July 14, 2025 • 25 mins
A study in the book of Mark, chapter 4.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to K Waves Pastors Spotlight featuring the preaching and
teaching ministries of our local Southern California pastors. This week
we're pleased to bring you the Bible teaching ministry of
Bayless Conley, founding pastor of Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos.
Bayless and his wife Janet started Cottonwood Church over 41
years ago. Today the church is led by their son
(00:21):
Harrison and is located at 4505.
Catella Avenue in Los Alamitos. Bayless has always encouraged people
to have a love for God's word and particularly a
love affair with their Bibles. On today's pastor Spotlight, he
invites us to open our Bibles to Mark chapter 4
for a look at the parable of the sower. He's
calling his study for today God's answers for sickness, depression,
(00:45):
and fear. Now here's Pastor Bayless Conley.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Do you open your Bibles please to Mark's Gospel, the
4th chapter. Mark chapter 4.
In this chapter we have the parable of the sower,
and I will say,
It is probably
The single teaching from scripture.
(01:10):
That has impacted my life more than any other thing. It,
it has set the trajectory of my life and continually
influenced me since the first time I heard it preach
and just began to read it and study it and
read it and study it and I know many of
you are familiar with the parable. I won't take time
to read it, but it basically begins with a sower,
(01:33):
sowing seed.
And then Jesus said some seed fell by the wayside,
and the birds came and ate it. Some seed fell
on stony soil, it grew up, but the sun arose
and it was scorched and it withered. Other seed fell
among thorns. The thorns grew up along with it and
choked it out, and it was unfruitful. And then some
(01:53):
seed fell on good ground and it yielded 30, 60,
and 100 fold.
Later on, the disciples and some of those that were
with them asked him about the parable, and he said, listen,
you don't understand this parable, how then will you also
understand all parables? So in a sense, Jesus sort of
set this parable and it's meaning apart, and he said
(02:15):
this is a key to most everything else that that
I teach.
He said, the sower sows the word, and that's what
I'm doing tonight. The sower sows the word. And those
by the wayside where the, the birds came and ate
it up, said, Satan comes immediately to steal the word
that's sown in a person's heart. That means the devil
(02:37):
has already been here. Jesus said he comes immediately.
And what is he after? He's after the word. He
doesn't care if you're pretty or if you're handsome, or
if you're talented. The one thing he's after in your
life is the word. If he can snatch the word
out of your heart, you will forever be a high maintenance,
low impact Christian. You'll never have much of an impact
(02:58):
when it comes to kingdom things. And the devil knows that.
The word build us up and brings us into our
inheritance in Christ. It's our light in a dark place.
It's food for our spirit. And then he said those
that
Where it falls on the rocky soil are those that
hear and they're so excited when they first hear, but
they don't have a proper root system. And a little
while later, persecution, affliction, pressures due to the circumstances of
(03:22):
life come and they get offended, and they fall away.
And then those that were sown among thorns, that the,
the word takes root, but worries, anxieties, the cares of life, and,
and the desire to become rich.
In in and those things are like thorns and they
choke out.
(03:44):
The word, he said, but some, some fell on good
ground and produced a huge harvest.
And then Jesus went on and he taught several other
things all related to that parable, and I want you
to look with me if you would, in verse 26,
the subject has not changed. The seed is the word
(04:04):
of God. Verse 26, he said to them, the kingdom
of God.
It is as if a man should scatter seed on
the ground.
And should sleep by night and rise by day, and
the seeds should sprout and grow. He himself does not
know how, for the earth yields crops by itself.
(04:25):
First, the blade, then the head. After that, the full
grain in the head. But when the grain ripens immediately,
he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come.
They're still talking about the word of God being sown on,
on a person's heart, you know, into the soil of
their hearts as they sleep and rise and it grows
and they really don't understand how the earth produces fruit.
(04:48):
It says by itself. You see, we don't make the
seed work. In fact, the truth is we can't. Our
part is to get the seed in the ground and
to keep it there.
There is life in the seed. It will produce if
we will just put it in the soil of our heart,
(05:10):
it will just get it in the ground. Think of
a flower seed might be so small it was on
the palm of my hand, you probably couldn't see it
from where you're sitting. In its tiny heart abides the
beautiful flower.
The leaves, the stem or the vine, all of the
gorgeous color, even the enhancing aroma. It's all in the seed.
(05:33):
There's life in it, and if you'll just plant it.
All of that will be unlocked.
And it will grow. So it is with the word
of God. There is life, there is divine life, there
is supernatural life in the seed of God's word. And
the question is,
(05:53):
How do we get the life and power locked into
the word of God to be released in our life?
It's pretty simple.
Plant it
Get it into the soil of our hearts and keep
it there. Let's look at a few different subjects. Look
with me if you would, first of all, in Proverbs
(06:14):
chapter 4.
