Self-Control: Guard Your Heart

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. This is week number four in our

series we've entitled Self -Control. Now, who's

enjoyed this series so far? Yeah, it's been such

a blessing, right? It's been very powerful. If

you weren't able to make it with us last week,

man, you missed a doozy. That was, oh, wow. It

was incredible. It's available on podcasts and

YouTube. Each Sunday morning builds upon the

other, like when we're in a series. They do build,

but each Sunday morning is like contained within

itself. There is a sermon contained. You know,

you don't have to watch the other ones or listen

to the other ones. But it's important that you

do that, like I said, because they build. What

the word that was given last week. really shaped

what and the direction we were going to go this

week. While I was sitting there and we were talking

about it, we had already sort of planned, like,

this is what we're going to talk about this week,

this is what we're going to talk about the next

week. And while we were sitting there, Dad and

I both felt, and we knew in our hearts, that,

like, okay, next Sunday's got to be this and

go in this different direction. Why is that?

It's because God knows who was going to be here.

Now, I don't know, right? Like, I could guess.

I'd be a terrible guesser if I knew who was going

to be here on any given Sunday, right? Like,

you just never know who's going to walk through

the door. You never know, right? I expect thousands,

but, you know, that typically doesn't turn out,

at least not yet. But you never know who's going

to walk through the door, but God knows exactly

who is going to be here today. And you know what?

He has a word. Listen, not just a generic word.

He has a specific word for you today. Do you

believe that? Every time God speaks, he speaks

to you specifically. And he has something for

you today. Amen? Because his word is what? Alive.

It's living. It's sharper than a two -edged sword.

cutting between soul and spirit, right? So what

a great introduction that was about self -control.

And it's exactly where we're going today. But

yes, we are in a series. I'm going to try to

recap a little bit where we are. If you have

your Bibles, go ahead and turn to 2 Peter 1,

3 through 8. If not, it's on the screen. Read

out of the New Living Translation. And it says

this. By his divine power, God has given us everything

we need for living a godly life. We have received

all of this by coming to know him, the one who

called us to himself by means of his marvelous

glory and excellence. Somebody say amen. Amen.

That is so good. God has given us what? Everything.

Somebody say everything. He's given us everything

we need for living a godly life. All of our wants,

all of our needs. We have received all of this.

How? How do we receive this? By asking? No, by

coming to know him. Knowing God is the most important

thing. As a believer, you need to be in a relationship

with him. It's so cliche as we're, you know,

it's not a religion, it's a relationship. But

really, God wants you to spend personal, intimate,

quality time with him day in, day out. Because

what you need is not a self -help seminar. What

you need is not just more and more information.

You need a word from God. Because one word from

God can change your life. Coming to church ain't

going to change your life. One word from God,

listen, one word from God is going to change

your life. It can change everything. It can change

your family. It can change your home. It changes

your future. Amen. Everything we need for living

God life, we receive all of this by coming to

know him, the one who called us to himself by

means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Verse four, and because of his glory and excellence,

he has given us great and precious promises.

We talk about the promises of God a lot here

at Elation Church, and he has given us great

and precious promises. And get this, these promises.

These are the promises that enable you to share

His divine nature and escape the world's corruption

caused by human desires. Everybody say, lack

of self -control. So all the world's corruption

is based on a lack of self -control. It originates

in a lack of self -control. That's why self -control,

personally, is important. It's a big reason why

it's important. But the promises of God, that

we receive by faith, by knowing him, get this,

they allow us escape. They promise us escape.

How many of you need some escape sometimes? Yeah.

They promise us escape from the world's corruption

caused by human desires. And also it promises

us to share in God's divine nature. Wow. We share

in the nature of God. That's what it means to

be in Christ, amen? Verse 5, in view of all of

this, make every effort to respond. Everybody

say, make some effort. Everybody say, respond

to God's promises. And get this, because we're

talking about faith here, and it says this, that

we're supposed to supplement your faith, get

this, with a generous provision of moral excellence.

Morality, the right and the wrong, right? That

is founded and moral excellence is grounded and

founded in who God is. It's his nature is where

we find what is right and what is wrong. Anything

less than the perfect God is unholy, is unrighteous,

right? We're supplementing our faith with a generous

provision of moral excellence. Moral excellence

with knowledge, because we're supposed to know

him and know about him and know these things.

