People are so different.  We come in all shapes and sizes and colors.  We all have many similarities but each of us is unique, too.  Each of us pursues life and processes information in our own way.  We have our own opinions and ideas about everything.                                                                                          

The human condition doesn't change when it comes to spiritual things.  Jesus names four different types of responses people make to the Gospel.  He describes them as being people of "the road…the rocky places… the thorns, and… the good soil ."                                                                                                   

The people of the road don't understand the Gospel, and the enemy shuts it down in their lives.  The people of the rocky places hear and receive the Gospel but have no depth and when affliction or persecution comes they fall away.  The people of the thorns hears the Gospel but the pressures of living in the world, particularly when it comes to money, overpower them and the Gospel remains powerless in them.  The people of the good soil hear and understand the implications and ramifications of the Gospel, embrace it fully, and let the fruit of God flow through them.                                                                                              

These folks are not four different kinds of Christians.  In Jesus' list there is only one who follows him and it is the one of the good soil.  "He who has ears, let him hear" (Matt. 13:9).                   

It is our conviction as Christians that the Gospel is so real and powerful that it trumps everything in life.  Therefore we embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord, and we live in the power of His life.  The ways of God are our ways, too.  In Him we live and move and exist (Acts. 27:28).  We say YES to what God is about in the world.

In Weakness Made Strong

Each of us is powerless to be effective for Christ in our worlds. We simply don't have what it takes to touch a disinterested and distracted world for God. However (and this is huge), we don't have to have what it takes. We simply need to be in Jesus because as we abide in Him He is able to release the power of God.

Apart from Jesus we can do nothing but in Him we will be like a healthy branch in a healthy vine, bearing the fruit of God's amazing love. In this way we will bring glory to the Father, Jesus will give us His joy, the Holy Spirit will be able to freely work in and through our lives, and our joy will then be complete. Stay close to Jesus and enjoy the journey.