Chapter 36 MESSAGE SEEDS AND THOUGHT PLANTS

To complete our understanding of the heart, and prefacing exploration of the mind, we must turn our attention to the nature of messages and thoughts.

“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” MATTHEW13:3-9 NLT

Remarkably, the mechanics of what unfolds within us in the SUPOX follows the same laws that can be observed in the natural world around us, our heart and mind operate on the same principles as that of the ecosystem in a forest or field.
Messages, either spoken or written words in the NAPOX, are seeds in the SUPOX. Invisible to the eye in the NAPOX, in the SUPOX they travel from the heart and mind of the speaker to the heart and mind of the receiver.
Thoughts, in a similar way, though invisible in the NAPOX are visible in the SUPOX, a plant-like growth stemming from the seed. Forming part of a person’s nephesh, they can be seen as they grow from a person’s heart into their mind, or vice versa, the exact manifestation of an idea as it grows and develops into decisions and actions. Thought plants as we will call them, grow in an almost infinite variety, taking form in keeping with the type of seed from which they sprouted.
From a good message seed sprouts a thought plant that is full of health for the human’s body, heart and nephesh. Over time, it brings with it various forms of nourishment, healing, and sustenance. Seeds based on the words of God go on to produce plants fundamental to the development of the nephesh. They provide the organic fabric, the living fiber for the ever-growing new creation. A bad seed is the opposite, bringing all forms of harm. Some grow up like a thicket obstructing vision; others are poisonous, abrasive, or thorny. Others entangle the nephesh in a strangle-hold. Now, clearly, I’ve not seen what I’m talking about in this chapter. I’ve not observed this in the SUPOX with my own eyes. Where this has been described for us is in the bible – and specifically in Jesus’ teaching as quoted at the start of this chapter. Jesus’ description of the ecosystem in our heart and mind, be it literal or metaphorical, is a perfect picture and accurate in terms of function and effect.

“Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” MATTHEW 13:18-23 NLT

What Jesus describes is one specific type of seed and its reception with four different types of people. But it is far more than that. He’s describing the inner workings of Mankind - the mechanics he outlines are universal. They are in operation in every single person, at all times, for seeds both good and evil.
Humans can determine which seeds will take root in their hearts – to believe a message is to plant the seed. To believe a good message is to plant a good seed, with a good outcome. To believe a bad message is to plant a bad seed, with a bad outcome.
However, if the person doesn't believe the message, the seed will sit on the surface of the nephesh but not germinate. Irrespective of if the seed is good or bad, if the human doesn't believe, then it will not take hold and grow into a thought plant.

The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps. PROVERBS 14:15 NIV

If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. GALATIANS 6:3 NIV

Thinking and believing something begins the process by which that ‘something’ will change your life. As a thought plant puts down roots into a person’s nephesh it becomes increasingly hard to get out. Ultimately, should the heart start to identify that thought plant as a part of the person, it will do everything it can to protect it. The heart will preserve the plant's hold on the person by withholding the willpower required to remove it.
If the thought plant is that of an evil seed and needs to be uprooted, it will be almost impossible to dislodge with the tools available in the NAPOX. It is only in the SUPOX, and with the power of the Holy Spirit, that the destructive plants that result from evil seeds can be dealt with.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5 NIV

Let me provide you with a hypothetical. I want you to see the concept of message seeds and thought plants as it operates in and around us every day, and the easiest way is to follow the life cycle of a bad seed. The seed of a lie. The seed, if you will, of a thought plant weed.
Imagine a young girl, let’s call her Sally, who has a boyfriend. He's a handsome lad, and one of Sally's friends spreads the story that this boyfriend has been paying attention to another girl behind Sally's back. This story, this message, is a seed. It doesn't matter if it's true or not, it doesn't matter if it's delivered as a scrawled note on a piece of paper or whispered into her ear at lunch. What matters for the purposes of our observation, is if Sally believes it or not. Does Sally plant the seed? If, when she hears it she doesn't believe it, it will have no effect on her. It's like the seed has landed on the hard ground. It's unable to take root. If she does believe it, even if it's days later, she will have given the seed soil to grow. And grow it does, quickly snaking its way downwards into her heart, a nasty line of thinking. The seed has germinated and a brand new thought plant has taken hold. Of course, that’s not where the story ends. Thought plants bear fruit, and in the NAPOX, fruit is the actions that result from the thought plant’s line of thinking.
The new plant within Sally is a weed, and one of the most potent types. It will be quick to propagate. As a line of thinking it quickly produces symptoms: her demeanor, her mood, and ultimately her response to those around her will now rapidly change. All outcomes in keeping with the nature of the original seed.
So when Sally, flustered and with hands trembling, storms across the playground and slaps her boyfriend sharply across the face, it should come as no surprise. It's completely predictable. The plant has matured and produced a bountiful harvest. It has produced fruit in keeping with its kind. That's how it works.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. PROVERBS 4:23 NIV

Like any garden, there is a caretaker. First and foremost, we are all ourselves responsible for the ecosystem that is our heart and mind. If Sally, for example, was a little older she might have had the wherewithal to resist immediately believing the message and planting the seed. She could have determined to investigate the truth and taken time to discern the nature of the message. Was it a good seed or bad? Determining the nature of the seed before allowing it to sink roots into her soul. That would have been a far wiser approach. And not just to avoid an embarrassing altercation, but to protect the condition of her heart and mind. Allowing such a powerful and destructive plant to take root would undoubtedly produce a tangled mess. If it were true it would be no less painful, but the fruit would be different, perhaps still a bitter pill, but with medicinal qualities in the end.
Managing what you believe and don't believe is the essence of managing your mental self, it is the starting point from which you cultivate the garden of your heart and mind.
Fruit, of course, is the source of more seeds. And as we see in the botanic world of the NAPOX, the process repeats itself. The human nephesh is an ever-changing and developing ecosystem; there is no such thing as stasis or equilibrium.

A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth … who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up conflict. Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy. PROVERBS 6:12 & 14-15 NIV

Being a diligent caretaker for the garden of your heart and mind only begins by determining which seed to plant. Once sown, you need to feed, water and nurture anything you want to be healthy. You need to tend to those thought plants in order that they grow and give shape to your life.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. PHILIPPIANS 4:8-9 NLT

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord PSALM 19:14 NLT

The Gospel, the message about Jesus Christ, is the most important seed of all. It is imperishable, and from it grows a sapling, a tree whose taproot runs deep, drawing up God's very life into a person's innermost parts. The resulting thought plant stands alone among that which grows in the human heart – it is the tree of life.

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 PETER 1:23 NIV

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. COLOSSIANS 3:16 NLT

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. JOHN 7:37-39 NIV

Excerpt From: Geoffrey Young. “Guardian Universe: The Gospel in Unexpected Terms.” https://www.cmdrpublishing.com/product-page/guardian-universe-book
Chapter 37 THE HUMAN MIND