Matthew 13:19 - "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand [it], then the wicked [one] comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
Matthew 13:20 - "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
Matthew 13:21 - "yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
Matthew 13:22 - "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 13:23 - "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 13:24 - Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
Matthew 13:25 - "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
Matthew 13:26 - "But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
Matthew 13:27 - "So the servants of the owner came and said to him, `Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'
Matthew 13:28 - "He said to them, `An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, `Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'
Matthew 13:29 - "But he said, `No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
Very interesting.
Matthew 7:15 - "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
Matthew 7:16 - "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Matthew 7:17 - "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
Matthew 7:18 - "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor [can] a bad tree bear good fruit.
Matthew 7:19 - "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matthew 7:20 - "Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
If you were to look at a tare and wheat, they are nearly identical. The difference is one doesn't have much in the way of seed; the other does. Actually, it's kind of fruitless.
Some very striking and important messages here by Yahushua the Messiah to make sure we understand. First of all, we need to understand whether or not we are the good ground. Look at the characteristics of good ground.
Also, if we are the good ground, recognize that even though we are on good ground, the enemy sows his seeds nearby, and that will bring up tares, and they bring forth fruitlessness or bad fruit, and they're bringing forth evil fruit, because they're not planning a good plant or a good tree.
What is the beginning point? It said in scripture, when Yahushua explained this parable, He said that the seed is the Word. The seeds of the enemy and the bad fruit that might attempt to grow fruit within our hearts is a bad seed, which brings forth a bad tree.
Luke 8:11 - "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of Elohim.
Matthew 4:4 - But He answered and said, "It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of Elohim.'"
That's our goal. We want to make sure that we are living by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh's mouth. We're going to know the false prophets by the fruits the tree will bear. Are they bearing fruit from the Word of Yahweh, or are they bearing fruit from another's words? There is a way to know. We need to abide, number one, in the Vine.
John 15:4 - "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5 - "I am the vine, you [are] the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
It's very important that we abide in Yahushua. What does that mean? If we are abiding in Him, what are going to be the characteristics?
1John 2:4 - He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1John 2:5 - But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of Elohim is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
1John 2:6 - He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Of course, that makes every bit of sense. If we are abiding in Messiah, then the works of Messiah will be in us. We know, first of all, that Yahushua kept every single commandment of Yahweh. He kept every commandment without fail. We need to be sure, if we are claiming to abide in the vine, that we are doing the same.
We, in and of ourselves, are not able to bear forth fruit. We have to die first. That means we have to die to self. Yahushua taught us in John 12:24-26:
John 12:24 - "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
John 12:25 - "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
John 12:26 - "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him [My] Father will honor.
Our life is not the focus. It's Yahushua living in us that's the focus. We have to die. He has to live in us.
Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the [life] which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Elohim, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
When the seed falls to the ground and dies, it brings forth fruit. That's what Yahushua did. He is now bringing forth fruit in us. If He's not bringing forth fruit in us, then maybe we need to do a little fact check and see if we really are abiding in the vine, because if we are not abiding in the vine, then we are cut down and thrown into the fire.
The Word, the living Word, the seed, Yahushua the Messiah, was put to death. He went into the ground, but He was raised again, because it was impossible for the grave to hold Him.
Through His death, He wants to bear fruit in us. Have you ever noticed that in order for our physical bodies to live, something else needs to give up its life, whether it be an animal, or the living cells in a vegetable, the grain or fruit?
The same is true that in order for us to spiritually gain eternal life, the principle is that something must die. In this case, Yahushua the Messiah needed to die, and we needed to participate in His death, so that He would be able to live in us. He cannot live in us unless we die first.
If we have done that--if you are not familiar with that teaching, it is in the book of Romans and actually all over the Bible from beginning to end.
If you are not familiar with that teaching, I would encourage you to go to EliYah.com/transcripts. Listen to the study, "The Dying of Yahushua in Us."
Please listen to that study. It's a very important study. That's why I've got it listed there at the top. It is at the heart of the Good News of Yahushua.
We need to walk as He walked, because if He abides in us, then He's going to do the things in us that He did when He was on the earth. If we are abiding in Him, and He in us, then we will be known by our fruits, just as the true prophets are known. We do not live in the Spirit through that which is of the flesh.
