(From September 06, 2026 Sunday Service)
When we find ourselves in low morale, and when we find ourselves fearful for tomorrow, we’re reminded to look at the birds, who God takes care of, and to look at the lilies of the valley, who God adorns with beauty.
And, apparently, we can also look to husband and wife couples who have been together for the longest time. Well, that’s how I took it anyway, when the lady who testified as part of her offering exhortation proudly told our people that they’ve been married for 10 years now.
We’ve been talking about being rooted in the Word, and being rooted in Christ.
I’m led to remember, and to recall for all of us, the parable of the Sower and the seeds:
5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”
10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
Luke 8:5-15
Now, I told our folks that here, it’s easy for us to make it about us – to remind all of us here to be ‘good ground’ – and to be diligent in having a noble and good heart, hearing the word and, with patience, eventually bearing fruit.
But while all of that would serve as a good reminder for us, I told them that we should also see that the Sower is diligent, faithful, consistent and constant in sowing seed. I compared this to Christ talking about the Holy Spirit in John 16, particularly where He talks about how the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.
I explained that the Word of God makes its way to each and every one of us regularly, by way of the Holy Spirit and these convictions. And for those of us in the body of Christ, it ministers to us at the very least: any convictions of sin reminds us of how we are still present in a fallen, sin-infected world doomed to oblivion.
Any convictions of righteousness reassures us of how Christ’s finished work was what reconciled us to God, and how nothing can ever separate us from the Father’s love. Finally, any convictions of judgment gives us hope – all this death, sin, fear, anxiety, lies, and poverty, all that is of the enemy, and the devil himself has an end.
The Sower is faithful, and His Word reminds us, reassures us, and gives us hope – consistently, constantly.
And, right – by this we are also reminded of Christ’s finished work, and His resurrection in particular, that guarantees that we are new creations, with new hearts – noble, and good hearts as good ground, to be precise.
From here I went ahead and testified about my week, and my weekend, telling them how the weekdays have been quite the rollercoaster, and how I was being very tempted during the weekend to go back to old habits and give in to temptations thrown at me for decades, because ‘I deserve it’.
I told them about how, by God’s grace and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I was led to spend my idle time in intentional worship… and through the struggles and the strumming and the singing, I was reminded of James 4:7:
Submit to God, resist the devil, and He shall flee from you.
I shared on how I struggled with temptation and distraction over the weekend. I shared that I approached ‘resisting the devil’ by way of intentionally worshipping.
I shared that in worship, we eventually receive revelation; and consequently, any revelation we receive would actually bring us to worship. In this case, in worshipping, I was brought more to submitting to God.
I shared that submitting to God is intentionally focusing on Him, on His goodness, on Christ, on Christ’s finished work. Submitting to God is reading His Word, and receiving His revelations.
In this case, the revelation I received is that, sure, if we resist the devil,he shall flee from you.
But when we submit to God, we remember He is always with you, and as in the case of Jesus tempted in the wilderness, and Elijah calling out for God to take his life already… It may very well be possible that His angels truly minister to you.
Then I shared on how I was ministered to as of late, when the starter of our trusty car failed us, far from home. Point was, it’s true. God is always with us, and God ministers to us through angels, through people.
Then I emphasized: This is just my story. Remember: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11) – it did not say I overcome by Pastor Joedy’s testimony, or brother Juan overcame by my testimony. We have our own beautiful testimonies, signed and acknowledged with the blood of Christ.
In closing, we sang, and emphasized, that no matter what we have going on, we were going to submit to God and resist the devil, by singing that there is no other name higher or stronger, than the name of Jesus. We sang that His name is worthy of glory, worthy of honor, worthy of power and of praise.
I declared:
The winds and the waves obey Jesus.
His perfect love casts out all fear.
He is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
He is the Prince of peace.
The gates of hell shall not prevail against Him.
His Word is Spirit and Life.
I declare that all our clothes will not smell like mold.
I declare good internet connections, and consistent electricity upon our homes.
I declare safe travels. I declare firm foundations.
We acknowledge the Lord in all our transactions.
No weapon formed against us shall prosper. No curses shall impact us.
No sudden death, no sudden disasters shall happen, in the name of Jesus.
We acknowledge the Lord in all our transactions. He directs our steps. He establishes our thoughts.
I told them to declare with their own mouths:
I am surrounded by His grace and glory! (Psalm 3:3, Psalm 5:12)
I am accepted in the Beloved! (Ephesians 1:6)
I am a victor, not a victim! (Romans 8:37, 1 John 5:4)
I am shielded and protected, and no weapon formed against you shall prosper! (Psalm 91:4, Isaiah 54:17)
I am surrounded with open doors of opportunities and ministries! (Revelation 3:8, 2 Corinthians 2:12)
I am seated and strongly established and will not be shaken! (Ephesians 2:6, Psalm 16:8)
I am helped in times of trouble, I will not be moved! (Psalm 46:1-2, Psalm 121:2)
I then told them to look to a September birthday celebrant, and declare to each other:
You are a new creation in Jesus Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
You are fashioned to be like Jesus; as Jesus is, so am I! (Romans 8:29, 1 John 4:17)
You are God’s beloved child! (1 John 3:1, Ephesians 5:1)
You are an heir / co-heir with Christ! (Romans 8:17)
You are prosperous and successful, and whatever I touch shall prosper! (as Joseph, Genesis 39:2-3)
You are fully known and deeply loved, restored to favor! (Psalm 139:1-4, Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 4:9, see Job 42:10, 1 Peter 5:10)
…Closing, with the Aaronic blessing as a benediction.
We have a Sower who is faithful to us, sure as He is faithful to the birds of the sky and the lilies of the valley. We have a Father who we can count on, sure as He sustains Christian couples in their own walk.
We have a faithful Holy Spirit, constantly convicting believers and non-believers, that we would receive timely word for every season.
In my case, I’ve been recently reminded of how we resist the devil by submitting to God; As such, our perspectives are reframed so we remember the Creator of the Universe is a Father who never left us, the devil and the enemy of our souls promptly flees from us, and God sends angels and people to minister to each and every one of us.
Here, also, I’m reminded of how God is the God of the impossible, the God of miracles who is in the middle of each and every impossible scenario; He works deep in hearts and minds, repairing relationships, restoring hearts, reviving, reconciling, clarifying; He causes all things to work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
And it certainly isn’t limited to me – all of us in the body of Christ have our wonderful shares and opportunities to testify according to how our God loves and helps each and every one of us: And we overcome by the word of OUR testimony, and by the blood of Christ.
To Him be all glory and praise, forever and ever. Halleluyah. Amen.
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