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Freely I have received, and freely I give.  Some of these truths have come from experience (and almost 25 years of walking with the Lord), but most of these truths will come from the Word.  There will be times I will quote the great men-of-God who have gone before us into everlasting habitations: for of a truth I say that it is upon their shoulders that we stand and see a little bit further.  Because the divine principle is thus: “other’s have labored and we are entering into, and reaping, the fruit of their labors.”  As Plato once said: “Most men learn from their mistakes; but I prefer to learn from other men’s mistakes.”  Hopefully, as the Lord permits, I can share with you my own pitfalls that I have had to learn, and go through, so that the Lord could take me from being “Jacob” to “Israel” Gal. 6:16.

You see, there are 4 things satan does according to Proverbs: Traps, Pits, Snares, and Nets; and these correlate with the Flesh, the Heart, the Soul, and the Mind. And they can also be correlated with the feet, hands, ears, and the eyes.  Some things may be hard to understand, but “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” 2nd Timothy 2:7

Most of these “Briefings” will be short (they’ll only be longer if “I am full of matter” Job 32:18).  Those of you who know me well, know that I prefer to use a lot of the Word to expound on principles from the Word.  Sometimes there will be a lot of this; and at other times I will be giving you what I have sensed in prayer and gleaned from the Word in my personal study.  The Lord’s desire is that we come a “little further” into the garden where He is praying and where He is waiting.

For those of you who have a strong and mature grasp on the Word (Heb. 5:14), you will glean more and you will see more.  Everything in life (spiritual life) is based upon the receptivity of our hearts. It is of the utmost importance that you see the principle of the parable of the sower, because Jesus said in Mark 4:13 that if you do not understand the parable of the sower you will NOT understand any of the other parables.

You will also notice that the Lord is very economical with His words; this is why this parable is the first one listed in Matthew 13.  If you can truly grasp this truth, it will help you understand the majority of the Word of God.  Why is this, you say? Because everything in life naturally (“because not that which is spiritual is first, but that which is natural, and then that which is spiritual follows after” 1st Cor. 15:46), and spiritually, is based upon one truth and one truth alone. SOWING & REAPING!! ” As long as the earth remains, there shall be seedtime and harvest” (Gen.8:22).

I cannot stress enough the importance of memorizing, meditating, and studying the full extent of what these 3 verses imply: Gen. 8:22, 1st Cor. 15:46, and Matthew 13:1-9 (which deals with 4 classes of people {really it deals with 4 types of hearts, but the heart of a man is the full expression of who he really is} and they are 1) shallow-hearted, 2) half-hearted, 3) hard-hearted, and 4) whole-hearted.

As you are ministering to others (after you have “ministered to the Lord” Acts 13:2a) you will do well to remember this: that the person(s) in front of you will fall into one of these 4 categories (soils), and based upon this truth will be the amount of spiritual things that they will be able to receive from you.  So often I hear this, mainly from ministers, “I just can’t seem to get through to them, I must not be hearing the Lord, or praying enough, or studying enough.” If you’re doing what you know to do (John 14:4b), then you must see that your words are being scattered (sown) onto 4 types of soil, and until you can really grasp this concept, there may not be much fruit.

So then, this by default leads us to this truth: the heart of a man has to be really understood in order to be dealt with. Until you can see (by the observation of his living) and hear a man’s heart (and this is easily done with maturity), it will be difficult for you to minister effectively to that man.  Once you understand this divine truth, it will be so easy for you to locate a man spiritually and know which soil his heart is.  Everything in nature and in spirit is by progression, in other-words, from infancy to coming-to-maturity, and then full age (first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear). A man’s heart is the same way.  It does not become “whole-hearted” overnight. It takes time.

Now consider this: concerning the heart and the crops (Mark 4:28 NKJV) that it produces. You’ll notice that it is in the plural. The heart (earth) produces 2 main types of crops: namely grain and fruit.  Grain is for growing (spiritual strength, spiritual stature, and spiritual sustenance) and Fruit is for enjoyment.  There are only a few main grains (wheat, barley, corn, rice); but there are many fruits (23 main fruits).  Now remember what 1st Cor. 15:46 says: “because not that which is spiritual is first, but that which is natural, and then that which is spiritual follows after.“

The “earth” (our hearts) does not produce meats, but grains and fruits.  It can produce grains that we don’t eat (milo, castor, lotus, etc.), and it can also produce fruits that we don’t eat (hedge-apple, betel, certain types of berries, etc.).  But the earth PRODUCES both good and bad.  It is totally our choice as to which grains and fruits we will allow to grow in our hearts.  Remember that there is a big difference between grain and fruit.  We will partake of our own harvest, and then we will share it with others (“out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” & “as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is“).

It is my prayer that that which we are sharing with others and have FIRST partaken of ourselves (2nd Timothy 2:6) is good grain for eating, and good fruit, not only for our own enjoyment but so that we may give to others; for of a truth the fruit far outweighs the grain.

So then it is totally up to us as to what the earth “OUR HEART”  produces.  Really think about this.  So then, in closing, let’s ask ourselves this: is faith a grain or a fruit? It is the ONLY thing that is BOTH. Matthew 17:20  “And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a GRAIN of mustard seed…” & Galatians 5:22  “But the FRUIT of the Spirit is…faith.”

Let’s really ponder, pray, meditate, and study this truth out so that it’ll not only bless ourselves, but it’ll bless and increase others, for of a truth I say that a single grain can produce upwards of 200 fold (wheat).  We are here to give Life to others, but the blind cannot lead the blind.  We must first be able to see, and then we can lead others and help them see.