gardenrose

Hello to all my name is Rosa I'm from The Bahamas and I'm excited to be spending more time studying the Greatest Book ever written which is up to date and will bring joy and happiness to us all.

As I read this question my mind went on how I sometimes feed the seagulls with left over bread from our bakery. They would all line up on the electric wire on nearby roof tops calling and waiting for me to come out. Within seconds of me throwing out the first crumb every bird is in flight toward it but only one can get it. Sometimes am there for hours throwing out crumbs but here is the interseting thing. Some of the seagulls would fly some distance away to eat and return but others would eat quickly there on the spot but then there are others who are afraid to come near or be caught up in the crowd. In some ways we are like those seagulls when it comes to the word of God. We take the word in without wanting to share it, sometimes we go aside to eat it in silence. There are reasons why some persons are not to keen in hearng the word but we must make it our business to take the word to them. The sower in this story didn't just throw seeds on the good ground he also threw seeds on stony, hard, and shallow ground. We are not to just feed a selected group, the regular Sabbath or Sunday group but to sow where ever we go. This message is to be preached to all people, the whole world before the end comes. In this story we can be the sower and the seed all at the same time. In our lives we know the areas in which we are weak, when the word is sown we know when its talking to us and its our duty to produce fruit in abundance so we are to get it right and not allow the cares of this world to choke the effectiveness of the word. As the sower we sometimes find it hard to preach on the streets for fear of being redicule but the work must be done. This teaching is to let us know that no matter how many persons acept Christ after a message some will not make it. This story/lesson shows the problem areas so all we have to do is trouble shoot. Some soils will need additives and the new plants much attention until they can be left on their own. This message of the kingdom is to inform us not to be discouraged when we see fruitlessness but continue to spread the word. It teaches us to know what areas to target and how to be more productive in bearing fruits. If this teaching is not understood to some sowers we know what state they are in, they have become discouraged in sharing the word and is not too keen in seeing persons won to the kingdom.[/color]

When that believer fully understands the message of the gospel and is willing to do what is necessary to bring about that change in their life. Having the faith but also doing the work, faith without works is dead. Back to St. John 15: 1-4 " I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth no fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it might bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me." This passage tells us that as we bear fruit the father continues to prone, purge, clip away those things in our lives that hinders a bigger crop. Anything that is not of God he takes away, when we become believers everything about our old nature doesn't change in that moment, he works with us and on us in order for us to be perfected. This is why the work of the Holy Spirit is so vital. He leads and guides us into all truth, this is the reason He is poured out on us, He comes upon us, He is given unto us, ad we are clothed with Him. His fire will burn away all the imperfections in our lives Understanding the word and having the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives will GAURANTEE a bigger and better harvest (MANUFACTURE'S GAURANTEE). Walking in our calling (Spiritual Gifts) will result in 30,60 and an hundred fold harvest. If am especially good with teaching the word to young persons, then my area has already been defined by my calling. The most good will be done in the area I've been blessed in.

My views, I'd say riches because it can VERY EASILY be a large corporation, more room for error. The focus in this christian life is faith, the thing that pleases God, with riches you are now beholding with the natural eye and have to make decisions about all you own. If we do not walk a thin line we can fall into the following: 1. Greed. 2. Importance. 3. Present Focus change. 4. Future Focus change. 5. My lifestyle/security will change. 6. Not dependant upon God for needs/most things. 7. I will worry about issues/investments. 8. Most definatly pleasure will play a role. 9. Pride. Worries/Care and pleasure can seprate me from God, but riches more so because it covers a bigger scope. As a result of having riches we can still worry and have pleasure, but with worry and pleasures standing along our focus is more so on that thing.

Falling away here is the result of the word not Taking Root. Before a seed can become a tree and a tree a forest the basic has to take place, and that is germination. When that seed falls to the ground and comes in contact with soil and moisture the outward shell begins to break or open. The life that is on the inside slowely becomes intertwined with the soil and moisture. As the seedling gets substance from that inviroment growth takes place. From a tiny green leaf with the seed pod sometimes showing, to stems and many leaves we will someday see a great tree. This process can also happend when the word of God is sown in our hearts. The first step after hearing the word is conviction- a nagging in the heart that something needs to be fixed and this is it. If we know what we need to do and don't do it the problem still exist, in this case Jesus is saying these persons rejoiced when they heard the word, in other words, they were saying this is what I was looking for all along, this will solve my problems this is what I need. Its like giving a thirsty man a glass of water, he rejoices over it, but in order to benefit from it he needs to drink it. They took it in, they accepted it, the word began to germinate, then they killed it-murder. Before the word changed and became ALIVE IN THEM it was killed, uprooted thrown out. With each right decision, with each pricking of the heart and obedience to it ment life to that seed. With every wrong turn, each time the word was ignored it died a little, until it was no more. The problem here is that the seed will never become a tree, the tree will never blossom and the blossom will never become fruit, it was never allowed to live. The dreams and mission God has for our lives will never be realised unless we allow HIM to grow in us, allow the power of the Holy Ghost to operate as it was ment to do. Who are we to cause such a natural disaster, we are a people who more times than we'll like to admit turn away from greatness to do as we wish and feel. Living in self, in ignorance and calling it, The American dream. We the people, are the problem we love the taste of sin and self recogination. As believers with years under our belts, we sometimes refere to ourselves as, "Black Belts" in Christ but manytimes we make our tree barren and stun the growth because of pride and prejudice which is the "Me" syndrome. When the husbandman is John 15 1-4 begins his work we cry out, no I can't.

