Note from Jesus
Dear Precious Disciple,
Satan uses a very effective form of temptation on many of you who are My followers. He gets you to avoid looking at your own personal weaknesses and tempts you to focus on other people’s faults. Before long, you find others you don’t think measure up and aren’t as fruitful as you think they should be. You can grow angry because you are discouraged by those who claim to follow Me and yet live showing no loyalty to Me at all in their lifestyles. You are frustrated because unbelievers point to the hypocrites in My churches and use them to bolster their claim that Christianity doesn’t really matter. There can be times when you wish someone would just run out all the “fake followers” so there wouldn’t be so much spiritual drag on your worship, mission, and influence.
Please remember that I warned you in several of My parables that many would claim to be My followers while their lives revealed something very different. Some among you are new disciples and don’t fully know My way and need time to mature. Others are weak and succumb to temptation easily, but they truly love Me and need help to grow stronger and have someone walk alongside them. Even some hypocrites have good hearts; they just haven’t surrendered all of that heart to My lordship and need to be challenged to love Me with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Please hear the two-part warning in the parable below.
First, My church, My people, My spiritual family on earth does not exist in a vacuum. Satan and his demonic forces wage war against Me, My people, and My church. My enemy plants fake believers in the middle of true believers. He does so to drag you down and discourage you so that he can diminish your spiritual passion. The evil one longs to give ammunition to your critics and discourage those trying to decide whether or not to follow Me. Don’t let this situation discourage you. Instead, use this knowledge to help those who are not faithfully following Me to come to full faith in Me and to follow Me as their Lord and Savior.
Second, you should not try to decide who is a true disciple and who is a fake disciple. It’s My job to expose what is false and what is genuine. Please don’t destroy My church by ripping up someone who is precious to Me. Let Me handle discerning between good fruit and bad fruit. Most of this I will do at the end of time. I will do this with My angels — the heavenly messengers.
In the meantime, let’s work together on you. Let’s be honest about where you are in your spiritual journey. Are you fully following Me? Do you struggle being a new disciple? Do you have periods when you are weak? Do you catch yourself being hypocritical in what you say you believe and what you actually live? Do you find yourself being cynical about the faithfulness of other believers? Whatever is holding you back, please, let’s work on it together as we journey through the New Testament this year!
Remember, I long to help you “shine like the sun in the Father’s Kingdom”!
Verses to Live
In this parable, faithful disciples are described as “good seeds,” and the unfaithful are “weeds.” You — and everyone else — get to decide what you will be — weeds or seeds. As you undoubtedly know, the initial decision to be faithful frequently is not enough. Most people need frequent recommitment and the help and encouragement of others. Don’t automatically categorize others who are not completely faithful to Me as being among the “weeds.” Rather, you may be able to provide just the help and encouragement that they need, while at the same time being careful not to become one of the weeds yourself.
Jesus told them another parable.
Jesus:
The kingdom of heaven is like this: Once there was a farmer who sowed good seeds in his field. While the farmer’s workers were sleeping, his enemy crept into the field and sowed weeds among all the wheat seeds. Then he snuck away again. Eventually the crops grew — wheat, but also weeds. So the farmer’s workers said to him, “Sir, why didn’t you sow good seeds in your field? Where did these weeds come from?”
“My enemy must have done this,” replied the farmer.
“Should we go pull up all the weeds?” asked his workers.
“No,” said the farmer. “It’s too risky. As you pull up the weeds, you would probably pull up some wheat as well. We’ll let them both grow until harvest time. I will tell the harvesters to collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, and only then to harvest the wheat and bring it to my barn.
…
Then Jesus left the crowds and returned to … [the] house. His disciples followed Him.
Disciples:
Explain to us the story You told about the weeds.
Jesus:
The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed represents the children of the Kingdom. The weeds— who do you think the weeds are? They are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who threw the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the workers are God’s heavenly messengers. In the parable, I told you the weeds would be pulled up and burned — well, that is how it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send His messengers out into the world, and they will root out from His kingdom everything that is poisonous, ugly, and malicious, and everyone who does evil. They will throw all that wickedness into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. And the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. He who has ears to hear let him hear.
(Matthew 13:24-30; Matthew 13:36-43)
Response in Prayer
Father, help me not grow cynical with those who claim to be Christians but who live their lives as if they couldn’t care less. Use me to encourage my brothers and sisters to a deeper walk with you. I know that our spiritual family, our church fellowship, doesn’t exist in a vacuum and that Satan opposes us. But Father, I believe the power You have given me in the Holy Spirit can help me triumph over the evil one. I want to shine like the sun in Your kingdom and bring You glory. I want to help your kingdom come on earth now, just as it exists in heaven. In Jesus’ name and for Jesus’ glory, I pray. Amen.
‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware.
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.