Roadside Soil

The roadside soil represents soil that is hard packed by the busyness of life.

Roadside soil is represented by people busy with many worldly pursuits. These are not bad in themselves, but if there is no time to consider the seed or word of God then our heart does not produce anything of substance.

Roadside soil can represent people that don't accept the Bible as the word of God. They reject the word because they don't believe it. They think it's foolish and it's not worth their time to listen.

Life has 3 elements to it. Physical, mental or soulish and spiritual. Now all three need to be taken care of. The physical is the most obvious. We need food, clothing, shelter, transportation and a source of income to pay for these. The soul or our mind needs to be educated to function in society and procure work to provide for ourselves and those we love. It is our spirit that is the inner source of our life. Our spirit or what we call our heart is where we make our decisions. It is the foundation for what we want to learn and get for our life.

The Word of God is food for the spirit or our heart. Other foods for our heart that are not good could be evil spirits or self love. A starved spirit or depraved spirit will express itself in non productive ways or evil ways.

Salvation is needed to renew our heart to the place it was created for. Each of us has sinned and broken the rules God has set up for us. Romans 3:23

The result or wages of our sin is death. Death or separation from God which results in going to hell.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

But God devised a way for us to be redeemed from this predicament. Jesus came to earth and lived a life free from sin and was wrongly put to death. This death paid for our sins which we would have had to pay with our lives.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His onw love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

The way we acquire this gift is to believe in Jesus instead of living our old life. We make a statement of a change and belief.

Romans 10:9,10 “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “

Eph 2:8,9,10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. “

God's word at first brings us to salvation. Satan tries different methods to stop us from acquiring this new life. But if he doesn't succeed, he will try again to keep us from growing.

Understanding this parable is a foundation or prerequisite of understanding the Bible.

Are we busy with work? Yes we need to provide for our family but if we neglect the other 2 areas of life our foundation will come crashing down at some point.

Do we find more fulfillment in recreation rather than in God and His word? If this is the case we again are neglecting life's foundations.

Is our schedule such that there is no time for God?

We can get so caught up in the rush of life that our ability to hear God and grow as a person is hindered.

A seed planted in roadside soil has no ability to germinate because of the hard pack of travel. Then it is exposed for the birds to eat them before they have a chance. The seed then is gone and the possibility of new life is lost.

Many go to church to hear teaching but the moment they walk out the door they completely forget what they heard and the lesson is lost to them.

Take care with the Word of God and pray over it after you hear it. Pray for God to make it real in your life and plan to incorporate it into your life.

The Sower and the Seed

Sower parable combined. Mark 4:2-9; Matt 4:3-9; Luke 8:5-8

And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow his seed; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds of the air came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it grew and sprang up because it had no moisture with no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it out, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”And He was saying these things, He would call out. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Sower Lesson Explained

Mark 4:13-20 Matthew 13:18-23 Luke 8:11-15 combined

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? Hear then the parable of the sower. The sower sows the seed which is the word God.

These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear the word of the kingdom and don't understand it, immediately Satan, the evil one, comes and takes away the word which has been sown in their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary. They believe for a while, then when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.

And others are the ones on whom seed was sown and fell among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, and as they go on their way the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, pleasures of this life, wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. They bring no fruit to maturity.

And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast and accept and understand it and who indeed bear fruit with perseverance. Some thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

Psalm 57 God's Protection

 v 1
Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
For my soul takes refuge in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge
Until destruction passes by.

David asks for grace. We have the way opened for us to receive grace anytime we want to by going to God in prayer. Hebrews 4:16 Many of the epistles start with "grace to you." God is offering us the ability to live the Christian life, and that ability comes to us by the God's grace.

God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Knowledge, works for God, or lack of sin does not bring God's ability. Our coming to God for His power and ability which fills our soul with hope does bring His ability. Going to God for mercy is like receiving God's manna morning by morning, for God is our source.