Sin is a seperator from the things of God. Before God(Jesus)can reside in our lives sin has to be banished. Every hill and mountain shall be brought low, every crooked place straight and the rough places smooth, if His path leads into our lives it must meet these requirements. In order to have a relationship with God we have to be in right standing, in holiness. Baptism is a symbol of washing away, its a step toward Christ.It is a sign of repentance, casting off the sin nature and being raised anew with Christ. No He cannot reign in an unrepentant heart, an unrepentent heart cannot follow the things of christ. An unrepentant heart represents a person who has another god, one who is of his father the devin.

[/color John's baptism is a mean of removing sin, a method of cleansing, one of the steps in repentance. John helped the particuar individual down into the water, upon coming up they were free from their sins and are now to walk in newness of life. Jesus on the other hand did not make physical contact to baptise with the Holy Spirit. It is so beautiful that am not just immersed but here now am overwhelmed, am filled, am clothered, I've been handed a gift of power. In other words, its in me to the point of overflowing, to the point where I am no longer my own, my DNA has changed my abilities the way I think and feel, am not just hoping to make it or hoping I can live this life I was called to live, I have the POWER the MEANS necessary to do it. I am now fully capatable, the capacity has been filled. (Am excited, never saw it like this). I don't have to live the boring life of Dain, am now Superman. The difference is, before an individal surrenders his life to Christ he is uncertain if he can live the life he is expected to live as a christian and in many cases even after water baptism he is still uncertain and occasionally might migrate to the old life style. But when he is baptised with the Holy Spirit, the Power of God, the enabler dwells within and fears and doubts will flee. The difference is am a new person and my mentality is, "I can do all things through Christ who has strengthen (clothed, empowered, come upon and poured Himself upon me). Am not just a new creature, am a powerful being, a power house this life I live now live, as a minister as a child of God I will not be caught having extramatrital affairs, gamblering, hating persons, gossiping and falling by the way side. It means I live as the salt of the earth, it means my light can be seen in the darkness and that its always on a hill. Yes the longing is there, me wanting to fulfill my own desires do as I please without God, me allowing sin to reign in my body, no matter if I taste it every now and then or just lay with it for a few hours it is still sin and it WILL prevent the power of God from being poured out or coming upon me. Sin seprates me from God. So without sin it then means am not seperated form God but brought close or made a part taker of Him. Me walking in the newness of life and being SUBJECT to the things of God will inevitably bring about His power.

As a result of them being Abraham's decendants, they had already arrived. They were not in need of a doctor nor baptism for that matter. Being baptised ment they were in need of it and their lifestyle suggested otherwise. They were the church, they were the righteous, it was their job to ensure that all their parishioners adopted their teachings and lifestyle. Stepping into the Jorden River ment they were apart of that generation of vipers, it ment that for all they had done, the way was still not prepared for the King. In other words they were above reproach as a result of being Jewish, their blood line was a mark of royal pride and prejudice. Jesus was a welcomer of that baptism and many that were present, but the teachers of the law-the Pharisees rejected it because they were not the dogs in need of purification.

They are like the five (5) foolish virgins in the story of the Ten virgins, they have no oil in their lamps, its not that it has gone out but rather it was never there they have no walk with Christ. They are the ones that cause disruption and problems in the church. When these persons hold key positions in the church as they sometimes do, it brings about a turning away from the church and those bearing the conviction of the Holy spirit in some cases turn away and are afraid to be in their midst or that of the church. Avoiding repentance is having the mind that, oh today I want to be on the river and the next moment on the bank and there is nothing am willing to do to change my life style. I do as I please, I go as I wills and I will be accepted for what I say I am. My choice is my life, and my life is my choice. Am of the belief that more than half of the church is unprepared tomeet Christ because they feel they have as much time as they need to get ready for His coming. Having the mind of Christ and the desire to be in a close relationship with Him takes denying yourself not of some things, places and people but rather ALL. A new born creature desireing the sincere MILK of the word.

Hello my name is Rosa am from The Bahamas. My aim is to learn as much as I can about the Bible and having a closer relationship with Him.