And knowledge with self -control. And self -control

with what? Patient endurance. You have to have

some self -control to patiently endure in this

life. Amen? And patient endurance with godliness.

and godliness with brotherly affection, affection

and genuine love for your brothers and sisters

in the faith, for the body of Christ, and also

brotherly affection with love for everyone. So

it extends outside of the four corners of this

building. It extends into the world around us

with love, genuine love and affection for everyone

around us. Amen. Verse 8, the more you grow like

this, the more productive, everybody say productive,

and the more useful, say useful, useful you will

be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So self -control, we're supposed to supplement

our faith with it, and when we do, we're able

to be more productive and more useful in the

kingdom of God. So we're called here, we're commanded,

supplement your faith with a generous provision

of self -control. And this word, as we've seen,

is in cretea. It means in, in the sphere of,

in cretos, dominion or mastery. And as we've

been talking about, it means dominion within,

self -control. And in the definition of the word,

it's telling us that it's self -control of our

actions, thoughts, and feelings. 1 Corinthians

9, 24 -27 uses this word discipline. And throughout

your Bible, sometimes when it says discipline,

it's actually the Greek word there is the same.

It's meaning self -control. It's using the same

word here as we've seen. And these verses say

this, Don't you realize that in a race everyone

runs, but only one person gets the prize. So

run to win. Amen? Run to win. All athletes are

disciplined and exercise self -control in their

training. An athlete doesn't train really, really

hard to lose. I don't know of anyone who plays

a game and they're really trying. They're just

like, I'm going to fail today. I don't think

anybody who plays in the World Series is going

to go, you know, I've came all this way, but

it doesn't matter if I win or lose. Sometimes

that's the way the world looks. works and looks,

right? But God's here telling us to run to win

with, get this, with a vision of a reality of

you winning and you're running and chasing after

it. And because of that vision, that, that built

up imagination of like, you see yourself winning

the world series. Guess what? You're going to

train and train harder than you've ever trained

before. Right? Because when you have a vision

in your heart, it creates discipline to take

you into your future. Okay? We listening? We

bobbleheading? Yeah? I like it. I like it. So

run to win. Look to your neighbor and say, run

to win. It's time to run to win. Next, they do

it to win a prize that will fade away, but we

do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose

in every step. I'm not just shadowboxing. I discipline

my body. This verse specifically talking about

self -control of the body. Paul is saying I put

my body under submission, yielding to the Holy

Spirit within me, right? He's saying I discipline

my body like an athlete, training it to do what

it should do. Again, that moral excellence, do

what it should do, right? according to God's

standard, divine standard of who he is. So self

-control then, as we've learned, is essential

to living with purpose and living with victory,

living in victory. Amen? And we know Galatians

5, 22 through 23, tells us that the Holy Spirit

produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Love,

joy. peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self -control. A lot of times

we focus on all the other ones, right? And we

kind of leave self -control out because it involves

some effort on our part. And we don't like that.

We don't like to do any effort. We just want

God to kind of zap us with whatever he has for

us, right? So our running definition here from

our study is that self -control, it's proceeding

out from within oneself, but because it's a fruit

of the Holy Spirit, it's not by yourself. It's

not by oneself, right? As we've seen, we have

a helper. We have someone to help us have self

-control. And then a self -control, if the Holy

Spirit is involved, guess what? It means that...

My control can go beyond my natural ability.

It means that my circumstance and my situation,

no matter how dark, no matter how glim, get this,

the Holy Spirit gets involved and I can have

self -control to overcome. What naturally, what

natural self -control cannot do, what the world

says can't be done. God can do through you. He

is waiting to work through you. He needs our

cooperation, right? And true mastery from within

can really only be accomplished by the power

of the Lord. We need him. We need him each and

every day. And we've learned we can't control

everything or everyone around us. You can't control

where you were born, the family you grew up in,

the experiences that happened to you, right?

But what you can control and what determines

your future is your self -control, is controlling

yourself. You have control by the help of the

Holy Spirit. So self -control often is just viewed

as abstaining from excess, as we've talked about.

Most people just view it as just, oh, well, I

have control over not doing this certain thing,

right? But for the Christian, it goes a step

beyond that. It involves a positive mastery and

direction of one's energies and desires, listen,

towards godly purposes. So we can accomplish

things that in the natural could not otherwise

be accomplished, right? Because our life has

meaning and purpose when it's found in who God

is. And when we're chasing and energized and

focused towards, right, directing all of our

energy, all of our passions towards him, towards

knowing him, that's when our situations begin

to change. Amen? And today, we've kind of talked

about this, and we're kind of leading on this

journey, and this is where God has us today,

this morning. is this verse. It's very familiar

to a lot of people, but it's Proverbs 4 .23,

and this will be the basis of today and this

morning's message. To guard your heart above

all else. When we see above all else, it should

create a flag in us when we're reading our Bibles.

When we see these phrases like that, that most

importantly, it's like, whoop, we need to pay

attention, right? Our antennas need to go up.

We need to be like, well, what is this? Above

all else, guard your heart, for it, your heart,

determines the course of your life. That's a

big statement. Guard your heart above all else,

for it determines the course of your life. This

word guard, in Greek, the definitions are to

keep, to observe, to preserve, protect, maintain,

watch over, custody over, imprison it. We're

imprisoning our heart. But listen, guard, when

I started thinking about a guard, I'm like...

