As A Man Thinketh in His Heart, So is He

The Garden of Your Mind

Let's begin our Message this evening by reading from the following scriptures

Matt 13:24-30 24 ¶ Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Mark 4:4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Let’s pray, Dear gracious and loving Father, you gave us a principle to think about in these last days, which even your Son Jesus, our brother spoke to us when He said, "Out from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh". And we find in your Word these words which tells us, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." And we realize dear Father, that this speaks of all men. For we realize we are the product of our mind, and this is the reason you have come down in this hour, to change our mind, to renew our mind, that we might receive a bodily transformation. For the Apostle Paul told us that, "we are transformed by the renewing of our minds." And so Father, we approach Thy Word with reverence this evening as we seek to have our own minds changed, and as Paul said, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." With these thoughts in mind, we graciously ask your transforming power to touch us in our minds that our hearts might become regenerated with Thy Life, for we ask it in Jesus Name Amen.

As we examine these scriptures tonight I want you to see that there are three things we should notice.

#1) He is speaking of a Seed that was sewn into the ground, and we know by definition that a seed is a carrier of Life.

#2) This life that is within the seed must come forth in a manifestation and bring forth an expression of the Life that lays within it, and it can not express anything outside of what life is within itself.

#3) By viewing that life expression you will know what Life it is, which is identification.

Now, let’s begin by looking at point #1). The Seed that is sewn is the Word.

Mark 4:4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

4 In John 1:1-4 we read, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Notice that in Him was Life, and that is why all things were made by Him. Because It takes Life to bring forth Life. And He is the Word. So this Life is in the Word.

Luke 8:4-15 4 ¶ And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: 5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung 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 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved 13 They on the rock [are they], which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of [this] life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep [it], and bring forth fruit with patience.

Now notice that the seed that was sown is the Word of God, and yet we see that unless this Word or Seed is sown in the proper place it will not produce Life.

1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Here we see that the Word is again called a seed, and yet we see here that there are two types of seed, or Word which are sown. A corruptible word and an incorruptible word. And the evidence that we have received an incorruptible Word in the right kind of soil, is that we shall live and abide forever. Now let’s take this thought one step further. If Peter is telling us that there are 2 different types of seeds, one which is corruptible and the other which is not corruptible, and if one is called the Word of God, then the other must be the words of one who is not God. Therefore, if a seed must manifest, then one life will manifest attributes which are eternal while the other will manifest attributes which shall surely perish.

From the Message Israel in Egypt 53-0325 104, brother Branham said, Well, they say, "I don't need anybody to teach me. Glory to God, I got the Holy Ghost." Well then, the Holy Ghost was wrong when It said It set some in the church, teachers. God put them in the church as teachers. That settles it. Why'd He put teachers in there, if the Holy Ghost is going to do all the teaching? See? What people needs is their brains baptized, besides their water. That's right.

Again in the message Demonology 2 Religious 41-78 53-0609 178 he said, I said, "Instead of baptizing your body, you need your brains baptized." That's right. You don't stop to think of things. You don't try to consider it."

And in the message Blasphemous Names 62, 22-1 The biggest part of our faith is mental faith. By hearing the Word it brings us to a mental recognition of God. But if this coming from above, oh, brother, if it ever strikes this, there is a godly, spiritual faith. Then what does that faith do? That faith recognizes only the Word. No matter what anything else says, it only recognizes the Word, because "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (And the Word's still God.) And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us." And when the word Itself is pouring into our faith, our mental faith becomes a spiritual revelation. "And upon this foundation I'll build My Church," (See?), not upon a mental conception of church joining, a mental conception of that, but upon the revelation. When them streams of grace has poured into that mental faith that you've got, then upon this, a spiritual revelation, "I'll build My Church and the gates of hell can't prevail against it." See?

Point #2, This life that is within the seed must come forth in a manifestation and bring forth an expression of the Life that lays within it, and it can not express anything outside of what life is within itself. Therefore, every seed must bring forth after it’s kind or nature.

E-39 God Revealing Himself to His People 50-0813E. The right mental attitude towards any promise of God will bring it to pass. Do you believe that? The Word is a Seed (Is that right?) that a Sower sowed in the ground. And every Seed will bring forth of its kind. If you need salvation, the Seed's here. If you need healing, here's the Seed in the Word. The Word of God is a Seed. Put it in your heart. Don't dig it up every morning to see if it's sprouted, put it in there and leave it there. It's God's business to bring forth the harvest. You just leave it there; water it by faith and praise every day thanking God for it. All right.

E-50 At Thy Word 53-1204 I don't know how I'm going to do it, but at Thy Word, Lord." That's it. Take God at His Word, and God's spoken Word must--will materialize and produce just exactly what It says It will. Listen. The right mental attitude towards any Divine promise of God will bring it to pass. I don't care what it is. If you want corn, you plant corn, water corn, leave corn alone. It'll produce corn. Is that right? Wheat will produce wheat. The promise of salvation will produce a Christian. The promise of the Holy Ghost will bring It to you. The promise of Divine healing will make you well. Any Divine promise of God... And the Bible said that the Word of God is a Seed. Is that right?

E-8 What Think Ye of Christ 53-1213M And if the right mental attitude, you just take the right mental attitude towards any Divine promise, watch it materialize. See? No matter how it looks, if it looks impossible, if God said so He makes it possible.