In David's trouble, he takes refuge under the wings of God. Being "under His wings" is referred to in other Bible passages also. It is a place of protection and hiding. Psalm 91 is the most famous. I go to that psalm frequently, trusting God for His protection. The wings could be referring to the Cherabim covering the mercy seat of God's throne.

v 2
I will cry to God Most High,
To God who accomplishes all things for me.

David cries out to God who accomplishes all things for him. He has a confidence in God that what he asks for will be answered. We can have that confidence in God as well. God will hear our prayer and answer. What God starts, will He not finish? We can trust God to complete His work in us. Philippians 1:6 God's word will accomplish what it was set out to accomplish. Isaiah 55:11

 v 3
He will send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah.
God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.

David asks for help from heaven. He understands that help from man will not do. He needs the help of God. We as well should take the same attitude of looking to God for our help. David needs the enemies to be reproached by God.

Love and truth are sent. When we see the love and truth of God, His light will show us the path of life to follow in this day. They go together. One without the other won't work. Jesus came to bring His kingdom to earth. But He did it through love by laying His life down that we might have the way of truth to God. Living by the Word of God in love is our solution also. We don't overcome evil with evil, we overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

v 4
My soul is among lions;
I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,
Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows
And their tongue a sharp sword.

Living with lions. David was in the midst of trials. He was living in the midst of people that had it in for him. David fled from Saul in the cave.

v6
They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They dug a pit before me;
They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah.

The enemies have prepared a net, and David's soul is bowed down with burdens and worry. His enemies have dug a pit for him. We can be overwhelmed as we focus on the difficulties that are before us. But we can know that the enemy's efforts will be turned against them as they fall into their own pit. God will deliver us from the power of the enemy and set us free in Christ.

v 7,8
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
Awake, my glory!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.

David remembers God's goodness and turns to worship, singing praises. He reminds himself to get up early in the morning and worship, give thanks, and praise God.

Why?

v10,11
For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens
And Your truth to the clouds.
Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

God's lovingkindness is great and truth up to the clouds are from Him. Let us worship the Lord. For He comes to save and deliver.

In the midst of opposition David believes God for answered prayer, David rests and trusts God. David overcomes his bowed down soul by worshiping God.

Judge Ehud

Judges 3:9-30 After the first judge of Israel, Othniel, died,

Israel again turned away from the Lord and followed after other

gods.

We don't have idols in this day, but we do have things that we

put in front of God. How do we know if we put something in

front of God? It is when we are living for our time with God to

be over so we can do the things we want to do. It is when we

are praying but can't keep our mind on prayer because of our

desire to do other things. It is when we look at disdain at
spending time with the Lord.

v12 So the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab.

When we neglect the Lord, the things of this world will control

us and take over, and we will live in subject to them.

It is when the Israelites cried out to the Lord that a deliverer

was raised up. Don't neglect the Lord and when we find ourselves

under bondage we should cry to the Lord and He will raise up a

deliverance for us.

Isaiah 62:6,7 "On your walls O Jerusalem I have appointed

watchmen. All day and all night they will never keep silent.

You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves and give

Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in

the earth."

We live in the New covenant now. We don't have to beg God to

answer. But we do need to stand against Satan. And this is what

we should do. Eglon gathered other armies and defeated Israel
and possessed the city of the Palm trees.

The city of the Palm trees could have been Jericho. But that

city was torn down by Joshua at the beginning of the invasion

of the promised land. Deut 34:3 refers to Jericho as having

palm trees. It could be south of the city; there was a

settlement there.

Ehud was the deliverer for Israel. He made for himself a sword.

He did not go buy a sword. He made it himself. Now this might
have been the norm. But when you make something you understand
it better. When you make something you appreciate it more.
When you make something it means more to you. When you make
something it is special.

Now, he was not making something that would sit up on the shelf.

He was making something that was going to be used. So he made

it specifically for the job at hand. 

