GIGO

I remember many years ago when I was studying computer science, first in vo-tech in the 70’s then in college in the 80’s, there was a term that was frequently used. It sounded funny, and we began to toss it around quite flippantly, but nevertheless one that is true and was birthed out of truth. The irony of that term is that it is pretty much universal, not just for computers. That term is GIGO or Garbage In Garbage Out.

Through the years I’ve come to realize this is critically true of us as humans. From the moment a baby is born, they are learning.

They are taking in information which will develop them into the person they will become. The better the information they take in, the better person they will grow to be.

They take in information through their eyes, ears and touch. The first years of a baby’s life are massive sequences of data input and storage. Each progressive step is built on the previous step. Much, if not most, of what a child learns is not taught to the child directly, but indirectly as they perceive the world around them.

We are still the same today. It is probably safe to say however, that our learning process slows with time. We stop receiving new experiences or become set in our thoughts and ideals and refuse to receive or accept information that is new to us. We develop biased opinions over time which influences every thought or piece of knowledge that we receive.

Right now I am still studying the parable of the sower. God keeps impressing on me that there is much more to see in that parable than we have every dreamed. Today this particular scripture stood out to me.

Luke 8:18
¹⁸Be careful therefore how you listen. For to him who has [spiritual knowledge] will more be given; and from him who does not have [spiritual knowledge], even what he thinks and ^[e]guesses and ^[f]supposes that he has will be taken away. Amplified Bible CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

The word ‘how’ really stuck out to me. Not be careful ‘that’ we listen, but ‘how’. As I meditated on this reading the definitions of the Greek root words I began to see this as further confirmation that we must listen to the Word with acceptance and not resistance as I spoke about in the recent blog Good Ground.

There is a strong warning in this verse. To gain spiritual knowledge you must accept that whatever the Word says is truth and determine to receive that truth with an open mind. If you do this, you will gain more spiritual knowledge. The spiritual knowledge needed to produce a good output in your life.

If you don’t; if you close off your mind and heart to aspects of the bible, picking and choosing what you decide to believe and manipulate the interpretation based on pre-disposed ideas, you will lose even that spiritual knowledge that you think you already have.

We must feed on the truth of the Word and not on false, partially correct or out of context teachings. They will produce toxic results and will not transform our lives the way Christ intended. So how then do we know if what we are hearing is delivered to us with the correct interpretation and not with a pre-disposed bias?

Hebrews 8:10-11
¹⁰For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

¹¹And it will nevermore be necessary for each one to teach his neighbor and his fellow citizen or each one his brother, saying, Know (perceive, have knowledge of, and get acquainted by experience with) the Lord, for all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest of them. Amplified Bible CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

It is good to listen to preachers and teachers of the Word, but the most important thing you can do is read the Word for yourself. Read it with an open mind and ask with sincerity for the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the true interpretation of the Word. Don't read it with a preconceived notion or thought, but fresh and new as the Spirit reveals it to you and then accept it as it is.

That is one of the main services of the Holy Spirit to us; to reveal to us the truth in the Word. If you ask with a genuine heart to learn and know the truth, then you are developing good ground and this is HOW you listen, by listening not to men only, but to the Holy Spirit as He teaches you the truth with an open mind.

And with this truth, with this revelation comes the power to transform, to change. Not by your own might, but by the Spirit.

DAY JOB LINKS...
Dreams Do Come True and Dragonfly In Amber Designs

I Want It All

Have you ever seen a movie or TV show where there was a person at a party standing at the buffet table and they were sneaking food and putting it in their pocket? They were hungry and had experienced hunger often and wanted to make sure that when they were hungry later they would have something to eat.

They are usually embarrassed and afraid that someone would see them. Their eyes shift around watching to see if someone is looking at them. They don’t want anyone to laugh at them or scold them for their hunger.

Sometimes someone does see them and there is usually that classic look of disdain on that persons face. There is judgment and scorn. They are immediately categorizing that person in their mind as a ‘needy’ person. Someone to be looked down upon.



