Break Up Your Fallow Ground (Part 2) | Ep. 173

Repentance stands as one of Christianity's most profoundly misinterpreted concepts. While many reduce it to mere apologies or expressions of regret, its true essence runs much deeper – it's about a fundamental transformation that redirects our entire life trajectory toward God.

"Change is the key," the teaching emphasizes. "Not saying 'I'm sorry.'" When someone repeatedly offends while continually apologizing, what we truly desire isn't their verbal remorse but for the hurtful behavior to stop completely. Similarly, God seeks not our words of apology but our transformed hearts and actions that demonstrate a genuine turning from sin toward righteousness.

The message unveils three powerful catalysts that spark authentic repentance: conviction (that heart-piercing awareness of wrongdoing), experiencing God's goodness (His patience that gives us time to change rather than facing immediate judgment), and godly sorrow (a deep grief that produces lasting transformation rather than temporary emotional distress). Through the lens of 2 Corinthians 7, we discover how "godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation," while "the sorrow of the world produces death" – a profound distinction that separates true heart change from superficial regret.

The parable of the sower beautifully illustrates various heart responses to God's word. Some hearts resemble wayside soil where understanding never takes root, others like stony ground where initial enthusiasm quickly withers under pressure, and still others like thorny ground where worldly concerns choke spiritual growth. Only the well-prepared heart – tilled through genuine repentance – produces the abundant fruit God desires. As James 1:22 reminds us, blessing comes not to those who merely hear God's word, but to those who consistently act upon it.

Ready for real transformation? Examine those areas of your life you've been avoiding and make the changes you know deep down are necessary. True repentance isn't just feeling sorry – it's about becoming the person God created you to be. This is the way.

Chapters

• 2:37 What Is True Repentance?
• 8:16 Three Things Leading to Repentance
• 17:05 Godly Sorrow vs. Worldly Sorrow
• 22:36 The Pattern of God's Requirements
• 26:19 The Parable of the Sower
• 32:54 Tilling Your Ground
• 38:30 Be Doers, Not Hearers Only
• 42:37 Final Challenge and Closing

Transcript

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:03

The vision receives a lot of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are sped, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose. And so what is repentance? We've got to talk about that. What exactly is that? Because I keep asking children, they keep saying, well, repentance is saying, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I apologize. No, that is not repentance. Repentance is very simple. Change your mind. Change what you're doing. Change is the key. Change. Not say I'm sorry. It's nice to be grieving over things that you did wrong when you, when you um, when you uh let's say uh let's say I offended John. It's nice to say sorry to John, but I think John wants me to stop doing whatever it was that I did that hurt him. I think he'd rather want me to stop. Wouldn't you? Your best friend, your girlfriend, if you're a girl, your girlfriend, if you're a boy, your best friend, if he constantly is criticizing everything that you do, and then he later says, I'm sorry, but he continues to do it, I think you'd rather him stop criticizing you. That's repentance. I don't want your sorry, I don't want your apology. Just stop doing that. And that's the same thing with God. God does not want to be offended by your ways, and your sin offends him. Stop. Repent of it. Repentance is turning away from the world, turning away from sin, and turning toward God. Doing things God's way. That's repentance. And there are three things that lead a man to repentance. Does anybody know? What three things lead a man to repent? Brother John.

John H. S. Leyva: 2:11

The goodness of God?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 2:13

Goodness of God is one. That's my second one. I'm gonna get into that. Uh think of Acts 2.37. What led them to repentance? The word of God that's sort of described as break their heart. Ah, what's that called?

