THE SEED UNDER ATTACK!

The Lord Jesus said something that should make every single child of God sit up and pay close attention:

“While men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way” (Matthew 13:25).

You may also like

You Must Be Born Again: What It Truly Means

The Scariest Thing about the Mercy of God

The Burden of Truth: How to Handle it Biblically

Notice that the enemy did not aggressively uproot the wheat. No, he didn’t!

Instead, he simply sowed something else right beside it. Ahhhh!

This reveals one of Satan’s greatest and most subtle strategies:

If he cannot stop God from planting His good seed in your life, he will try to plant another seed alongside it. If he cannot prevent the Zoe-life from entering your spirit at salvation, he will do everything in his power to stop that life from flourishing in your daily experience.

This is exactly how Satan has always operated. He does not fear you as an individual; he deeply fears what God has planted inside you.

The very moment God marks a life for His divine purpose, the enemy immediately becomes intensely interested in that life. Wherever God is actively working, Satan wants to interfere. Wherever God is building, Satan wants to corrupt. Wherever God is planting, Satan wants to stealthily sow his own seed.

Look at the life of Job. God delighted in Job, and immediately Satan’s attention was drawn to him to test and challenge that alignment (Job 1:8-12).

Look at Moses. God had ordained him to deliver Israel, and Pharaoh suddenly began killing Hebrew baby boys in an attempt to cut off the deliverer at birth (Exodus 1:15-22).

The enemy had seen that God was planting something massive.

Look at the Lord Jesus Himself. The moment the Father publicly declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” Satan immediately met Him in the wilderness to tempt Him (Matthew 3:16-17; 4:1-11).

Can you see the pattern?

Satan closely follows the activity of God. Whenever God begins a divine work, the enemy immediately begins planning a counterfeit.

That is why we must never remain ignorant of his devices. There are families that God has marked for generational revival, marriages that God intends to use to raise mighty sons and daughters, businesses that God wants to use to finance His global Kingdom, and young men and women who carry unusual destinies.

The enemy sees these things too, so he begins looking for where and how to sow. Sometimes he sows fear, offense, addiction, wrong friendships, false teaching, distraction, compromise, or an ambition that did not come from God. His goal is always exactly the same: to frustrate the flourishing of the life of God within you.

This is why we must never allow ourselves to become spiritually careless. The Lord Jesus specifically noted that the enemy came while men slept!!!

This is far more than physical sleep; it speaks of spiritual carelessness, passivity, a lack of watchfulness, and moments when we stop actively guarding what God has entrusted to us.

The enemy knows that if he can plant something in the field of your heart today, it may take years before its true, destructive nature becomes obvious. And that is the dangerous thing about tares: in their early stages, they look so much like genuine wheat that most people cannot tell the difference until they have fully grown.

That is exactly how many of Satan’s seeds operate. He quietly plants a thought, a fear, an offense, a wrong ambition, a counterfeit doctrine, a distraction, a shortcut, or even a form of religion that lacks true life. At first, none of these things may look dangerous. In fact, some of them may even look highly attractive or beneficial. But every single seed carries an internal nature, and given enough time and space, it will inevitably produce after its own kind.

This is why we can never judge a seed merely by how it looks when it is first introduced. We must ask a much deeper, more searching question:

Who planted it?

Because if our Heavenly Father did not plant it, no matter how harmless or attractive it appears today, it will eventually grow to compete with, choke, and resist the Zoe-life He has planted within us.

Sisters, this is one of the enemy’s oldest strategies, and he has not changed. He is still sowing. The critical question for us today is: are we actively watching, or are we sleeping?

WHILE MEN SLEPT,…

The Lord Jesus tells us exactly when the enemy came:

“While men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way” (Matthew 13:25).

Notice that the enemy did not dare to come while the man was actively watching; he waited until the man slept. This is not just talking about natural, physical sleep. It is speaking of deep spiritual carelessness, a state where we become passive, watchless, and no longer actively guard what God has entrusted into our hands.