Want to talk to you about the subject of healing
for a few minutes.
You know, it's something that's pertinent to all of us.
And if you're in health right now and pain-free, you
ought to thank God for it and not take that
blessing for granted.
There are some people that would trade everything they have
in a moment of time to have the health that
(06:35):
you enjoy.
You ought to thank God for your help, but the
time will come, you'll need to understand what we're gonna
talk about for yourself or for someone else. Proverbs 4.
Verse 20,
Proverbs 4:20, my son.
Give attention to my words, incline your ear to my sayings.
(06:57):
Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them
in the midst of your heart, for they are life
to those who find them and health to all their flesh.
Health is the Hebrew word for medicine. God's words will
work as medicine for all your flesh. That means for
your eyes, that means for your organs, that means for
(07:19):
your skin, that means for your bones. It's, it's health
to all of your flesh. And here he said, give
attention to it, incline your ear.
Keep it before your eyes. Keep it as the central
focus of your life. All of those, they speak of
how we get and keep the seed in the ground.
(07:44):
We get the seed of God's word on the ground
by hearing, by reading, by focusing on it, by giving
our undivided attention.
To it. And when that supernatural seed finds its way
into the soil of our heart, my friend, it changes things.
Look at me at Psalm 107, if you would. Psalm 107.
(08:09):
Beginning in verse 17.
Psalm 107:17, fools, because of their transgressions and because of
their iniquities were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, says,
and he saved them out of their distresses. All right?
(08:31):
How did he do that? Verse 20 he sent his word.
And heal them
and delivered them from their destructions.
He sent his word, but whenever God sends his word,
It comes in seed form.
(08:51):
I have a friend
In New Zealand, he pastors a church. He's a bit
of an outdoor guy. He was on the beach one
day riding a quad and a deserted on a deserted beach,
and he had an accident and actually flipped the quad
and broke his neck.
And he was there completely paralyzed, conscious.
(09:12):
But paralyzed, couldn't move anything, couldn't move his hands, couldn't
move his feet, anything. And he's there, it's a deserted beach,
and the tide started coming up.
Getting closer and closer pretty soon when Wave would come in,
wash over him, he'd have to hold his breath, and
then it'd go down. It's gonna be a few minutes
and he'll be completely underwater. He's gonna drown.
And he's there praying, and a lone fisherman walks down
(09:35):
out of these sand dunes, he's gonna go surf fishing
and sees the quad, sees him, comes over, saves his
life just in time.
Calls the authorities, they, they come and, and, you know,
I think they airlifted him out. I'm not sure how they, they,
they did it, but he ends up in hospital and
the
(09:55):
Diagnosis from the doctors was not good. They said, listen,
your injuries are so severe.
You will never walk, you'll never regain use of your hands,
you will never have use of anything below your neck.
It's just gone. There's nothing that we can do.
And I had friends that were there, spent a lot
(10:17):
of time with him in the hospital. A lot of
tears were shed, a lot of prayers were prayed.
But you know what?
It was about 4 weeks after the accident, he walked
out of the hospital completely well.
And there was no no medical explanation for it. Supernaturally healed.
(10:39):
They called the doctors called in a miracle, said we
have no explanation. It's impossible that you walked out of
the hospital. With the injuries that that you suffered, it's
not possible that you're walking, and yet you are. We
cannot explain it except this is an act of God.
And I was with him not too long after that happened.
I was actually in New Zealand doing a pastor's conference
(10:59):
and he was there. So I sat down with him
in a little uh area with some couches and there's
just a bunch of ministers, their fellowship, and I said, OK,
what's different?
About your life. He said 3 things. He said, number 1,
my intimacy with Jesus. He said, I'm pressing into my
relationship with Jesus like never before.
(11:20):
He said, I used to take that for granted. I
don't anymore.
He said, 2, my priorities. He said, I used to
be a workaholic. I worked all the time and I
neglected my family, he said, but I'm spending adequate time
now with my wife and my children. I've changed my
priorities and realized what is most important. And he said, 3.
The importance of the message of faith in God's word,
(11:43):
he said that's the only thing that got me up
out of that bed is the scriptures. I meditated on them.
I read them. I had people read them to me.
I thought about them over and over, and Fran, it
literally was the seed of God's word.
Terminated, came to life. He was able to thrust in
the sickle and reap a harvest. He said the word
(12:04):
of God. He said people need to hear the message
of faith in God's word. He said that's the only
reason that I'm standing here talking to you right now, Bayless.
I will never ever forget that.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
You're listening to Kwave's Pastor Spotlight featuring Pastor Bayless Conley
of Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos. For more information, visit
their website at cottonwood.org. Once again, here's Pastor Bayless Conley
with more of God's answers for sickness, depression, and fear.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Listen, this is.