This scenario came to mind to me today as I was praying. I wasn’t praying about a buffet or even someone who was hungry. I was praying about the promises of God for our lives.

I see a lot of people in this world who have come to the party, with the buffet Christ has laid out before them. They have come to the party and they know the buffet table is there and will eat a bit here and there but there is no hurry because the night is young and there is plenty of time to feast – later. There are more important things to do right now.

There are those who have come to the party and they are hungry, but don’t want to be greedy and are fearful of what others will say so they get dainty little bites, just enough to be acceptable, but not too much as to bring ridicule.

Of course there is that occasional person which I described in the beginning that is truly hungry and has experienced hunger and eats heartily and takes more for later too, but they are always looking over their shoulder to see who is watching, afraid.

How does this relate spiritually you say?

Well there are those who come to the party and think that they have all the time in the world to feast on the things of God. They are there and feel that for now that is good enough. There is always time to eat when they choose to eat. So, they laugh and party and have a good time with no urgency to eat of the things of God.

Then there are those that want to eat; they want to know a little bit. They have some hunger, but see others watching them and in an effort to not appear like a radical or Jesus freak they take timidly. They take just enough to abate the hunger and be proper, but no more.

Also in that same category are those who are very picky about what they choose at that huge buffet table. They look and they scrutinize and they examine trying to decide what will set well with them. They don’t pick things that are new to them. They don’t pick things that they were taught to never eat. They don’t take things that might affect the way they will look. They don’t pick things that are against the ‘rules’.

As for the first example, well they are truly hungry and need to eat, so they eat ravishingly while socking away more for later. But there is fear that the others will find out that they are so hungry. They see the looks and stares and then they finally stop and walk away from the table ashamed to be so needy.

As I was thinking about this I came to the realization of where I am at today and have been for the past year.

I want to walk boldly into that room, fold up the edges of the tablecloth and slinging the whole mess over my shoulder and walk out with it. In other words, I want it all and I don’t care what others say or think.

I look at that spiritual buffet table as the promises of God that Jesus died on the cross to give me. If I just come to the party with no urgency to partake of them then doesn’t that diminish the cost of them saying they weren’t worth all that much?

If I come to the party and then daintily pick and choose as to not appear a radical, doesn’t that say that I care more about what others think than the gifts Jesus has laid out before me?

And if I purview the table with critical eyes only choosing what promises that my parents chose or what promises that my friends agree are appropriate, then aren’t I saying that only some of Jesus’ gifts are worthy of me? And what if I pick and choose only because I don’t feel that I was good enough to get all I wanted.

So then, if I come to the party hungry with a long time hunger and I need to feast on His gifts, but am fearful that I’ll be stopped because I am doing wrong, doesn’t that say that I haven’t entirely bought into the belief that God is good and He has my best interest at heart?

Jesus paid a high price for an endless buffet of gifts. His journey to the cross had many stops along the way as did His resurrection. Each step was deliberate and a high price was paid, not just for my sin debt, but for my healing, emotional well being and for an entire life of peace, rest, comfort, health and prosperity.

Jesus said:

John 10:10
¹⁰The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). Amplified Bible CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

He didn’t just come for your spiritual salvation, but for you to have and enjoy your life in abundance until it overflows. Can you say that describes your life in Christ? Then come to the buffet and eat of it all until you are full.

As for me, I want every single thing that Jesus died to give me. I do not want to leave one single thing on the table. My hunger for all thing of God has come to a feverish pitch over this last year. I am hungry. I am famished and I intend to feast on the things of God until I am full.

This last year I’ve studied and researched and communed with the Father like never before. Such sweet hunger.

In my life, I don’t want Jesus’ life to have been in vain. I WANT IT ALL.

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DAY JOB LINKS...
Dreams Do Come True and Dragonfly In Amber Designs

Good Ground

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I grew up on a farm. We didn’t just live on a farm; my daddy was actually a farmer who grew crops on the farm. So I know a little bit about ground. Both good ground and bad ground.

I would say that most of his work consisted of preparing the ground to receive the seeds. He did everything he could do to make that ground, good ground. If he did a good job and was successful in creating good ground, then when the seeds were planted the crop would grow well with minimum effort and the harvest would be abundant.

