My friends,

Let us read from Matthew 13 v 3- 9.

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 Still other seed fell in good soil, where it produced ad crop, a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
....
He who has ears : let him hear".

Dear friends,
All these things I have experienced in my own life.

When I was in the age 20-30 my paths were impenetrable, because I thought, that all things in my life were well.
- I went to a christian church, twice a sunday,
- I was a member of Christian clubs in the field of: radio, trade-union , political party
- everything was correct, but it was 'dead'.
- and in church I sang after psalm 89, rhymed:
" We raise our head on high and will bear the crown of honour
Only through you, our Lord, granted to your eternal good will
For you our Lord; you are a shield for us in the battle of life",
good words, but when you sing them so loudly with 800 other church-goers, then - as for me- there was the old Jewish idea:
"The temple...the temple....we are the temple of the Lord".

And our good old pastor sowed the word correctly, but it came upon the hard, trodden paths of my life and the devil came and picked it away.

And then came the times of reflection , when I was between thirty and forty.
I cannot say that the seed in this period fell on rocky places. I had heard the word so much in school and church, that the ground was deep.
And the seed of the Full Gospel with baptizm by the Holy Spirit and the striving for gifts and fruit fell in good earth. But there were still too many thorns and thistles. My wife and I had seven children and there was much ado in their growing up.And sometimes those difficulties tried to choke the good seed.

But when there were the sixty's and further, it was proved that at last the seed came in good earth and I hope, that in these happy years I bear at least 30 times more fruit as was sown.

And how is your story. Does it look alike mine. Or is it different.
But if there are thorns and thistles, pray and have confidence. The Lord can help you to bear fruits.

Greetings
Ger