God's medicine
It'll work as hell to all your flesh if you
just follow the prescription.
Alright, let's look at something that's a bit the opposite
of faith. I wanna talk to you about fear for
a few moments. You know, there are many people that
are plagued by fear, by fear of lack, fear of
(12:59):
the unknown, fear of the future, fear of world events,
fear of violence, fear of disease, fear of not fitting in,
fear of being rejected, and, and on and on and
on and on.
There are some people absolutely eaten up with fears. We're
in the book of Psalms, look with me at Psalm
56 if you would.
Psalm 56 and verse 3.
(13:21):
He says whenever I am afraid.
I will trust in you. In God, I will praise
His word.
In God, I have put my trust. I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
Verse 10. In God, I will praise His word and
the Lord, I will praise His word. In God I
(13:44):
have put my trust, I will not be afraid. What
can man do to me?
Whenever I'm afraid, I'll trust you. How do I do it?
By praising his word. Actually, the word praise there in
both of those verses, the Hebrew word halal. It's where
we get the word hallelujah from. Hallelujah literally means halal
(14:06):
to Jehovah, to Jah, for a shortened form of Jehovah.
Praise to Jehovah. That's what halal means. And the word
halal specifically means to be noisy, to be clamorously foolish,
to shout, to go on and on and on about
something until people wish you would shut up.
(14:28):
That's the that is the debate. That's right. That is
the basic meaning of halal. And when I'm afraid, I
will halel his word. I will shout it, I will
speak it. I will say it over and over. I
will go on and on and on about it, and
you may want me to shut up, but baby, I'm
gonna keep on going, and I will not be afraid
(14:48):
if I will put my trust in His word, if
I will concentrate on his word, if I will praise
His word.
Now you've probably heard me share this before, but you know,
when I got saved.
I came out of a background of alcoholism, drug addiction,
and the occult.
I was hanging around with a lot of witches. A
lot of my friends were casting spells. They had magic books, the,
(15:12):
the whole deal, and a whole lot worse than that.
And I was introduced to the supernatural before I became
a Christian. I knew the devil was real. I knew
evil spirits were real. I had encountered them. And frankly,
it scared the living daylights out of me.
And I came to Jesus in a little street mission.
(15:33):
I was set free from, from drugs and alcoholism and,
and got gloriously saved, but I was still afraid.
And the only way I can describe it, that fear
followed me everywhere.
It was like almost like a little dog that was
yapped at my heels. I was, no matter if I
was talking to you, if I was driving my van,
(15:56):
wherever I was, I was always conscious of that fear.
It was always just right there. It was the very
last thing I sensed before I went to bed every night,
and it was the very first thing I sensed every
morning when I woke up. It was there sitting on
the foot of my bed to greet me every morning.
It was this horrendous, deep, dark fear.
(16:20):
Of the devil and of evil spirits. And maybe some
of you in here can relate to that, maybe you can't.
But you know, fear is not from God. God has
not given us a spirit of fear but of power
and of love and of a sound mind, the scripture says.
And I pray this little simple prayer.
Over and over and over, I, I bet I prayed
it 100 times a day, every day after I became
(16:43):
a Christian.
My little prayer was, God, please help me not be
afraid of the devil.
I'd be saying it under my breath all day long. God,
please help me not be afraid of the devil.
God, please help me not be afraid of the devil.
Please help me not be afraid of the devil. I
said it all day long and that fear was right there.
And I did one thing right.
(17:03):
Got myself a Bible.
I bought a bible in a yard sale, spent 35
cents on it.
Best investment I ever made in my life.
And I began to read it.
I lived above a bar and um.
rented out a room from this girl, didn't even have electricity.
I'd sit up by candlelight every night till 123 in
(17:26):
the morning, reading the Bible. And I wish somebody would
have told me to start in the New Testament. I didn't.
I started in Genesis. Genesis was cool. Leviticus was hard.
You know, I started to get to the measurements of
the temple and all this like, you know, 14 cubits
by 60 cubits high but, you know, but I read it.
(17:46):
Hours and hours every day I read it and I'm
praying all the while, God, please help me not be
afraid of the devil. Please help me not be afraid
of the devil.
And maybe, maybe 2 months, it might have been 3.
Months after I'd accepted Christ, one day I suddenly realized.
I wasn't afraid.
(18:09):
It was gone.
I can't tell you the moment it happened, but I
just one day suddenly realized it was almost like I
looked around for the little yapping dog.
And it was gone
It's been 40 years and it has never been back.
(18:30):
You know what happened?
I got the seed of the word in my heart.
And I rose and I slept, rose and I slept
day after day, and the seed grew, it sprouted, and
produced a harvest by itself. I didn't make it happen.
It's supernatural.