The two-edged sword is a type of the word of God. Heb 4:12 For

the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. Isa 41:15

God has made for us a new sharp threshing sledge. With it we

will pulverize the mountains and make the hills like chaff.

God's word will destroy our enemies. The hills and mountains are

types of the trials that come our way. And the word of God will

make riddance of them. Jesus has a two-edged sword coming out of

His mouth in the book of Revelation.

The word of God is a weapon when we believe it and confess it

and use it to our advantage.

When we are in the word of God we are in the Spirit. For John

6:63 says the Words Jesus speaks to us are spirit and the are

life.

Ehud bound the sword on his right leg so he could reach it

easily with his left hand being left handed. In the same way we

can prepare the Word of God in our hearts to access it when we

need it. Study to show yourself approved unto God 2 Tim 2:15

There are areas in our life that need the attention of the

Scriptures. With this attention we can walk in faith and slay

the enemy by the use of the sword of God.

It is not just having the word of God, but we need to practice

using it. It is by this practice that we discern the will of God

and renew our minds to use the Word of God when life

throws trials at us. Rom 12:2

Eglon was a very fat man. Our enemy is not so strong that we

can't defeat Him as we walk in the authority God has given us.

We have the victory in Christ. Greater is He that is in us than

he that is in the world 1 Jn. 4:4 This fat man could not

defend himself against the word of God. When you look at

Scripture there is nothing that can withstand the word of God.

Rom 1:16 the word of God is the power of salvation. Even when

people reject it they can't stop its work. Some of the most

unlikely people get saved. Why? Because of the working of the

Word of God.

v28 After God has given us the victory in prayer we need to

walk it out. Walk it out with faith that as God has answered

your prayer He will support you as you accomplish the work He

has for you to do. Live in expectation. Live in joy of the

victory. Expect God to work with you with signs.

Romans 8:11

Rom 8:11 "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

The Holy Spirit is giving me life to live on this earth and be effective in the kingdom of God. And not just a little dose of life. But LIFE EVERLASTING. And this life everlasting can reach out to others and bring life to them.

The Holy Spirit brings the word to our remembrance and this word is life. John 14:26; John 6:63 The Word of God is so rich.

The Holy Spirit is dwelling in us. This life within is waiting to burst out. Praise God. The Holy Spirit gives life as I listen to Him. Thank you Jesus.

Rom 8:11 "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

Sickness really is a part of our body not operating right. For the Holy Spirit to give life to our body is to heal what is wrong with us. He raises us up from the sick bed with newness of life.

Rom 8:11 "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

But if the Spirit

We have the Spirit at our new birth. And we have the baptism of the Spirit. But there needs to also be refreshing of the Spirit of God. It is not so much that the Spirit needs to be revived but we need to be revived with the Spirit of God.

The words Jesus spoke to us are spirit. John 6:63. And it is by the Word of God that we are revived.
Psalm 119:25, 40, 50, 107, 159,

It is the great peace that comes to us as we love the Word of God. Ps 119:165

Jesus was raised from the dead by the Spirit of God. Jesus who had all the sin of the whole world on Him was raised from the dead by the Spirit of God. It is this same power that will give life to us throuth the Spirit of God. Thank you Jesus for your spirit.

The Spirit of God dwells in me. I am the temple of God. Not that I am special but God is special to choose man to live with. Who am I to have this Spirit? Yet I have this same Spirit that raise up Jesus from the dead and He went to sit at the right hand of God the Father. And now He is making intercession for me to the Father as I speak the words of The Spirit of God spoken to me through the Bible.

Now I have this life but life is to be lieved and used not horded. If I try to hoard it disapates. If I give it grows within me.

The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. The glory of the Father raised Jesus from the dead. Romans 6:4 So the Holy Spirit took the Father's glory to raise Jesus from the dead. I see glory as light. The Holy Spirit took the Fathers bright light to raise Jesus from the dead. And what is the light? Ps 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. The word of God is the light of God. The Holy Spirit took the word of God to raise Jesus from the dead. And this same word of God will also raise us from the deadness of the flesh to walk in the newness of the spirit. Let the Word of God richly dwell within you.

