Weeds In The Garden

Introduction

Galatians 6:7, reads, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (KJV)

What kind of weed grows in our gardens?

Colossians 3:5 states, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds..." (KJV)

There are weeds that grow in all our gardens! We must be careful not to cultivate them I know a man , well lets look at his garden. Here are some things growing there.

i. He keeps a book of all that have offended him. He never wants change.

ii. He is constantly critical. He is mean spirited.

iii. He is constantly manipulating people. He thinks he is the only one right.

iv. He is always free with his advice. He is arrogant.

v. He is never at peace. He never sees himself.

vi. He constantly attacks authority.

And that is just one row of things growing in the garden of his life!!! How can we keep weeds out? Put Christ first!

Look at Matthew 6:33. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (KJV)

The key word in Matthew 6:33 is the conjunctive, "BUT" in this passage you will find three things that will attempt to keep Christ from first place

#1 Possessions

Spirituality can be compared to a ride in a plane, for the higher we rise, the smaller things on earth become. Either we own our things or our things own us. We should not allow the great things god has blessed us with become the very thing to take away his blessing

#2 Personal Gain

To be rich in god is better than to be rich in goods. (1 Timothy 6:6, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." (KJV)

#3 People

Relationships are keys to our lives. They are keys to keeping the weeds out of our lives. We warn our kids about the company they keep. Let's do the same. He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God.

I. Pray a Lot

James 4:2, "Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (KJV)

Abraham Lincoln once said, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

Pray a lot means to "ask," "seek," and "knock," as stated in Luke 11:9. In other words, keep begging. Sir Walter Raleigh once made a request of the queen, and she sharply answered, "Raleigh, when will you leave off begging?

Sir Walter replied, "When your majesty leaves off giving," and his request was granted.

But the God of all grace never grows weary of our asking, and He never rebukes us for coming to Him with our requests.

We can and must talk to God about everything. The old evangelist, Bud Robinson's daily prayer is interesting and inspiring. He prayed, "O, Lord, give me a backbone as big as a saw log, and ribs like the sleeper under the church floor. Put iron shoes on me and galvanized breeches. And give me a rhinoceros hide for a skin, and hang a wagon load of determination up in the gable-end of my soul, and help me to sign the contract to fight the devil, as long as I've got a tooth, and then gum him till I die. Amen." Remember, keeping the weeds out is done supernaturally through prayer. Nothing of eternal value is done apart from prayer.

II. Put the Word of God in Your Life

Psalm 119:11, read, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (KJV) Psalm 119:105 states, "NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (KJV)

The Psalmist says that I must see my feet and I must then see my way! The Word of God tells me who I am, and then tells me what to do about it.

Hebrews 4:12-13, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

The Bible is a mirror revealing to me who I am. That may differ greatly from who I THINK I am. And, as I stated, the Word of God tells me what to do about who I am in Christ.

Psalm, 139:23-24 reads, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (KJV)

God's Word is a roadmap. Traveling to places to know absolutely nothing about requires direction. We are on the road of life and we can't even see around the corner. We must have God's Word as our guide.

III. Pursue Holiness

We read in 2 Timothy 2:22, "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

Jay Strack tells of a lady that hurriedly got into her car late one night after work. She was very fearful so she drove as quickly as she could to get home. Much to her sorrow a man in a truck got behind her after she had stopped at a traffic light. He followed her everywhere she went. When she would run a traffic light he would also. When she turned he turned. She decided to take action. She saw a service station open. She turned in quickly. As she looked back the trucker was turning into the station. She could not believe that he would follow her. She ran into the station, while he jumped out of his truck. It was then that the truth was discovered. The man following her in the truck had seen a man crouched down in the back of her car. So, the truck driver followed her to warn her of the danger she was in. He was not chasing her to hurt her but to protect her from harm.

Many people are running from God, fearing that He wants to limit their freedom or harm them in some way. Actually, God's desire is to protect us and guide us. We should actually pursue Him - pursue holiness! If we do that, some wonderful things will happen.

A. We can Deal with Sin

Must the sin in your heart or it will master you!

B. We can Delight in the Savior

The beauty of holiness is companionship with God. The key to a weed-less life is sowing seeds of holiness.

IV. Plan Your Life

Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (KJV)

Someone once said, "Have a Plan, Tell a Plan, and Do a Plan.

A photographer from Life Magazine was assigned to cover the great fires of Yellowstone National Park. Life wanted a spread to show the conflagration growing despite the heroic efforts of the firefighting crew. Unfortunately, the photographer couldn't see enough through the smoke to photograph anything. He asked to hire a plane and get some aerial shots. His request was approved, and arrangements were made, and he was told to report at once to a nearby airport where a plane would be waiting for him. He drove his jeep cross country to the airport and found a plane warming up by the gate. He jumped in bags and all, crying, "Lets go! Let's go! The pilot swung the little plane into the wind and within minutes they were in the air.

"Fly over the park," cried the photographer, "and make two or three low level passes."

"Why?" asked the pilot.

"Because I’m going to take pictures," he snapped. "I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures."

The pilot was silent for a moment. "You mean," he finally asked, "you're not the instructor?"

Be careful whose instruction you follow! You may end up in a pilot-less plane with a big crash in your future!

You can do three things to create a great plan:

(1) Seek God's will,

2) Stay on Track,

3) and, Separate yourself from the negative.

Nothing can stop a man or woman with the right mental attitude from achieving a goal. Nothing on earth can help the man or woman with the wrong attitude. (W.W. Ziege)

V. Purpose to be Loving

We read in 1 Peter 4:8, “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins."

People need love, especially when they don't deserve it. Love at all times. Love when you have been wronged. Love when you are rejected. Love when you are mocked. Love when you are ignored. Love is the fire of life, it either consumes or purifies.

VI. Play Hard

Again, we read in 1 Peter, this time in 3:10, these words, "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.) For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." (KJV)

How do you play hard?

A. Enjoy Life

Poor indeed is the man who cannot enjoy the simple things in life.

B. Erase Limits

Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (KJV)