John H. S. Leyva: 2:31

Conviction.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 2:32

Conviction. Yeah, conviction. And there's a third one. We'll get to that in a second. But let's start with conviction. On the day of Pentecost, you had Peter preaching the gospel. And all he was telling them was about Jesus, who he was, what he did, and then to put the lid on the coffin, you're the ones that crucified. They were pricked. That's conviction. But watch what the conviction did. It says in 2:37, when they heard this message that I just summarized, now when they heard this, they were pricked in the heart, and they said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Conviction leads you to want to figure out what do I do to fix this? How can I repair or remedy what I've done wrong? But if all you do is feel sorry, and you never ask, well, how do I get myself out of this? That's not repentance. You getting convicted, and then it's sort of like you don't know what to do with it, or you do, you just don't want to do it. You want to justify yourselves, and then you start explaining, well, this is why I did that. It doesn't matter why you did it. It really doesn't. So the people heard Peter's message, they were pricked in their heart, and that conviction led to them wanting to know what they do to fix the situation. Brother John brought up the goodness of God. It says in Romans 2: 4 Do you despise the riches of his goodness? His forbearance, his patience, his long-suffering, more of his patience? Not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? So many people are complaining about seeing the wicked be blessed and being able to prevail in their ways. And what you don't realize is that it's the goodness of God that they're still alive. Because God wants them to repent, to be saved. He doesn't want to destroy them, he doesn't want to kill them. That is not His first inclination. He'd rather they be changed and saved. So all this time that we're seeing this, it's not so we can go complain to God, why haven't you dealt with them and snuffed them out? That's God being patient with them to see them turn from their wicked ways. And I'm so glad that for 20-some odd years he was patient with me. Because I thought that I was okay. I was raised in a Christian school all my life, but I wasn't saved till I was about 20-something years old, thinking that I was saved the whole time. Thank God that he was forbearance with me. Because I didn't know. And there's a lot of them out there that they look like they're wickedly horrible, yet they just simply don't know. And hopefully one day God will be able to reveal to them that let me show you the more perfect way, like he did with me, like he did, I think, with many of you here. Paul here said that knowing the goodness of God, knowing that God is so good, that he's so patient, I mean, many of us here are in the kingdom, and we're still glad that he's so patient with us. Because we see our own stubbornness. We see that we still haven't repented in some areas of our life, yet God is still with us, and God is still working with us and trying to get us to that place where we can continue maturing and not become stagnant or not regress. We're glad that he's so good with us, which causes us to do what? Hopefully love him more. Because he is that way. Because he is working with us. He doesn't give up on us, he doesn't forsake us, he doesn't leave us when he knows we're struggling. It's not that we're adamantly rebelling against him, but we just simply struggle with working that way. And that's why he's deposited his gift in our hearts. That's why he's deposited the Holy Ghost to what? In Ezekiel 36? To cause us to walk in his ways and guard his statues. He's given us the power to do so, so he's working with us. But there are some of us, sadly, that reject and reject and reject and reject, and he will not wrestle with man forever. He will not. There is a limit to his patience and his long-suffering. He isn't eternally patient, he isn't eternally long-suffering, but he is long-suffering and patient enough to give you the opportunity to do what you're supposed to do. Circumcise your heart. Break up your follow ground. And change your ways. And the other ideas, I said, I see both. I see both extremes. One extreme goes, I'm going to preach hellfire brimstone and get the fear of eternal damnation into them so that they could change. And then on the other extreme, you have this perverted love of God that requires nothing, and that you just rest in knowing that God loves you and God is going to save you. And both of them, which is the wide and narrow way, lead to eternal damnation. But there's this little, little narrow way that is saying, God loves you, yes, but he's not going to love you and leave you that way. He's going to love you enough to require you to change so that you can be conformed into his image, which is your eternal destiny, to be in the image of God, to see him face to face and not see any difference. Amen. What a glorious destiny that is. To be in the image of the eternal and perfect God. I mean, when we read the Gospels, are they preaching hell, fire, and brimstone and axe? I never saw that. They're preaching the gospel. They're preaching Jesus. They're preaching what he did, who he was, and what he did it for. But hell, fire, and brimstone, I mean, I understand that may be necessary because of the hardness of people's hearts, but that should not be the overwhelming message. The gospel hasn't changed. The gospel's Jesus. Not about eternal damnation. That has its place in the teachings. But it's about Jesus. And so that brings me to a letter, which is our third reason why what should lead a man to repent. It is conviction, it is the goodness