I mentioned in my last post that we would be delving into the Parable of the Sower, but since we are on the subject of seeds, I would like to mention another parable first. It is The Parable of the Mustard Seed from Matthew 13:31–32, Mark 4:30-32, and Luke 13:18-19.
In this parable, Jesus said the mustard seed is the tiniest of all the seeds on the earth, but grows into the largest of garden herbs, having the appearance of a TREE with large branches.
After meditating on verses mentioning mustard seeds and doing some research, I came away with some characteristics of this tiny seed that hold valuable spiritual wisdom!
Did you know that the mustard seed does not cross pollinate with other seeds? There are no hybrid mustard seeds unless they have been genetically modified!
God’s words are the seeds of His kind thoughts and good plans towards us. Satan’s words are seeds that speak of his schemes to kill, steal, and destroy. The enemy loves to mingle his thoughts with God’s to deceive us and cause us to become double minded and therefore cross pollinated!
We quickly become “tossed up and down like a wave of the sea” (James 1:6), not settled or able to fully trust what God has said. This is unfortunate because God’s very DNA is infused into His words! Jesus is the Word made flesh and He says,
“The words I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are LIFE.” (John 6:63)
When we come into agreement and speak the enemy’s thoughts, we are allowing the seeds that God has planted in our hearts to become genetically modified! GMO!
Satan’s seeds of fear, doubt, and offense pull against our faith like a rope in a tug of war. This causes our faith to be neutralized, ineffective, and powerless for the kingdom.
Thinking about how the tiny mustard seed grows into a tree, I was reminded of a teaching by brain scientist, Dr. Caroline Leaf. She says that our thoughts create physical structures of nerve impluses called dendrons. These dendrons literally look like trees in our brain! The very word “dendron” means “tree” in the Greek.
Negative thoughts of anxiety, fear, doubt, shame, anger, and offense form “trees” that are mangled and do not allow our nerve signals to flow correctly. These mangled thought branches are involved in releasing harmful chemicals into our body, aiding in the cause of MANY mental and physical illnesses!
Now we can understand why God tells us to take every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5), and to guard our hearts above all else because the forces of God’s LIFE are aiming to flow through it. (Proverbs 4:23) The Bible instructs us to purify our hearts in areas where we have become double minded (cross pollinated), and to become single in our mind’s eye.
When we become fully focused on God’s thoughts, He says our whole body will be filled with His light and LIFE, and darkness will not be able to overcome it! (James 4:8, Matthew 6:22, John 1:5, John 8:12)
Jesus said in Luke 17:6, “If you have confident, abiding faith in God, EVEN AS SMALL AS A MUSTARD SEED, you could say to this mulberry tree, which has very strong roots, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’; and if the request was in agreement with the will of God, it would obey YOU!”
In other words, it only takes a mustard seed size of PURE, UNMINGLED faith to see the impossible happen!
This is why Jesus was so effective in His ministry. In John 14:30 NKJV, He said, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has NOTHING IN ME.” Jesus had no cross pollination with the thoughts of the enemy!
We must view the lies of the enemy as deadly viruses that can infiltrate our entire belief system! Now when I find a tree sapling in my garden, I yank it out immediately. I view it as a future large tree that cannot be easily pulled out by hand. A modified thought is a stronghold in the making.
Let’s give Jesus continual access to our hearts. He is the master gardener! As we meditate in His Word, He will reveal and prune our mangled thought branches and purify our hearts to be single eyed, focused solely on HIS Words of life!
John 10:10 – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.”
Galatians 5:9 Passion Translation – “Don’t you know that when you allow even a little lie into your heart, it can permeate your entire belief system?”
Proverbs 4:20-22 – “My child, pay attention TO WHAT I SAY. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring LIFE to those who find them, and HEALING to their whole body.”
John 15:7 – “If you abide in Me and MY WORDS abide in You, ask what you will and it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.”
Acts 20:32 – “And now I commend you to God [placing you in His protective, loving care] and I [commend you] to the word of HIs grace [the counsel and promises of His unmerited favor]. His grace is able to build you up and give you the [rightful] inheritance among all those who are sanctified [that is, among those who are set apart for God’s purpose-as believers].
Psalm 139:23-24 Passion Translation – “God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way— the path that brings me back to you.” Psalm 139:23-24 Passion Translation
My husband, Jack came across the perfect song for this devotional. PRAY THIS SONG! Be blessed as you listen! “Tend,” by Emmy Rose