What's a good definition beyond that? Like that

kind of gives us a good mental picture of a guard.

And so I just looked it up online, just Googled,

and Scout Security says this, and I think it's

really good. It says, guards conduct patrol to

identify and mitigate potential threats before

they escalate. So they're walking around, right?

Whatever they're protecting, whatever they're

guarding, they're constantly monitoring it, looking

at it. assessing it, evaluating whatever they're

guarding. And also they enforce, listen, they

enforce access control. They grant or deny access

based upon valid identity or authorization. And

I think this is a really good definition when

it comes to this word, when we're talking about

to guard our hearts. We need to evaluate our

hearts this morning because we're not just here

and we're applying today. God has a word for

you to change your life. And if we got to identify

and mitigate potential threats before they escalate,

we got to enforce with the help of the Holy Spirit,

we enforce what has access to us, to our hearts.

We grant it, we deny access based upon God's

moral excellence. So we have a guide. We have

a light into our path, right? And we grant or

deny access based upon the word of God. Amen?

And this word for heart, listen, directly translated

as the heart, can also be translated as feelings,

will, and intellect, the center of everything.

We're not guarding our physical organ, just in

case you're confused. I'm not asking you to walk

around with some big, like, breastplate or something

like that to guard. I've got to guard it. I've

got to be careful. No. It's guarding our feelings,

guarding our will, and guarding our intellect,

our center. Everybody say our center. Our center

is what this word is talking about. Our heart.

Did you know? We are a three -part being. We

are a spirit. We're a spirit being. We have a

soul, and we live in a body, in a flesh suit,

right? And at salvation, the spirit is made new

unto Christ. That's the part of us that is saved,

is our spirits are made new to him by the Holy

Spirit in us. Amen? Makes us new. But what doesn't

change is our souls. That doesn't immediately

change. Our bodies don't just immediately transfer

into our new body. Wouldn't that be great if

that happened, you know? All of a sudden, it

just, boom, and everything's perfect. And that's

why all throughout Scripture, it talks about

us having effort and working towards, working

towards, right, the transformation of the soul.

Right? And the renewing of the mind, the transformation

of our bodies, and self -control in our flesh,

yielding to the Spirit of God, and He helps us

and transforms us into God's image because it's

a process. It's a process for our souls and our

bodies to be... the way God wants in his perfect

standard, right? That's a process that requires

effort on our parts. But our spirit at salvation

is just made new unto him. That's why we're promised

salvation. Amen? So guard your heart above all

else. Before I move forward, the definition of

your soul is your mind. Everybody say mind. Your

will and your emotions. and your emotions. That's

in line with what this word about heart is, your

feelings, your will, and your intellect, right?

So it's talking about we're guarding our souls

because what's in your soul, listen, determines

the course of your life. What's in your heart

determines your outcome. determines your end,

your exit, your issue, your borders, your escapes,

and what your life produces and springs forth

from within you. Determines the course of your

life. So what this is saying, see, when the Bible

says to guard your heart, I love these things,

these commands from God. I love that. Some people

look at commands and they're like, oh, that's

kind of oppressive a little bit. No, commands

are really great. You know why? Because if they're

inspired by God, listen, and we read them in

Scripture, and God tells us to do something,

He's not going to tell you to do something that

He hasn't given you the ability to do. So His

command, His word, therefore gives me the authority

and the ability to perform whatever action that

He's called me to. So therefore, he says to guard

your heart. Therefore, I have the power and the

ability to. I have control over what I allow

into my heart. I have control over what I allow

into my feelings. I have control over what I

allow, my passions, my desires, my will, what

I allow into that. What wakes me up in the morning?

I have control over my intellect, my mind, what

I think about. Amen? And a guard would always

look at the easiest points of entry, right? They

don't stand at the back of the lot. If they're

guarding a house, you know, they wouldn't stand

in the very back corner, right? They're going

to stand at the entry point. Because that's where

the greatest threat could come in. That's where

the access point is. That's the weakest point.

So that's where the guard stands. So it's important

that if we're guarding our souls, guarding our

hearts, our mind, our will, and our emotions,

that we understand where our access points are.

Our points of entry to guard are our eyes, what

we see, our ears. What we hear, what we listen

to, and our thoughts. If you're not aware, not

every thought that you think comes from within

you. You know, not every thought. Sometimes the

enemy can bring a thought into your head. Sometimes

your past experience can bring a thought into

your head. Your chemistry can produce a thought

in you. That weird to think about. And sometimes

God can produce a thought in you. And then you

have a choice. Who are you going to believe?

What are you going to continue to think on? What

are you going to act towards, right? And it's

interesting. You know, growing up, my parents

were always very concerned about and they watched

over for me as a child what I saw. what I watched,

what I was allowed to see. They were concerned

about that. A lot of times these days, and even

a lot of my friends growing up, their parents

just let them do whatever they want to do, right?

