Once a farmer

Sowing seeds

Throwing down

Thoughtful deeds

Some did fall

Where they grew

Others didn’t

Birds then flew

Ate the seeds

In the path

Yummy seeds

Do the math

Seeds then fell

In rocks between

Shallow soil

Yet, the mean

And burning sun

Left them dry

And now undone

Lastely seeds

Landed in the thorns

They were too strong

For seed like corn’s

Only the seeds 

in rich soil

Survived the sowing

Farmer’s toil

Those seeds grew

Provided crops

Successful strong

Richest drops

The love of Jesus

You put out

The seeds you dropped

May one day sprout

A farmer dropping

The very best seed

But where it drops?

What intercedes?

Is not under 

Your control

You must let go

It’s not your role

Just be the farmer

Sowing seeds

And do not judge

How it’s received.

The rain may fall

The wind may blow

And that seed may move

You never know.

Where once it fell

On unfit ground

God can move

The seed around

And time will be

A seed’s best friend

Sprouting one day

Thus, amend

The first drop

Of salvation’s story

Growing roots

All for God’s Glory.

Let’s sow the seeds

Continually

Being the farmer

Habitually

Sharing the Gospel

God’s Good Word

Salvation is Simple

Yet, must be heard.

So remember the seed

Isn’t you

It’s Jesus, His Love

This is true

You are the farmer

Not the seed

The power is His

Your voice, the deed

The only work 

You can ever do

To further the Gospel

Yes, it’s true

The ears of corn

the ears of man

the ears must hear

to comprehend

to grow some roots

to one day produce

and share themselves

continue to use

the same act

the farmers toil

sowing the seed

in all the soil

His command

Share His love

And you must obey

The Lord above

Farming daily

Without fail

Love your neighbor

Guide the trail

That leads to heaven

And God’s Grace

So those you love

See His face

Your voice could be

The ticket to

Eternal joy

So you must do

What the farmer

Taught us all

Sow the seeds

Let them fall

And give to Jesus

What His will may be

And let’s pray for all

Eternity!

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

¹⁰ The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

¹¹ He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹² Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

¹⁴ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
¹⁵ For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’^[a]

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

¹⁸ “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

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I’d get so frustrated.  I’d share my story, my awesome story!  And it would make people angry at me.  Why?  It was MY story.  It was not theirs.

Let me explain.  I am a sinner, and I used to be a back-slidden, Christian girl embracing all the sin ridden extremely satisfying choices that the Devil offered me.  Until one day, the wind blew, the rain fell and my seed sprouted roots.  I committed my life to Jesus because He revealed Himself to me in a BIG WAY.  My whole life changed because I put the Holy Spirit at the helm and He changed me from the inside out.

I loved this new life so much that I started adrenaline rush sharing my story.  It wasn’t received well because others were not on the same rush I was on.  I was on my own wave and everyone else could not relate.  I was angry at them and thus, utter failure on my part.

Back to my salvation story, and why it was successful.  I accepted salvation, and it wasn’t because the farmer was there shoving the seed down my throat.  It was because I was the soil and Jesus was the seed.  He said, I am here, and I said, please save me.  I was ready.

So, the thought of taking over for the seed and thrusting salvation down the throats of people I KNOW need savin’ makes me laugh at myself and sick to my stomach at the same time.  I was taking the reins of a horse that wasn’t mine.  Only God knows our future.  Only God knows when the soil is ripe and ready.  It is not our responsibility to force the acceptance of the seed because we cannot know the hearts and minds of the people we speak to.

Knowing that, accepting that, takes away the pressure, the responsibility and the regret of salvation – it is yours to share, but it is not yours to receive.  You must let people accept on their own and their eternity is theirs to decide. 

Let me confess and express a horrible lesson of which I am still in the process of learning. Internally kept expectations can do nothing but let me down.

You know what I am talking about.  

This is what I do – I expect a situation – in my head – without talking about it with my “expector” and my whole universe comes crashing down because that person didn’t do what I wanted them to do, as I played out the whole Hollywood movie scene in my silly head.  

Reality teaches us to NOT live in imaginary world where the globe revolves around me and I am the star in the movie of me.  

Dang.  Snap out of it Katie.  You gotta speak!  

You gotta get out of your head and into reality.  Speak your intentions and let yourself into a safe zone of life.  Your head is where the Devil does his best work, and you don’t want to stay there.  Talk to people honestly and let Jesus do His Gracious work.  

I expect that my story of salvation to be received cause I was the soil ready for harvest.  Yet, I have no idea where my neighbor is in terms of their spiritual maturity.   They might be living in the thorns.  They may be full of rocks, or they may be the scorching sun – I dropped the seed, the Holy Spirit is present, but now I must let Jesus do the rest.