175 Word Became Flesh India Trip 54-1003M Every Word in the Bible is God's thoughts laid in seed form, that if received into the human being, and spoke by the same thought that materialized the Bible, brings the thing to pass. See what I mean? How powerful could the Church be? The Bible said, "Let this mind that was in Christ be in you. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Now, your thoughts, if they become expression... Like, God said, "Let there be a world." Before it could be a word, it had to be a thought. So God in the creation, created the world by His thought first, then spoke it, and the thought, expressed became material. See what I mean? 180 Now, you can express it by mental conception, but if it becomes a real revelation of God, that you see it before it happened, and express it in word form, that word takes a hold and becomes material: a thought expressed. Oh, my, how God could... See? If your heart and your mind is so, and infilled with God's Spirit, until your thoughts become His thoughts... Amen. There you are. When your mind, and your leading, and your guiding, becomes a direct place, or a direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit that's moving your mortal being... Oh, my. What kind of people should we be? If the very Holy Spirit has you so embodied or empowered, that you don't use your own thoughts, you don't use your own mind, you don't use your own opinion; but the Holy Spirit has you so built, until your thoughts and your being is God's Spirit expressing Itself through you, what kind of a church would we be? What kind of a people would it be, this morning, if this Branham Tabernacle, this morning, was so filled with the Presence of God, why, when you didn't even use your own mind, didn't even use your own thoughts, didn't even have no alternative of your own, but just to be led by the Spirit...? 212 "As a man thinketh..."It has to become a thought before it can become a word. And a word expressed, materializes. I believe in my heart that I am a Christian, because I have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ; if I don't cry, if I don't move, if I don't do a thing. In my heart first, I believe that Christ died for me in my stead. Amen. I accept it as a Christian; I believe it as a Christian; then it's in my heart. Then I express it in a word, "I am a Christian." Hallelujah. Then I start walking as a Christian, talking as a Christian, living as a Christian, being as a Christian. And by my fruits I'm recognized by the world as a Christian. Hallelujah.

John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

And in John 16:7 we read, ¶ Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Now, brother Branham spoke of the original seed being the Word of God and he mentioned in the Rapture Message that this life has been coming forth since Luther’s Message, and on up through Wesley’s, continuing up through the Pentecostal message until it finally comes to a rest in the intelligence, which is the very mind of God, back in the people.

Now in looking at these three thoughts here we see that

#1) The seed is a carrier of Life, That’s [2 Peter 1:3-4], and

#2) The same Life that was sown in the Original Seed, which is the very Life that was in Christ Jesus, shall

#3) return in this hour, not only among the people, but It shall enter into the people as well. (That’s Col 3:4 When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

He said "The Complete Seed," comes forth in It’s Complete Body (which is the complete Life that was in the Seed has got to come back into human flesh in a Bride) in this hour. So we are speaking of the Original Seed, the original Word-Life back in human flesh again. And that is why we are told our New Birth comes by a seed which is the incorruptible Word of God.

In fact Jesus said in John 6:63 "My Words are Spirit and they are Life."

And, so we see that the Word is a Seed carrier of Eternal Life. Now, this morning I would like to look at this thought of the Word being a Seed in a little different way than perhaps you have heard before. Since we are talking about the Word as a Seed, I would like to break this down to our own personal level for a few minutes. And we shall subtitle this Message "The Garden of your mind."

Now, we know that the Word is a Seed, right? Then if the Word is a Seed, there is a life that is in that seed. Every seed is a carrier of life. We know this by definition. But what is in a Word? The answer is thoughts. Before there were any words there were thoughts. Then the word is an expression of the thoughts. So in essence the thoughts within the word are the life of the Word, right? In other words, if I said to you, Salge, you might not understand what I am saying, because that word is Norwegian for Sale. But if I speak to you in Words that you understand, then when I say the Word SALE, it brings up many things to your mind. Immediately your mind goes into gear and you begin to think of other things which are associated with a sale. If you are in real estate, you think of a house that is on the market.

If you are just a common ordinary person, you immediately think, sale of what? So you can see that a word is not just a guttural sound, but it really has some significance.

1 Cor 14:6-11 ¶ Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? 7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? 8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them [is] without signification. 11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh [shall be] a barbarian unto me.

What Paul is saying here is that every sound has some significance in some language.

Just to speak words which have no meaning does not do anything for any one. But when we speak in words which can be understood, then those words can and will bring forth fruit.

[Jer 6:19] Here we see God tell us that our thoughts actually produce fruit.

And we know that man is likened to a tree, as we see in [Psalm 1:1-3]

Here we see that a righteous man is likened to a tree that is planted by the rivers of water. And we are told that his fruit will be in the proper season and his leaf shall never wither. Now what does God mean by this metaphor? We know that God likens His Word to Water and Eternal Life to the River of Life that flows from the Throne of God as we see in

Rev 22:1 ¶ And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Next we see that this man, is planted. That means he will not move, but that he is fixed in this place which means that he is rooted in, and his roots are reaching out for the waters of Life, and he is living off of the waters of Eternal Life. And of course we know what the Waters of Life are. It is the Word, for we are told by Paul in Eph 5:26 that we are washed by the washing of water by the word. And since this tree, or righteous man has a good water supply, his leaf will never wither, as Peter said, we are born again of a Seedthat will not perish, the Word of God that Liveth and abideth forever. And so we see this speaks of Eternal Life, for the Life in this Tree will never wither. But I want you to also see that the greatest thing about this tree is that it is constant, and It will always bring forth it’s fruit in the proper season. And so we see that the fruit is tied to a season. It is a seasonal fruit.