of God. But the next one is godly sorrow. And Paul wrote a letter. It's called 1 Corinthians. And I think we've touched upon 1 Corinthians enough to know that Paul was writing to 1 Corinthians because there was a lot of disorder in the church. In a church that was brimming with the gifts of the Spirit and speaking in tongues and words of prophecy, and all of these things were just flowing, but they were very carnal at the same time. I remember he was trying to correct them on meeting together and fellowshipping and breaking bread and about the, oh gosh, what do they call it? That Last Supper meal? Communion. You know, and talking about that. He was correcting them on that. He was correcting them about order in the church. He was correcting them about wives submitting to their husbands, correcting about a lot of things. It was just a letter littered with correction in so many different areas. So we go in 2 Corinthians, which is the second letter that Paul wrote to the same people. And he says in chapter 7, verse 8, For though I made you sorry with the letter, I do not repent. Though I did repent. In other words, I wrote a letter to you, and I know you were sorry about it. And I didn't repent yet at times I wanted to repent. I wanted to sort of, oh, maybe I shouldn't write this. But he was glad he did it. Because it was necessary. For I perceive that this same letter hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. In other words, you were hurt for a season. I grieved you. I know that. And God does that with you. Parents do that with our children. We grieve you for a season. We discipline you for a season. You may not be able to touch the internet. You might not be able to watch the TV. You might not be able to read your books for a season. But there's a reason for that grief. There's a reason why you're getting disciplined and corrected. He says, but I rejoice. Not that you were grieved, not that you were sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance. That grief, that hurt led you to change. So therefore, I'm not sad for you anymore. I'm so happy and I'm so full of joy that you sorrowed to repent. Because that leads to your salvation. For godly sorrow, or I skipped on it, for you were made sorry after a godly manner. Why does he say after a godly manner? Because it caused you to repent of your ways. Not just be sorry. I'm sorry. And continue on, but no, I'm sorry and I'm changed. I'm not going to do that anymore. And he says, so that you won't receive damage to us for nothing. I didn't grieve you for nothing, because it would have been a waste if you didn't repent. But you did. And I'm so glad. I'm so happy that you did. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation that shall never change from again. Godly sorrow does that. But the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold, this selfsame thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort. When you sorrowed after a godly manner, look at what it did to you. You were now careful about how you treated the brethren. Because that was one of the issues he was dealing with. It says, What clearing of yourselves? In other words, what way you change to clean yourself, to walk in a manner that is more upright, that is more justly with God. What indignation, and you did it not haphazardly, not without commitment, but you did it with zeal. You did it with indignation, with fear, with vehement desire. And you did it because you really meant it. In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. All the things that I wrote to you in the first letter, you're now clear of. In other words, you're now forgiven of because you repented. And that's how God is with his people. If you repent, because everybody quotes 1 John 1.9, and we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And that's absolutely true. Absolutely true. But the underlying principle of all the scriptures is that you need to change that. You don't keep walking in it and say, I'm sorry, keep walking, I'm sorry, keep walking in it. You're going to become so hardened that he's not ever going to be able to reach you anymore. You'll never hear his voice anymore. Because you've hardened yourself. Break up your fallow ground, circumcise yourselves is the message throughout all the scriptures. So a true repentance, if it's true, if it's sincere, causes us to turn away from the world, its lies, its sin, to turn to God with all our heart. All those words of clearing yourselves, indignation and fear, and vehement desire and zeal and revenge, you'll do that with vigor. I mean, we called it in football reckless abandon. Play with reckless abandon. That means go out there and just nail him with everything you have. Don't just hit him and tackle him. But hit him with everything. Just go after him with all your might. Bam, hit him. Reckless abandon all over the field. With reckless abandon, go after the heart of God. With reckless abandon, let go of the things that are holding you back and go after the things of righteousness. So godly sorrow leads or causes you to repent unto salvation that you will not repent of. But what is the sorrow of the world? It is a sorrow that we see time and time again with the altar calls, people crying, crying, crying, and next week they come crying, crying, and next week they come crying, and they're crying every single week of the same things. That's the sorrow of the world because they went back into the ways of the world that whole week. So they come crying, regretting again. He's not into that. That's the sorrow of the world. It makes it loud cries, it draws all the attention, and everybody gets so, oh, she's crying, and then they all cry with them, and then they don't repent. It's sad, it really is.

