Jesus in Matthew chapter 13 what the “thorns” are in life. The thorns are as follows:

1. Cares of life, otherwise known as worries which translates into a root called fear.

2. The deceitfulness of riches, believing that temporal wealth is going to deliver you from your trouble in life.

3. The lusts or the pressures of other things.

   Jesus said that those things come in to choke the Word, to remove the Word from you. The purpose, to keep you from bearing fruit. Now remember these words from John chapter 15, “Herein is my Father Glorified, that you bear much fruit”. That sounds to me like Jesus wants us to bear fruit. Well, my brothers and sisters, if we are welcoming thorns into our lives as though they are a gift from God to help us stay humble, we are not bearing fruit are we?

   No, you do not bear fruit when you are bearing something that Jesus died to redeem you from. Calamity and pain are not your friends. Sickness and disease is not some grand teacher sent to give you a lesson from God. Having no money to pay your bills and living from paycheck to paycheck is not a way to keep you humble before God. All of these things are the various forms of the “thorns” of life. Jesus told us very clearly that we can overcome these things and live a life in abundance to the full till it overflows (see John 10:10).

   I know by now you are asking, “but brother what about what Paul the Apostle went through, was not God humbling him, chastising him?”. The answer to that is, ABSOLUTELY NOT. God does not slam His children, that He loves with all His heart, with sickness, absurd calamities, hardship, poverty, and things that the devil does. The Word of God is very clear on this whole messy thorn business, Jesus tells us what they are, Paul told us what particular thing it was to him, and it was not there to humble him, it was trying to stop Paul from getting anymore revelation from God concerning His Word. It, my brothers and sisters, is time to stop the unneeded pain. It is time to get into the grace and mercy of God and get those thorns out of our lives forever. Jesus is coming back for us, and coming for us whole. Not weak, sick, broken down with cares and worries. Jesus gave us a commission and a determined destiny that says we are more than conquerors in Him.

   Let us take that destiny and live the kind of life that we have available to us in God. The life that says “this is the victory that overcomes the world, our Faith”. Through that faith in God's grace with His Word we can and will overcome those cares, worries, tribulations, and produce a one hundred fold increase in our lives.