The worst thing I can do is start forcing the seed to grow.  It can only make the conditions worse.  I can’t be the wind, I can’t be the rain.  But with loving care, I can guide the seed to the right soil, can’t I? 

I can try my hardest to live a life that guides people to Jesus.  Honestly.  Let others know that Salvation is not the key to perfection.  It is not the magical key to health and wealth.  It is only the key to Eternal life and hope in Jesus.  Life is lived way better when you know the outcome of the game.  There is no risk in Salvation.  You know who wins and what you win is Heaven, you have defeated death and hell.

Living a life for Jesus is not saying you have to be perfect.  You only have to be honest and trust that the Lord will see you through the ups and the downs.  You are subject to sin just like everyone else.  Your focus can only be on what the Holy Spirit can do with you once you receive Him.  And each life is unique and special with its own set of rules.  Think of Job and think of Solomon.  Each had ups and downs, some more extreme than others.  

When you know who wins, you stop biting your nails.  You stop worrying about the little things and you can focus on something WAY bigger, Jesus.  Jesus, our loving conqueror, who will never leave you or forsake you.

Life is tough, it comes with stupid and unforgiving lows, but in those lows, as a Christian, you know your Father is there, with a yoke that holds you through.  You will suffer, because we are all sinners.  But as sinners, we have Jesus, who redeems us of that sin and died and wiped our slates clean for ETERNITY.

Acts – things, feelings, money, deeds –  cannot get you to heaven.  If that was the case, then the whole dying on the cross was not enough.   And let me promise you one thing for the rest of your life, the greatest promise I have ever told.  HIS DEATH WAS ENOUGH. 

The God of all Creation gave us HIMSELF.  In the form of Man, to take the burden of our sin – erase any action we could ever DO and allow us to RECEIVE HIM.  All it takes is believing that Jesus is THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE – no one can go to Heaven without believing in Him.  It’s like trying to shove a camel through the eye of a needle – in other words – impossible. (Matthew 19:24)

Warning!  I’m begging you…

Don’t let the actions of others persuade you to lose out on Salvation and, ultimately, eternity in Heaven.  Don’t let a person – a broken sinful sad sack of man – allow you to be convinced that Jesus is not worth it.  Let Jesus guide you (the only perfect human that has been or ever will be).  Let the conviction of the Holy Spirit be your guide.  He is waiting.  He is wanting.  He is the answer.  Let Salvation be personal for you.  You are the soil.  You are the only thing holding you back from Eternity.

Also, another thing, the Holy Bible is God’s Gospel (HIS GOOD WORD), the whole book is about Jesus.  It is not the greatest Add Lib ever written with literary flexibility allowing you to insert yourself in whatever story you choose.  Also, the Bible is not a book of stories.  It’s His-Story.  History written with one focus – Jesus.

The historical account of Jonah was not included in the Bible to allow you to insert yourself as the protagonist traveling down a road of disobedience and then finding yourself swallowed up by a large fish.  Nope.  The facts are

• Jonah was the soil
• Jesus was the seed.  
• There are intrinsic life lessons to be learned in the Bible
• But again, Jonah is not you.  
• You will not be swallowed by a fish

The greatest history book ever written with more prophetic proof of TRUTH, the Sword of the Spirit, is written to show you that Jesus is Alive and Real and Loves you and Desires you to choose Him. Every book was written directly for Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and given by God – the Holy Trinity in a book.  

A book that has been read, sold, distributed and held more than any book in His-Story.  A book that holds His Truth.  A book written about Jesus.

He came, He taught, He lived a perfect life, He died, He conquered death, He is alive and He loves you.

If you complicate the Bible, and put your own twist on it and read it without remembering that it is all about Jesus, and not about you, then you will read it wrong and that is not God’s intent.

Let go, and Let God.

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Here is my prayer for you.  That you read this.  That this is the sowing.  The seed is Jesus.  It is not me.  This seed is yours for the taking.  True Love allows you to decide.  It is not forced, it is not bought or sold.  It is received and freely given.  Jesus loves you.  He desires for you to choose Him.  I pray you do.  All you have to do is receive.  There is no act you can ever do to equal His love.  You can only say you are sorry, you are ready to receive the Holy Spirit and you are excited about living in Heaven with Him.  

Once you receive the Holy Spirit – the conviction of the Lord is within you and you will see what happens next.  That is your story.  I am excited for you if that is what you choose.  Speaking from experience it’s the best choice you will ever make.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.