John H. S. Leyva: 15:58

Amen.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 15:59

That's probably one of the reasons why I don't get so emotional when I see people crying. Because I keep telling my wife, oh, we gave the word, let's wait and see. Yeah, it looked like they received. Let's wait and see. Let's see what they do. I'm always waiting to see what they do. What are they gonna do with the word that they received? Because I know that I didn't lie to them. I told them the truth. Let's wait and see what they're gonna do with it. The sorrow of the world only deceives a person and leads them to their death. Because they really didn't repent, which was the key, which was the whole message, really. Repent. Matthew, I believe it was John the Baptist that said to the Pharisees, bring forth fruit. Bring forth, therefore, fruits, meet for repentance. John's thrust of his ministry was having people turn their hearts to the Lord, turn the hearts of the sons toward the fathers, the fathers toward the sons. His thrust of his ministry was baptism unto repentance for sins. But the Pharisees never abided in it. And the people were so enamored with John the Baptist and his message that they baptized themselves because they heard what he truly said. There's a lot of people that hear, but they don't really hear. But those that heard and been baptized, they really heard him. They really wanted to change their ways, to change their lives. And that's what John the Baptist's ministry was: getting people to change. Because the Lamb who's taking away the sins of the world is coming after me. And unless you change, you won't be able to receive him. So he tells the Pharisees, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. But it says in Luke 7: 28, Jesus is talking about John the Baptist and how great he was. He says, For I say unto you, among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. But he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. And we've already talked about that verse, so I'm not harping about that verse. But verse 29 says, And all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God. Because they respected John the Baptist's ministry. They believed that he was a man sent of God. Even though he didn't do any miracles, they understood his message was from God. And it says that all that heard him, the publicans, they justified God, they were baptized by John. But notice what it says in 30. But the Pharisees and the lawyers, they rejected the counsel of God against themselves. How do you know that? How does the writer know this? Because they were not baptized at John. That's the problem, though. The Pharisees are the example of the heart that is so hardened to the word that they reject the word. How do we know they reject the word? Because they didn't obey the word. How do I know that Abraham had faith? Not because he believed, but because he obeyed. Obedience is the underlying principle throughout all of Scriptures. It's not belief. They've perverted belief because belief is actually faith, but faith is believing and acting. Not believing. That's Greek. Just this idea of belief. Well, I think, therefore I am. Okay, yeah. Philosophical nonsense. Jesus spoke to all the people. The Pharisees, the publicans, the people with diseases, the people with infirmities, with leprosy. I mean, he spoke to everyone. The rich, the poor. And he said, there was not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. But the religious leaders heard John the Baptist and they didn't obey either. And they didn't obey Jesus either. But even in what they heard, even though they heard it, they didn't do it. And they did not obey the word of God, and that resulted in their judgment. When God has sent you as an apostle, as a prophet, as an evangelist, as a teacher, as a simple angel, a messenger of God to someone else. And you are preaching the word of God to that person, and they don't listen to you. What the Lord said to Samuel is the same thing that the Lord says to you, so don't broke his heart out. What the