I just kept it in the soil of my heart,
(18:51):
and it brought a harvest of freedom to me. Even
as Jesus said in John 8:31-32, it says, then Jesus
said to those Jews which believed on him, If you
continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed,
and you shall know the truth and the truth shall
make you free.
If you continue in my work, somebody says, but I'm
(19:13):
not free, continue.
But it doesn't seem like I'm making any progress. Continue.
But it just seems like the more I read, I'm
not getting anything out of it, continue.
But I just, I, I don't see any results continue.
If you will stay in the word, if you will continue,
if you continue in my word, if you continue in
(19:33):
my word.
You'll know the truth. You'll know it experientially.
And the truth
will set you free, my friend.
There is supernatural liberating power in God's word. All right,
what about those that grapple with depression?
(19:57):
And have no peace.
It's amazing if you read the statistics of how many
people in our country are on medication because of depression.
How many children are medicated?
You know, because of emotional issues.
And, and I thank God, please don't get me wrong, in,
(20:20):
in any, in any fashion. I thank God.
For
Medical science, for doctors, for people that are involved in
the medical industry, they're fighting the same enemy we're fighting.
They're just doing it from a natural angle, so we
are grateful for everything they do.
But when you take God's word, it fights things from
(20:43):
a supernatural angle. Look with me at Proverbs, if you would.
Chapter 3. We're here in Psalms at Proverbs 3.
And verse 1 and 2.
He says, my son, do not forget my law.
Well let your heart keep my commands for length of
(21:04):
days and long life and peace.
They will add to you
He said, Keep my commands, protect.
My commands, guard my word, keep it in the soil
of your heart.
And then peace will be one of the fruits that
(21:24):
his word produces in you once it has been planted.
Psalm 119:165 says, great peace have those who love your law.
Great peace have those that love your law. Let your
heart keep his word.
(21:45):
Length of days long life in peace.
It'll add to my wife Janet shared part of her
story a few Wednesdays ago.
You know, I'd, I'd seen her wearing Bible school and,
and I saw her in a class and my first
thought was how come I never saw her before? So
I chased her down in the hallway after class and
I asked her to go to lunch with me. She said, well,
I've got to pray about that.
(22:08):
A few days later, she got back to me and
she said no.
8 months later at the end of the school year,
I tried again. She said yes, and then we were married.
What 8 months later?
Yeah, we got married 8 months later. Now we've been
married 35 years. Going strong, I think I'll keep her.
(22:29):
But
The reason she said no and what went on during
that whole interim period.
She was grappling with, with dark depressing thoughts every day.
Her life seemed to be falling apart.
And she couldn't find an answer. It even got to
(22:51):
the point where suicidal thoughts began to batter her mind
and assail her mind over and over, and she was
just in this deep dark well that she couldn't seem
to get out of.
And the thing that liberated her, it was God's word,
specifically scriptures that dealt with the fact that God loved
(23:14):
her as much as anyone else, how God's love is
unchanging and it wasn't based on our character, but it's
based on who he is, and it completely set her
free and I frankly am personally very grateful for that.
Because if she hadn't discovered the word, she probably would
have said no again and I would have started looking
(23:34):
somewhere else.
And I just wanna tell you wherever you are in
your life, if you grapple with depression, my heart goes
out to you there's some people have no idea what
it is to have that dark cloud follow you around,
but I'm telling you there is liberty available for you
in Christ. The answer, my friend, is in God's word.
If you'll get the seed into the soil of your
(23:56):
heart and keep it in there and guard it.
You may not even understand how it can work, but
it will produce a harvest.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
You've been listening to Pastor Bayless Conley, founding pastor of
Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos here on K Waves Pastor Spotlight.
Bayless will be back tomorrow with a look at Proverbs
chapter 1 verse 5 and a message called Hear and
be wise. Again, Bayless Conley and his wife Janet founded
Cottonwood Church over 41 years ago with a commitment to
(24:32):
faithfully and consistently teaching the word of God. Today, Cottonwood
Church's mission statement remains, bringing a
Living Jesus to a dying world. They're also known in
the community for the regular community outreach events. Cottonwood Church
is located at 4505 Cottella Avenue in Los Alamitos. Sunday
worship services are at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. With
(24:52):
the holidays approaching, you'll want to check out Christmas at Cottonwood,
be here for the Christmas Eve and candlelight services, and
to ring in the new year, you're invited to the
New Year's Eve service and worship night. You and your
family are welcome at Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos. They're looking.
at 4505 Cottella Avenue for directions and information, visit cottonwood.org.
(25:13):
That's Cottonwood.org. And be sure to look for Cottonwood Church
on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. We invite you to join
us right here at the same time tomorrow for another
message from Bayless Conley, founding pastor of Cottonwood Church in
Los Alamitos. We hope you'll join us. Pastor Spotlight is
a production of Kwave Radio, sharing life, delivering truth, giving hope.
