| Jesus in explaining the Parable of the sower, said about the seed which fell among the thorns: “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” Matthew 13:22 NKJV The carnally minded Christians are of the world. These are the type of Christians who do love to carousel with the world. The inclination of their heart is of the world. They are more in tune to following the advice of the world, than obeying the word of God. That’s why they often end up being choked with God’s word. They’ve heard the word of God, and had received it with their heart. But it’s what they are doing by allowing the pressures from the world, to influence their choices of life, which causes them to become unfruitful with God’s word. As Jesus mentioned in the scripture text above, they are more concerned about the world, and the deceitfulness of riches in its system, than about the word of God’s to help them in overcoming the world. The care of the world has choked the seed of God’s word in their lives. Therefore instead of meditating on God’s word, so as to discover what the Lord has for them in transforming their world; they had become more and more like the world. The enemy has choked the seed of God’s word in their lives, and they have become unfruitful with it. The devil uses the worldly cares and the deceitfulness, in their lust for the riches of the world’s system, to choke the effectiveness of the word of God in their lives. This has become one of the numerous tactics of the devil today, in crippling the faith of the Christians; who do care more about their quest for the things of this world, than about their ability to bear spiritual fruit with God’s word in their lives. Such Christians has God’s word in their lives, but their attention has been taken away from the word of God. They are paying more and more attention to the things, that are going on around them in the world. God’s word has become of secondary importance to them, instead of being primary. Some of them have substituted the television shows for their time of study and meditation on God’s word. Their time of prayer and intercession has been overtaken by worthless things and gossips on their mobile phones and on the social media. And when they eventually do get the time to pray, they don’t have the patience to tarry in fellowship with the Lord. They will zoom in and zoom out of God’s presence in a jiffy, as they are praying. Their prayer lives has become like a drive-thru point of contact with God. In the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the devil is exploiting the various governmental restrictions and lockdowns, to choke the word of God in the lives of many of God’s people. Their inability to be able to fellowship with their fellow Christians in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, has taken their attention away from the promises of God for their lives. A lot of them are not in touch with strong Christians, who can help them from not loosing their focus on God. Instead of meditating on the promises of God for their lives, they are meditating on the promises that the world is offering them. They have fallen into the snare of the enemy. Others are just struggling to stand strong, praying and hoping for when COVID-19 will be over. What is the status of your fellowship with the Father today? He is longing for you. Are you seeking Him daily from the scriptures? Or are you seeking the scriptures for the approval of the pleasures of the world in your life? The world has nothing of spiritual benefit to offer you, as a child of God. With the various governmental restrictions the devil is seeking to choke the seed of God’s word in your life. He is planning to choke God’s word in your life, before making you like one of his own in the world. Those who had been choked up are the Christians who are showing more faith in the world’s system, to deliver and save them during this pandemic. God’s promises has become like a religious edifice in their lives. Christianity has become like an opium in their lives. Instead of living the life of Christ in their free choice, they are living the life of the world, with the word’s inability to become fruitful in them. Instead of seeing the light of God at the end of the tunnel while choked up, they are indeed seeing and confessing darkness, that the enemy has manifested around them. Their spiritual condition is pathetic. When they are sick as an example, they will often believe more in what the doctor’s report says about their health, rather than demonstrating their faith in God’s report of healing and good health. They will see themselves in financial woes, instead of taking hold by faith unto the prosperity of the Lord, which is already theirs in Christ Jesus. The worldly desires in their lives has painted a picture of gloom and doom for them. They have been ensnared by the trap of the devil. Jesus warned us about this plan of the devil, when He said: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 NKJV The devil is choking the word of God in these lives. His ultimate goal is to steal God’s word from their hearts. After which he will begin the process of making it impossible for them to even pray, before his destruction sets in to take them away completely from the surface of the earth. They are spiritually blind Christians. And