Lord said to Samuel, they have not rejected you. Don't be offended because it's not you. They rejected me. That I should not reign over them. Because the word applied to someone's life is in order for God to have reign. God will bring them into perfection. God will bring them into a kingdom that is in order according to God's commandments. But when they reject the word, they're saying, I don't want you to reign. I don't want you, God. So Jesus, I know I've said this before, made us a part of the salvation process. We proclaim the gospel of his kingdom. And he says, if they don't hear your words, it's me. Don't get offended. It's me that they're rejecting. And I had to hear these words recently because I had to minister to a dear, dear friend of mine and hear him reject the word. This isn't about me and you. Because I'm not telling you my own thoughts. I'm not telling you my own ideas. I'm simply saying you need to apply the word in this area of your life and to hear, well, I disagree with that. And it's not. You disagree with God. Because it's very clear what he said. And there's nothing that you can say to me that's scriptural. All of this is you justifying yourself, you justifying your actions and your thoughts. But basically, you're saying that your actions and your thoughts I hold high above the word of God. Like the Pope. Whatever the Pope says out of his mouth is equal to the word or higher. So I want to go back to Acts 2:38, because I told you there's a pattern. Abraham, God came to him. And immediately when God came to him, required of him something. So if you go to Acts 2:38, I want you to see that. But it wasn't God coming, it was God in his messengers coming. And we know the scripture 2:38. Then Peter said unto them, repent. That's circumcise your heart. That's break up your fallow ground. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. That's the first act of true obedience. If you're really going to repent, that should be your first act of obedience. But watch this. At the end, just like with Abraham, get out of your country, get out of your family, get out of your kindred, get out, get out, get out, get out. Then watch what God says. And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Same pattern. God came to them, required of them, and if they met that requirement, then they shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the promise of the Father. Just like he did with Abraham. It says in Hosea, harp on this again, Hosea 10, verse 12. This idea of you circumcising, you repenting, you breaking up your fallow ground is all throughout the scriptures. He says to Hosea, sow to yourselves in righteousness. Reap in mercy. Break up your fallow ground. For it is time to seek the Lord. See, breaking up your fallow ground leads you to be able to seek the Lord. Or that is a characteristic or fruit of breaking up your fallow ground. And then when do you continue? How often do you continue to seek the Lord? Till He come and rain down righteousness upon you. So you do that until He does that. Because here was the problem with the Israelites back then in Hosea's time. You plowed wickedness. You plowed iniquity. You reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men. You see, they plowed in their field wickedness and lies, trusting in men, trusting in chariots, trusting in horses, and they left their God. All of that stuff is in the field. And when he says, break up your fallow ground, you need to remove all of that stuff that you put there. The unbelief, the untrustworthiness, or the putting of trust in other things, you need to get rid of all that. You need to start from scratch. Now to me, it seems like a waste of time to sow seed in ground that isn't tilt. I would think it's a waste of time if there's rocks and there's thorns to put seed there. But I'm not the Lord. And the Lord will sow seed anywhere. He'll sow seed everywhere. And he shows that in the parable of the sower. So if you turn to Matthew 13, the parable of the sower testifies to the idea that God will sow seed anywhere.

