When Will Joy Come? -- Day 30

It's already day 30 of our joy adventure. I still have at least two more parts to the "my story" mini-series. Thank you for allowing me to share with you. I hope the booklet and the blog have touched your life in a meaningful way. Have you noticed any difference? Maybe you're asking when will I see a difference? When will joy come?

Let's go back to some of the first scriptures we read. It is the parable of the sower and the seed. Go ahead and read the whole parable and Jesus' explanation.

³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”

¹⁴ The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”  
                                                                                                                            Mark 4:3-8, 14-20

The different types of soil represent the hearts of the people who heard the word. So that is the first place to start when you're looking for results. What is the condition of Footnotes:

1. Mark 4:12 Isaiah 6:9,10

your heart?

In this case, I am the sower. I scattered the joy booklets out to different types of people. Maybe you never picked it up again. Well, that seed won't produce fruit.

Maybe you were like, cool this was a nice little gift, but you don't believe. Again, no fruit.

You could be like the rocky place that the seed falls on. I have a feeling that many of us are dealing with those rocky places and the hard heartedness. I can't seem to get away from writing about it.

 ⁷ So, as the Holy Spirit says:

   “Today, if you hear his voice,
 ⁸ do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
   during the time of testing in the desert,     Hebrews 3:7-8 NIV

This was reminding the people of when God first spoke these words to the people He had brought out of slavery in Egypt with Moses. God brought them out with miracles. After all that God had done for them, you know like parting the Red Sea so they could cross it on dry ground. But when they didn't have water they complained and asked why did God bring them there to die. He could help them escape from their enemy but He couldn't feed them? Ummm wrong!. God showed them what He could do and He took care of them. But their hearts were hard because they did not believe God who proved Himself over and over again. So the 12^th verse says,

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

As Jesus said, when trouble and persecution came they gave up. Again, no fruit for those who are not trusting God.

Maybe your heart is like the soil with the thorns. The thorns are the worries of this life and then some. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing the word of God. If your heart is rocky or has thorns, faith can't really come. I've experienced this. I read the word, but no faith. I have gotten so worried and worked up that I don't allow the Word to penetrate my heart. In those cases I have to ask God to forgive me and help me. As I keep reading the Word, my heart changes. But worries make the Word unfruitful. If your heart is like this, continue to read the scriptures until all the other things in the world don't bother you so much. See Till Until -- Grab a Plow! Part 2

Finally, your heart may be the good ground. Your heart was prepared, you heard/read the Word and believed it and if you have not already, you will produce the crops. Oh happy day! But you notice some seeds yielded more crops than other. Why? How ready was your heart? Any kind of soil can be prepared for an abundant harvest.

I'm going for 100 times what I've sown and that's not even the limit.

Plow Now!

Are you committed yet to having more joy in your life? If you want the fruit of joy, plant the seeds of joy. But remember before you plant, you have to prepare the soil.

The seed is the Word of God. The sower sows the word. Mark 4:14

The soil is your heart.    Plow up the hard ground of your hearts … Hosea 10:12b NLT

You plant the seeds the seeds of joy by saying the Words about joy. A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Proverbs 18:20

Today is the first day of spring. It's a good day to begin your garden. Starting by plowing the ground and removing rocks and obstacles. As I was planning the journey of joy and considering not following through with my plans, a scripture kept rolling around my head:

If you are too lazy to plow in the right season, you will have no food at the harvest. Proverbs 20:4 NLT 2004

I knew that this was the Spirit of God reminding me not to procrastinate. If we wait until June, it may be too late. And remember how I literally saw a sign to get me started on my journey? The bumper sticker said, "Don't postpone joy."

How funny, I just realized that I saw a sign. :-) I didn't even ask for one.

Let's get this party garden started. PLOW NOW!

From a previous post, Till Until -- Grab a Plow! Part 2:

So how do I till the soil/my heart?

Repentance – turning away from everything that is not like God.

Forgiveness – forgiving offenses quickly and not holding grudges.

Humility – realizing that God is in control and I'm not.

Gratefulness – giving thanks instead of complaining.

Trust – leaning on God and not myself. 

Don't postpone joy. You deserve all the good that God has for you.

Till Until -- Grab a Plow! Part 2

After reviewing the You Might Have a Hard Heart If   . . . list, I know I have some hard, rocky places. I have my work cut out for me.

My Uncle Dennis used to prepare my mom's garden with a tiller. It broke up the soil and turned it over . . . it prepared the unplowed ground.

Jesus described the people whose hearts are unplowed.

¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

No fruit from those seeds because the ground wasn't ready. I'm committed to have a bumper crop of joy. So how do I till the soil/my heart?

Repentance – turning away from everything that is not like God.

Forgiveness – forgiving offenses quickly and not holding grudges.

Humility – realizing that God is in control and I'm not.

Gratefulness – giving thanks instead of complaining.

Trust – leaning on God and not myself.  

The biggest thing for me though is to stop feeding my heart with junk. I felt as if I was becoming a TV and movieholic. I was filling my time watching TV shows and movies online. The quality of programming wasn't necessarily the problem; the quantity was the problem – hours upon hours. It was an easy way to be a vegetable and I didn't have to think too much to allow all of that garbage in my heart. When I say garbage, I don't mean profane or explicit content. Too many family movies turn into junk food for the soul.