This truth takes us right back to the Garden of Eden. When God originally placed Adam in the garden, He gave him a very specific assignment: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15).

The word “keep” means much more than merely tending to the flowers; it means to guard, watch over, protect, and preserve. Adam was designated as the keeper of the garden, fully responsible for guarding what God had planted.

Therefore, when the serpent appeared, something should have immediately raised an alarm in Adam’s spirit.

Imagine standing by and seeing a snake holding a conversation with your wife! He should have stepped in immediately and asked, “What is going on here? Why are you talking? Since when did you begin speaking? And why are you saying something completely different from what God told us?”

Adam should have stopped that conversation before another seed could be planted. Instead, he stood by passively, allowing another voice to enter the garden, another word to compete with God’s Word, and another seed to be sown.

That is exactly how the enemy still works today. Before Satan plants a destructive habit, he first plants a subtle thought. Before he plants a heavy bondage, he plants an idea. Before he plants a full-blown compromise, he plants a simple question: “Did God really say…?”

Everything begins with a seed.

The spiritual battle is rarely won or lost at the stage of the final action; it is almost always won or lost at the stage of the seed!!!

This is precisely why Proverbs admonishes us: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

Your heart is your field. Your mind is your field. Your marriage is a field, your family is a field, and your calling is a field. God has entrusted these valuable fields to you, not just for you to admire them, but to aggressively guard them.

Sisters, one of the greatest mistakes we can make is to become spiritually passive. To think, “It doesn’t matter,” “It’s just a thought,” “It’s only one conversation,” or “It’s only one compromise.” That is exactly how tares are successfully planted.

By the time they begin to visually appear above the ground, they have already taken deep root.

May the Lord awaken us from every form of spiritual slumber. May He make us truly watchful again and teach us to guard every good thing He has planted in our lives, so that the seed of Zoe will grow freely and accomplish all that He intended, in the mighty Name of Jesus.

SEED: WHAT KINDS DOES SATAN PLANT?

At this point, someone may naturally ask, “What exactly are these tares? What are the specific seeds that Satan plants?”

Many of us immediately think of the most obvious: blatant sins!

We think of immorality, drunkenness, witchcraft, or deep addiction. Yes, the devil certainly plants those things in the world.

But sisters, we must realize that Satan is far more subtle than that when dealing with the children of God.

Remember, tares look almost identical to wheat. If they looked completely different from the very start, nobody would ever mistake them for wheat. The unique danger of tares is that they closely resemble the real thing, occupy the same field, and grow right beside the wheat.

Yet, they have absolutely no true life in them; they only consume valuable space, nutrients, time, and attention!!!

That is still one of Satan’s greatest and most effective strategies today. He does not always bring something into your life that looks outwardly evil or sinister. Many times, he brings something that looks incredibly good, but it is simply not from God.

That is why we must learn to ask not only, “Is this a good thing?” but more importantly, “Did God actually plant this?”

The Lord Jesus explicitly stated: “Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up” (Matthew 15:13).

He did not say, “Every bad plant.” He said, “Every plant that My Father has not planted.”

This means there are things in our lives that may look highly attractive, acceptable, reasonable, or even deeply successful, yet they were never initiated or planted by God.

For example, God may be calling a man or woman into a season of deep, quiet intimacy with Him, and suddenly the enemy begins to whisper, “You are meant for far bigger things than this. You are wasting your potential. Look at your mates. Chase your success first; you can always seek God later.”

It sounds wise, ambitious, and progressive. But if God did not plant that specific ambition in your heart, it is a tare!

As a result, a person may begin pursuing a career path God never asked them to touch. They leave home before sunrise and return late at night, utterly exhausted every single day. Consequently, prayer completely disappears, the Word becomes an occasional thought, fellowship becomes a burden, and their initial love for God begins to grow dangerously cold.

The devil has successfully achieved his goal; he did not stop them from being successful in the eyes of the world, he simply distracted them entirely from the Zoe-life of God.

Or think about the tare of religion.