John H. S. Leyva: 26:35

Amen.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 26:36

With any man. So have that idea in your heart when you look at other people and think, well, he's too lost. The Lord doesn't think so. He'll sow seed anywhere. In Matthew 13, there's four plots of land. The wayside, the stony place, the thorny place, and the good ground. Well, the wayside soil is representative of the man without understanding. He just doesn't get it. He just simply doesn't get it. The seed is sown in the man who doesn't have any understanding, the wayside man I call it. And immediately the bird comes, takes the seed, and it goes away, and he did he didn't know the difference. He didn't even know he had the seed of the kingdom of God on his land. He's just oblivious to it. But the sowers still sowed there. The sower still gave the seed of life. Then we come to the stony places. He sows seed there. And it says of that particular man, the soil is the type of man. It took little or no root, but it grew. It says that tribulation or persecution is brought on by the word. And they became offended. If you read it, they were happy to receive it, they were excited, it started to grow, but it didn't have a lot of root. Meaning underneath the soil there was hardness. There was rigidity. But tribulation and persecution brought on by the word. When people spoke the word to them, it offended them. These are the type, and you probably run into them because I know I've run into them myself. They're Christian. And then when you speak the word to them, they get offended. How can they why why do you get offended? A Christian is one who abides in the word. All I'm doing is getting in the word, and you're getting offended at me? That's the type of person that has not tilled his ground. That's why, that's why we put out that warning. You know, you may want to receive the Holy Ghost, but you better repent first. Because you might not get exactly what you want if you willingly continue to walk in disobedience. You're not gonna you might get something you you had no idea you can't handle. And then we have the thorny round. The person with thorns has soil, but they did not get rid of the weeds, they didn't get rid of the thorns, they didn't get rid of things that they're like tears. They sort of choke each other, they choke the word out of them, and that's what the thorns do. But that's because that person did not till his ground. He didn't get rid of the thorns. He thought, well, I can continue walking in this manner or in this way. And all of a sudden, all the things that he cared about his money, his riches. His material things, they begin to choke the life out of the word because they received it too. They received it with gladness. But they never got rid of the idols in their life. And so later on down the line, as they're walking this faith walk, they begin to have to make choices because they would not repent of in the beginning, and they begin to die out. I want to give you two examples of the stony place and the thorny place. There was a man that Jesus loved. This man came to him, said, You know, master, you know, teacher, rabbi, what do I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus says, Well, what do the commandments say? And he started listing the commandments. And the man says, Why have done all that? I told you this before. Jesus didn't correct it. He said, Okay. He said, one thing that thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give it to the poor. And thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross and follow me. And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. Which man is that? The stony or the thony? Excuse me? The thony. That's the man that did not get rid of the idols. That was gonna choke the life out of the word. He went to Jesus. Jesus didn't come to him. He received Jesus to some level because he went to him. How can I take eternal life, Rabbi, master, teacher? I've done all that. Well, get rid of your possessions. Come follow me. He can't do that. That is an area of his life where he reached a level of obedience and could go no further. We never heard about that man again. He could not relinquish himself and repent from the idols of his heart. And Jesus didn't even call him idols. He just said, get rid of those things. Don't follow me. He couldn't do that. The stony places is about people that have received the word. They've allowed it to grow, but it didn't take much root because there was underlying hardness of heart in them. And these are the type of people that when you give them the word, they call themselves Christians. And some of them may be. They may be in the covenant, but when you give them the word, they get offended. In Matthew 15, 28, a woman of Cana came out of its coast and cried unto Jesus, have mercy on me, son of David. My daughter is vexed with the devil. Matthew 15, 22. And Jesus answered her. Not a word. He ignored her. He ignored her. Remember, Jesus is the word of God. He ignored her. Didn't say a word. Just flat out kept on walking. And her daughter is grievously vexed. They paid no mind to her. And his disciples who came and sought him saying, Send her away, for she cried after him. But he didn't send her away, did he? Didn't send her away. She kept after him. He didn't say a word to her. He didn't say, disciples, get this lady out of here. He just didn't say a word to her. But he didn't reject her. She kept coming. She kept coming. Now remember, Canaan, she was uh He answered them, or he answered her and said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Jesus understood his purpose was, remember, he takes care of his house first. He's going to take care of his house. And then he's going to go expand his borders and abroad and all that. So he only says what the word told him. The word told him, I need to take care of the