Welcome to K Waves Pastors Spotlight featuring the preaching and
teaching ministries of our local Southern California pastors. This week
we're pleased to bring you the Bible teaching ministry of
Bayless Conley, founding pastor of Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos.
Bayless and his wife Janet started Cottonwood Church over 41
years ago. Today the church is led by their son
(00:21):
Harrison and is located at 4505.
Catella Avenue in Los Alamitos. Bayless has always encouraged people
to have a love for God's word and particularly a
love affair with their Bibles. On today's pastor Spotlight, he
invites us to open our Bibles to Mark chapter 4
for a look at the parable of the sower. He's
calling his study for today God's answers for sickness, depression,
(00:45):
and fear. Now here's Pastor Bayless Conley.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Do you open your Bibles please to Mark's Gospel, the
4th chapter. Mark chapter 4.
In this chapter we have the parable of the sower,
and I will say,
It is probably
The single teaching from scripture.
(01:10):
That has impacted my life more than any other thing. It,
it has set the trajectory of my life and continually
influenced me since the first time I heard it preach
and just began to read it and study it and
read it and study it and I know many of
you are familiar with the parable. I won't take time
to read it, but it basically begins with a sower,
(01:33):
sowing seed.
And then Jesus said some seed fell by the wayside,
and the birds came and ate it. Some seed fell
on stony soil, it grew up, but the sun arose
and it was scorched and it withered. Other seed fell
among thorns. The thorns grew up along with it and
choked it out, and it was unfruitful. And then some
(01:53):
seed fell on good ground and it yielded 30, 60,
and 100 fold.
Later on, the disciples and some of those that were
with them asked him about the parable, and he said, listen,
you don't understand this parable, how then will you also
understand all parables? So in a sense, Jesus sort of
set this parable and it's meaning apart, and he said
(02:15):
this is a key to most everything else that that
I teach.
He said, the sower sows the word, and that's what
I'm doing tonight. The sower sows the word. And those
by the wayside where the, the birds came and ate
it up, said, Satan comes immediately to steal the word
that's sown in a person's heart. That means the devil
(02:37):
has already been here. Jesus said he comes immediately.
And what is he after? He's after the word. He
doesn't care if you're pretty or if you're handsome, or
if you're talented. The one thing he's after in your
life is the word. If he can snatch the word
out of your heart, you will forever be a high maintenance,
low impact Christian. You'll never have much of an impact
(02:58):
when it comes to kingdom things. And the devil knows that.
The word build us up and brings us into our
inheritance in Christ. It's our light in a dark place.
It's food for our spirit. And then he said those
that
Where it falls on the rocky soil are those that
hear and they're so excited when they first hear, but
they don't have a proper root system. And a little
while later, persecution, affliction, pressures due to the circumstances of
(03:22):
life come and they get offended, and they fall away.
And then those that were sown among thorns, that the,
the word takes root, but worries, anxieties, the cares of life, and,
and the desire to become rich.
In in and those things are like thorns and they
choke out.
(03:44):
The word, he said, but some, some fell on good
ground and produced a huge harvest.
And then Jesus went on and he taught several other
things all related to that parable, and I want you
to look with me if you would, in verse 26,
the subject has not changed. The seed is the word
(04:04):
of God. Verse 26, he said to them, the kingdom
of God.
It is as if a man should scatter seed on
the ground.
And should sleep by night and rise by day, and
the seeds should sprout and grow. He himself does not
know how, for the earth yields crops by itself.
(04:25):
First, the blade, then the head. After that, the full
grain in the head. But when the grain ripens immediately,
he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come.
They're still talking about the word of God being sown on,
on a person's heart, you know, into the soil of
their hearts as they sleep and rise and it grows
and they really don't understand how the earth produces fruit.
(04:48):
It says by itself. You see, we don't make the
seed work. In fact, the truth is we can't. Our
part is to get the seed in the ground and
to keep it there.
There is life in the seed. It will produce if
we will just put it in the soil of our heart,
(05:10):
it will just get it in the ground. Think of
a flower seed might be so small it was on
the palm of my hand, you probably couldn't see it
from where you're sitting. In its tiny heart abides the
beautiful flower.
The leaves, the stem or the vine, all of the
gorgeous color, even the enhancing aroma. It's all in the seed.
(05:33):
There's life in it, and if you'll just plant it.
All of that will be unlocked.
And it will grow. So it is with the word
of God. There is life, there is divine life, there
is supernatural life in the seed of God's word. And
the question is,
(05:53):
How do we get the life and power locked into
the word of God to be released in our life?
It's pretty simple.
Plant it
Get it into the soil of our hearts and keep
it there. Let's look at a few different subjects. Look
with me if you would, first of all, in Proverbs
(06:14):
chapter 4.