Deuteronomy 8:2 - "And you shall remember that YAHWEH your Elohim led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you [and] test you, to know what [was] in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
Deuteronomy 8:3 - "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every [word] that proceeds from the mouth of YAHWEH.
Even at that time, when He was bringing the children of Israel through this wilderness, through this wilderness experience, which we are about to encounter ourselves here in about a month or so, as He brought them through this wilderness experience, it says that He humbled thee, He proved thee to know what was in thine heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
He taught us, and He teaches us even now, that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh's mouth.
Yahweh also wants to know what's in our heart, as well. Will we keep His commandments or not? Will we recognize that it's not by our own strength? It's not by eating things that fill the flesh that we live. It's by every word of Yahweh that we live.
If we need to be humbled, He will humble us. He wants to test us to know what's in our heart. He will teach us that we can only live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth. Some are teaching today that two-thirds of the words which Yahweh has inspired need not be something that we live by.
They'll call it names like the Old Testament. The truth is we live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh, every word. Those who love Him will love His word. They will seek out His word, seeking out things that will enable them to live. Those who love Him will want to know how He wants them to live.
Love for His word shows and demonstrates a love for Yahushua, because Yahushua is the Word of Elohim made flesh.
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
When we are spending our time seeking out the will of Yahweh, then what we're doing is seeking things that will bring us life. Now, if we bear fruit, and we bring forth good things in our life, don't be discouraged if you get pruned, because even though you may be bringing forth good things, Yahweh may be wanting to cut the unfruitful branches out of your life, and that's fine.
That doesn't mean He doesn't like you. He wants you to bring forth even more fruit.
John 15:2 - "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every [branch] that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
So, the main thing is that we do bear fruit. When we do bear fruit, He'll do things to cause us to bring forth even more fruit, just like a farmer may go forth and prune the trees to bring forth more fruit. It all has to begin with a very important concept. It all begins with ears that are willing to hear. Many times, Yahushua would say:
Revelation 13:9 - If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
Mark 14:23 - Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave [it] to them, and they all drank from it.
Mark 7:16 - "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"
Matthew 13:43 - "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Luke 8:8 - "But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold." When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
It's very important that we listen, extremely important that we are listeners who are attentive to the Word; otherwise, we may hear the Word, not understand it, and not bear fruit. If we do hear, we're blessed.
Matthew 13:16 - "But blessed [are] your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;
In order for us to hear, we do have to be humble. Yahushua was talking about those who did not hear.
Matthew 13:13 - "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
Matthew 13:14 - "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: `Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive;
Matthew 13:15 - For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with [their] eyes and hear with [their] ears, Lest they should understand with [their] hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.'
They have closed their ears. They're not listening. They're not looking. Apparently, they did not care. Yahweh did not want them to hear. They don't want to hear it, then He doesn't want them to hear it either. He prevented them from being able to understand. He didn't want them to understand. Why?
As we spoke of last week, it all boils down to pride and putting man ahead of Yahweh, which is actually a lot of times based in pride.
We need to maintain humility, a willingness to hear, and to change anything in our lives that Yahweh wants us to change. We need to be keeping our ears open for new things He wants to teach us. Sometimes we deceive ourselves and say, "I didn't hear that one."
I don't want to pretend like I didn't hear that one. Yahweh knows what you heard and what you didn't want to hear. We're not going to deceive Him. He knows what's in our hearts. When we hear something in His Word, maybe it's too much for us, we think, but He gave us the understanding.
Let's seek to walk it out. Yahushua gave everything He had in His love for us. We need to be willing to do the same.
Let's allow that good word to be planted deep within us on the good ground. The Word of Yahweh will always bear good fruit; however, that may take some patience.
Luke 8:15 - "But the ones [that] fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep [it] and bear fruit with patience.
Yahweh is very patient. HalleluYah for that. Waiting for that tree, like the patient farmer, to bear forth the good fruit. There's a lesson there for us. The lesson is that we need to be patient with each other, knowing that Yahweh is being patient with others. So, we need to be patient with one another. The fact is He's being patient with us, too.
If we're not being patient with someone else, and yet we are having to rely on Yahweh's patience ourselves, that's hypocrisy and pride.
We need to be willing to be patient with one another, willing to learn what Yahweh wants to teach us through various trials, because we know it's not by bread alone that we live. It's by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.
It's very interesting, in this generation, we really are in a time of plenty. What I mean is plenty of food on the table, plenty of leisure time, plenty of a lot of things.