And then they were concerned about what I listened

to. And then they were concerned about what I

was thinking about. And they guarded over me.

But when I got older, when I reached a certain

age, my parents no longer guarded that. They

could not shield that from me, right? So I had

to make my own decisions about what I deemed

was right, what I deemed was wrong, what I wanted

to allow access into my mind, into my emotions,

into my wills, right? And that's when things

get messy. A lot of us believe, and the world

has told us, that, you know, it don't matter

what I see. It don't matter what I watch on TV

or watch on the movies. That has no consequence

to me. What I listen to, whether it be music,

whether it be podcasts, whether it be social

media, you know, now we live in a culture that

just... Anything I see, anything I hear, I just

believe it. We don't check nothing. We just instantly

just, yeah, that's true. And a lot of us, we

can see the consequences of that and the negative

consequences of that. But what are some of the

other things? What are we listening to? What

are we putting our eyes to consistently and we

think that there's no consequence to? What are

we thinking? What are we allowing access into

our hearts? Don't fool yourself. This is not

fun to talk about, but it's true. It's a word

that we all need to hear. We need to be careful.

We need to be on guard because what you're seeing

is coming into you. What you're listening to

is coming into you. What you're thinking about,

come on, has power over you. And it doesn't matter

how powerful you think you are. That's just pride.

And guess what? Pride comes before the fall.

Every person who ever felt, they felt like, I

got this under control. This doesn't affect me

like some of those other people. I'm strong in

my faith. Come on. Anyways, stepping off, moving

on. Today, we're going to be looking at, because

I believe this is a great example that God gives

in his word, and it's a story, and he gives it

as a parable. If you're not familiar what a parable

is, a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly

meaning. It's an analogy, if you will. And Jesus,

while he was on earth, he often, when he was

in a big crowd, he would begin to speak in parables,

just telling these stories. Now, and his disciples,

his best friends, they would look at him and,

you know, later on in the day, they would come

and they'd be like, so what, Jesus, what were

you talking about? You know, you were telling

this story, and what did it really mean? You

know, like, I felt like there was something there.

And Jesus looks at him with this one, too, and

he goes, you know, if you can't understand what

I was saying then, you'll never understand anything

else about the kingdom of God. So this parable

is pretty important. And it's a parable talking

about a farmer. a person who sows seeds into

different fields, into different environments,

into different soils, and the results that is

produced. And what we're reading today is actually

Jesus' explanation to his disciples. This parable

that Jesus gives is recorded in three of the

four Gospels. The account that we're going to

read today doesn't specifically mention heart,

but in Matthew it specifically does. And so I

want to break it down to you. The farmer, he

plants with his words. And what he speaks, he

is sowing, and the seed that he is sowing is

God's Word. It's interesting that all throughout

the Bible, is wrapped in this agricultural language.

And it's not too peculiar, though, because this

is the way the world works. And if God created

the world, and this is how he intended it to

be, we're going to see that mirrored all in every

stage, in the spirit and in the physical, right?

And so we see that the seed that the farmer sows,

that he speaks, right, is God's word. And when

you think about a seed, the seed, any seed contains

the substance and the power within it to bear

fruit. I plant, we plant okra. I mean, if you've

ever had okra before, fried okra is good stuff.

With some ranch, it's good stuff. Go see Robert

and Alyssa and get some good fried okra. Anyways,

shameless plug. Okra, when you plant it in the

ground. Listen, when you plant okra in the ground,

you just plant one little seed. I mean, it's

a little tiny thing. And, you know, you give

it a few months, that time goes by, and then

all of a sudden you have a five -gallon bucket

of okra off of one plant. It produces a great

harvest, and that's why a lot of people like

it, right? Some people don't. It's slimy and

whatever. If you handle it right, it's good.

But anyways, there's power within a seed. There's

power within it. God's word is powerful to produce

something in our lives, not just spiritual. It's

powerful to produce substance in our lives, to

bear fruit, to reap a harvest from it, from God's

word. And the soil is our hearts. It's our hearts.

It's our souls. It's our mind. It's our will

and our emotions, right? So now we're going to

look at four types of soil. In verse 15, it says

this. So the seed that fell on the footpath,

everybody say footpath, represents those who

hear the message only to have Satan come at once

and take it away. When you think about a footpath,

you think about the road often traveled, the

one that everyone goes down, that the act of

walking that way over and over and over again

creates tough dirt, tough ground. Because it's

the way that everyone travels, right? And it

represents those who hear the word. They hear

it. They're in an environment to hear it. But

then Satan is able to take it away because, listen,

the word can easily be stolen from a heart that's

too hard to receive. Do you realize Satan can

steal the word of God from you? It's not enough

for you to just hear it. God's Word has to be

in you. It's not enough to just read it and like,

okay, I did my religious duty today and I've

read the Word, I've read the Bible, right? I

finished my reading this week. That's not enough.