Now we hear Jesus speak of knowing a man by his fruits, in the book of [Matt 7:15-20] Now, what does He mean by this? You will know Him by his fruits? A closer examination of this scripture, allows us to see that you will be able to tell who and what a man is by his fruit. Then it is the fruit that identifies and declares the man. Now remember, he begins by warning us about false prophets. And he calls them wolves in sheep’s clothing, but then talks about fruit. He is using metaphors to get a point across. But what are these fruits that he is speaking about? Some would have you to think these fruits are the fruits of the spirit or the fruits of the flesh, but brother Branham told us the fruit is the teaching of the season. And we must ask ourselves what is a teaching but the very thoughts of this person made known through words. Therefore if we break down this thought of what a man’s fruit is, we find that it is his thoughts, what he is thinking. And we find a righteous man will have the correct thoughts for the correct season. Or better said, A righteous man will have thoughts that are a correct match for the season.

Those who were Elect in Moses day did not look to Noah’s Message for the bread of life in their day. They received Moses Message in Moses day.

In Jesus day, those who were looking to Moses Missed Him When He came. And so we see that the Righteous Man is like a tree that is planted and rooted in the Waters or Word of Eternal Life, and their thoughts will be in season for their day and therefore they shall never wither.

Now to further understand how our mind is like a garden, we shall look further to the book of [Proverbs 23:7] Here we read, "For as a man thinketh in his heart so is he." And so we see that a man is what he thinks in his heart. And we have already shown that our thoughts are likened to the life that is in a seed. Therefore, we can conclude that a man is literally what he thinks, and therefore his character is the sum of all of his thoughts. "As every plant springs forth from a seed that was hidden in the earth, and could not have began without a seed, so too every action that we do, springs forth from a seed that was planted in our minds as a thought." Therefore our actions manifest what thoughts lay in our heart.

[Luke 6:45] Jesus tells us that the words we speak all come forth from the abundance of the heart. And the word heart as we know, means the understanding which is the compilation of all of our thoughts. Therefore our actions and speech are only the fruitage which comes forth to manifest the seed-life within.

In [Gen 1:11] We see in the law of reproduction, that every seed must bring forth after it’s own kind or nature.

Therefore, the life that is in the seed must become manifest. And therefore, whatsoever life is in the seed will come forth in an outward manifestation in due season. Our thoughts then are the seeds of our actions. And therefore if a man is righteous, it is because he has righteous thoughts. [Prov 12:5] Therefore, what distinguishes a righteous man from a wicked man? His thoughts first and then his actions following. [Ps 10:4]

Brother Branham taught us the simple principle that before you can actually do the sin-act in your flesh, you must first have to think of it in your mind. Therefore the Greatest battle ever fought is in the mind.

Since we know that God created man in his own image, then we must consider that as God brings forth into manifestation His thoughts and desires of His heart, so does man do the same. [Jer 23:20]

Your mind then is likened to a garden which will grow forth fruit, whether good or bad depending on what we do with it. In a natural garden we plant the seeds that we want to bring to harvest. We cultivate our garden so that no weeds will grow in it. It takes work, but if we sow we shall also reap. The problem is that there is another who also wishes to sow in our minds as well. Jesus tells the parable of the two sowers who went forth sowing seeds. The First was the Son of Man and the other one was the devil. The Son of Man sowed forth good seed which was the Word of God. But the devil sowed his own word seed which brought forth tares or weeds. Now we are likened as to the husbandmen who are responsible for this garden. We are supposed to act as good stewards of the good seed which is the Word of God. But if we are not really interested in what kind of harvest we shall reap, then we do not cultivate the good seed. We just let whatever grows to grow. And this will result in the weeds overtaking the seeds every time.

Weeds will always outgrow the True planting of the Lord because after all they are wild. And we know that "many more are the children of the harlot than she which has a husband."

And so we see that every deed is first committed in the heart, or mind. [Matt 12:35 & 15:19] & [Mark 7:21] & The Bible tells us, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Therefore we are the product of our thoughts just as any fruit is product of the seed that was planted in the ground. That is why we are told to cast down any thought that would exalt itself against the Word of God. [2 Cor 10:5] Notice that we are told to bring every thought into obedience to the Word of God. [Matt 12:33] [Luke 3:8-9] If we are righteous it is because we think righteous thought. And if you have your source from God then you will not be able to help but to think God’s thoughts. Remember the parable of the two sowers. They both sowed seed, but the Seed from the Son of Man was called he good seed. And we see that a good plant will only produce a good fruit.

Now I believe that everything you are, even your Character comes forth from the garden of thought that is in your heart, making you what you really are. Brother Branham told us that when we are born again, we receive everything that we will ever have need of to bring forth the image of God in us.

In Fact we hear John tell us this in [1 John 3:2] where we find that we are already Sons of God, but that at this point we just don’t look like it, and therefore we may not know it.

This morning, I would like to show you how the garden of your mind affects every thing about you, not only does it affect your character, and the molding of your character, but it will even affect the circumstances that you enter into daily, which circumstances are used by God in the shaping of your character into it’s final product that God has predestined for you. Therefore, every trial you endure, every test that God puts you through, comes about as a result of the Seed thoughts that lay within your heart.

