Clear Thinkng about Growth

You are not an accident. Each one of you was created by God for a special purpose. Your life in Christ begins with a spiritual rebirth. What that means is that everything you’ve ever done wrong is erased… forgiven and forgotten by God. It’s like restarting your phone. God is saying, let’s get a new start.

But after you are born spiritually, you need to grow. Today we will discuss Spiritual Growth and get some clear thinking on it.

Jesus told a story which illustrates three common barriers that keep you from growing spiritually. He also tells us from the same story, three keys to growing to your full potential.

He tells the story of a farmer who goes out to scatter seed in his field. In those days, you did it by hand. When the farmer threw the seed, it would fall on four different types of soil. The different types of soil represent four different types of responses to God. Later on, Jesus interprets the story. He says the farmer in the story represents God and the seed represents the Word of God. The soil represents your attitude, your heart, your responsiveness to what God wants to do in your life.

If we will learn the lessons from this story, we can grow spiritually.

What does it take to grow spiritually?

Luke 8:4–15 NLT

4 One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him: 5 “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. 6 Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’ 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. 12 The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. 13 The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. 15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.

Farmer = God Seed = Word of God = Soil = Life

1. If I want to grow spiritually, I must be receptive to God

You have to realize that you have to grow. The reason so many people don’t grow is that they are not receptive. When you came to church today, you showed some level of receptivity, but there are thousands within a few miles of this place that are not receptive so they are at home and not worshipping today.

Jesus said this is like the first soil.

Luke 8:5 NLT

5 “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it.

Then he explains it.

Luke 8:12 The Living Bible

12 The hard path where some seed fell represents the hard hearts of those who hear the words of God, but then the devil comes and steals the words away and prevents people from believing and being saved.

On a farm there are footpaths where the farmer walks through his crops. Because he walks on them, the soil gets packed down. It becomes hard and it’s narrow. A lot of people’s minds are like that. They are hard… closed off. Don’t confuse me with the truth. They are closed minded.

Jesus says that sometimes we are like this. We never give God a chance in our lives. We don’t give him an opportunity to work… to answer a prayer (because we don’t pray)… to do a miracle (we don’t believe in miracles) … a chance to grow spiritually … because we may not be sure we believe in God in the first place. These people are closed minds.

Jesus is saying that the first kind of soil… the hardened path..

The hardened path = A closed mind

The question becomes What causes people to become closed off to God? Why is it when you bring up Jesus, people get all squirrelly on you? You can see their minds shutting down… click the switch went off and they are not listening. What causes that?

Three things cause us to have a closed mind

The first reason we close our minds to God is fear

If you are afraid of god, you won’t want to be close to him.

Some people are afraid that if they follow God, he will make them do something they don’t want to do…

Others are afraid they will become a wacko like some on TV…

If you are afraid of God, you will have a closed mind.

The second reason we close our minds to God is bitterness

This is when you hold onto resentment from past hurts.

Some of you have lost a loved one… spouse, parent, child… You ask why did God allow this to happen?

Some of you may have been abused… physically… sexually… It hurts and still hurts. You ask, why did God allow that to happen?

Some of you have had a spouse walk out and leave… commit adultery… Your heart was ripped out by the rejection. You ask why did God allow this to happen?

Some of you have been burned in another church… maybe by some self righteous judgemental people trying to hold you to a standard that they can’t even keep. You ask why did God allow that to happen?

When you hold onto resentment, there is no way that you will grow.

I can’t tell you why these things happened, but I can tell you this. Heaven is a perfect place and earth is not.

I know that God has given us freedom to make choices and when we have freedom to choose, we often choose wrong and that hurts people. God could take away that freedom, but then we would not be created in his image.

I know that God hates sin. He hates sin because when people sin, it hurts other people. If you’ve been hurting, I am aorry that you are hurting. God is hurting with you. You are not alone. But don’t turn away from god, turn to him for comfort and care. Never allow pain or someone who tries to harm you to et between you and God. Resentment will keep you from growing spiritually. When you hold onto hurt, your heart becomes hardened.

The third reason we close our minds is pride

Sometimes we simply think that we don’t need God. We say, “I can handle it… I can figure it out… I caused it and I’ll fix it...”

A closed mind leads to a barren lifestyle. Nothing can grow there. Jesus said that the seed that’s thrown there doesn’t even sprout. It’s a waste.

If you have been unreceptive to God,

James 1:21 NLT

21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

Drop your defenses and let God love you… and let His word grow in your life.

2. If I want to grow spiritually, I must be resolved to grow Luke 8:6

That means that you have to make the decision… to take responsibility for your growth. Listen to me, Spiritual Growth is a choice. You are as close to God as you want to be. It’s not someone else's fault… it’s not god’s fault… it’s all up to YOU. You cannot blame anyone else.