The standard of living has never been higher, and the opportunity to seek out Yahweh's ways in the holy scriptures has never been greater.
Many of us are using programs like E-Sword and Bible Works, and in just a few keystrokes, you're able to research the scriptures. By moving a mouse over a word, you can just look up the Strong's just that quickly.
We can all fairly easily learn Hebrew, if we want to. There's all kinds of availability out there for us to seek out the ancient ways. The availability to have the seeds of Yahweh, the good seeds planted in our hearts, is available probably like never before.
Why do you think Yahweh has allowed this time? I think He wants us to partake of His Word right now in heavy doses.
Isaiah 55:1 - "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.
Isaiah 55:2 - Why do you spend money for [what is] not bread, And your wages for [what] does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat [what is] good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Now is the time to recognize that we need to live off of every word that proceeds out of Yahweh's mouth. The day may come when we might be having to experience famine.
Amos 8:11 - "Behold, the days are coming," says the Master YAHWEH, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of YAHWEH.
There are times of plenty, and there are times of famine. We need to recognize and be thankful for the fact that we are in a time of plenty. The question is, will we have plenty of bread within our hearts if, indeed, the famine comes in our generation?
Will we be like Joseph, who was wise and stored up the grain? Will we have His word hidden in our hearts, so that in times of difficulty, we spiritually are able to endure?
Yahweh's words bring life. His words teach us how to love, because they are brought forth by His Spirit. It's true the Spirit can remind us of the things which Yahweh has spoken and can reveal things to us, but we have to have a desire for them.
As we are taught and led by the Spirit, through His Word, we can also be taught and led by His Spirit through the Word that's already been written.
With what's already been written, we can have confidence. We don't have to wonder, "Was that from Yahweh?" Many have thought, "We're following the Spirit." Yet, that spirit was leading them away from obedience.
Many people think that they are following the Spirit of Yahweh, but the real test is whether they're walking in greater obedience or lesser obedience, according to what the Spirit has already confirmed in the scriptures.
We've got to be careful we don't make a mistake in our discernment and end up following the strong delusion, because Yahweh's Spirit never leads us to disobedience.
In general, words are very powerful. That's why I think He likened the Word of Yahweh as the seed. The words we speak are also very powerful.
Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
With our tongue, we can bless and curse. Many people don't recognizes what a curse is. Have you ever had anyone say something to you about something you were endeavoring to do? "You'll never get that done." Or a father or mother saying to their child, "You'll never amount to anything." That's a curse.
It's a curse when you say they will never do something worthwhile, that's of Yahweh. When you are saying those kinds of things, you're actually cursing. Or if you say, "This evil is going to happen to you," that is a form of cursing.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Yahweh commanded the priests to speak blessing over the children of Israel.
Numbers 6:24 - "YAHWEH bless you and keep you;
Numbers 6:25 - YAHWEH make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
Numbers 6:26 - YAHWEH lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace."'
With our tongue, we can bless; and with our tongue, we can curse. That's why James talks about the tongue being a fire, a world of poison. That 20 ounce piece of our body has a tremendous amount of ability to do a lot of damage and also do a lot of good.
James 3:8 - But no man can tame the tongue. [It is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
James 3:9 - With it we bless our Elohim and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of Elohim.
James 3:10 - Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
James 3:11 - Does a spring send forth fresh [water] and bitter from the same opening?
James 3:12 - Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
James 3:13 - Who [is] wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct [that] his works [are done] in the meekness of wisdom.
James 3:14 - But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
James 3:15 - This wisdom does not descend from above, but [is] earthly, sensual, demonic.
James 3:16 - For where envy and self-seeking [exist], confusion and every evil thing [are] there.
James 3:17 - But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
James 3:18 - Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
So with our mouth, with our tongue, we can bless. With our tongue, we can curse. It's our choice.
The words of others, when they pronounce curses on us, we can say, "I reject that, in Yahushua's name." The truth is a curse without a cause shall not alight, according to scripture.
Proverbs 26:2 - Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.
In other words, shall not come to pass. A curse causeless shall not come. Words have a tremendous amount of power and influence. The words of others can have a tremendous amount of influence on us.
A lot of times, the person's actions and mannerisms are a carbon copy of the current groups of friends that they choose to work with or hang around.
