Matthew 13:24-25 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
With so much disinformation and so many voices speaking into our lives, people often ask for my thoughts on who to trust and what to believe. In light of that, I believe it’s time to step into a deeper kind of discernment — becoming what I would call a fruit inspector. This series is born out of that burden: to learn how to recognize the difference between the wheat and the tares.
Yeshua (Jesus), when asked about the events leading up to His return, did not begin with wars, disasters, or global upheaval. His first warning was simple and direct: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” That alone tells us something profound. The greatest danger in the last days is not just what is happening around us — it is the deception that can grow among us. Yet Yeshua did not leave us vulnerable. He gave us a clear way to see through deception: by inspecting fruit. When we learn to recognize fruit, we gain the ability to discern the times with clarity and confidence. That is the foundation we begin with.
Yeshua introduces the parable with a striking image: a man sowing good seed into his field. Everything begins as it should — intentional, pure, and full of promise. But then, under the cover of night, while men slept, an enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat. The field is not abandoned; it is infiltrated. The issue is not the absence of good seed, but the presence of a second, corrupt seed planted alongside it.
In the natural world, the plant Yeshua refers to as a tare is widely believed to be darnel, sometimes called poison wheat. What makes this plant so dangerous is not just its toxicity, but its resemblance. In its early stages, darnel looks almost identical to wheat. The leaves are similar, the growth pattern mirrors it, and to the untrained eye, there is no clear distinction. Ancient farmers understood this well. In fact, sowing darnel into another man’s field was considered such a destructive act that it was addressed in Roman law. The enemy did not need to destroy the field outright — he only needed to corrupt it from within.
This is the heart of what Yeshua is revealing. Both seeds grow in the same soil. Both are exposed to the same conditions. Both develop side by side. Yet their origin is entirely different. Later, Yeshua makes it clear: the wheat represents the children of the Kingdom, while the tares represent the children of the wicked one. This is not merely a parable about agriculture — it is a revelation of two spiritual realities unfolding simultaneously in the earth.
This truth carries weight, especially in the hour we are living in. Not everything growing in God’s field came from God’s seed. Not every voice that sounds right is rooted in truth. Not everything that appears genuine carries life within it. There is a parallel growth happening—truth and deception, light and darkness — maturing together until the time of harvest.
This is why discernment cannot be superficial. In the early stages, wheat and tares cannot be distinguished by appearance alone. You cannot rely on charisma, gifting, influence, or presentation. These things can be mimicked. The only reliable measure is fruit. Wheat will eventually produce life-giving grain, while the tare will reveal its nature in what it produces.
So we come back to the words of Yeshua: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” This is not a call to fear — it is a call to awareness. It is an invitation to move beyond surface-level perception and into Spirit-led discernment. The Lord is not asking His people to be suspicious of everything, but to be discerning in everything.
Beloved, this is the hour to awaken. The field is full, and the voices are many, but God has given His people the ability to see clearly. The Spirit of Truth is present, and the fruit is visible to those who will look. This is the time to sharpen your discernment, to test what you hear, and to refuse to be moved by appearance alone. Do not be swayed by influence or drawn in by what merely resembles truth. Look deeper. Look for the fruit. Because those who learn to discern between the wheat and the tares will not be shaken in the days ahead. They will stand with clarity, walk in truth, and be ready for the harvest that is coming.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The world these days is full of bad news, with tensions growing in the Middle East, economies on the brink of collapse, and nature constantly adding to the chaos with one disaster after another. It's a time of trouble all right, and for us believers it may sometimes be hard to believe – but it never is as bad as it seems. Let me illustrate with a joke I like to share with my messages.
When I’m dealing with what is beyond a normal, average trial, I need to muster a more militant attitude, and I remind myself of this promise; the Lord has given me authority to TREAD upon the enemy … to walk in His victory over every trial and tribulation that life brings.
Moses was used mightily by the Lord, yet we all know he had his inadequacies and limitations too. Still he was the vessel through which God chose to work through as He carried out the plagues over Egypt, divided the Red Sea and miraculously led and fed the children of Israel for forty years. That's pretty big stuff. Can you imagine having to be Moses' successor after all that? That's exactly what Joshua had to do. I can't even begin to imagine what Joshua was thinking at the time -- How can I possibly live up to Moses? But the Lord comforts and reassures Joshua and says, "as I was with Moses, so I will be with you!"
An artist went searching the streets of New York City for a model to pose for a portrait he wanted to call -- 'The Prodigal'. One day was passing Central Park and saw an impoverished beggar lying on a bench and thought: 'He's perfect! That man would represent the prodigal son beautifully in my painting.' He asked the beggar if he would be willing to sit for his painting and he would gladly pay him for his time. Naturally, the beggar agreed.
"If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer..... but our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior."
D. L. Moody told the story of a man who was crossing the Atlantic by ship. He was terribly sick and confined to his cabin. One night he heard the cry “Man overboard!” He felt that there was nothing he could do to help, but at second thought, he said to himself, “I guess I can at least put my lantern in the porthole.” He struggled to his feet and hung the light so it shined out into the darkness.
Chanukah, a time of celebration and rededication, began last Thursday night here in the Land and for Jewish people all over the globe. Those of us who are grafted in through the atoning work of Messiah, we who know God, have an opportunity to see the deeper significance in the Jewish holidays and are not only welcome but encouraged to celebrate as well!