[1 Peter 4:12] Here we see that it should not surprise us when we face our trials, because these trials are made for the purpose of testing us. In fact we see in [1 Peter 1:7] that not only are we ordained to these tests, but we are also ordained to pass them. WUEST TRANSLATION ....In which last season you are to be constantly rejoicing with a joy that expresses itself in a triumphant exuberance, although for a little while at the present time if perchance there is a need for it, you have been made sorrowful in the midst of many different kinds of testings in order that the approval of your faith, which faith was examined by testing for the purpose of being approved, that your approval being much more precious than the approval of gold which perishes, even though that gold be approved by fire-testing, may be discovered after scrutiny to result in Praise, Honor and Glory at the time of the Revelation of Jesus Christ;

Therefore, we can say that every trial that you go through and ever time you are put to a test by God and you can not see beyond the circumstance which surround your life, just remember that these are all a result of the seeds of your thinking and they have spawned forth from the garden of your own mind. Remember, what Paul told us in the book of [Romans 8:28-31] And so if everything about us is already predestined from God, then the very thoughts we think, He knew before the foundations of the World, and He knows not only what you have thought, but what thoughts you will think too. Then we can see the relationship of these thoughts that we have and how they influence our growth into the image of His Son.

Our minds are always in a constant flux of change. When we were children we had certain thoughts that filled our minds. Then through life experiences we begin to further develop our thoughts.

And as we receive each and every new experience, our minds begin to examine the circumstances in our lives with a more mature understanding. Paul said in [1 Cor 13:11] "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, because I understood as a child understands, because I thought as a child thinks, but now that I have become a man, I put away from my mind childish thinking." And so we see that our mind is in a constant growth pattern, in which our garden or thoughts are constantly being upgraded so to speak, or renewed by what life experiences we go through on our journey of becoming.

Paul tells us in [Romans 5:3-5] that we should glory in our tribulations, or testings. Now this word here is a Greek word which means those things that seem to bring forth pressure upon us. We always think of these trials as coming from an outward source, but we are told by Paul that we should glory in these things, because he went on to say, "knowing that tribulation worketh within you patience; and patience; experience which is character, and character brings forth an earnest expectation, and having an earnest expectation makes us to be not ashamed, because we know that the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts or understanding by the Holy Ghost which God has given to us by the receiving of His Word. Therefore we see how God uses circumstances to bring forth His Character and Grace in us.

Therefore we must understand that since our character development is dependent upon receiving every outside stimuli that will produce in our thinking, the thoughts of God, thus we can see the dependence upon these stimuli in order to bring us into fulfillment toward the ultimate goal of receiving the very mind of God. Therefore, our reactions that we show toward these circumstances is an outward indication as to where we stand in our development toward the end-product of our being. How we handle each circumstance will depend upon what stage we are in, in our progression toward our ultimate character. Then what appears to be a test at one stage in our progression, will not appear to be so at a further stage in our character development.

Circumstances are just like taking a test in school. What would appear to be a very difficult thing for us in the first year of schooling, would not even appear to be a test after twelve years of schooling. The further on in our progressive state that we move into toward the image of God that we are conforming to, the further developed will be our response mechanism that we harbor in our mind set or seed garden of our thinking. Therefore every circumstance that we face in life is a growth from our own mind or thoughts. Circumstances grow out of thought. We are only buffeted by circumstances so long as we perceive these to be an outside influence upon our lives.

But when we come to the place where we realize that circumstances that come forth in our lives are a direct result of our own mental state, we will begin to appreciate their use and purpose in our growth toward the finished product that God has destined for each one of us.

Anyone who has for any length of time, been a practicing Christian, and who has practiced self control and self purification or sanctification, will have noticed that the alteration in their circumstances have been in a direct ratio to the alteration in their mental state. When a man purposely and earnestly makes an effort to remedy their personal character defects, and makes a swift and marked progress, toward bettering themselves in those areas of weakness, they pass swiftly through a succession of unpredictable changes. Therefore, the soul attracts that which it secretly desires, and also that which it fears the most. It not only reaches the heights of it’s desired aspirations, but it also falls to the level of it’s unchastened desires, and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives what it longs for.

Therefore, every thought seed that is sown, or that we allow to fall into the fertile soil of our minds, to take root there, will produce it’s own, after it’s own likeness or nature.

Sooner or later each thought seed we have sown in our hearts will have to take blossom and become manifested in our lives as an action or deed. And each action or deed will bear it’s own fruit in terms of opportunity or circumstances. As the Scripture tells us, good thoughts will bear good fruit and bad thoughts will bear bad fruit. That is why we must come to the place where we begin to monitor and control what we think and believe.

[1 Peter 1: 20-22] Here we find Peter tells us that if we suffer for Christ sake it is acceptable with God, but if we suffer for what we have caused, then we should take the consequences patiently, knowing that all things are working together for our own good. As you can see, you thoughts are seeds that must by their nature of being a seed, bring forth into manifestation the nature that is in the seed.

Since the life in the seed will make itself known, then when the seed thought does give way to a life experience in the form of an action or a deed, it will then cause other things to happen in response. Therefore as Peter said, don’t be so shocked and surprised if your actions cause other circumstances to happen which you may feel you can not control. You really can control them by not causing them to happen in the first place.

For every action there is a reaction. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful how we do things. If we really believe that everything we sow will result in a reaping, then when we sow hateful speech, or criticisms, we should not be surprised when the criticisms come back our way. Therefore we should be able to now see how the outer world of circumstances actually shape themselves to our inner world of thought. And both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for our ultimate good, or work together for our good. That is why we learn by both suffering and receiving blessings. Each of these outward stimuli helps to further our growth toward that image of Christ that we so long to be in our souls. Therefore we should be able to see that our actions are only an expression of our thoughts. Circumstances do not just happen, they grow out of the conditions of our heart.

