Dirt week 2 Pull
out the weeds
We're going to work this week.
Matthew 13:24-30 NLT
[24] Here is another story Jesus told: "The Kingdom of
Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. [25] But that night
as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then
slipped away. [26] When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds
also grew. [27] "The farmer's workers went to him and said, 'Sir, the
field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come
from?' [28] "'An enemy has done this!' the farmer exclaimed. "'Should
we pull out the weeds?' they asked. [29] "'No,' he replied, 'you'll uproot
the wheat if you do. [30] Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will
tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn
them, and to put the wheat in the barn.'"
1.
Pull out the weeds.
1.
Pastor Mike the bible says to not
pull the weeds, that's for those young in their faith but for us seasoned
Christians the directions are very different.
2.
The weeds are those things that keep
us from fulfilling our God given potential and hold us back from our fulfilling
life in Christ.
3.
Define the weeds of our lives, then pull
them.
1.
We're going to pull out the weeds of
frustration, pull out the weeds of lack, pull out the weeds of fear.
2.
Some of us need to pull the weeds of
addiction, the weeds of abuse, the weeds of disappointment.
3.
Pull out the weeds of discord, the
weeds of dissension, but Pastor Mike I'm tired of pulling the weeds, well
pulling the weeds is the only way to see past what the enemy is doing and see
what God is trying to do.
4.
Many of us have to pull the weeds of
failure, pull the weeds of our current stresses which instead of worrying about
we should pray about then leave with God.
5.
Pull the weeds of gossip, backbiting,
negativity, laziness, and mediocrity.
6.
I'm so weary of weed pulling, well
weed pulling will define you it will encourage you, it will discipline you, it
will help you raise the standard in your your life, oh when was the last time
you raised a standard instead of lowering one.
1.
Vs.25 As everyone slept, weeds were
planted.
1.
While we relax, while we're not
focused, while we're not looking, while we're not paying attention, while we're
not thinking about it or expecting it, while other things activities and
adventures transpire, the enemy drops by for a disturbing, life altering
visit.
2.
I promise that as you keep lowering your
standards the Devil will destroy you, the enemy will have his way with you and
he'll define your next steps rather than God.
1.
He is an expert in his field.
3.
Weeds are always destructive and
distracting.
4.
Vs.26 When the crop began to grow,
and produce grain, the weeds also grew the growth in both cases running
parallel, as antagonistic principles are seen to do.
1.
Enemies of each other.
2.
Batman and the Joker.
3.
Dogs and cats.
4.
Superman and kryptonite.
5.
Tom and Jerry.
6.
Sponge Bob and Plankton.
7.
Wylie coyote and the roadrunner.
8.
Pastor Mike and country music.
5.
Dark and light.
1.
Enemies of each other, weeds and
wheat.
2.
Enemies of each other sin and
righteousness.
3.
Enemies of each other doing wrong and
doing right.
6.
Vs.27 But we planted good seed
right?!
1.
This well expresses the surprise,
disappointment, and anxiety of Christ's faithful servants discovering those
faking it among the Church.
7.
Vs.29 It will be done in due time,
but not now, nor is it your business.
1.
My business is planting good seed and
weeding me.
8.
Vs. 30 The weeds are good for us they
are motivational to our growth, to our work structure, to our perseverance, to
our abilities, they produce a healthy competition if you will.
9.
Young weeds and young blades of wheat
look the same and can't be distinguished until they are grown and ready for
harvest.
10.One will ripen
for salvation the other for destruction.
1.
Harvest represents the rapture of the
church, the judgement, meeting God face to face which we'll all do.
4.
Everyone’s weeds and seeds
look different based upon your priorities and what you want to accomplish for
God, for your family, and for others; however, here are some “seed planting” activities to keep yourself
in a strategic mode.
1.
Ask yourself, “What am I working towards?"
2.
Define your top priorities for the
next day and for each one answer the question, “If
I do nothing else on this priority tomorrow, will I, will the team advance or
suffer?"
3.
Remind yourself, “No one else can do this but me.”
4.
Ask yourself, “Do I REALLY need to do this?”
5.
Call a spiritual mentor and ask “How am I doing?”
6.
Use quiet times to refocus
on what’s
most important and how you’ll use the rest of your day.
7.
Get out of your boxed in frame,
office, cubicle, work structure, paperwork, baby sitting and energize yourself,
stir up the gift of the Holy Spirit in your life.
2.
The enemy plants weeds continuously.
1.
The Devil is feverishly,
passionately, and destructively doing everything possible to destroy you, your
fields, your family, and your future.
2.
The enemy makes a copy of the good
things of God to use against you and give you a lesser than design than God
ever designed for His children.
3.
The copy he makes will never fulfill
you, the copy he makes will never satisfy you, the copy he makes will never
bring you to your purpose in God but the copy he makes will always end up
destroying you.
4.
The devil desires you focused on the
weeds and not on the fruit of your labor, points out all the negative things to
show you your lack, show you your waste of time, waste of resources, and show
you your unbelief.
5.
Your doing good he's doing bad it's
in his nature it's also in us and we battle against that nature.
1.
Most of us have some discipline
around establishing goals and priorities for the things that need to be done to
achieve our goals.
1.
However, no plan survives contact
with the enemy.
2.
The enemy planting continuous weeds
of I'm so busy I don't have time to read the bible, no time to go to church, no
time to pray, fast, serve, or care for others.
3.
The enemy is I'm so far behind on my
bills I can't afford to give to God.
1.
I can't afford not too.
2.
God is my strength, my source, my
rescuer, my salvation, if I can trust Him with my eternity I better be able to
trust Him with my finances.
4.
The enemy is well this cute guy or
girl from my job asked me to lunch and he/she pays attention to me unlike my
husband/wife.
