In Mark 4:1-20 we read the parable of the Sower. I encourage you to read the whole parable for yourself. However, to save on time I will summarize it for you. 

In this parable Jesus tells the story of a sower who was sowing seeds. There were four different types of ground these seeds fell onto, and the type of ground these seeds fell on determined the end results. 

Types Of Ground

1. Some seeds fell on the path. The birds came and ate them.
2. Some seeds fell on rocky ground. They sprang up quickly but were scorched by the sun and withered away.
3. Some seeds fell among the thorns. When they grew the thorns choked them and they yielded nothing.
4. Finally, some seeds fell on good soil. They yielded a crop of 30, 60, and 100 fold.

Meaning Of Each Type Of Soil

Jesus then goes on to tell the disciples what each type of ground means for people:

1. In the soil along the path, Jesus tells us that Satan immediately comes and takes the word from a person. Therefore, the seed can’t even grow at all. The message basically falls on deaf ears, so to speak.
2. The rocky soil are people who hear the word and immediately receive it with joy but fail to get rooted in the word and fall away because life gets difficult. These are people who for whatever reason don’t get discipleship, and thus cannot grow strong.
3. The thorny soil are people who receive the word but get distracted by the riches of this world and thus produce no fruit.
4. The good soil are those people who receive the word and grow roots and yield a harvest of 30, 60, and 100.

What exactly is the word that is sown?

We keep hearing about words that are sown. What are those words and where are they sown?

1. Obviously the word is the Word of God. When someone hears the good news of who Jesus is and what he has done for them, that word spoken to them is a seed that is planted in the heart.
2. Words can also be things we are told outside of the Word of God. It could be something someone tells you about yourself, something you hear on the news, or any number of other words we hear throughout our lives.
3. Words can be things we tell ourselves about ourself or others.

These words spoken to us are sown in our hearts. The condition of our hearts determine if the seeds are able to take root and grow. Of course there are seeds that are good seeds, and we want those to get into the good soil of our hearts. Other seeds are bad and we want them to die. How do we determine if words spoken to us outside the Bible are good seeds or bad seeds? 

What do we do with words that come to us outside of the Bible?

There are four steps we should take when determining if what you heard is a good seed or a bad seed.

1. Hold up the word to what the Bible says. Does what you heard align with what God says about things? 
2. Can what you heard pass the Phillippians 4:8 test? ”Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.“ If you can answer yes to all of these descriptions, you can continue to seek out if this is a good seed. If you answer no to even one of those descriptions the seed is most likely a bad seed and you need to ask the Lord to remove that seed and create crop failure. 
3. Is there clear evidence this word is true? 
4. Have you asked the Holy Spirit what he thinks about this topic?

Case Study: Covid

What we were told	What we know as truth today	What the Bible says
Deadly disease	It’s not deadly as long as you have the right treatment	”For he (God) will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.“‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Masks are necessary	Masks do nothing to prevent the transmission of viruses	”The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Staying 6ft away from people is needed	No need to stay away from people if you aren’t sick	”Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.“‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Staying away from others in general is important	We need community and physical touch in order to survive	”And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.“‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭ESV‬‬
No cure	Vitamins, breathing treatments, ivermectin, and hydroxychloroquine all treat this virus safely	”If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.“‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let’s Test It Out

We are going to ask ourselves the four questions to test out if what we were told about Covid was a good or bad seed. 

1. Does the narrative given to us align with what the Bible says? 

No. God’s word tells us that no plague will enter our tents (homes or bodies). That means we never had to worry about this virus. What we needed to do was trust God to protect us and claim this promise over ourselves and our household. Brett and I did just that and we saw great fruit!

2. Does it pass the Phillippians 4:8 test? Is it true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellence, or worthy of praise? 

No. We know there were lots of lies told to us through that time: stay 6ft away, wear a mask, you could be sick and not show symptoms are all lies we were told. Did you know God created us to be physically close to one another? In fact studies show that at about 6 ft we can actually change the atmosphere of others around us. We don’t need to go any farther than the first description to know the narrative didn’t pass the Philippians 4:8 test. 

3. Is there clear evidence for what they told us being true? 

Again, no. We were told lie, after lie, after lie as a means to control our behavior. 

4. Did you ask the Holy Spirit about this? What did he say? 

I actually did ask the Holy Spirit about this virus when it was first being reported in the US. I said, “Ok Lord, What do I need to know about this virus? Is it as bad as they are portraying on the news?” I clearly heard the Holy Spirit reply, “No. It’s no big deal. In fact you all aren’t even going to get it.” From that moment on I stood on what I heard the Holy Spirit tell me.