Just as our spiritual lives are progressive where word must be piled upon word to bring forth that Glorified body, so too do our circumstances add to our suffering in order to help our character to grow and develop. Every situation we face in life is like the piece of a large puzzle that once fitted together gives purpose and meaning to each of them. The circumstances and conditions we face each day are only reflectors which help us to know how far along in our development we have come. Therefore, you may not always receive what you pray for, but know one thing for sure, you will always receive what you have sown for. Therefore our desires and prayers are only gratifying to us when they are in harmony with what we are actually sowing in the recesses of our mind. When we fight circumstances, we are only revolting against the effect of what we have been sowing. We see the circumstances that are without and we may not like what we see, yet they are there only because we keep nourishing them in our minds, and we keep feeding and thus preserving them in the gardens of our mind.

We so often wish to improve upon our circumstances, but yet we are so unwilling to improve ourselves. And that is why our circumstances remain the same. If we shrink from crucifixion of self, we shall never achieve our hearts desire. A man who wishes to have a better life style, must be willing to work for what he wants. Too many people live at the poverty level and wish daily that they could rise above it, and yet they are personally unwilling to do something about their condition other than gripe and complain about it. You are the reason you are what you are. What you have sown is what you are reaping in your life.

You don’t get a close knit family by the luck of some draw, but you get a close nit family by hard work and constant communication. Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results. Jesus told us that a Good tree can not produce bad fruit. Therefore if we think good thoughts, we will have good actions which will produce good results. [Matt 7:17-19] You reap only what you sow. Therefore if you delight in the Lord, you will receive the things that you have need of. [Psalms 37:4] [Proverbs 16:4] You make the commitment; you are the one who must sow, and then God simply honors the Law or Reproduction that says, every seed will bring forth after it’s own kind. I have seen too many people complain about their lack of victory, yet they do not sow victory, but defeat.

E-17 Hour Is Come 51-0415E Your right mental attitude towards God's Divine promise will bring any promise to pass. Now, maybe you don't believe that. You say, "Well, my faith is weak." I wouldn't confess it. See? Don't let the devil know that. Always say, "I have good faith. I believe God with all my heart." See? Don't testify nothing of the devil. And when you accept Him as your Healer, don't never act like you're sick or crippled any more. Believe that you're healed. Take Him at His Word. Then it's all over on God then and not on you. See? As long as you take God at His Word, then the Word will produce what It promised to do.

Therefore, Beautiful thoughts of all kinds will crystallize into habits of Grace and kindness, which solidify into friendly and cheerful circumstances: pure thoughts crystallize into habits of holiness and self control, which further solidify into circumstances of rest and peace. If you sow thoughts of self reliance, courage and decisiveness, they will bring forth circumstances of success, plenty and freedom; energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify into circumstances of courteousness: gentle and forgiving thoughts solidify into protective and preservative circumstances.

Loving and unselfish thoughts crystallize into habits of self-forgetfulness for others which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and true riches. "To have friends you must show yourself friendly" If you keep sowing the same particular train of thoughts, be it good or bad, it cannot help but to produce its results on the character and circumstances in which you live.

[Isaiah 58:11] "And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose water s fail not. "

[Jer 31:12b] "Their Soul shall be as a watered Garden"

Therefore, everything you are, even your Character comes forth from the garden of thought that is in your heart, making you what you really are. And the garden of your thoughts affects every thing that is already in you, not only affecting your character, and molding your character, but even to the circumstances that you enter into daily, and the way you handle those circumstances. And God uses those circumstances in shaping of your character into it’s final product that He has predestined for you. Therefore, every trial you endure, every test God puts you through, comes about as a result of the Seed Thoughts that lay within your heart. Therefore, every thought seed that is sown, or that we allow to fall into the fertile soil of our minds, to take root there, will produce it’s own, after it’s own likeness or nature. Sooner or later each thought seed we have sown in our hearts will have to take blossom and become manifested in our lives as an action or deed. And each action or deed will bear it’s own fruit in terms of opportunity or circumstances. As the Scripture tells us, good thoughts will bear good fruit and bad thoughts will bear bad fruit.

Therefore Loving thoughts create an atmosphere of help, and trust, which crystallize into habits of Grace, kindness, and charity, which creates further circumstances of friendliness and cheerful benevolence, and reciprocity on the behalf of those who are the recipients of your loving thoughts. [2 Thes 1:2-3, Eph 1:15, Col 3:12 & 2 Pet 3:1-7]

Pure thoughts create an atmosphere of holiness and sobriety, which crystallize into habits of sanctification and self control, which further solidify into circumstances of rest and peace.[1Thes 5:23 Rom 6:17-19, 2 Cor 7:1, Phil 4:8, 1 Tim 1:5, Heb 12:14]

Positive thoughts, along with thoughts of courage and decisiveness, creates within you an atmosphere of assurance, and steadfastness, which will bring forth circumstances of success, and freedom. [Eph 3:11-12, Heb 10:35-36, Heb 10:22-24]

Gentle and forgiving thoughts create an atmosphere of love and trust which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances, and crystallize into circumstances which allows you to minister help and forgiveness to others, which allows those affected to enter into an atmosphere of hope and reconciliation. [Eph 4:31-32, Col 3:12-14, Luke 7:40-47, ] If you keep sowing the same particular seed thoughts, be it good or bad, it cannot help but to create an atmosphere around you which will also affect your character and the circumstances in which you live.

Now a garden is a place or a plot of ground that you specifically set aside for growing things that you like, whether for food or for the beauty of just looking at it, such as flowers and roses, etc. A garden is a place where you sow seeds, and you come to water and cultivate those seeds, because you have a purpose in mind. And if we do not cultivate our garden, then other seeds that fall into our garden will compete with the specific thing we want to harvest. Therefore, we must cultivate the seeds which we want and root out those things we do not wish to come to harvest.