Want to talk to you about the subject of healing
for a few minutes.
You know, it's something that's pertinent to all of us.
And if you're in health right now and pain-free, you
ought to thank God for it and not take that
blessing for granted.
There are some people that would trade everything they have
in a moment of time to have the health that
(06:35):
you enjoy.
You ought to thank God for your help, but the
time will come, you'll need to understand what we're gonna
talk about for yourself or for someone else. Proverbs 4.
Verse 20,
Proverbs 4:20, my son.
Give attention to my words, incline your ear to my sayings.
(06:57):
Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them
in the midst of your heart, for they are life
to those who find them and health to all their flesh.
Health is the Hebrew word for medicine. God's words will
work as medicine for all your flesh. That means for
your eyes, that means for your organs, that means for
(07:19):
your skin, that means for your bones. It's, it's health
to all of your flesh. And here he said, give
attention to it, incline your ear.
Keep it before your eyes. Keep it as the central
focus of your life. All of those, they speak of
how we get and keep the seed in the ground.
(07:44):
We get the seed of God's word on the ground
by hearing, by reading, by focusing on it, by giving
our undivided attention.
To it. And when that supernatural seed finds its way
into the soil of our heart, my friend, it changes things.
Look at me at Psalm 107, if you would. Psalm 107.
(08:09):
Beginning in verse 17.
Psalm 107:17, fools, because of their transgressions and because of
their iniquities were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, says,
and he saved them out of their distresses. All right?
(08:31):
How did he do that? Verse 20 he sent his word.
And heal them
and delivered them from their destructions.
He sent his word, but whenever God sends his word,
It comes in seed form.
(08:51):
I have a friend
In New Zealand, he pastors a church. He's a bit
of an outdoor guy. He was on the beach one
day riding a quad and a deserted on a deserted beach,
and he had an accident and actually flipped the quad
and broke his neck.
And he was there completely paralyzed, conscious.
(09:12):
But paralyzed, couldn't move anything, couldn't move his hands, couldn't
move his feet, anything. And he's there, it's a deserted beach,
and the tide started coming up.
Getting closer and closer pretty soon when Wave would come in,
wash over him, he'd have to hold his breath, and
then it'd go down. It's gonna be a few minutes
and he'll be completely underwater. He's gonna drown.
And he's there praying, and a lone fisherman walks down
(09:35):
out of these sand dunes, he's gonna go surf fishing
and sees the quad, sees him, comes over, saves his
life just in time.
Calls the authorities, they, they come and, and, you know,
I think they airlifted him out. I'm not sure how they, they,
they did it, but he ends up in hospital and
the
(09:55):
Diagnosis from the doctors was not good. They said, listen,
your injuries are so severe.
You will never walk, you'll never regain use of your hands,
you will never have use of anything below your neck.
It's just gone. There's nothing that we can do.
And I had friends that were there, spent a lot
(10:17):
of time with him in the hospital. A lot of
tears were shed, a lot of prayers were prayed.
But you know what?
It was about 4 weeks after the accident, he walked
out of the hospital completely well.
And there was no no medical explanation for it. Supernaturally healed.
(10:39):
They called the doctors called in a miracle, said we
have no explanation. It's impossible that you walked out of
the hospital. With the injuries that that you suffered, it's
not possible that you're walking, and yet you are. We
cannot explain it except this is an act of God.
And I was with him not too long after that happened.
I was actually in New Zealand doing a pastor's conference
(10:59):
and he was there. So I sat down with him
in a little uh area with some couches and there's
just a bunch of ministers, their fellowship, and I said, OK,
what's different?
About your life. He said 3 things. He said, number 1,
my intimacy with Jesus. He said, I'm pressing into my
relationship with Jesus like never before.
(11:20):
He said, I used to take that for granted. I
don't anymore.
He said, 2, my priorities. He said, I used to
be a workaholic. I worked all the time and I
neglected my family, he said, but I'm spending adequate time
now with my wife and my children. I've changed my
priorities and realized what is most important. And he said, 3.
The importance of the message of faith in God's word,
(11:43):
he said that's the only thing that got me up
out of that bed is the scriptures. I meditated on them.
I read them. I had people read them to me.
I thought about them over and over, and Fran, it
literally was the seed of God's word.
Terminated, came to life. He was able to thrust in
the sickle and reap a harvest. He said the word
(12:04):
of God. He said people need to hear the message
of faith in God's word. He said that's the only
reason that I'm standing here talking to you right now, Bayless.
I will never ever forget that.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
You're listening to Kwave's Pastor Spotlight featuring Pastor Bayless Conley
of Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos. For more information, visit
their website at cottonwood.org. Once again, here's Pastor Bayless Conley
with more of God's answers for sickness, depression, and fear.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Listen, this is.