Without Jesus being raised there is no hope of the gospel. And if we are not raised we are walking in the flesh and not the spirit. Where there is spirit there is life. What does the Spirit do? He reminds us of the Scripture. The words of Jesus are Spirit and they are Life. He who has hears to hear let him hear.

The Spirit dwells in me. I don't have to search for Him just quiet myself to listen. He will speak if I will stop speaking and obsessing, and staying busy to look important.

Why should we try to look important? We have the living God the creator of the heavens and the earth within us. We have more than the answer to our needs dwelling within. We have fullness of joy dwelling within.

The Spirit will also give life. Just as He did for Jesus He will do for me. It is the same word He will do. And greater works will we do because Jesus returns to the Father. What is Jesus doing with the Father? He is praying for us. John 14:14 If you ask Me anything in my name I will do it." If Jesus is assuring us that He will answer our prayers. Then won't He answer His own prayers that He is giving to the Father?

How Long?

Psalm 13 How long? How Long? How long? How long?
How long, O Lord?
Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide Your face from me?

How long shall I take counsel in my soul?
Having sorrow in my heart all the day.

How long will my enemies be exaulted over me?

4 how longs. This is a psalm of David and he expresses exasperation of a lack of an answer to prayer.

Forgot me forever - No answer and the sky seems like brass. His prayers are to nothing no answer no consolation.

Without an answer there does not seem to be a God up there. God hides his face.
When David asks God hides. Why?

Take counsel in my soul. To consider why this trial has come. All the day. The pain beings up the problem David is not able to forget.

How long will his enemy be exaulted over him? David does not have the answer. He is wondering why not. He is oppressed by the enemy.

B U T

This new word will do a wonderful work in our heart. The complaint should not end, with a complaint.
But
1. I have trustred.
But
2. My heart shall rejoice.
But
I will sing.
Why this turn of events?
David is a man after God's own heart. 1 Sam 13:14 Acts 13:22 And what does God's heart delight in? He delights in faith. Faith to obey. Faith to trust.
Hebrews 11:6

David trusts in God's lovingkindness.
David's heart shall rejoice in God's salvation.
He expresses his trust and heart rejoicing with singing.

And why does David respond to the seemingly forgetfulness of God. The removal of God's presence from him. The enemies exaulting over him.

David confesses that God has dealt bountifully with him in the midst of God seemingly to forget him. David sings to God in the face of God seemingly being far from him. David rejoices in the midst of his enemies being exaulted over him.

Why because David believes God. He expresses his belief in the midst of turmoil and trial and seemingly defeat by rejoicing, singing and trusting. He confesses that God has delt bountifuly with him. Not a woe is me but God will come through. BUT He trusts and rejoices in God in the very midst of trial, forgetfulness and opression.

He expresses faith in the midst of adversity by trusting singing rejoicing and confessing God's provision.

This is how we stand in the midst of trial explained in Eph 6:11 2 Cor 10:3-5

Stand against the schemes of the devil.
How by trusting, rejoicing, singing and stating God's provision.

And what is God's provision? The promises in the Bible. 2 Peter 1; 2 Cor 1:20

For in Him we live and move and have our being. It's not we live when things are going our way. It's we live becasue we have Jesus. It doesn't make any difference what Satan throws at us. We live when we have Jesus.

Psalm 13

How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
² How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

³ Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
⁴ And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

⁵ But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Go with God and His Word

Fear tolerated is faith contaminated. Kenneth Copeland

 Counter fear with the Word. 2 Cor. 10:3-5

 The dominating power of the Word of God. Isa 10:27 John 1:1,14 John 14:10

 Have faith in the dominating power of the Word of God John 14:12

 We are born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God. 1 Peter 1:23

 Decide to go with God and His Word.