they grow. And this is a quote from me, and you may use it. "Before we go to the gardens of others to pull weeds, we need to weed our own gardens." To this I will add an Amen!

Dear Father in Heaven, the weeds grow because of the sin of Adam, but let us not blame Adam for this, for indeed we also are sinners, saved only by the Grace of our Lord Jesus. Thanks for saving me from sin, dear Lord, and please help me to repent. Help me walk in Your garden, to weed my garden, for the weeds surely grow in my own garden. Help me clean the gardens of my family and show them how to keep You in the front of all things. Lord, help us to walk with You, and Lord, protect us from the weeds that come from Satan and his evildoers, and keep us walking the straight and narrow way to You. Lord protect families, not just those on this line, but world-wide. Protect the family we here in America call the first family, protect President Obama and his family, and keep them safe and away from the weeds. In the name of Jesus, I ask and pray that we might walk this day to please You. In Jesus name, Amen.

In closing today, I want you to know that if we are not careful, we also could become the weeds in the gardens of others, even those we are trying to help. Think of it, we all sin, but we must work hard to be sure that we are not covered with the weeds and the seeds of the weeds, for when we walk into the garden to work with others for our Lord, we do not want the weeds to be seen on us. We want to be a worker for God, not for Satan. Trust me on this, Satan loves to bring Christians down, for he cannot get to our Lord Jesus, so he will try and get us who love Jesus, for those are victories for him. Don't be a weed, be a seed ... and share those blessings from your stockpile of blessings that God has given you, and watch God bless you even more ... love ya, dan.