The Word of God has to come alive in you. By

the Holy Spirit has to reveal it. The light of

it has to come alive. and transform you. Because

this is not just an intellectual exercise. The

Word of God, listen, it has to be planted in

you in order to produce a harvest out of you.

The Word can easily be stolen from a heart that's

too hard to receive. Often, and I would say probably

the... Probably the biggest thing, the biggest

mistake that we do as people is we rely so heavily

on our own understanding of the way the natural

works and the way everything has been, will always

be, and there's nothing I can do to change it.

And whether it be whatever, science, whether

it be whatever discipline you want to throw in

front of it, it's like... it shows us that there's

repeatability and those things are good up to

a certain extent. But when it comes to the word

of God, we need something specific to change

our lives. We need something specific to transform

us. And when that word is given, whether it be

in a service like this, whether it be some preacher

that you're listening to or just in your own

personal quiet time, when that word is given,

listen, if you just kind of go, You know, that

kind of goes against what I've always thought.

And, you know, I heard someone else talk about

how I can, you know, fix my problem. And I think

that's, you know, there's proven results there,

right? And, you know, I can see that. So if I

do A, B, I'll always get C. So therefore, you

know, I know God's Word is saying I can accomplish

it this way, but in my natural, I can see that

it'll happen. I can know that it's going to happen

this way. And so I'm more trusting and I'm leaning

on giving more weight to my own understanding

than I am the word of God that could take me

to see. Right? It's called pride. And in order

to receive from God, we must humbly accept his

word. We must be receptive. to his word. It's

not enough to just hear it. Because listen, James

1 .22 says this, but don't just listen to God's

word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you're

only fooling yourselves. As we saw in week two,

our actions are based on our beliefs. What you

do is based on what you really believe. You're

only fooling yourself if you say, well, I believe

this, but that's not what I'm doing right now.

I believe this, but no, what you do in this life,

you deem more credible, right? It's what you

genuinely believe. And we're not supposed to

just listen. We must do what it says. We must

act on it, right? John 10 .10, I love this verse,

says the thief's purpose, his purpose. It's very

simple. A lot of people think it's like very

big and he's got all this activity. He's doing

a whole lot, but guess what? His whole purpose

and his whole mission is very simple. It's to

steal, it's to kill and to destroy. Did you know

Satan though doesn't have the power to kill you?

He doesn't have the power to destroy you. He

has the power, though, to steal from you. Listen.

And if he can steal the word of God out of your

heart, he will steal the life that God promised

you. And it will destroy your future. He can't

kill you. He can't destroy you. But if he steals

the word of God from you, you're done. God's

purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying

life. How is that accomplished? By his word.

He gives his word. That's what brings rich and

satisfying life, is his word in you, received.

Amen? So Satan's purpose is to steal the word

of God from you. If the enemy can deceive you,

come on, he can destroy you. He wants to lie

to you. He wants to tell you that you know better.

He wants to tell you that the world knows better

and knows what's best for you and your family

and how you should do things. Come on. Next heart.

Found in verse 16, got to keep moving. The seed

on the rocky soil represents those who hear the

message and immediately receive it with joy.

Woo! Woo! We get excited about it, right? Our

emotions get up. We're just like, man, that was

a good word today, brother. That was good. Woo!

Walk out, be high -fiving. It's a good word.

I heard it. Man, that was what I needed. I got

it. I'm going to change what I'm doing. I'm going

to live differently. It impacts everything. You

know, it was like, this is great. Receive it

with joy. God, that was just the specific thing

that I needed. But what happens? But since they

don't have deep roots, they don't last long.

They fall away as soon as they have problems

or are persecuted for believing God's word. Let's

talk about this for a second. Listen, they don't

have, it means they don't possess it. It means

that they heard it, but it means that they're

not holding on to it by faith. Right? And even

if they do for a season, that don't last long

means temporary for a season. They might hold

on to it for a season, but as soon as some kind

of problem or situation comes up, They just immediately

let go of what God said. The very same word that

could produce a harvest, that could turn their

situation around, they just let go of it and

walk away from it and be like, well, God, this

is better. So they don't last long. And get this,

they fall away as soon as they have problems

or are persecuted for believing God's word. We've

talked on this a lot. in faith act, but it means

this word believing is Lego. It means to lay

forth in words. So it's not just believing, but

it's actually speaking. When you're persecuted

for speaking God's word, when declaring over

your life or your family or your business or

whatever, when you're speaking that and then

you're persecuted because of it, and then you

let go, you discontinue. Because of that persecution.