Now we don’t go through all that work in taking care of a garden just for the shear enjoyment turning over soil & breaking rocks, if we did we, then prison would be fun. But we must have a PURPOSE.

A garden has to be plotted out, and there must be a PLAN in your mind as to how you would like to see your garden turn out. For if there is no plan, you will have an awful time trying to harvest what you sowed. Could you image planting a garden where you go out and grab a handful of carrot seeds and you just toss them up in the air, not really caring where they land. Try grabing a bag of corn seeds and toss them out onto the ground. Then repeat the same process with watermelon seeds, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, peas, and whatever else you would like to harvest. I imagine the sowing might easy, but come harvest time, you’re going to have a real mess trying to sort out just what you sowed.

And yet this is the way many of us go about our daily lives and especially our spiritual lives. Can you imagine someone trying to store up earthly treasures without a plan. And yet that is exactly what we do with storing up Heavenly treasure. [Matt 6:19-20] Many of us struggle because we have not learned this first principle of sowing and reaping. We too often look at the man who is wealthy and we say, "he’s a crook and that is why he is wealthy". Now, that may be true in part, but the reason that man is wealthy is because he has applied a principle of sowing and reaping which many of us are not willing to do. He had a plan to gain wealth and he was dedicated to that plan and so his whole life became structured around that that plan, and therefore he reaped what he sowed.

I have no jealousy for one minute of those who have worked very hard for what they have. They deserve it. But, I do feel sorry for them in the same way in which I feel sorry for the poor farmer who loses his crops to hail or tornado. Many of them, if not the majority of them who are very wealthy, have stored up their treasure in the wrong place. Because they’ll only be able to enjoy what they have sown for a season. Therefore, I want what will not become rusted, and moth eaten. I want that which will truly stay with me all throughout Eternity. And Jesus told us if we "seek ye first the Kingdom of God, then all these things shall be added us." Now what things shall be added? Well, let’s turn in our Bibles to [Matt 6:25 - 34].

Now, I want you to notice that we are told to take no thought concerning certain things. Now He is not telling us that these things are not important to us, but that our thought pertaining to these things needs to be directed, not at those things, but at the Kingdom of God from whence cometh all good things. In other words, Jesus is telling them that their focus needs to be on the right thing. This is the same principle we see in dealing with the poor in very backward countries. The people are starving to death, and we feel sorry for them, but if we just feed them, then they will always be dependent upon us. But if we teach them how to sow and reap, then they will learn how to provide for themselves. Therefore, what we are looking at is having the right focus. He said take no thought for these specific things. Take no thought with just the eating, or just the specific piece of clothing that you need, but focus on where those things come from and then you will always have plenty. Learn to sew and you shall also reap.

[2 Cor 7:7-10 ] Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]{so let him sow}; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. {This reminds me here of the man whose family had a poor crop, and they were facing a harsh winter. They had just a bag of grain left over from the poor harvest and the children cried out to eat it. The father said, no for if we do then surely we shall die. They made it through the winter, but it was a real struggle, but when the spring came forth the father planted his seeds and they brought forth a bountiful harvest. }Now, Paul continues, [Amplified] And God who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your resources for sewing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness and charity, and thus you will be enriched in all things and in every way, so that you can be generous, and your generosity as it is administered by us will bring forth thanksgiving to God.

And so, you see, we must have the proper focus and the proper plan if we are to bring forth out of the garden of our mind, a harvest of Eternal blessing. We are promised that God, who gave us the seed to begin with will also multiply that seed as we sow properly. [NIV] Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

We know the seed came forth from Him and therefore it already has in it everything that we will ever need for living and for bringing forth a Character that is in His Image. [2 Peter 1: 2-4]

[Isaiah 60:21] "Thy people shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified." Can you see God’s purpose in His planting?

[Isaiah 61:3] "that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.. Therefore the purpose of being planted by God is to bring forth His Glory, which is His thoughts in an expressed form.

In [Eph 1: 2-5] We see that we were in Christ before the world was framed, therefore we are a seed, that was in Him. And are told here that while we were still in Him we were "Blessed with all Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly Places in Christ." And then he goes on to tell us that in order to bring forth these seeds that were in Him, He had to have a plan. In verse 5 we are told that He pre-planned for us to come forth to the adoption of children to Himself. And this is according to His Will or plan, which He further elucidates in verses [10-11] where he tells us that it will happen according to His Purpose (Plan).

Therefore, I hope you see the importance of having a purpose or plan for every seed thought that we want to bring forth to harvest. In order to reap we must not only sow, but we must learn how to sow as well. Because you can not sow just any which way and expect to reap a harvest that is orderly.

[Isaiah 61:11] "For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord will cause righteousness to spring forth in the presence of all nations." Now the garden is laid out with an order to it. As we see in [Genesis 1:11] Everything will bring forth after it’s own kind, or nature. But even before we see God laying out this law of reproduction, he first brought together everything that was of like kind, and then the law of reproduction was given.

Notice in [Gen 1:9-10] that everything was gathered together with like kind before the law of reproduction was introduced into His Creation. Therefore, if we are to be able to bring forth from the garden of our mind in the same way that God has brought forth from His own mind, we must also follow his Example. Therefore, we must have a purpose and plan to the things which we wish to sow and harvest. Our gardens must have an order to it if we expect to reap a good and profitable harvest. Otherwise you will spend all of your time just trying to sort out what it is that you have in your garden to begin with. As long as out thoughts are without purpose, they are allowed to just drift aimlessly and will never bring forth any fruit. Thoughts which have no purpose fall easily to the anxieties of life, and pleasure seeking and other things which so easily rob you of victory of Peace and Grace, and lead you to a life of weakness and self pity. Therefore, we need to have purpose for our thoughts, and once we have purposeful thinking, we should set out to accomplish what we purpose.