You ever noticed, even in our language, in the way our language has evolved, I remember back in the 80's, there was something called valley girls. They always used the word "like." Like this and like that. "Oh, it's like this. It's like that."
Have you ever noticed that everyone is doing that now? Everyone is saying like, like, like, like over and over again about different things.
The older generation don't ever do it, but the people in their 30s, and 40s, and 20s have a tendency to say that. I'm just bringing that out just to show that a lot of times our words, our actions, our mannerisms are influenced by society, by our group of friends, the people we work with, those we choose to hang around. There's wisdom in the proverb.
Proverbs 12:26 - The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
In the New King James Version, it has, "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray."
A lot of that has to do with the kind of words that are being spoken in our presence.
1Corinthians 15:33 - Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits."
Communications. We've got to be careful about communications, because they will corrupt good habits. Good things that we have in our lives can be corrupted.
Proverbs 13:20 - He who walks with wise [men] will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
That is one thing I have sought to instill in my own life is recognizing the power of influence from other people in the things they say, and the way it can affect our lives and how we walk.
The words being spoken can have an impact, negative or positive. The very word "spirit" in Hebrew comes from the word ruach. You've probably heard Ruach HaKodesh, Holy Spirit. The same word translated spirit is also translated breath. With our breath, we speak words. Yahushua said:
John 16:63 -
When we are around unbelievers a lot in our work life or unbelievers as our friends, there are going to be subtle influences that their words, their spirits they're speaking out of are going to have on us.
If we allow our children to associate with people that do things that are wrong, it's going to have an influence on them. Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners, or evil company corrupts good habits in the New King James.
When we get corrupted, it's because of subtle seeds that get sown, seeds which produce tares or bad trees and thus bad fruit.
We need to have an awareness. I'm not saying we need to go out of the world and go live in some cave somewhere, but we need to have an awareness of what seeds are being sown in our hearts.
Pay attention to what's going on. Do not walk in ignorance. Realize there is a battle going on for your soul. We need to make sure we have Yahweh's word as the overwhelming strong influence in our life.
When we read Yahweh's word in the holy scriptures, we know that we can put our guard down, because His word is spirit, His word is truth, and His word is life.
John 17:17 - "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
Some might say, "I've got so much going on in my life. I've got this thing going on, got that going on, got this going on. I just don't have the time to read the scriptures like I want to."
There's so little time nowadays to do the things I'd really like to do in really studying and reading the scriptures." That's not true. We all have the same time in any given day. We all have 24 hours. We might have to sleep eight of those. We can't control that. But the rest, we have choices of what we will do with our time.
Yahweh has provided us with time, if we are obedient to His command to keep the Sabbath day. This is a day when we are able to take that time and make sure we are getting the words of Yahweh sown in our hearts. We have 1/7 of our life where we can have the words of Yahweh continually sown in our hearts.
What a blessing that is, to keep us strong and fruitful. If we're not hearing the Word, we're not getting the seed planted in our minds. If there's no seed available that's good seed, what's going to happen? Tares are going to grow up everywhere all around us.
We're going to start bearing bad fruit. Yahweh provides us with the time we need, if we're obedient to His command to keep the Sabbath day.
He wants all of His people to rest and keep holy the Sabbath. As we keep the Sabbath and we keep it the right way, the Sabbath will keep us. It helps us to ensure we're strong in Him and filled with His Word.
Today, the common soil brings up many thorns to choke out a person's growth. Satan has a very wide, vast array of alternative things that he provides for us to spend our time in that's going to sow the words that he has inspired.
The cares of this life, there's so many different ways we could spend time: organizing, managing riches. Spending excessive time working to accumulate more riches is a big one, spending our riches on various pleasures that do not profit, rather than taking the things Yahweh has given and finding ways to bless others and to enrich our own spiritual walk.
Most of us are living in a time of unprecedented wealth. The standard of living is higher than at any point in history. There are these numerous entertainments in the world that will take our eyes off of Yahweh, distractions. Distractions abound in the age we live in.
We need to learn how to separate ourselves from the things of futility and vanity, and focus on the things that will bring forth good fruit.
A lot of people actually have more idle time than they're willing to admit. Idle time breeds sin. Boredom breeds trouble. Instead of investing in relationships, most of the world spends their time in front of what I call the blue screen of death, the one-eyed blue monster, also known as the television.
It can hardly be calculated how much damage the television has done to society. I realize the TV itself is not evil. It's just a box of wires and circuits. But through that television, worldly people with their spirit of the world is able to channel their programming into your soul.