Make the decision… make it today. Without commitment, you will never grow spiritually. If you don’t, it will lead to a shallow lifestyle. Jesus said the 2nd kind of soil …

Luke 8:6 The Living Bible

6 Other seed fell on shallow soil with rock beneath. This seed began to grow, but soon withered and died for lack of moisture.

In Israel, most of the nation is covered by a thin layer of topsoil on top of a solid bedrock of limestone. It’s not like the good soil goes real deep there. When it talks in the Bible about rocky soil it’s not talking about a bunch of rocks in the ground. It’s talking about a very thin layer of topsoil on the bedrock of hard stone, usually limestone. As a result, when you plant things there they will grow to a certain depth but if they don't have any roots they can’t dig down deep because the bedrock prevents them from getting deep roots and when the desert winds come and the heat’s on and the summertime comes, all those plants are going to wilt unless they are continually watered and irrigated.

Jesus says a lot of people are like this…

Luke 8:13 GW

13 Some people are like seeds on rocky soil. They welcome the word with joy whenever they hear it, but they don’t develop any roots. They believe for a while, but when their faith is tested, they abandon it.

Jesus is saying that…

The Shallow soil = A superficial commitment

Notice they welcomed the Word with Joy… We do this all the time. We get excited about a sermon, or a concert or a message somewhere… but then we walk out of the door and forget about it because there is no depth … you are thirlled but not transformed. We have to let the word penetrate our hearts and move us to act on it.

A lot of times, we have good intentions, but they often don’t last. To grow, our decision had to be more than a feeling, it has to become a commitment. Think about it...

You ask your son to go cut the grass today. Tomorrow you look and it hasn’t been cut so you ask your son what’s up? He replies, what you asked me to do was so moving… so eloquent… it brought tears to my eyes… I have even told my friends about it. You ask, why isn’t the grass cut? ..

that’s how we are too often. We get excited, but then we don’t act on it. One reason people do this is that they forget 95% of what they hear in 72 hours… That’s why I give you notes. We forget. I can’t remember what I ate yesterday… Tthat’s why it’s easy to hear something but not do anything about it.

Matthew 7:26 NLT

26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.

It won’t last unless you do something about it. Has anyone here noticed how we can make a commitment to grow… to stop a habit or something, but when you get into a high stress situation, you abandon that commitment? Does it bother you when that happens? Of course it does. How can you be sure something sticks… that your desire to grow turns into growth?

You have to put down roots. You put down roots by making commitments and keeping them. When you do that it creates habits that become roots in your life.

James 1:22 NLT

22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

The danger we all run in coming to church is that we will hear something about growth and leave thinking we have somehow grown. We haven’t. You just heard me talk about it. Until you do something about what you hear, you don’t grow… you don’t progress spiritually.

Paul said,

1 Timothy 4:7 NLT

7 Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly.

We all know that to be more physically fit, we have to eat right and exercise. It takes time and energy… there is no magic pill. It’s the same for spiritual fitness. It takes time and energy to grow. What do you need to do and how do you start? You start by making and keeping commitments in your life. Here are...

Five commitments we have to make to grow spiritually

1. I commit to connect with others

We become like the people we spend time with, so choose to spend time with people who want to grow in their relationship with God. We can’t grow in a vacuum.

2. I commit to build spiritual habits

Prayer, Bible reading, Witnessing, Tithing… doesn’t come naturally. You have to decide to create habits.

First 15

Tithing

Witnessing

Build habits into your life. It takes about 40 days to create a habit.

3. I commit to use my talents

Use your talents and your gifts to help others and when you do that, you will grow. That’s why God gave you gifts and talents.

4. I commit to share my faith

Tell people what God has done and is doing in your life. Some of you may be here because someone invited you to something… to church… to a Christian Concert… to a Joy Fellowship…

When you go and tell someone what God is doing in your life… you will grow.

5. I commit to fulfill my purpose

God put you here to Know Him… to Find Freedom… to Discover your Purpose and to make a Difference. Everyone was created with these for their lives.

Everything we are doing is to help you with these four things. One day God will ask us, what dis you do with what I set out for you to do?

We will talk more about next steps… Giving your Life to Christ… Baptism… join a group when we start them back up… take a class… grow track… volunteer in a ministry of the church…

Don’t just come listen, put it into practice.

3. I must be ruthless with distractions

Once you become a follower of Jesus, the most important thing in your life is to grow in your friendship with Jesus. It’s more important than your job… marriage… kids… hobbies… God put you here to Know Him, Find Freedom, Discover your purpose and to make a difference, and to do these, we have to be ruthless with distractions.

There are all types of distractions today and the devil is constantly thinking of which ones to use on you each and every day. He will try to get your focus off of following God. And thee is a lot going on that will do that. Inflation… economy… shortages… It’s important to remember that Our god is bigger than all of that.

