“He Who Has Ears To Hear, Let Him Hear!”

If They Are Going to Hear We will Have To Speak Up And Plant The Seeds Luke 8:1-15 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. (Luke 8:11) We are to go out with the seed in hand and speak it (plant it) so that those who have ears to hear it, or at least have their ears open so they can hear it, will hear it and have the opportunity to make a choice one way or the other. You see the soil represents the heart condition of the one who receives it. Jesus hear tells us of different kinds of ground the seed falls on. The seed that falls on “good soil” (v. 8) represents receptive hearts “who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest” (v.15). We are “God’s field” (1 Corinthians 3:9) where “the word of God” is planted. Even as we cultivate good soil, it’s God who makes “things grow” (v.7) and makes us fruitful (vv. 6-9). So, We need to ask ourselves this question, after reading this portion of scripure this morning. First are we a planter of the word? Second what kind of Soil are we, in this moment, are we prepared and ready to grow. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. (Luke 8:12) First you might be one of the ones by the wayside, who are showing interest but kind of just standing on the side lines, You have heard but not sure yet if it is for you or not. This verse says, the devil is waiting to swoop in and make sin look good. He will take the word out of those kinds of hearts away, before they have a chance or even take the time to decide if they want to believe or not. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.(Luke 8:13) When you hear of the word and the seed falls on your hard heart, you get all excited, you seem to recieve the word and are happy about it, the seed sprouts but it has no root because of a hard heart, it is then, the enemy bring temptations along and you fall away chasing after other things that also look tempting. So you fall away. When your heart is hard like this,nothing is going to penitrate it, until the heart softens and it is cultivated and prepared. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. (Luke 8:14) There are those of you out there that are all mixed up, you've dabbled in other religions, you have tried all kinds of drugs and dope, you've dabbled and played around with sexual activity, and likely many other things.. You hear the word of God and the seed falls among all those thorns, all of those mixed up ideas,you try and make a go of it on your own, but those other things rise up and choke out the word. things like worldly cares, making money, pleasures of life,so all of the little fruit that might be coming gets dried out and does not come to maturity. You only thought you were a Christian. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:15) This is speaking of the GOOD SOIL, that which has been prepared, cultivated and ready to hear.. When the seed falls on this soil, their heart is good and noble, they grasp onto the seed, and the ypatiently bear fruit. By their fruit you will know them. Tjhat fruit is LOVE, Joy, PEACE, (Galations 5:22-23) This reminds me of seeding the garden in the spring, there is a reason, they tell you to seed certain seeds at certain times, because the seed responds differently to different tempratures and prepared soils. That is the same with the owrd of God.. Spiritual growth looks like that sometimes. I know that I had a desire to grow, but my heart and mind had to be prepared to recieve the word of God as I studied it. I would not see answers to my prayers, and that the enemy used to discourage me and to try steal away the seeds. I had to allow God to cultivate my patience, my anger and self-control, I had to learn to be gentle and loving (see Galatians 5:22-23). I needed to constantly ask God for help to create and condition the soil of my heart. I needed growth in my prayer life, I needed to grow some study paterns in the Scriptures, I neede to understand my worship to my God, what did it look like? I had the gifting to serve, what did I have to do, to be fulfilling that gift. Slowly over the years I believe and know the Holy Spirit produced that growth. Friends, as "GOD"helps us, He will cultivate our soil so that it becomes “good soil” and we will see our growth in Him. Father God, thank you for helping me cultivate “good soil. I thank you that I have seen answers to prayer, I have seen growth in my life. I thank you that you are the master when it comes to planting the word of God. Please continue to plant the seed in my heart, thank you for helping me produce good fruit from good soil. Lord, I love you and want to serve you to the end. It is in your name I pray AMEN