Kingdom First - Week 3 "A Kingdom Life is a BIG Life!”

where you get it and you look at the picture on the box and you go, you know what? I bet I can figure that out. And you dive into it without reading instructions. And then what happens? You could you have put something together that looks like it belongs on the clearance aisle at goodwill. Right? And what I've learned is that so much of the time, really all the time, the problem is not with the instructions. [00:01:02] (22 seconds)  #FollowTheInstructions

Jesus is gonna tell a story about a group of people who all receive the same instructions. They receive the same message, the same word, the same instructions from God, but they end up with very different results. Not because the instructions are the problem, not because God's word is the problem, but because the heart receiving it is the problem. The heart doesn't follow the instructions. [00:01:41] (26 seconds)  #HeartDeterminesFruit

Why does that happen? Well, if you talk to experts, what they will tell you is that usually it's not a problem with the seed. Usually, it's not a problem with the water. So often our gardening efforts fail because there is a problem with the soil. There's a problem with the soil in which the plant is growing. If you don't have good soil, you can't produce a healthy plant. There will be no good growth. [00:05:31] (25 seconds)  #FixTheSoil

This is me. I wanted to be Batman when I grew up. Why? Because he's awesome. That's why. He has tons of money. He gets to wear cool costumes. He fights crime. I wanted to be Batman. Yeah. I don't know what happened either. Look at that innocent guy. I wanted to be Batman growing up. But we all had an answer to that question of what we wanted to be as we grew up. And I'm willing to bet when you were asked that question, what do you wanna be when you get older? Nobody said, I wanna be hardhearted. I wanna be a hardhearted person. I wanna be someone that nobody really likes being around. I wanna go and I wanna die alone. Of course, we wouldn't say that. Nobody plans to end up with a hard heart. But here's a news flash for us today. It ends up happening to so many people. We end up with hard hearts. [00:10:57] (48 seconds)  #DontBecomeHardHearted

It doesn't get in there. It's like corn on concrete. Right? You can throw corn kernels on concrete, and no matter how much you water them and how much sunlight they get, they're never going to actually penetrate into that concrete and produce good fruit. It doesn't set in. And what Jesus says here, this is actually scary. He says that the evil one comes and snatches away the word. See, our spiritual enemy does not care if I have a head full of knowledge about God's word. What he wants to do is work overtime to keep it from permeating into my heart. I mean, look at the pharisees of Jesus' day. These are the religious scholars. They fully understood. They had a ton of head knowledge, and yet it had not permeated down into their hearts. And evil forces, they are at work to keep me living my own little life in my own little world rather than the big life of a disciple of Jesus in God's big kingdom. [00:14:49] (55 seconds)  #HeartOverHeadKnowledge

The enemy wants to use fear to keep you from living the big kingdom life and producing kingdom fruit that God has for us. See, some folks are closed off to God. Maybe they're afraid of what he might do in your life. Maybe you're afraid that if you actually follow the Lord and turned your life over to him, maybe God would make you into a religious weirdo. Maybe that's your concern. Maybe you would think I can't have fun anymore. Or maybe it's as simple as you have failed before and you are worried that you are going to fail again. Can I can I encourage you with something today? First off, you're probably already a little weird, so don't worry about that. Second off, God sees all of our failures, and he loves us anyway. He loves us anyway. [00:15:53] (44 seconds)  #FaithOverFear

Sometimes the enemy uses bitterness to keep us from all that God has for us, to keep God's word from permeating into our hearts. Some folks are closed off to God due to hurt, and maybe it's loss of a loved one. Maybe it's some abuse that you've suffered in the past, and maybe that's even been done at the hands of other Christians. Can can you hear me this morning and say this? I am so sorry that that has happened to you. I am so sorry that that has happened to you, and God is sorry as well that that has happened to you. But hear me say this. Do not let someone else's sin keep you from all that the Lord has for you. Do not let someone else's failures keep you from succeeding and having God's word planted deep in your heart, planted by bringing up fruit. [00:17:03] (48 seconds)  #LetGoOfBitterness

So many of us are closed off to God because we don't think we need God. We think, man, I can handle this myself. I can do this on my own. And so many Christians treat God's word as a suggestion rather than vital instructions for how we should live our lives. And we think, man, I can go it alone. Can I just ask you a simple question if that's your mentality today? How's that working out for you? Because I'm willing to bet there's been a time in your life that you have wished that you've had others to help you in that journey. And hear me talking about these things, you know, fear and bitterness and pride. I am raising a hand. I'm not pointing a finger. [00:17:55] (34 seconds)  #CommunityMatters