The programming--I call it programming, because that's what it is--that you're going to find on these channels a lot of times is very destructive.
TV liberals and those who hate Yahweh and disregard Him use these devices to channel their worldly spirits in sinful ways into your household and ultimately into your heart.
You don't like one channel, turn to another. There's a multitude of channels to turn to. Isn't that what people refer to the conjuring up of evil spirits is channeling?
Very interesting. A brother pointed out to me years ago that a magician's wand is supposed to be made out of a specific kind of wood. That's holly wood. I'm not joking.
Evil men use their Hollywood to program all the people through their channeling, so that others can receive their words, their spirits, and sit spellbound for hours.
Coincidence? I have my doubts. Of course, it's all cast in a very positive or harmless, very subtle way. You don't even know you're being seduced. It's so gradual.
You'd actually have to turn that television off for about two months, then turn it back on again. Then you'll notice it. Yahweh says:
Proverbs 4:23 - Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it [spring] the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:24 - Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
You don't have to turn the television on for more than just a few minutes to listen to perverse mouths, perverse lips. We've got to keep our heart with all diligence.
We need to keep our eyes on the things which are good and not even look to the right or to the left.
Proverbs 4:25 - Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.
Proverbs 4:26 - Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.
Proverbs 4:27 - Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.
Some might say, "All you've got to do is go to Wal-Mart, and you'll find perverse things." Well, that's true. That's very true. But you don't have to pipe it into your house. Would you invite them into your home? People do it all the time when they turn that Satan box on. They pipe that right into their home.
Things they normally would not allow into their home, they allow into their home. It's all with the best and slickest programming that 30 million dollars can buy.
We don't need that in our house. We don't want Satan and his ways in our household. David said?
Psalms 101:3 - I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.
Psalms 101:4 - A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.
Psalms 101:5 - Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure.
He didn't want those things near him. David hated the things that Yahweh hated. He also knew that when a person observes and watches wickedness, it has the ability to cleave to them.
The Hebrew word translated "cleave" here is the same word that's used to describe a man leaving his father and mother to cleave to his wife.
Do we want wickedness to cleave to us? Keep watching it. It eventually will.
We have enough trouble overcoming without inviting trouble into our household. Things will cleave to us, especially if we choose to watch that for entertainment.
Some might think their favorite program is harmless. But even if your favorite program is harmless, you have to sit through those abominable commercials.
The worldly spirit is alive and well. We don't need to be putting it into the soil of our garden. Let's fill our garden with seeds that come from Yahweh.
Yahweh hates even a proud look. Shouldn't we? If it's His Spirit that's in us, shouldn't we hate the things that He hates? How can anyone stand to be around those things while filled with the Spirit of Yahweh?
Some will say, "My program that I watch is okay. It's just got a little bit of yuk in it." Okay. I would say that's even more dangerous than something that was just flat out wicked.
You can have light and darkness, but please don't mix them. That's when things look more innocent and, therefore, are more deceptive. "I watch the news to make sure what's going on." The thing is, with the television, and with websites on the internet--I'm not suggesting the internet is any better than TV. I'm just pointing out some things here.
The news a lot of times is just laden with a bunch of slander, especially during the time when politicians are competing with each other. It's full of slander and gossip.
Leviticus 19:16 - `You shall not go about [as] a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I [am] YAHWEH.
These things are sin. Many just can't wait to get the latest tasty trifle. That's what they are, little tasty trifles. If you look in Proverbs 18:8, that's what it has in the New King James Version. "The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body."
Kind of interesting. The same verse is in Proverbs 26:22. Twice in the Proverbs, we have this same thing repeated.
Psalms 101:5 - Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure.
Psalms 101:6 - My eyes [shall be] on the faithful of the land, That they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve me.
The faithful of the land is what we want to set in front of our eyes. The faithful of the land is what we want in our house.
Psalms 101:7 - He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.
The television, with its programmers, worketh deceit and telleth lies all day long.
Honestly, I believe we don't need the television. There are other ways of getting news you may need. There is a difference between the internet and television. The internet, you can go to a website. For instance, you might go to a news website, and you can look through the headlines and pick and choose what stories you choose to read about.
With the television, it forces one story upon another, one after another. One is evil. One might be okay. Another one might be good. Before you know how evil one is, they've already sown the bad seeds in your heart. It's too late.