God's medicine
It'll work as hell to all your flesh if you
just follow the prescription.
Alright, let's look at something that's a bit the opposite
of faith. I wanna talk to you about fear for
a few moments. You know, there are many people that
are plagued by fear, by fear of lack, fear of
(12:59):
the unknown, fear of the future, fear of world events,
fear of violence, fear of disease, fear of not fitting in,
fear of being rejected, and, and on and on and
on and on.
There are some people absolutely eaten up with fears. We're
in the book of Psalms, look with me at Psalm
56 if you would.
Psalm 56 and verse 3.
(13:21):
He says whenever I am afraid.
I will trust in you. In God, I will praise
His word.
In God, I have put my trust. I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
Verse 10. In God, I will praise His word and
the Lord, I will praise His word. In God I
(13:44):
have put my trust, I will not be afraid. What
can man do to me?
Whenever I'm afraid, I'll trust you. How do I do it?
By praising his word. Actually, the word praise there in
both of those verses, the Hebrew word halal. It's where
we get the word hallelujah from. Hallelujah literally means halal
(14:06):
to Jehovah, to Jah, for a shortened form of Jehovah.
Praise to Jehovah. That's what halal means. And the word
halal specifically means to be noisy, to be clamorously foolish,
to shout, to go on and on and on about
something until people wish you would shut up.
(14:28):
That's the that is the debate. That's right. That is
the basic meaning of halal. And when I'm afraid, I
will halel his word. I will shout it, I will
speak it. I will say it over and over. I
will go on and on and on about it, and
you may want me to shut up, but baby, I'm
gonna keep on going, and I will not be afraid
(14:48):
if I will put my trust in His word, if
I will concentrate on his word, if I will praise
His word.
Now you've probably heard me share this before, but you know,
when I got saved.
I came out of a background of alcoholism, drug addiction,
and the occult.
I was hanging around with a lot of witches. A
lot of my friends were casting spells. They had magic books, the,
(15:12):
the whole deal, and a whole lot worse than that.
And I was introduced to the supernatural before I became
a Christian. I knew the devil was real. I knew
evil spirits were real. I had encountered them. And frankly,
it scared the living daylights out of me.
And I came to Jesus in a little street mission.
(15:33):
I was set free from, from drugs and alcoholism and,
and got gloriously saved, but I was still afraid.
And the only way I can describe it, that fear
followed me everywhere.
It was like almost like a little dog that was
yapped at my heels. I was, no matter if I
was talking to you, if I was driving my van,
(15:56):
wherever I was, I was always conscious of that fear.
It was always just right there. It was the very
last thing I sensed before I went to bed every night,
and it was the very first thing I sensed every
morning when I woke up. It was there sitting on
the foot of my bed to greet me every morning.
It was this horrendous, deep, dark fear.
(16:20):
Of the devil and of evil spirits. And maybe some
of you in here can relate to that, maybe you can't.
But you know, fear is not from God. God has
not given us a spirit of fear but of power
and of love and of a sound mind, the scripture says.
And I pray this little simple prayer.
Over and over and over, I, I bet I prayed
it 100 times a day, every day after I became
(16:43):
a Christian.
My little prayer was, God, please help me not be
afraid of the devil.
I'd be saying it under my breath all day long. God,
please help me not be afraid of the devil.
God, please help me not be afraid of the devil.
Please help me not be afraid of the devil. I
said it all day long and that fear was right there.
And I did one thing right.
(17:03):
Got myself a Bible.
I bought a bible in a yard sale, spent 35
cents on it.
Best investment I ever made in my life.
And I began to read it.
I lived above a bar and um.
rented out a room from this girl, didn't even have electricity.
I'd sit up by candlelight every night till 123 in
(17:26):
the morning, reading the Bible. And I wish somebody would
have told me to start in the New Testament. I didn't.
I started in Genesis. Genesis was cool. Leviticus was hard.
You know, I started to get to the measurements of
the temple and all this like, you know, 14 cubits
by 60 cubits high but, you know, but I read it.
(17:46):
Hours and hours every day I read it and I'm
praying all the while, God, please help me not be
afraid of the devil. Please help me not be afraid
of the devil.
And maybe, maybe 2 months, it might have been 3.
Months after I'd accepted Christ, one day I suddenly realized.
I wasn't afraid.
(18:09):
It was gone.
I can't tell you the moment it happened, but I
just one day suddenly realized it was almost like I
looked around for the little yapping dog.
And it was gone
It's been 40 years and it has never been back.
(18:30):
You know what happened?
I got the seed of the word in my heart.
And I rose and I slept, rose and I slept
day after day, and the seed grew, it sprouted, and
produced a harvest by itself. I didn't make it happen.
It's supernatural.
