TheWritePath

 When Jesse spoke to the people, He often used parables or stories to creat visual pictures in the mind of the listeners. This morning, the parable of the sower became real to me. Until now, I had been like the one who receives the seed that was sown among the thorns. Jesus explained it this way: “Now he who receives seed sown amount thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 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 hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty”(Matthew 13:22-23, NJKV).   I had lost sight of the real message of this parable and had allowed the adversary to sow his seeds in the garden of my heart. The time I had spent being upset with my family should have been used to share with them how God had given the increase.    As I sat there, tears flooding my eyes, I repented for what I h...

   As I sat there, I was reminded of the times I got upset with the other members of my family for not doing their part. I could remember stomping off when my husband would take the credit for the work I had done. After all, his biggest contribution was walking behind the tiller. Conveniently, I had forgotten how lovingly he had taken pains not to leave footprints in the soil, and how he had always kept it looking like the plants were growing out of a rich brown carpet. And there were the boys. Every time I asked them for help, they would deliberately do it wrong so I would have to do it myself. But I had also forgotten the hours they had sat up with me just to keep me awake while the canning was being done, and the praises I had received when they ate the food I had prepared. I had spent my summer strutting around like the little red hen! I remembered all the times I had spent complaining to God, and anyone else who would listen, because they would not help me as I thought t...

        THE WORD OF GOD TELLS us there is a season and a time for every purpose, "a time to plant, and a time to pluck what  is planted" (Ecclesiastes 3:2, NKJV). Anyone who has ever planted a vegetable garden understands this simple statement, but do they understand the biblical principles of sowing and reaping? Like so many others, I thought I did until God taught me a lesson I'll never forget. Most often, this principle is applied to the area finance, but that is not all that can be sown in the kingdom of God.          It was early spring, and we were preparing to plant our garden. For weeks, I had been peering through the catalogs, selecting just the right seeds for our soil conditions. I had painstakingly laid out every bed, both flowers, and vegetables, and I could see it in my mind's eye. We had been working the soil for weeks until it became like soft powder. The day that I went to the greenhouse, I was there for hours caref...