If you look diligently--of course, you don't have to look diligently. You just don't have to look very far. If you seek it out, there's a lot of wickedness, to even greater degrees on the internet.
For that reason, I'm convinced that the internet will probably be the largest contributor to destroying morality in the days to come, and maybe already. I think it has the potential to be the most destructive form of technology ever invented.
It also, like the television, does have a great capability for proclaiming Yahweh's goodness. There are some people who have come to Yahweh's truth through internet websites and through certain, very rare, television programs.
It all has to do with the source. The box itself, the TV box itself isn't evil. It's the ones who are in control of the programming. If the one who is the source of whatever it is, is a believer and they're proclaiming Yahweh's goodness, halleluYah. That's a blessing.
But the ones with the money, generally, are the worldly ones. It's their words that you're going to have to sit through. Don't sit too long and expect a clean thing to come out of an unclean. It doesn't happen very often.
King David ruled his house with the mindset of purity and fear of Yahweh. He also ruled Israel with righteousness and integrity. For that, Yahweh blessed that man after His own heart. He didn't want to see the evil. He didn't want that to dwell within him. He knew the power of influence.
When Yahweh set the children of Israel in the land, He said drive out the enemy. Don't even let it come near you. Don't let your sons marry their daughters. Don't let your daughters marry their sons. They will turn your heart away.
We are already in Babylon. The last thing we need is to bring Babylon into our house, the one last safe haven that we're able to turn to.
Even David, though, a man after Yahweh's own heart, had fallen. How did he fall? It was ultimately the temptation that came through his eyes. Job was a little wiser in that regard.
Job 31:1 - "I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?
We need to make a covenant with our eyes and turn them away from harmful things, anything that's harmful. Realize that and the seeds, the things we see and hear, have a way of influencing us, and harming us, and turning us away from things that will make us fruitful, and the world, with its thorns, choke us out and make us unfruitful.
We need to take the choker out of the way. The thief that robs us of our time, when in reality, time is so short. We need to take that thief and give him the boot.
Although we do live in the world, we don't have to pump the worldly poison into our household. I don't care whether it's internet, TV or whatever.
If it's destroying your soul spiritually, it ain't worth having. For those who continue to pump those things into their homes and into their hearts, most of the time they don't even realize it. It's very subtle, very suggestive, just like this world's programs and just like the one in the garden of Eden, very subtle.
Let's be wise and have no part of that serpent in our house. It's time we put down the toys, cast away the waste and folly, and pick up the Word of Yahweh, so that we can be spiritually prepared for the famine in the days ahead.
There is no time to waste. Turn the worldly TV off. I guarantee you, your spiritual life will be better off. It's important that we keep growing spiritually and not just take up the ground.
Back in 1998, we used to watch a lot of TV. In the evenings, we'd turn it on and watch the news. There was the 5:00 news, 6:00 news, 7:00 news magazines, 8:00 shows. It goes on and on. There's a never-ending source of things to watch.
I began to see -- thankfully, Yahweh started to show me how destructive it really was to our spiritual walk.
We unplugged it from the antenna. We didn't have cable. And I haven't had it hooked up since. It's been about ten years now. I can tell you, I have grown a whole lot more in these last ten years than I grew the first eight or nine years of my walk with Yahweh.
I really believe the television has a part of that. I've shared before how the few times I've had an encounter with a television, with its worldly poison constantly flowing out of it, how it drained me spiritually. Visiting a relative, and that worldly thing coming out of the box, about ten minutes of that, I don't feel like digging into the scriptures anymore.
I sense an ickyness clinging to me when I walk away from it. That's exactly what happens. We need to cast away the stumbling blocks out of our lives. We need to ask ourselves often, "What new conviction toward obedience has the Spirit revealed to me lately? What is Yahushua doing in my life lately?"
We need to be continually learning things that draw us closer in the way of righteousness. That's a sign that Yahweh is working in our lives. It's a sign we're being led by His Spirit, and we are being molded into the image of Yahushua the Messiah.
Are we growing in obedience, or are we walking slowly toward less obedience? Are we moving forward in areas of conviction, or are we starting to lose convictions in areas we used to be strong? Those are some danger signs.
Let's ask ourselves these questions. Ask yourself personally these questions. This is something I like to do from time to time. Number one, am I spending time alone with Yahweh in His Word and in prayer?