house of Israel. By invocation, he's saying, Well, you're not of the house of Israel. I can't take care of you. And she came, she kept coming. She worshipped him and said, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not me to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. He's the word of God giving her the word. And if that were me, I would have been offended. I went, what? Did he just call me a dog? Because I'm begging him to help me? But see, the reason why I'm highlighting this is not because she had a heart of stone. She didn't have a heart of stone. Because a heart of stone would have been offended and would have walked away. How dare he talk to me that way? Who does he think he is? Treating me like a dog? Or you and leave. But she didn't have that heart. She said, that's true, Lord. She continues to come after him because it was more important that her daughter get the blessing from the one that she believed in than to be offended. But you know what? The dogs eat of the crumbs at the master's table. And that so knocked Jesus' socks off. Woo! Woman of great faith. Woo! Be it done to you as you asked. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. That's what it means to till the ground. That heart was ready to receive no matter what he said to her. No thorns, no cares of the world, no pride. Because that's what the stony heart. There was no pride in that woman. Anybody with pride would have walked away offended. She had no pride. She was already till. She was ready. She was circumcised. I'll give you, I'll give you, just give me the crumbs. I'll take the crumbs. And she got the healing for her daughter. Her daughter said, was made whole that very hour. That very hour. Good ground is not stony. It's not thorny. It is purposely tilled by you. By you. You've gotten rid of the things in your life that you know are contrary to him, that you know are going to battle and wage war with him and his ways. You need to do that. And this is the man that receives the word, understands the word, accepts it, applies it, and bears fruit. Some 30, 60, and 100-fold. I'm not here to tell you what exactly you need to circumcise yourself of. I believe that the Lord can handle that all by himself. Anyone who wants to prophesy, you go right ahead. I'm not telling you not to. What I'm saying here is that you, all of us, need to consider the areas of our life that up to this point we have not allowed the Lord to address. We have been oblivious, the man of non-understanding. We have been rigid against his word, or we've allowed the cares of his life to distract us from dealing with what He's been wanting to deal with. This is your challenge. Till your ground. Till the ground of your children. Because they need help. They're not going to do it themselves at this point in their life. They need their ground tilled by you, parents. It's not going to happen on its own. They don't know what that means. They can't even carry a pickaxe to do it. You need to do it. In James 1.22, I believe it answers how are you supposed to till your ground? How do you circumcise yourself? In James 1.22, it says, but be ye doers of the word. Not hearers only. We got enough hearers in this world. What we don't have is a bunch of doers of the word. A lot of Christians out there calling themselves Christian, but when you look at their actions and behavior, you're like, you're a Christian? You curse? You cheat? You're swamped in the sports that happen every weekend? Watching football all day long? That's all you do? And then when the NFL comes on Sunday, you do it again? I don't know. There are things that we need to apply the word in our life to in order to obtain the promises and the blessings of God that come after our response to Him. Because a hearer only deceives himself. That's all they do. They don't deceive any tried and true Christian. They all see through that. You deceive yourself into thinking you're okay, and God is going to take care of you. And God said he'll bring me to completion in the day of Christ Jesus, and that's true. But he doesn't do it against your will. He does it in cooperation with your will, submitted to his. Music has got to go. TV programs have got to go. You know which ones they are. You know which ones are not edifying. You know which ones make a mockery, a complete mockery of Jesus. They highlight homosexuality. They highlight all sick and infested, perverted things. You know what they are. All of that has got to be done away with. Or else you really don't have a future with God. I said with God. You'll have a future, but it's not one with God. Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, the word, and continues therein, it says in verse 25. He is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. This man shall be blessed in his deed. Do you see the condition there? It didn't say if. It said, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed. It's a man who does the word that shall be blessed, not a man who hears it. Hearing has nothing to do with God being obligated to abide and perform his word for you. It's always been based upon your response to him. And so with that, I leave you with that challenge. I leave you with that consideration. Inspect the areas of your life that you have not wanted to address. Changes that you know deep down inside, you have to make and make them. I don't want to change this into a message of being fearful. But you have to understand the consequences if you will not address those areas. You will deceive yourself. And you will end up where you didn't think you were going to end up because you were on the wrong path and you didn't know it. Amen. Amen. If you were blessed and appreciate listening to this podcast and you would like to support us in our efforts, consider lifting us up in prayer first. 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