So now, I have to stop with the garbage and put in the good.

Right now as I read the joy scriptures daily, I am using them to break up the hard places. I love it that God says in Jeremiah 23:29 in the Amplified version:

Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]? says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks in pieces the rock [of most stubborn resistance]?

My heart has been that rock of most stubborn resistance lately. It's as if I can feel the hardness. But I am daily applying the hammer and I will continue to till until the soil is ready. I feel a WOOHOO! coming on.

You Might Have a Hard Heart If . . .

You can use this list as a starter to see if the words from Hosea 10:12-13 NLT

"Plow up the hard ground of your hearts" apply to you.

You might have a hard heart if . . .

You don’t acknowledge God.

You don’t want to help the poor.

You're constantly finding fault.
You will not humble yourself.

You’re the best person you know (YIKES!)
You don't Love Lucy.
You find it difficult to give/receive a compliment.

There are people in your life that you have not forgiven.

You think God won't forgive you.

You're never wrong.

You're arrogant (do arrogant people know they’re arrogant?).
You gripe, gripe, gripe

You won’t even cry during a Hallmark commercial.

No one can correct you or give you advice.

You're easily angered.

You don’t trust God or His people.

You're the only one you can depend on.

You believe God can, but you don't think He will.

You don't believe God can.

A certain person walked up to you right now, you would not speak to him/her

You need a crowbar to allow "thank you" to escape your lips.

Your favorite pet is a grudge.

You have a short list of people who you like or are willing to help.

You're not happy when family and friends are successful.

You give a compliment, but balance it with "constructive criticism."

Your nickname is Mr./Ms. Grumpy Pants.

Hmmmmm  . . .

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Nah, I'm not really that bad. I love Lucy. :-) I must admit that I do have some hard places in my heart.

This list is compiled from scripture and personal observation. Our hearts may not need a complete plowing, but there may be some stones that need to be removed before we start planting.

Something cool happened at church today. I asked a couple of friends to pray for me. One of them was a teenager. He didn't say many words, but he did pray something like this, "God smooth out the rough places in her life (or maybe he said heart.)

Wow! He had no idea that I planned on writing this post today. He didn't even know that I had this blog. That's what you call "praying in the Spirit." When you listen and allow God to pray through you, you pray the right thing. How awesome is that?

God knows what we need. I pray that you will see His love and faithfulness in your life through the remainder of these 30 days. I pray that God will show you the impenetrable places in your heart so you can break up the fallow ground.

Grab a Plow! Part 1

So I prayed about how to start a garden. My grandmother had a huge garden when I was a child. I guess I didn't help much with it because I don't know a thing about gardening. I remember digging near the garden. I dug with that shovel like I was really doing something.  I dug until I hit an orange layer of soil. Shoooot! I was no fool. I stopped digging. I knew that red would follow the orange layer and if the ground was red . . . I would dig my way right into Hell. Phew! That was close.

I can't imagine what I would have thought if I had lived in Alabama at that time instead of Illinois. There sure is a lot of red soil in Alabama. Just sayin'.

That was my gardening experience. I liked the greens, okree, and tomatoes from the garden.  That was all I knew. So now I want to plant a spiritual garden and I haven't a clue how to begin. I realized that the Word, of course, is the seed and the heart/soul is the ground or soil. But I wanted to relate this spiritual thing to a natural thing to help me understand it. So I prayed. My answer came soon by way of an audiobook -- Praying God's Word by Beth Moore. They read the scripture from Jeremiah 4:3

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

      “ Break up your fallow ground,
      And do not sow among thorns. NKJV

Eureka! That's how you start a garden. So I searched for that scripture and found it said more.

³ This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:

   “Break up your unplowed ground
   and do not sow among thorns.
⁴ Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
   circumcise your hearts,
   you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire
   because of the evil you have done—
   burn with no one to quench it.  

                                Jeremiah 4:3-4 NIV

There's the heart thing. Get the junk out or your hard heart. Soften your heart. Prepare your heart by letting it be for God, otherwise whatever good is planted in your heart will be planted among weeds that will choke its growth. I get it now. 

     But wait! 

                  There's more!

Hosea 10:12-13 NKJV says:

¹² Sow for yourselves righteousness;
      Reap in mercy;
      Break up your fallow ground,
      For it is time to seek the LORD,
      Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
       ¹³ You have plowed wickedness;
      You have reaped iniquity.
      You have eaten the fruit of lies,
      Because you trusted in your own way,
      In the multitude of your mighty men.

The New Living Translation (NLT) version breaks it down like this:

 ¹² I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,
      and you will harvest a crop of love.
   Plow up the hard ground of your hearts,
      for now is the time to seek the Lord,
   that he may come
      and shower righteousness upon you.’

 ¹³ “But you have cultivated wickedness
      and harvested a thriving crop of sins.
   You have eaten the fruit of lies—
      trusting in your military might,
   believing that great armies
      could make your nation safe.

I love that! "Plow up the hard ground of your hearts." That's something to think about.  I'd better get to plowin'