The Bible calls distractions weeds. Weeds will crowd out things that will bring spiritual growth in your life if you let them.

Luke 8:7 NCV

7 Some seed fell among thorny weeds, but the weeds grew up with it and choked the good plants.

Luke 8:14 NLT

14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.

Initially, the seed that was planted in your life sprouted up and you began to grow spiritually, but then other things… weeds choked out your growth… your passion for the Lord…

The soil with weeds = An overcrowded life

We get so many things in our lives that they can crowd out God. When this happens, we have an overcrowded life and it will choke out your spiritual life. People don’t grow because their lives are over crowded… work… hobbies… kids activities…

A weed is anything that crowds God out. It can be a good thing like family, work, hobbies, friends, investments… anything that takes you away from God. Be ware of this… busyness. You can be busy but not accomplish anything. You can be too busy to pray… to read your bible… to attend church… to witness… to connect with other Christians… to get into a small group…

One day, you will get to explain to god why you did that… to explain why you didn’t do what he put you here to do.

Maybe you once were close to God but now other things have crowded god out of the picture. You were on fire and had a great passion and enthusiasm in your life… but you don’t feel that way anymore.

Jesus pointed out three types of weeds that creep into our lives.

Three types of Weeds

1. Cares

Problems and pressures and the worries of this life or even the stress of success can draw you away from God. The greek word here means to be pulled in different directions.

2. Riches

You can get so busy making money, you don’t have time for spiritual growth. So busy making a living you fail to make a life.

3. Pleasures

You can be too busy having fun… do ing fun things… too much time at the ball park, fishing, playing golf, etc to grow spiritually.

There are all kinds of weeds that can choke your spiritual growth. And they grow all the time. You don’t have to do anything to grow weeds. They just grow.

Weeds are a sign of neglect. If you neglect your lawn, weeds will grow.... neglect your marriage, weeds will grow… neglect you family, weeds will grow… neglect healthy work habits… weeds will grow… neglect tithing, weeds of greed will grow.

You have to pull up the weeds. I love Roundup for getting rid of weeds… my favorite tool. In the same way, you need to pull up or spray spiritual roundup on the weeds in your life.

What are some weeds you need to pull out of your life?

some of us need to use a little round up on distractions. If you put too many irons in the fire, you may just put out the fire. So what needs to be erased from your schedule? If you don’t think about this, you will walk out this door and the birds will swoop in and eat the seeds. Think… what’s one thing that needs to be pulled out. write it down.

Which of these three barriers is keeping you from growing?

If we did a spiritual CT scan on you today, what would it reveal?

A closed mind?

That you’ve allowed guilt or bitterness or fear or pride or something to keep you from getting close to God? You’ve allowed somebody else to come between you and God?

A superficial commitment?

Love it then leave it… And you get all excited about things and you enjoy coming to church but when the heat’s on, you wilt because you don’t have any roots.

An overcrowded life?

Are you too busy for the most important things in life?

There is a fourth type of soil. Fertile soil and it’s not that way all by itself. It has to be cultivates.

Luke 8:15 NLT

15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.

Here is what you need to do.

1. You need to cultivate an open attitude towards God.

You need to make yourself open to the Lord.

2. You need to make a decision to grow.

You need to make a commitment to these 5 commitments… take the next step.

3. You need to discover, identify and eliminate weeds in your life.

Be ruthless about second class causes that you have let rise to the top of your attention.

Now listen, the moment you leave today, the enemy will attack you and try to steal the seed you have received.

Prayer time

When it comes to spiritual growth, the heart of the matter is really a matter of the heart. What does your heart reveal? Would you say, “God, I want to be open to You.” Then pray this prayer, “God, I really do want to grow spiritually. I don’t want to remain immature all my life. I don’t want to be stuck where I am. I want to grow up. I want to become all that You designed me to be. I want to start by telling You that I am receptive to You and I want to get to know You. I don’t want a closed mind and a hard heart. Please forgive me for being afraid of You. Please forgive me for holding on to bitterness and resentment. Forgive me for the times that I’ve been prideful and thought I really didn’t need You in my life, that I can handle it on my own.

Today, I want to make a new resolution to grow spiritually. I want to grow and make these commitments. I commit to connecting with others. I commit to building spiritual habits. I commit to using my talents. I commit to sharing my faith. And I commit to fulfilling my purpose. Thank You for a church family that will teach me how to do this and support me and hold me accountable. Help me to be ruthless with the distractions in my life, the things that have crowded You out, that have choked the spiritual vitality. I want to deal with them this week and get back on track with You. Jesus Christ, I want You to make Your home here in my heart. In Your name I pray. Amen.”