of course many of them are new believers, whose faith has stopped to bear spiritual fruit. The enemy is choking the word of God in their lives with their Churches being closed, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They are unable to fellowship in prayer and the word of God with other Christians, because their various governmental regulations has isolated them from the household of faith. Apostle Paul once addressed these types of Christians at Galatia, when he wrote to them by telling them: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?” Galatians 3:1-4 NKJV This situation to certain extent is not their fault. The devil had devised COVID-19 specifically to target the faith of the believers in Christ, so as to steal, kill and destroy the effectiveness of God’s word within the Body of Christ. And there are many who are falling into his trap already. Even some denominations are falling into this trick of the devil with COVID-19. The doctrines of Christ has been choked up in their concerns for the care of the world. Are you being dragged away from holding on to God’s promises right now? What is going on around the world right now, had been spiritually engineered by the devil, to stifle and steal God’s promises away from your life. Watch out for his numerous tricks and deceptions! He is not yet finished. He is in fact just getting started. So brace up and guard your loins. There is much more coming from him. Keep an eye on your daily activities. Keep an eye on what the devil is doing to distract you away from the promises of God. Resist him and refuse to give in to these pressures from the world! |
Remembering those who are the weak
The Body of Christ is in a very dangerous moment around the world right now. This is why those who are strong in faith needs to be praying and interceding for the weak believers. It’s important to be praying for them in the spirit always, so as to neutralize and annihilate every tactic of the devil, against the Word’s fruitfulness in their lives (Romans 15:1).
This is the time when our ability as believers in Christ to love them, by praying and interceding for them will cover all their shortcomings. The devil must never be allowed to bring them down into destruction with him. He is seriously looking for some company in hell. But your ability to pray and love these ones covers their weaknesses, enabling them to be strong in resisting temptations.
God’s love working in your life will always prompt you to be praying for them, instead of being critical or judgmental towards them. It will cause you to start seeing Jesus being glorified in their lives, even when they are seeing nothing happening at all around them.
As the Apostle Paul advised us:
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”
Galatians 5:13 NLT
You are free to either pray for them or pull them down, while the devil is having a free time to create destruction on the earth. But real freedom in Christ Jesus is exhibited through our total and complete obedience to His command. You are absolutely free to either build them up or pull them down. You are free to do any of the two. But God’s love will always work through you, to cover their spiritual nakedness and to protect them.
Jesus said:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35 NKJV
Loving them is not an option. It’s a commandment of Jesus to us all as His followers. And when we are obeying Jesus’ commandment, we will have peace with God (Romans 5:1-2). This is real freedom in the world of chaos and destructions.
Yes, you can experience real peace and freedom, when the world around you is confused and devastated. Jesus will guard your heart into His peace and freedom, as you obey Him to love and pray for the weak believers around you.
The scriptures also says:
“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
I Peter 4:8 NKJV
We need to be very careful as stronger Christians not to allow the devil to trick us, into overlooking the weaknesses of the newly saved believers in Christ. It’s the responsibility of the matured believers in Christ, to lift them up and strengthen them with prayers and the word of God.
That’s how your love works in covering them up. They will make numerous mistakes, just as any young believer in Christ will do. But it’s important to stand by them, and never let the devil have them back into his camp with this ongoing pandemic.
We must to be careful not to be expecting so much, from those who are still struggling to stand in Christ Jesus. They do need all the support that they can get from you. They are looking up to your godly example in Christian living.
Are you going to show it to them? Or are you going to give up on them? Remember that Jesus is counting on you. He has never given up on you. He trusts you to do the right things on behalf of those who are weak around you.
The devil is at work right now around the world, choking God’s word in many Christian lives. But your prayer and intercession for the weak believers in the spirit and by the Spirit; especially for those who don’t even know, who they are yet in Christ Jesus, positions you as a partner together with the angels in this spiritual warfare. Eternity will thank you and reward you for the sacrifice that you are making, on behalf of the weak Christians around you during this pandemic.