We have all tried to grow something of our own, whether it was a small flower garden, vegetable garden or even grass seed in a paper cup to make it look like hair. So, we have all had our own experience with good or bad ground.

I like hydrangeas. They are pretty hardy for the most part and will grow in about any kind of soil given the right light and water. But one of the coolest things about them is that they will tell you when they bloom what kind of soil they are in. If they are in acidic soil the blooms will be blue, neutral soils produce very pale cream petals, and alkaline soils result in pink or purple. Now this is the same plant but when planted in different soil produces different results.

For years I’ve read the parable of the sower. It is in 3 of the 4 gospels which tells me it must be a very important principle for us to learn. I’ve heard dozens of teachings and sermons on this parable through the years. But most have been about whether we are the path or in the thorns. We try to evaluate ourselves to see which example most describes us. We all hopefully want to be good ground or soil.

Mark 4:1-12
1 He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 “Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

But I began wondering awhile back, just what constitutes good soil for the gospel? I began to read every account of this parable and Jesus’ explanation in every translation that I could find. Then I found what I felt to be the most accurate usage of words. It was Mark 4:20 where Jesus explains the parable to the disciples. The translation is from the New International Version but many versions have almost the exact same wording.

Mark 4:13-20
¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 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—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” All emphasis mine. CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

In the King James the word, accept is instead received, but in the Greek that word is paradechontai which means accept.

I began to ponder and meditate on this prayerfully. Every Sunday there are thousands of people attending a church service, even millions worldwide. They are there listening receiving the word, but they walk out the way they came in, unchanged.

I’ve come in contact with so many people who you begin talking to or sharing something in the word of God with and they shut down, clam up and begin to resist what you are sharing. I’m not just talking about non-Christians, but people who have professed to be a Christian for years. They don’t accept what you or the Word is saying.

They begin shaking their head and resist what you have to say no matter what scriptures you are showing them. They are un-teachable. Their grandmother always said… their church’s doctrine believes… that is not what they experienced… and the list goes on.

There is not one person on the face of the earth who knows everything there is to know about the Word of God. No matter how long or hard you have studied, God will continually unveil another layer, another truth that you did not previously see.

So what is good ground for the Word? Those who hear the Word and ACCEPT it no matter what doctrine it goes against, no matter who taught you different, no matter what your experience has been.

I believe that the spiritual fruit I’ve harvested in my life, the 30, 60 and 100 hundred fold has been because I’ve had an open mind to be teachable and a hunger for the truth no matter how unpopular it may be or how hard to swallow. I’m still learning each and every day. I still hear His voice clarifying and teaching as I read His word.

Our lives WILL reflect how we have accepted the Word in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. But for these fruits to grow in our lives the Word must be planted in good ground receiving and accepting the Word of God. It is by no accident that these traits are called fruit. Fruit that must be planted and grown in good ground.

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

Many times we ourselves try to exhibit these traits. Because we know this is how we should be, but it is a constant struggle to be the way we know we should be. But it is only through hearing the Word, receiving and accepting the Word that these traits will take root in that good ground and begin to grow on their own. That is true transformation. That is when it becomes our true character.

When push comes to shove our true nature will be revealed. Just like the hydrangea, the kind of ground we are will be revealed by the fruits or blossoms of our plants. If we are just trying to exhibit these traits, when the trials of life or adversity come, our true untransformed self will be revealed. We just can’t keep the façade up under pressure.

God does not want us to try to exhibit these traits. He wants us to be good ground accepting the Word so that it can take root in our lives and grow and flourish producing a progressive harvest of 30 then 60 then 100 fold. He wants us to be transformed by the washing of the water of the Word.

John 15:1-8
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

If God says it, accept and believe it willingly at face value with no pre-conceived notions, doctrines or prejudices. Study with a sincere desire to know the truth and He will reveal its truth and that truth will transform your life.

DAY JOB LINKS...
Dreams Do Come True and Dragonfly In Amber Designs