You see, seed must mature in the ground. And

the kingdom of God operates around seed. It operates

around time and harvest. Caitlin and I, we've

been working on our grass in the backyard. And

if you know anything about grass, it's very tricky.

to like get it established and like get it working,

right? So she goes, she buys this seed, she throws

it out. And what happens? Nothing. You know,

it's like you throw it out there and you just

say, how many bags of seed have we bought? And

you just like, you throw it out and you're just

like, all right, grow. Do your thing. And we

would walk out every single day and look, you

know, like the next day we planted it. And then

the day later we open up the door and we're like,

where's the seed? Do you see anything? Anybody?

You know, like, where's it there? Because we

want things instantly, right? And we think God

just operates in this instantly all the time.

Now we see God doing some instantaneous things.

But when we look throughout Scripture, the precedence

is there's always time involved. God gives a

promise, he gives his word, and then it requires

self -control to patiently endure for the season.

And your season is, the length of your season,

the duration of it is impacted, what? By your

faith, by the quality of the soil in your heart,

and by you aligning your words with God's words

and speaking those things which be not as though

they were. Seed must mature in the ground and

also it must be watered. If I planted grass seed

out in my yard and I never watered it and I expect

to produce a harvest of grass, beautiful lush

grass, they would call me a psycho. Right? I

have to water it, especially here in Florida.

I can't just depend. You know, it rains sometimes.

Occasionally. And it's good, but there's been

many seasons where it didn't rain, right? Because

it's not just all up to God. God's not holding

out on us. He's waiting for us to get involved

and exert some effort of self -control. And watering,

therefore, would be laying forth in your words

what God says. So the word that he's given you

in your heart, you put your words in agreement

with it to produce the outcome that is promised

in his word. And then you got to protect it,

right? A rocky soul would need to be, you know,

raked and need to be prepped. Also, when we get

into environments where God's word is being spoken,

we need to prepare our hearts to receive. But

constantly speaking God's words, allow it to

grow deep roots into your heart, your mind, your

will, and your emotions. And self -control, listen,

self -control means not letting what people say

keep what God says out of your mouth. Self -control

means not letting what people say keep what God

says out of your mouth. If you're not persecuted

for talking, you know, if someone's not coming

against what you're saying, you're probably not

speaking the word of God enough. You're not being

loud enough. The whole world is very loud on

what they believe and what you should believe,

telling you what to think and how to think, right?

As Christians, we need to be speaking just as

loud. Not in a derogatory way or to belittle

someone, but because we have the truth. We have

the power of God. It's the only thing that's

going to matter. It's the only thing that's going

to save people's souls. It's the only thing that's

going to make a difference in four corners. It's

the word of God. It doesn't matter how many social

media posts. It doesn't matter how many, you

know, events and all these things. No, it's the

word of God that's going to transform this area

for Christ. We got to keep what God is saying

in our mouths. You know, a good example is this,

is when someone says, next time someone says,

you know, the struggle is real. That's a good

one. Have you ever, you know, someone's just,

you're talking and they're just like spiraling

or whatever. And you're just, you're sitting

there just like, you know, the struggle is real.

God's word in your mouth looks like this. Looks

like this. Yeah. The struggle's real, but the

victory's real. God is real. His presence is

real. His word is true. I walk in victory. I'm

not a victim. I have victory in Christ. I am

in him. He is in me. I'm the head. I'm not the

tail. I am above. I am not beneath. I'm blessed

going in. I'm blessed going out. I'm blessed

when I rise. Come on. I'm blessed when I go to

sleep. My family is blessed. My house is blessed.

My animals are blessed. My children are blessed.

My grandchildren are blessed. Their great -grandchildren

are blessed. Amen? The struggle is real, but

the word of God is real too. And we can overcome.

We can escape the world's corruption. Listen,

we can escape the world's corruption by standing

on. Come on, by faith, by standing on the promises

of God. You start saying that, you'll face some

persecution. God's word needs to be in your mouth

in order to impact your life and to produce a

harvest in your life. And you're not just saying

it to just say it, but it's because the word

of God is in you. And you're not going to allow

that to have access to your heart and to your

soul when someone says, well, that's just the

way it is. That's just the way life happens.

That's what's normal and that's what's acceptable.

You've got to stand in your heart and say, no,

that's not the truth. Because only the truth

of God will set you free. When we take control

of our words and speak what God says, we become

like a farmer sowing seed. We're sowing seed

into our future, and we water that seed by confessing

his words, by confessing by faith what God has

already placed in our hearts, not our own imagination.

of what some kind of thing that we want to happen,

not our own understanding that we're projecting

into the manifestation of the cosmos. No, we're

standing on the word of God. We're confessing

the word of God in our homes, in our lives, in

our business, in all those things. And we got

to do that. If I only watered my grass once a

day, do you think it would grow? You think if

I watered it twice a day, am I just going to

have this beautiful lush yard three times a day,

four times? I don't know if I could do it, you

know, 10 times. That'd be too much. That's preposterous.

I can't do that. If I want seed to grow, though,

I'm going to have to water it. Consistently,

even. I got to wake up in the morning and water.