And that is the key because hard soil can be broken up. That's the good news. God is so patient with us. What does this look like? Well, sometimes he uses the circumstances of our lives. Sometimes he uses reading his word or maybe a time of worship. You ever have one of those I didn't intend to cry today at church kind of moments? Sometimes God uses that. And maybe that's you today. [00:19:26] (24 seconds)  #GodSoftensSoil

Why do they wither? Well, it says it right here in verse 21, because they have no roots. Their entire growth is based on how they feel, not based on the truth of the word of the kingdom. In verse 20 says that these people hear the word and immediately receive it with joy, and that's good. We want you to get excited when you come here. We want you to passionately worship and be absolutely enthusiastic about celebrating Jesus and all that he has done for us. This is a good thing. But for so many people, they let their feelings determine what is true. And as soon as they start feeling bad, their truth gets turned upside down on them. As long as they feel it, they think that it must be right. But for Jesus, the word of God is what is true. This is what contains truth. And feelings are good. That's great. But feelings are the tail. And the word of God is the head. And Jesus never let the tail feelings wag the dog. What is true? [00:22:45] (70 seconds)  #WordOverFeelings

So what does it look like? Well, practically, this could be any number of things that we just let get out of control. Not all of them are bad. Some of them start out as good things. And eventually, they grow and they grow and they grow. They choke out the life until eventually the weeds that are all that's left. And these can be bad things like stress, anxiety, money problems, family drama. But it can also be innocent things that are fine until we let them start controlling our lives like our schedules, like our career goals. Maybe it's a hobby. Maybe it's a screen just like this one. It can be any number of things. So the question that we have to ask ourselves is this, what is growing most in your heart these days? And this requires some self examination. It requires honesty. But what is growing most in your heart these days? [00:29:48] (60 seconds)  #WhatGrowsInYou

Yes. Absolutely. They do. Friends, the most important thing in your life is God's work in you. The most important thing in your life is God's work in you. It's more important than your career. It's more important than your bank account. It's more important than your hobbies or your retirement, and your spiritual enemy knows this. So what does he do? He works overtime to keep you from weeding out your heart in life. What's the old saying? If Satan can't make you bad, he'll just make you busy. And these weeds will grow up in our lives and choke out the good things that god wants for us. So here's another truth for us today that a crowded heart always becomes a fruitless heart. A crowded heart always becomes a fruitless heart. [00:31:11] (49 seconds)  #ClearHeartWeeds

Jesus lived the perfect life that none of us could do on our own, died on a cross, rose again from the grave so that we could be in relationship with him. So we're not talking about perfection here. We're talking about good soil. And so many of us, man, we have this idea that the enemy puts in our lives that it's all or nothing. Right? That if you miss a date on your bible reading plan, well, I might as well just not even read anymore. Maybe you missed a day on your fast or you ate a meal. You had to modify a little bit. You think, well, I just guess I don't need to be fasting anymore. Already screwed up. And that is not what God has for us. Those are lies straight out of the pit of hell. [00:35:18] (38 seconds)  #ProgressNotPerfection

``to be fruitful and multiply, to live exponential lives into the lives of others. Well, how do we do this? Just follow the verbs in the passage. Hears, understands, bears, yields. In order to live the big life that God intended, God's word must get in our lives. We hear it. It must grow roots down. We have to understand it. It then grows up. It bears fruit. And then finally, it grows out where it yields a hundred and sixty and thirty times. Can you imagine what your life might look like if you were growing kingdom fruit that yielded a hundred sixty thirty times in your life. That is a big life that God calls us to. That is the big life that disciples of Jesus are to follow. [00:38:31] (48 seconds)  #HearGrowYield

You know, the truth is God never really meant for us to live a little bitty life in our own little bitty world. He meant for us to live a big life as disciples of Jesus in God's big world. And we do this by obediently following Jesus as king, investing our lives in God's kingdom, and allowing the word of the kingdom to grow kingdom fruit in our lives and in the lives of those around us. If you want a big kingdom life, you need a kingdom heart that lets God's word take root. [00:40:26] (36 seconds)  #LiveABigKingdomLife