Thorny Soil

Faith in a "higher power" is often used as a crutch by many in times of struggle. However, when that crutch is removed, the hardships that need to be overcome seem to increase as hope diminishes. This is true

One of the things the Old Testament has taught me is that it plays a huge role in our daily lives. There are things that happen today where we wonder how and why, making us wonder what to do next. To go along with this questioning, I thought about the story of Job and how this shows us it is fine to be in constant contact with God. It was a dialogue between God and Job and God did not look at Job in a bad way because of his questions. The Lord knew that Job would wonder, but I want to continue to grow so I can experience a relationship with God where I can ask Him and in return He will answer our questions and try to help us gain a better understanding. The Old Testament has taught me that I am not always going to have the answers to everything, so I need to live my daily life for God and with Him going through the day right by my side.

One of my biggest weaknesses that distracts me from God is how I choose to spend my time. Being a teenager, I sadly spend most of my free time on social media. I often find myself spending hours on popular

Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Growing Seed When speaking of God’s love, the reasons for telling people about it and understanding that not everyone will be receptive but to keep trying anyways. Jesus told two stories, Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Growing Seed. These two stories are alike as because it speaks to a subject that his listeners were familiar with, which is the harvest. It is known that there weren’t any regular grocery stores so I would imagine that his audience was familiar with this process and could relate. In the first parable, Parable of the Sower, Jesus speaks about a person that is sowing their seeds, which is the act of putting the seeds in the ground.

Jesus spoke in parables. He used simple stories and metaphors to teach moral lessons to the disciples. In his parables, there were familiar settings, objects, rituals, etc. in order to make the lesson easier for the disciples to understand. The parables of The Sower, Ten Bridesmaids, Weeds in the Wheat, and Treasure in the Field are parables which provide us with instructions on how to be true followers of Christ. Jesus’s philosophy of life, as shown by these parables, is to be open minded, prepared, spread positivity, and to give up mental roadblocks in order to have faith.

What prevents you from spiritually cultivating your heart and mind to receive God’s Word to a greater degree? I also ask myself this. Through the Holy Spirit we hear, understand, and respond to the truth and love of God. Our Old Testament Reading related that God’s word will not fail to produce its fruit (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Parables are simple and fictional stories, similes, or metaphors that are true to everyday life as they depict a moral or spiritual lesson. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus used parables to illustrate the kingdom of God, which is defined as God’s future display of power and judgment in which he rules over all creation. The parables assure that heaven is real and an afterlife exists. According to Jesus, parables are important because although we are given knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, they still require us to try to do some critical thinking and further reflect in order to understand the precise meaning behind the story; therefore, it is important to use the gift of understanding. First of all, Jesus used the parable of the Sower and the seeds to explain the strength of faith in an individual.

Why Jesus uses the parable of the Sower, the Weeds, or the Yeast to explain the Kingdom of God? ---- As we all know, the concept of "the Kingdom of God" is not something that we could easily understand and it would be un-effective if Jesus uses the illustration that wasn't familiar to them. That is why He uses parables that were common to their "daily situations" at that time (the sower, the weeds, a mustard seed, or the yeast). In other words, Jesus illustrates this big concept using their "terms" so every people that hear His teachings could relate and understands

Still others tell what the kingdom of God is like. Introduction to the passage The parable of the seed identify the type of

The text of this paper will be taken from Matthew 13: 3- 23 . Let’s summarize the parable for a clear understanding for the reader. Jesus began to discuss His discourse of the parable of the sower who sows seeds on different ground for it to grow and produce. Jesus cites three examples how the seeds were sown in this parable and how the ground responded. According to Dr. James Gibson defined a parable as “to place beside.” Jesus often used parables to teach mysteries to His disciples and others. Dr. Gibson refers to the sowed ground as followed. He described the first seed as the wayside soil, and second unproductive soil, and finally the good ground soil.

In fact, Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to seeds being planted in our hearts. He tells a story of sower who was sowing grain in his field one day. He later explained this story to his followers.

The different harvests are the different faiths. "There are those who receive the truth in the same way as the seed that falls on stony places. It grows for a awhile, then dies. There are those who start gloriously, who spring up at once, but then as quickly disappear." (Criswell, 74) "The seed falling by the wayside" is an example of those that give their attention to business matters and worldly affairs rather than to spiritual truth. The seed in the thin, rocky soil represent those who were really religious and have it in them to believe, but the tire, and fall away. The seed in the thorns show the people who could surely "develop the highest spiritual gifts, but who fail because they deliberately attempt to serve two masters, God and mammon, which is impossible." (Dummelow, 672) The soil that bears fruit shows the people who believe in Jesus and his messages, and "the people who bear fruit unto God." (Criswell, 74; Dummelow, 673) "According to Matthew 13:38, the converted soul becomes himself a Word, a seed of the Kingdom. This is the method of Christ's work, sowing the seed of the Kingdom in the society and age in which we live."(Criswell, 74) "The story was meant to convey spiritual instruction, and not all were likely to understand it." (Broadus, 286) Broadus, Criswell, Dummelow, and Hobbs all believe in that as an

The Bible is a sacred texts to religions such as Christianity, it not only holds stories and rules or expectations to follow but hidden messages from God about the Kingdom of Heaven. The Parable of the Sower represents four different ways the word of God from the Kingdom of Heaven can be interpreted by evaluating the condition of four types of hearts from humanity. Jesus explained to the people that a farmer had gone out to sow his seeds. Referring to Matthew 13 versus 4-6, explains the first two kinds of people. “As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.” “Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil… because the soil was

Acquiring the spiritual truth requires us to be motivated and disciplined in a manner that engages our spiritual connection to God in that “As Christian believers, we are convinced that the development of a methodical, inductive approach is the means of training the mind to become a more fit instrument for the operation of God’s spirit. Because biblical interpretation is to be valid…But the mind’s proper function is not automatic; therefore the mind needs to be trained, or it might become the means negating God’s spirit” (Bauer and Traina 2006, 10). In contrast,

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28 [ESV]). At the appropriate time, the pastor should begin to shift the discussions from focusing on the obstacles to focusing on the goal of resting in Jesus Christ. This is a major step forward in growing spiritually. All believers would do well to heed Paul’s words to the Philippians that one should forget what is in the past and move forward, “press[ing] on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14 [ESV]). One way to approach this transition of leaving one’s hurts in the past and moving forward is to examine what Jesus promises in the Bible to those who put their trust and hope in Him.