5.
The enemy is well I don't care if it
offends anyone around me I'm living my life to make me happy and everyone else
can just...take a long walk off a short dock.
6.
All these so-called “enemies”
are insidious in that they draw us into “the
weeds.”
7.
Satan desires to sift us like wheat;
to separate us from God's goodness and His way.
8.
He wants to snatch God's word out of
our hearts and minds.
2.
In those moments when the enemy
attacks, the simple thing to remember is that's a weed.
3.
Sort out the weeds and burn them.
1.
When we first come to Christ it all
begins with DIRT doesn't it.
2.
Dirt representing sin this week.
3.
We ask God to forgive us of our dirt,
cleanse us of our dirt and keep us from reengaging back into the culture of the
dirt.
4.
Next there is a developmental process
that we must go through that allows us to adjust our human life to conform to
the spiritual life.
1.
Growth-to
develop into maturity.
2.
Progress-forward
advancement through successful stages.
Galatians 5:22-26 NLT "[22] But the Holy Spirit
produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. There is no law
against these things! [24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions
and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. [25]
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every
part of our lives. [26] Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or
be jealous of one another."
3.
The fruit of the Spirit is our
measuring apparatus to gage our spiritual growth in God or for the lack
thereof.
4.
The Fruit of the Spirit displays
growth and is the evidence of the Holy Spirit being active in your life.
5.
As we begin the spiritual development
process we must turn our lives over to God for control.
1.
You can not do it alone.
2.
Don't be overcome by temptation.
3.
Get sin out of your life.
4.
Let the Holy Spirit guide you.
1.
Sorting out weeds and burning them
requires some heavy attention on my part:
1.
Love: Affection for others.
2.
Joy: Exuberance about life.
3.
Peace: Calm, peaceful, and
untroubled; when all HELL breaks loose in your life.
4.
Patience: Willingness to stick with
things; Don’t
Give Up!
5.
Kindness: Compassion for others.
6.
Goodness: Conviction that a basic
holiness permeates things and people.
7.
Faithfulness: Make loyal commitments
and follow through.
8.
Gentleness: Not needing to force our
way.
9.
Self Control: Able to marshal &
direct our energies wisely.
2.
Progressive Development:
forward advancement through successful stages.
1.
The problem is that we think that it
should all come at once.
1.
Salvation is an instant redemption
from sin.
2.
Spiritual growth is a progressive
development.
3.
Sanctification is a process.
2.
If you want to see if you are
beginning to experience growth, test yourself on the Fruit of the Spirit.
1.
Spiritual development is a process,
growth is a process, successful things take time, energy, effort, hard work,
and sincere concern.
4.
Put the wheat in the barn.
1.
Every person I know generally has a
vision of creating something that adds value to life and will be sustainable.
2.
They don't want their life's work
destroyed by the enemy, by the weeds, by this culture, or by their lack of
productivity.
3.
They desperately wish to fill the
barn with the fruit of their labor.
4.
The seeds are important goals,
missions endeavors, ministry moments that contribute to the growth of your
business, your church, your family,
or yourself.
1.
An investment.
2.
Most of the things we call weeds have
a ruderal growth strategy.
3.
Ruderal means they grow fast and have
a short life cycle; they put all their resources into rapid growth and
reproduction instead of long term stable growth.
4.
The things most likely to grow in
sidewalk cracks, an old dirt pile, a bare spot on the lawn, or growing in waste
places have this ruderal growth strategy.
1.
It’s not so much
that weeds grow better, its just that we call things that grow fast
"weeds."
2.
You know what grows fast, sin.
3.
A weed is a weed.
1.
It cannot change it's shape, form or
future it's a weed.
2.
Once a weed always a weed.
1.
Planted to destroy it will destroy,
it will accomplish what it was sent out to do.
3.
Be careful what you plant or allow to
be planted in your life!
1.
Many of us allow friends, family,
culture to plant all manner of evil into us, into our spirits, into our heads,
into our lives, never estimating their destructive patterns or behaviors.
2.
Put the good things in.
3.
Allow the good things to remain.
4.
Don't remove the good things because
you're busy, because your tired, because your sidetracked, confused,
frustrated, or depressed.
1.
Put the wheat in the barn to save it,
to store up for using at the right time.
4.
Weeds adapt to their surroundings
better than a lot of plants.
1.
I refuse to adapt to this culture.
2.
I refuse to modify to the enemies
motives and destructive methods in my life.
3.
I refuse to be just another weed that
going to get plucked up, sorted out, and burned.
5.
Weeds don’t
cut trails or set the pace for longevity.
1.
Wheat is beneficial for every person.
2.
Wheat was served at every meal in
bible times and was very healthy for them.
3.
Sifting like wheat today is not a
good illustration.
1.
This modern culture thinks of sifting
flour, the soft fluffy substance.
2.
But when God was talking about
sifting wheat He was referring to a very violent action used to separate the
grain (wheat berry) from the stalk and the chaff.
3.
It meant literally tearing the wheat
apart.
4.
I remember the name threshing floor because
it's not that far away from thrashing and that's what they did.
5.
They beat and bent and thrashed the
wheat stalks until the grain had fallen out and had been separated.
6.
It separated the valuable portion
from the worthless portion.
6.
Weeds don't leave legacies, create
inspiration, change their world positively, sow into the next generation they
only concern themselves with themselves and what's most beneficial to them.
7.
Weeds steal water and nutrients.
1.
They have no original ideas for
themselves they steal every thing they possibly can to live for their short
span of time.
2.
Don't trim, don't weed eat, don't cut
em low, spray some killer on em', but pull them from the root.
8.
They eat or drink whatever is given
them with no thought, care or concern for future repercussions.
1.
Pull out the weeds.
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