I just kept it in the soil of my heart,
(18:51):
and it brought a harvest of freedom to me. Even
as Jesus said in John 8:31-32, it says, then Jesus
said to those Jews which believed on him, If you
continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed,
and you shall know the truth and the truth shall
make you free.
If you continue in my work, somebody says, but I'm
(19:13):
not free, continue.
But it doesn't seem like I'm making any progress. Continue.
But it just seems like the more I read, I'm
not getting anything out of it, continue.
But I just, I, I don't see any results continue.
If you will stay in the word, if you will continue,
if you continue in my word, if you continue in
(19:33):
my word.
You'll know the truth. You'll know it experientially.
And the truth
will set you free, my friend.
There is supernatural liberating power in God's word. All right,
what about those that grapple with depression?
(19:57):
And have no peace.
It's amazing if you read the statistics of how many
people in our country are on medication because of depression.
How many children are medicated?
You know, because of emotional issues.
And, and I thank God, please don't get me wrong, in,
(20:20):
in any, in any fashion. I thank God.
For
Medical science, for doctors, for people that are involved in
the medical industry, they're fighting the same enemy we're fighting.
They're just doing it from a natural angle, so we
are grateful for everything they do.
But when you take God's word, it fights things from
(20:43):
a supernatural angle. Look with me at Proverbs, if you would.
Chapter 3. We're here in Psalms at Proverbs 3.
And verse 1 and 2.
He says, my son, do not forget my law.
Well let your heart keep my commands for length of
(21:04):
days and long life and peace.
They will add to you
He said, Keep my commands, protect.
My commands, guard my word, keep it in the soil
of your heart.
And then peace will be one of the fruits that
(21:24):
his word produces in you once it has been planted.
Psalm 119:165 says, great peace have those who love your law.
Great peace have those that love your law. Let your
heart keep his word.
(21:45):
Length of days long life in peace.
It'll add to my wife Janet shared part of her
story a few Wednesdays ago.
You know, I'd, I'd seen her wearing Bible school and,
and I saw her in a class and my first
thought was how come I never saw her before? So
I chased her down in the hallway after class and
I asked her to go to lunch with me. She said, well,
I've got to pray about that.
(22:08):
A few days later, she got back to me and
she said no.
8 months later at the end of the school year,
I tried again. She said yes, and then we were married.
What 8 months later?
Yeah, we got married 8 months later. Now we've been
married 35 years. Going strong, I think I'll keep her.
(22:29):
But
The reason she said no and what went on during
that whole interim period.
She was grappling with, with dark depressing thoughts every day.
Her life seemed to be falling apart.
And she couldn't find an answer. It even got to
(22:51):
the point where suicidal thoughts began to batter her mind
and assail her mind over and over, and she was
just in this deep dark well that she couldn't seem
to get out of.
And the thing that liberated her, it was God's word,
specifically scriptures that dealt with the fact that God loved
(23:14):
her as much as anyone else, how God's love is
unchanging and it wasn't based on our character, but it's
based on who he is, and it completely set her
free and I frankly am personally very grateful for that.
Because if she hadn't discovered the word, she probably would
have said no again and I would have started looking
(23:34):
somewhere else.
And I just wanna tell you wherever you are in
your life, if you grapple with depression, my heart goes
out to you there's some people have no idea what
it is to have that dark cloud follow you around,
but I'm telling you there is liberty available for you
in Christ. The answer, my friend, is in God's word.
If you'll get the seed into the soil of your
(23:56):
heart and keep it in there and guard it.
You may not even understand how it can work, but
it will produce a harvest.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
You've been listening to Pastor Bayless Conley, founding pastor of
Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos here on K Waves Pastor Spotlight.
Bayless will be back tomorrow with a look at Proverbs
chapter 1 verse 5 and a message called Hear and
be wise. Again, Bayless Conley and his wife Janet founded
Cottonwood Church over 41 years ago with a commitment to
(24:32):
faithfully and consistently teaching the word of God. Today, Cottonwood
Church's mission statement remains, bringing a
Living Jesus to a dying world. They're also known in
the community for the regular community outreach events. Cottonwood Church
is located at 4505 Cottella Avenue in Los Alamitos. Sunday
worship services are at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. With
(24:52):
the holidays approaching, you'll want to check out Christmas at Cottonwood,
be here for the Christmas Eve and candlelight services, and
to ring in the new year, you're invited to the
New Year's Eve service and worship night. You and your
family are welcome at Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos. They're looking.
at 4505 Cottella Avenue for directions and information, visit cottonwood.org.
(25:13):
That's Cottonwood.org. And be sure to look for Cottonwood Church
on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. We invite you to join
us right here at the same time tomorrow for another
message from Bayless Conley, founding pastor of Cottonwood Church in
Los Alamitos. We hope you'll join us. Pastor Spotlight is
a production of Kwave Radio, sharing life, delivering truth, giving hope.
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