This was what Paul did for the Galatians when he told them:
“My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,”
Galatians 4:19 AMPC
Paul’s child birth pangs were in prayer and intercession for them, until they were able to stand strong on their own. Paul was not concerned about the care of the world at Galatia. His concern was for Christ to be formed within them, through the type of Christian examples that they were showing to their world.
This is what Jesus expects of everyone of us. Remember to pray always for the weak Christians. Remember to stand before the face of God for them, when they are slacking behind in Christian gathering. They may be going through many things which you are unable to identify now, because of the COVID-19 restrictions. But you can keep them strong by praying for them always in the spirit and by the Spirit. This is the most effective form of prayer during COVID-19. Remember to love them just as Christ loves us all.
Allowing God to prune you, while you’re fruitful
| Jesus also described the fruitful seed in the Parable of the sower by saying: “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:23 NKJV We can see the believers in Christ who are being pruned right now, in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic also in these words of Jesus. They are the ones who had made up their minds to be meditating on God’s word day and night (Joshua 1:8). They had been fruitful before the beginning of the pandemic; but the Lord is pruning them now, so as to become much more fruitful, because of the greater harvest that is in front of the Body of Christ. Such Christians are in a better position to do much more than before in God’s Kingdom. They are in tune with His Spirit, and had demonstrated tremendous strength and faithfulness in the past for the Kingdom of God. They do know that it’s only by paying attention to the word of God, instead of the world around them that, they are going to become more fruitful during this pandemic. And that’s exactly what they are doing during this pandemic. They are fruitful because, they are walking in obedience to every commandment of Jesus Christ to them. It is the ability of the believers in Christ to bear spiritual fruit during COVID-19, that positions them for the end time harvest. These believers are being transformed and prepared by the Lord, for greater responsibilities during the coming harvest of God. Are you being pruned or not? It’s important to re-evaluate your spiritual life right now. Are you growing in spiritual wisdom and power, since the beginning of this pandemic? It’s very dangerous for your spiritual life to remain static in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. It’s a dangerous thing to reject the pruning of the Lord in your life (John 15:2-3). Remember what Jesus said that: .. “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” Matthew 15:13 NKJV If you’re not allowing the word of God to prune you, you’re risking the danger of being worldly minded. This will cause the fruit of the Spirit in such a life to become polluted. And God will reject the polluted fruit. He will uproot the plant that is not bearing spiritual fruit to His glory. The polluted fruit comes out of the seed, which had received the tares from the enemy. The devil had sneaked in around that seed to plant tares around it (see Matthew 13:24-30). Tares are weeds that pretty much looks like the wheat plant. It’s very easy to take them by mistake for wheat, especially if you’re not very good at identifying them. The enemy goes about planting tares with the aim of ensnaring the harvest of the Lord. He goes about planting his tares around the fruitful Christians. This is how he is deceiving many good Christians today. Watch out for the tares around your Christian life! But at the harvest time the Lord will command the angels to uproot them. They will be separated from the real harvest of the Lord. Every tree that the Lord has not planted in your life, in your home or in the lives of your loved ones shall be uprooted in Jesus Name! At Bible Vision International Ministries we are committed to praying God’s protection over your life. Therefore guard your heart with all diligence. Protect your fruitfulness for the upcoming harvest of the Lord. Don’t allow the enemy to plant his tares around your life. The love for sin, evil and corruption is increasing in the world today. Satan is seeking to use everything from the world to snare your righteous harvest. That’s his tactic, but you have the spiritual discernment of the Holy Spirit to stop him. That’s why you must be vigilant and be watchful in the spirit. There are greater things around the corner in store for you from the Lord. He surely will reward you when it’s all over. But let the word of God continue to prune you. If He tells you to do anything during the ongoing spiritual pruning, be quick to obey Him. Do it! Your Heavenly Father has His eyes on you. Stay focused on Him alone. Refuse to be distracted by the world and the devil. You’re coming out of this moment stronger than ever before. |