Number two, am I keeping my thought life pure?
Number three, has there been a time recently where I have put Yahweh on the back burner or second place?
Number four, am I walking in total obedience to Yahweh? Partial obedience is disobedience.
Number five, am I passing by opportunities to show another person love?
Ask yourselves those questions. Then ask yourself, am I answering these questions truthfully?
We need to pay close attention to what we are allowing ourselves to see and hear. Most of the time, a not so good answer to those questions is a result of that very thing.
What we see, what we hear can influence our thoughts, which influences our tongue, which influences our unrighteous actions. Unrighteous actions will eventually bring about the unrighteous character, which ultimately will determine our eternal fate.
Let's be on guard. Let's be on guard, and let spiritual things encompass our thoughts and desires, and set our affections on things that are above, things that are pure.
That's what needs to be in our hearts and in our thoughts. Watching television, listening to the radio, surfing the internet, talking to worldly people all the time and letting them be our friends, reading worldly magazines, they're all fertile soil for unrighteous thoughts to be sown, the seeds of deception.
We don't realize a lot of times the spiritual battles that are happening when we saw that commercial, or read that article, or saw that advertisement on the internet, or maybe even on a billboard somewhere.
Doors are being opened to the enemy, doors we do not want to be opened. Once that door is opened just a crack -- that's why we don't turn the TV on, because maybe there is something once or twice worthwhile to see, but once you open up that door just a crack, before you know it, the enemy gets his foot in there and is flinging it wide open.
It's a breach in the wall of the city of peace that we are called to build. We oftentimes, because we're not sensitive to it, we don't realize the things which are warring against the Spirit of Yahweh.
I'll guarantee you, for someone who watches television regularly, they're not going to be sensitive to the things that are warring against the Spirit of Yahweh. They're desensitized. Someone who doesn't watch television comes up to someone who is, and can point out 30 things wrong with the television program in a span of five minutes, and the other person will never even see it.
We need to make sure that the things we think upon are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, praiseworthy. Those are the things we want to mediate on.
We need to be on guard, because the deception that's going to occur and taking place in the last days is going to be very strong, strong enough, if possible, to deceive the elect.
We need to have spiritual sensitivity, not desensitized, spiritual discernment.
Matthew 24:24 - "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
We can't be caught up in that. We can't be caught up in worldly things with worldly spirits, because the whole world is going to be deceived.
This is a time to be sober, to be aware, to be sensitive to deception. I don't care how many feast days you keep, how much you avoid pork, how much you observe the Sabbath day, or whatever, you've got to be spiritually sensitive, or maybe you won't be the elect. We need to be on guard.
Ephesians 6:11 -
Ephesians 6:12 -
Ephesians 6:13 -
Ephesians 6:14 -
Ephesians 6:15 -
Ephesians 6:16 -
Ephesians 6:17 -
Do we have our sword ready? We are in a spiritual battle. We need to know how to do battle against the enemy. If we want to avoid unnecessary battles, we need to avoid filling ourselves with the spirit of the world.
Sometimes, before I go into a certain place, I sense that something is not right about it. Even Wal-Mart sometimes, before I go into Wal-Mart, I'll bind up every power that may be trying to harm me or my family, in the name of Yahushua.
I think we need to be ready for war. I'm not talking about physical war; I'm talking about spiritual war. Pray that Yahweh will enable us to stand. If I see something that's not of Him, sometimes I'll say, "I reject that, in Yahushua's name."
I don't want the unprofitable things to have any ability to cling to me. We live out here in the sticks. We're surrounded by sheep, by chickens, by trees, by birds, grass and ourselves.
There have been times I haven't gone to town for a couple of weeks. During that time, of course, I do have the ability to minister on the internet, which I'm very thankful for. But during that time, I'm not accustomed to seeing the things that a lot of people see on a daily basis.
So, I guess I'm able to be more spiritually sensitive, so when I go to town, it's like culture shock. It's just total culture shock, and it's helped me to realize the impact, even just the advertising.
Buy this, buy that, buy this, buy that, buy this. Constantly, we're being bombarded with salesmen trying to sell us something, convince our minds, change our minds about something.
I'm not suggesting we need to go out of the world. I'm just suggesting that we need to be spiritually sensitive. We definitely don't need to bring the world into our homes. Let's not waste our time in things that don't profit.