Before I go to bed, I got to go out there in

my gym shorts and water the grass. Hope that

it grows. But I got to water it. And so many

Christians, we just want to, you know, we receive

the word with joy and we want to speak it good

for a week. And when that seed doesn't grow,

we're out there going, I don't need this. This

ain't working, God. Come on now. You know, I

did this. God, I was happy about it. I received

it. I heard it. I know I believed it. And I did

everything that you said. And I did it good and

hard for like a month. It's funny, nothing in

the world works like that. If you diet for a

month, guess what? Nothing's going to change.

You might lose like a pound or something. It's

going to immediately come back. Come on. It's

going to come back. Because, listen, what has

power to change in your life, listen, come on,

what has power to change your life is not what

you do occasionally. It's what you do consistently,

day in, day out. What matters most to you is

what you wake up passionate about to do. It's

what brings you joy, what brings you energy.

If that is not the word of God, you will not

see the fruit and the rich and satisfying life

of God evident in your life. You got to water

that word continually, day in, from when you

rise to when you go to sleep, your life is honoring

and watering that seed. Next soil, next heart.

The seed that fell among the thorns represents

others who hear God's word, but all too quickly

the message is crowded out. Do you realize the

word of God can be crowded out? Crowded out by

the worries of this life, the lure of wealth,

and the desire for other things. Anything that

exalts itself above God in your life. Come on.

desire for other things. So what? No fruit is

produced from that seed. Did you know that worry

can choke out God's word? I think we know that,

but sometimes the enemy deceives us with worry.

This is kind of a tricky one specifically because

sometimes we like to justify our worry with like

concern. You know, I'm just concerned about it.

I'm not really worried, just concerned about

it. Same word, same thing. It's a lie of the

enemy. If it's causing emotions in you of whatever,

of fear, that should be an indicator because

emotions are great indicators, but terrible leaders

should never be led by your emotions. But emotions

empower you. Listen, emotions empower you and

energize you towards godly purposes. And that's

why you have them in your heart. That's why you

have them. Because they empower you and propel

you to take hold of the vision that he's placed

in your mind and heart. But worry, listen, the

enemy loves to use worry. One time I was even

praying about someone. God laid somebody on my

heart to pray for them. Good thing. Good Christian

thing to do. So as I'm going to work, I'm praying

for them. You know, I'm thinking about them.

That's called intercessory prayer, by the way.

So you're interceding on someone else's behalf.

You're praying for them. You're concerned. It's

like, God, you know, the Holy Spirit just brought

them up into my heart, and I'm thinking about

them, praying for them. Don't know what's going

on. And then the next day, that happens again.

And so I'm praying, I'm praying. And then all

of a sudden, it happens again, and I'm praying,

I'm praying. And then all of a sudden, my prayers

turn. And I felt it in my spirit. But I didn't

do anything about it. All of a sudden, I begin

to be upset because I realized that this person,

you know, the enemy had painted this picture

where this person wasn't doing right. They weren't

living right. They weren't taking hold of what

they need to, you know, and I'm just like, they're

just falling away. And I care deeply. So I'm

praying and I'm praying and I'm praying, trying

to like. Cause something to change in them and

turn them. And I'm just, I'm praying, I'm praying,

I'm concerned, I'm passionate. My emotions are

now getting involved because now I start getting

angry. Because I'm like, why isn't things happening?

Why didn't it change? I'm angry now and I'm kind

of filled with this rage. Like, why isn't it

changing my situation and what I see? And all

of a sudden, the Spirit just kind of like helped

me see and helped me know. That this praying

is good. But I had fallen into worry. And the

enemy had used this to deceive me and to control

me to take a good thing and make it the worst

thing. And that can happen. You see it time and

time again when you're talking to someone and

all of a sudden they're just about their kids.

About my kids. I don't know what my kids are

going to do. I don't know if they're going to

make it in life. You know, they're just dumb

and stupid and all, you know, and you just don't.

Come on, come on. And they're just like, oh my

gosh, I don't know what they're, they're just

making all these bad decisions. But I'm praying

God's word and I know, but I'm just concerned.

I'm worried. I don't know what's going to happen.

You know, the life, the world is just so tough

and everything around is just too hard. You know,

but God promises his protection. But, you know,

I'm just I'm praying extra today. It's funny

because it's true and we do it. Right. Worry

will choke out God's word. Render it ineffective

in your life from producing fruit. Don't you

realize that being consumed by the pursuit of

money prevents God's word from being established

in your heart? When you say money in church,

everybody just, you know, gets all, no, don't

talk about money. We don't want to talk about

money, but get this. You know, the people that

are most consumed with money are typically the

people who don't have it. The people that are

trying to chase it each in and morning, you know,

it consumes them. But sometimes the people who

have it do and they're consumed by it. But it

looks a lot different than just chasing money.