Guess what? We didn’t get it for a really long time. We did eventually get Covid, but it was after it was really weak. In fact getting sick with it was no big deal for us at all. The only reason we know it was Covid is because we all lost our sense of smell and some lost their sense of taste as well. Actually our oldest daughter has never gotten sick with this virus. She’s been exposed several times and still has never even gotten a sniffle. We chose to stand firm on what the Bible and the Holy Spirit said and we refused to allow the lies told to us to take root. As a result we were able to reap the good fruit of those choices.  

Case Study 2: Things I’ve been told about myself

From the time I was a little girl I loved kids. I remember hearing the adults around me commenting on how good I was with kids. From the time I started kindergarten all I ever wanted to be was a kindergarten teacher. It was my dream, and when I was still in college the Lord gave me an opportunity to work as a teacher’s assistant in a kindergarten classroom. I was actually living out my dream!

I started working and soon found out that the teacher I was working with had to quit. There was another teacher who they hired. However, she couldn’t start until January. That meant we had about 2 months with no teacher so we were given a substitute teacher in the meantime. 

Let me just say, the lady who came in as the sub should never have been allowed to work with kids – at least not little kids. She needed a ton of soul healing before she would have been a good fit for young kids. She would go off on the smallest things. We had these baskets with different cans to put pencils, markers, ect in. The idea was each can held a different item. As 5 year olds do, they would throw their pencils in any can and call it good. Really, we should have praised them for at least putting the pencils in the right area. However, she would scream at them because the pencils were in the marker can.

Fortunately for the kids most of her wrath fell on me. She was constantly belittling me and telling me how horrible I was with the kids. I heard daily that I should quit and find another job because I wasn’t fit for that job. She would find reasons to yell at me in front of the kids. One time I was leading a group and she came and yelled at me about a box of kleenex. After she left the kids asked if she was mad at me. I asked them what they thought and let them voice their opinions. Then I told them not to worry about it, and directed them back to the lesson. 

By the end of these 2 months I was worn down. I started really questioning my choice to be a teacher. All those praises I heard all my life were silenced, and all I could hear was the criticism and put downs. I even considered quitting and looking for a new degree in college. I actually started to believe the lies told to me by this woman. When the next teacher came my confidence was severely shaken. I had to tell her what went on and fortunately she was skilled in bringing the truth and joy back into the room. I still pray that the sub finds Jesus and healing! 

Testing Out

Do you remember how we deal with words spoken to us?

1. Hold up the word to what the Bible says. Does what you heard align with what God says about things? 

Does what that sub said align with the Word of God? 

No. Because she was speaking death to my calling and lying about who God created me to be. The Bible says, ”I can do all things through him who strengthens me.“ Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬ (‭ESV)‬‬ It’s God who gave me that job in the first place. I am able to succeed in the job he gave me because I can do anything when I am strengthened each day by his Spirit. 

2. Can what you heard pass the Phillippians 4:8 test? ”Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.“ Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭(ESV‬‬) Does what that lady said pass the Phillippians 4:8 test? 

No. Because she was speaking lies, what she said was not lovely and it definitely wasn’t excellent or worthy of praise.

3. Is there clear evidence this word is true? Is there any evidence of those words being true? 

No, of course not! In fact there was way more evidence of the opposite of what she said being true. 

4. Have you asked the Holy Spirit what he thinks about this topic? 

While I don’t recall specifically going to the Holy Spirit about this, I do know I was daily asking for strength to get through the semester. I learned to rely on God to get me through each day. Every morning I would read this verse and declare it over my day: ”And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.“ ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭(ESV)‬‬

I held onto the truth that if I just didn’t give up I would reap the harvest. And I did! At the end of the time for that substitute being in our class I received the kindest note from a parent. They basically said that their daughter has a hard time with change, and they were thankful I was there to be her constant and love and support her through that difficult time. It’s something I still hold near and dear to my heart over 20 years later!

What to do with good/bad seeds

What do we do with the good seeds?

When good seeds are planted we allow them to grow and we feed them and protect them. How? By declaring those truths over ourselves. We find scripture to anchor those good seeds to our souls. 

What about the bad seeds? When someone tries to plant a bad seed inside our minds and hearts, we do what Paul tells us to do in 2 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭5‬ (‭ESV‬‬), ”We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,“

We take those seeds and burn them in the fires of Heaven. My husband taught one of our kids to imagine putting a negative thought inside a cage and throwing the cage into a volcano. The negative thought gets burned up and no longer has power. We can do the same with words that are spoken to us that don’t align with the Word of God. 

You and I don’t have to allow word curses to have any power over us. We can choose to submit those words to Jesus and let his fire devour them! We can live a life of victory and freedom! All we need to do is daily seek the Lord about what we hear and what we are asked to believe, no matter who it is telling us things.