In order to do this, our purpose should be that which brings together our thoughts with our actions, tying together our body, soul and spirit into one energized being with one focus.

We should make this purpose our supreme duty, and we should devote ourselves to the fulfillment of this purpose, not allowing our thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings.

"This is the Royal road to self control and true concentration of thought. And even if you fail again and again to accomplish your purpose, as you surely will until your weakness is overcome, the strength of character gained from this will be the real measure of success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph. Just look at Thomas Edison, He tried nearly 10,000 times to invent a workable light bulb, and finally he did it. But what if he had stopped after 9,999 tries? Edison might have been [dis] couraged, at the ending of each day, but every time he got back up, the [dis] just flew away.

The word discourage comes from two words which means to loose your courage. Don’t be discouraged, be brave, be thoughtful and have a purpose in your heart that whatsoever you set your mind to do, so shall you finish. after all, are we not made in our Fathers image? And is not He the Author and Finisher or our Faith. Did not He say, "That which I have began in you I will perform it even unto the end"?

[2 Tim 1:12] "For I know whom, I have believed, and am persuaded, that He is Able, to keep that which I’ve committed, unto Him against that Day.

From the message, [Serpents seed]Brother Branham said, A little poem, that used to help me so much when I was a kid, goes something like this: There was a noble Roman, In the Roman Emperor's days; Who heard a coward croaker, Before the castle say: Oh, it's safe in such a Fir tree, There's no one who can shake it. 'Oh, no,' said the hero, 'I'll find a way or make it.'

And again from [Jehovah Jireh] he said, "When you begin to seek the flower bed of ease, you're on your road out. I like that old poem: Must I be carried home to heaven on a flower bed of ease, While others fought to win the prize, And sailed through bloody seas? No, I must fight, if I must reign, Increase my courage, Lord. And again another Poem he told us goes like this, A man of words and not of deed, Is like a garden full of weeds. And that is exactly what I have been trying to bring to us in these message of the garden of the mind. What have we in our garden tonight, thoughts with Purpose or weeds.

[Mighty Conqueror] Standing sometime ago, I was in the Westminster Abbey at London, England, and I seen the form of the poet that wrote the Psalm of Life, Longfellow, and I thought of his poem, Tell me not in mournful numbers, Life is just an empty dream! (Just eat, drink and be merry.) And the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! And life is earnest! And the grave is not it's goal; Dust thou art, and to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. Lives of great men all remind us, that we can make our life sublime, With partings they have left behind us, Footprints on the sands of time. Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing over life's solemn main, For forlong and shipwreck brother, Deeds shall take heart again. Let us be up then and doing, With a heart wherein we strive, Be not like dumb driven cattle, be a hero in this your life. .... and from [Go Wake Jesus] he said, Be not like dumb, driven cattle, have to be drove into anything. Let's believe, be a hero in the strife,

People who have no central purpose in life fall easy prey to petty anxieties, phobias, and cares of this life, and it leads to self-pitying, all of which are indications of weakness, which weaknesses lead, just as surely as deliberately planned sins; to failure, unhappiness, and loss. For weakness will not endure in a world where the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Just as in nature, the wolf-pack usually looks for the weakest lamb, or the one straying from the flock, so too does the devil look for the weakest of the flock to devour.

Therefore you should have a purpose in your heart, and you should set your sights on obtaining that purpose. You should make your purpose the centralized focus of your being. And your purpose should reflect the season which you live. Even God has a purpose to guide and direct the sum of His own thinking. For without purpose our thoughts would only drift. When you have purpose guiding your thoughts, you have a control tower of your thinking, that takes over the control of your actions and speech as well. [ Isaiah 14: 24] "The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand."

Next we must cultivate away any seeds that are not in our desired harvest. If we have weeds growing up, we must cut them down before they take over our garden. This must be done on a regular basis, for to fail to do so will allow to grow and use up the nutrients reserved for the harvest plants, and thus it will choke off the life of the harvest plant, preventing them from maturing. [Matt 13:22-23]

A strong man can not help a weaker man who is unwilling to be helped. And even then the weak man must become strong on his own, for he must by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in others. There is no one but himself that can alter his condition. He can only rise, conquer and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by deferring to lift up his thoughts. Arnold Schwartzeneggar began as a tall, skinny, weakling of a man, but he was determined to change his situation and he worked and worked until he began to grow muscles that most people never even thought existed. But he had a purpose and his purpose came together with his thoughts and gave rise to the icon of the American Hero. I am sure he had no idea when he began that he would one day live in America. But the circumstances that were created out of shear effort gave way to where he is today.

In order to do this, his purpose had to be that which brought together his thoughts with his energies, and actions, and therefore tying together his body, and soul into one energized being with one focus.

[2 Tim 1:12] "For I know whom, I have believed, and am persuaded, that He is Able, to keep that which I’ve committed, unto Him against that Day. You are the one who has to make the commitment.

E-35 God In His Word 57-0323 You put me on record tonight in these recorders. I have no apology for this remark that I'm fixing to make. I believe, and can prove, that the right mental attitude towards any Divine promise of God will bring it to pass. Yes, sir. The right mental attitude, but you've got to have the right attitude. The attitude is what brings the results. If you say, "Yes, yes, I believe it but I don't know now." That's not the right attitude. The right attitude is to receive it, and say it's "THUS SAITH THE LORD." Then it's right.