Sometimes it's just the thing that drives everything.

The deep. affection and passion for the things

that money can bring you. And instead of relying

on God's word for fulfillment in your life, you

rely on, well, down the road when I have money,

my life will be fulfilled. When I have this house,

when I have this job, when I have this car, when

I have this thing, my life will look real good

and I can serve you and I can give and I can

do everything. You know, when I get to this place,

This good place, God, my life will be complete.

And you're just waking up, constantly striving,

pursuing, doing all those things. We all do it.

We all do it. But you got to make a conscious

decision to have self -control, to not allow

it control you. Do you understand that when your

greatest desires and affections are for things

other than God, his word will not be effective

in your life? It becomes an idol to you that

you're bowing down to, that you're submitting

to. James 1, 14 through 15 says this, Temptation

comes from our own desires, which entice us and

drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful

actions. And listen to this. And when sin is

allowed to grow, this agricultural language is

all throughout the Bible. When sin is allowed

to grow, it gives birth to something in you.

If it's not taken out, if you're not guarding

your heart, listen, it births within you. It's

allowed to grow and it gives birth to death.

God's word in you gives birth to life. Sin in

you allowed to grow gives birth to death. So

get this verse 21. So get rid of all the filth

and evil in your lives and humbly accept the

word of God has planted in your hearts for it

has the power to save your souls. Think about

it. It's saying souls here. We're not talking

about salvation. We're talking about the believer

here. Not allowing sin to grow in the heart and

life of a believer. Not for your salvation, but

because it will. It doesn't matter. If God's

word is not in you and growing, it will not produce

a harvest. The promises of God won't take effect

in your life. Our souls. need salvation, need

to be yielded, submitted to Christ. Our minds

need to be renewed unto Him. Our emotions need

to be renewed unto Him and transformed into His

likeness, into His image. Amen? Just like a farmer

removes weeds from the garden, because weeds

take the nutrients from the soil. Just like a

farmer has to go in and remove the weeds from

the garden, we must get rid of these weeds. Listen,

why? Why is it important? To allow the room for

the word to grow. Don't think that you can just,

oh, well, I'm getting a word, I'm getting a word,

I'm getting a word, and maybe you're not seeing,

you know, it's not getting in you. Maybe it's

not coming alive to you. Listen, you need to

evaluate the soil of your heart and what's in

you already, because what's in you, listen, will

keep you from experiencing God's best for you,

right? We have to remove these weeds of worry,

remove this weed of where everything else matters

more to us than God, remove this pursuit of money,

right? That can't be in our lives and expect

to hear from God. Well, we'll hear from him,

but we won't receive the word that he's promised,

right? So we got to be careful. We got to weed

out. We need self -control to guard our hearts

from worry, the lure of wealth, and desire for

other things. And lastly, and I'm done, verse

20, and the seed that fell on good soil represents

those who hear and accept God's word and produce.

and produce a harvest 30, 60, and even 100 times

as much as been planted. Seed must be planted

in the ground in order for it to grow and become

what it's created to be, just like God's Word

must be planted in your heart before it will

make a difference in your life. You've got to

come to God humbly, ready to receive, and empty

so He can fill you up. That's why fasting is

so important. So we empty, right? We empty of

ourselves to fill, to feast on the word of God.

Because man does not live by bread alone, but

by the word of God, amen? God's word must be

planted in your heart before it will make a difference

in your life. God's word produces a harvest only

in those that hear and accept it. You and I,

we have to hear. and accept the Word. Amen? A

receptive heart accepts, receives, and delights

in God's Word. Delights in it. Brings the fruit

of the Spirit. Right? God's word brings, it produces

that harvest in our lives of love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and

self -control. We have to receive it. And then

we delight in it. We just sit around and just

think about God's word. We dream about it. It's

fulfillment in our lives. Amen. We think about

it and it changes us. Amen. So a guarded heart

continually receives. And a guarded heart, it

weeds. It's on patrol like a guard going around

constantly weeding. And then it's constantly

feeding on that word. It's bringing that word

to your remembrance and constantly feeding on

it. It's watering it with your words. We must

control what has access. Listen, we must control

what has access to our hearts. Because what we

allow in our hearts, what we allow into our mind,

excuse me, what we allow into our mind, what

we allow into our wills and our desires, what

we allow into our emotions, listen, determine

the course of your life. So above all else, guard

your heart. God's word is good seed. It has the

power within it. And it will grow and produce,

listen, 30, 60, 100 fold. The increase, listen,

is not dependent on the seed. Its multiplication

is not dependent on what's in the seed, because

what's in the seed can produce the same. It's

dependent, listen, it's dependent on the soil.

It's dependent on the watering of it. It's dependent

of your words. Impact the multiplication and

duration it takes to receive the harvest. Amen.

So we must allow God's word for us to grow in

us. and produce a harvest. This online worship

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