Any works that are not eternal are waste and void. They will not profit us in the kingdom to come. Let's purge out the waste, and let's move on in the Spirit.
Does the bride not spend her time purifying and preparing herself in preparation for the bridegroom? If we knew that Yahushua was really coming tomorrow afternoon, what waste would we be throwing out? Would we spend the prior evening doing worldly things, the television, or unprofitable things?
Would we be doing that the prior evening right before Yahushua returns? Or would we be on our face in prayer, making sure we're ready?
What bride, while purifying herself for the bridegroom, would dig through a dumpster and maybe find something worthwhile to use?
You might find something in the dumpster of this world's programming and worldwide websites, and maybe find something worthwhile, but you're going to get dirty in the process.
Let's forsake the dumpsters of this world and cleave to the purity of Yahushua's example. Let's get rid of the thorny and worldly cares and cleave to holiness, purity, and the important things in life.
Over and over again, Yahushua said, "Be sober." We are admonished to think soberly.
Romans 12:3 - For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as Elohim has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
We are admonished to watch and be sober.
1Thessalonians 5:6 - Therefore let us not sleep, as others [do], but let us watch and be sober.
1Thessalonians 5:8 - But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and [as] a helmet the hope of salvation.
Titus 2:6 - Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded,
1Peter 1:13 - Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest [your] hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Yahushua Messiah;
1Peter 5:8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Let's get rid of the things, the thorny worldly cares. Let's cleave to holiness, purity and what's really important. What's really important is spending our time serving others. That's something worthwhile and something rewarding.
It's something that will fill our spiritual bank with blessings. Instead of trying to increase our bank account and heap up more and more riches in the worldly bank, let's fill our spiritual bank, that when He who gives us one talent will find ten talents in the account.
Matthew 25:32 - "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides [his] sheep from the goats.
Matthew 25:33 - "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Matthew 25:34 - "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Matthew 25:35 - `for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
Matthew 25:36 - `I [was] naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
Matthew 25:37 - "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, `Master, when did we see You hungry and feed [You], or thirsty and give [You] drink?
Matthew 25:38 - `When did we see You a stranger and take [You] in, or naked and clothe [You]?
Matthew 25:39 - `Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
Matthew 25:40 - "And the King will answer and say to them, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did [it] to one of the least of these My brethren, you did [it] to Me.'
What are we doing for Yahushua?
Matthew 25:41 - "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, `Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
Matthew 25:42 - `for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
Matthew 25:43 - `I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
Matthew 25:44 - "Then they also will answer Him, saying, `Master, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'
Matthew 25:45 - "Then He will answer them, saying, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do [it] to one of the least of these, you did not do [it] to Me.'
Matthew 25:46 - "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
What are we failing to do for Yahushua? We might say, "There's lots of riches going around. People aren't really poor anymore." Wrong.
Revelation 3:17 - "Because you say, `I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' -- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked --
There are lots of people who are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked today and don't even know it, because they're increased with goods and have need of nothing.
What are we doing for them? You may wonder, "What do I need to do specifically?"
Listen for His voice. Cast out the foreign voices out of your mind. Seek His voice out with all your heart. He will tell you. The Good Shepherd will guide you. You'll learn to recognize His voice. By that, you'll start to recognize the voice of the stranger that seeks to kill, steal, destroy and corrupt.
1Peter 1:18 - knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, [like] silver or gold, from your aimless conduct [received] by tradition from your fathers,
1Peter 1:19 - but with the precious blood of Messiah, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
He, indeed, was foreordained before the foundation of the world that was manifest in these last times for you.
1Peter 1:20 - He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
1Peter 1:21 - who through Him believe in Elohim, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in Elohim.
1Peter 1:22 - Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
1Peter 1:23 - having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of Elohim which lives and abides forever,
1Peter 1:24 - because "All flesh [is] as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away,
1Peter 1:25 - But the word of YAHWEH endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
1Peter 2:1 - Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
1Peter 2:2 - as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
1Peter 2:3 - if indeed you have tasted that YAHWEH [is] gracious.
I have tasted. You have tasted. While His food is so available today, set before us, let's partake of that. The way of true life is before us. Let's seek to grow. It's only when the incorruptible seed is placed in our hearts that we will bear the good fruit and to Yahweh our Elohim a fruit offering that is pleasing to Him. May Yahweh bless you and may He have mercy on us all.
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