E-7 What Think Ye of Christ -1213M Then you set it out into the yard, and it just keeps growing. But you can praise God just as soon as you get the acorn. Is that right? Because you've got the tree already. Is that right? Now, when God said, "I'm the Lord that healeth thee." Just start praising. You got it; you got it right then. You say, "Well, I don't see any results, but that don't make any difference, you got it anyhow. See? 'Cause the Word of God is a Seed. Is that right? And we are sowed with the incorruptible Seed of God. See? It can't perish; it's incorruptible. And I... Here's a statement that I usually make in the healing services, "The right mental attitude towards any Divine promise of God will bring it to pass." See? 'Cause it's a seed. It has to.

E-52 God’s Covenant with Abraham 56-0223 What do you do? You'll put the wheat in the ground, and commend it to God, and it's God's duty to see that it raises. That's the way you do the Seed of God. Listen to me, any... The right mental attitude towards any Divine, or the promise of God will bring it to pass. I don't care what it is, if you can get the right mental attitude towards the promise. For His promise... "Every the Word of God," Jesus said, "the Word is the Seed." And every seed is a promise in there. And if you can just take them seeds into your heart, no matter what it's for, God will honor it, and it'll bring forth just exactly what it promised. Oh, my.

E-15 Hear Ye Him 57-0519A There's something about the reading of the Word that's eternal. Every Christian should read the Word every day, for Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." And I wish to state this too: And remember, that every promise in this Bible is good, and it will hold type, and God's guilty of His promise if you'll take the right mental attitude towards it, it'll bring it to pass. Every Divine promise in God's Word, if you can take the right mental attitude towards it, God will bring it to pass. Think of that. For It's a Seed that a sower sowed. And It's Life.

Inter Veil 56-0121 There is an intellectual faith. And there's a faith that comes from the heart. The old unbeliever said years ago, "When the Bible said, 'As a man thinketh in his heart...'" Said, "That's crazy. There's no mental facilities in the heart." Said, "You think with your mind. There's no mental facilities in the heart." But last year they found that's wrong. God was right. Right down in the heart, in the center of the heart, there's a little compartment where there's not even a blood cell in it. It's not in the animal heart, only in the human heart. And they say, it's the occupation, or the occupant of the soul. The soul lives in the heart. Then after all, God was right, when He said, "As a man thinketh in his heart."

E-6 Looking At The Unseen 59-0410 About four years ago up in Chicago, I was reading a great headline in a paper where that the medical science had found a little compartment in the heart of a human being that did not even have a cell in it. It was not found in the animal life; it was only found in the human body, the human heart. And they said, "It must been the dwelling place of the soul." So then man does think with his heart. You look with your eyes, but you understand with your heart.

10 God Is His Own Interpreter 64-0205 What I mean, "attributes" was His thoughts. And a word is a thought expressed. And then that was in His thinking. And when He said, "Let there be," and there was..."Let there be," and there was. And now, remember, you Christians were His thoughts before there was a world. And you are the manifestation of His thinking. Before there even was a world, you were in Christ (amen), in God in the beginning.

72 Paradox 64-0206B If we're sons of God, the attributes of His thoughts before the foundation of the world, we'll think the same of Him. And remember, brothers, He is the Word. See?

51 Identification 64-0216 Then, see, God came down. And the Character of God was Christ. He was the Reflection. He was God made visible: notice, God made visible. In the beginning was God. He wasn't even God then. No, a God's an object of worship. Only thing He was, was the eternal, and in Him was attributes. And those attributes were thoughts. And those thoughts was expressed to words, and word was made manifest.

46 Who Is This Melchisedec 65-0221E Now, in the beginning God dwelled alone with His attributes as I spoke of this morning. That's His thoughts. There was nothing, just God alone. But He had thoughts. Just like a great architect can set down in his mind, and draw out what he thinks he's going to build, create. Now, he cannot create; he can take something that's been created and make it in a different form, 'cause God's the only One can create. But he gets in his mind what he's going to do, and that's his thoughts; that's his desires. Now, it's a thought, and then he speaks it, and it's a word then. And a thought when it's expressed, it's a word. A thought expressed is a word. But it has to be a thought first. So it's God's attributes; then it becomes a thought, then a word.

10-3 Invisible Union of the Bride 65 In St. John the 1st chapter said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And the same was made flesh and dwelled among us. Christ was the living Word. He always was the Word; He's still the Word; He always will be the Word. He was only the manifestation of the attributes of God, for He was the Son of God, and any son is the attributes of his father. And just as you were in the genes of your father, in the body of your father when he was a young boy... You were in him, yet he could not have fellowship with you, because he didn't know you. But then through the bedding grounds of a mother, you were brought forth into the earth and become in the image of your father; then he could fellowship with you. And so were you sons of God and daughters of God before there even was a moon, stars, or a molecule; you were sons and daughters of God. For you are only the physical manifestation of the attributes that was in God at the beginning. For there's only one form of Eternal Life, and that was you before... You don't know nothing about it; neither did you know when you were in your earthly father. But you're manifested in His image; in the image of God you are made, and you were manifested for the glory and the fellowship of God. And therefore, as sure as your genes had to be in your father before your natural birth, your spiritual genes had to be in God, because you're an expression of the attributes of His thoughts before the foundation of the world. That's right. No way around it. That's right.