Ah! Religion is one of the most dangerous and deceptive tares the enemy has ever planted in the soil of the Church.

Religion cleverly teaches people how to appear spiritual without ever becoming spiritual. It trains them to know the language of Zion without knowing the God of Zion, to work for God but never walk with Him, to preach holiness without living a holy life, and to wear Christianity like an outward garment while remaining entirely unchanged within.

That is a terrible, lifeless counterfeit!

It looks exactly like wheat from a distance, but it contains absolutely no Zoe. Ayaaaaaa!

The Apostle Paul explicitly warned the Corinthians that just as the serpent deceived Eve through his subtlety, our minds can also be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Sisters, this is why we must stay dynamically close to the Holy Spirit. Not every opportunity is from God, not every open door is from God, not every piece of counsel is from God, and not every relationship, ambition, trend, or teaching is from God.

The ultimate question we must ask is always the same: “Father, did You plant this?” If He did not, do not cultivate it, do not protect it, do not water it, and do not make excuses for it. Uproot it immediately before it grows strong enough to compete with and choke the Zoe that God has planted within you.

The enemy is still actively sowing, but by the grace of God, we will become women who know the Shepherd’s voice, reject every counterfeit seed, and aggressively guard the field of our hearts until the pure life of Christ flourishes unhindered, to the glory of God in the Mighty Name of Jesus. 

THE SHORTCUT IS ALWAYS A COUNTERFEIT SEED

One of the most dangerous seeds Satan plants in the heart of a believer is the seed of the shortcut. The devil has always deeply hated God’s prescribed way.

He does not necessarily mind you reaching a desirable destination, as long as you do not get there through God’s process.

That is exactly what happened when our Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. After forty days and forty nights of fasting, Satan came to Him. One of the greatest temptations he presented was not merely the temptation of bread; it was the temptation of a shortcut. He showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory in a single moment, and then said: “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9).

Think about what Satan was actually offering in that moment.

Jesus came to the earth specifically to recover what Adam had lost, to destroy the works of the devil, to redeem fallen mankind, and to receive all authority in heaven and on earth through perfect obedience to the Father.

But Satan came with a bypass: “You don’t have to go through the agony of the cross. You don’t have to suffer. You don’t have to obey your Father all the way to Calvary. Just take this other route, and I can immediately give you something that looks exactly like what your Father promised.”

That is exactly how Satan still operates today. He offers dominion without obedience, glory without suffering, a crown without a cross, success without intimacy, ministry without brokenness, blessings without holiness, and superficial results without the deep dealings of God!

Sisters, we must be incredibly careful.

Anything that promises to deliver God’s destination while asking you to abandon God’s path is a counterfeit seed!

The devil still whispers to us today, saying, “This road is too hard. This way is too narrow. You don’t really need to die to yourself, carry your cross, forgive, submit, or be holy. There is a much easier way to get what you want.”

But there is a truth we must firmly settle in our hearts once and for all: there is absolutely no life outside of Jesus!

Jesus did not say, “I am one of the options.” He declared:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man commeth unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

There is only one way into the Father’s presence, only one way into Zoe-life, only one way into God’s eternal purpose, and only one way into the Ark of safety.

Look at Noah’s ark during the flood. There was only one door built into the side of it. You could not climb through the roof, enter through a window, or create your own separate entrance. If you wanted to preserve your life, you had to enter strictly through the door God provided.

It is exactly the same today. You may spend ten, twenty, or even forty years running down the wrong road, but the day you finally discover that you have been walking on a path God never ordained, you will still have to come right back to the exact spot where you left His path. You will still have to begin walking the narrow way all over again! You cannot jump classes!

Why waste those precious years? Why expend your strength pursuing a road that does not lead to the Father? Why choose a path that ends in ultimate disappointment when the Lord has already opened for us a new and living way through the veil of His flesh (Hebrews 10:19–20)?

Sisters, let us firmly refuse every shortcut, reject every counterfeit, and silence every voice that tells us to obtain God’s promises outside of God’s process.

The cross may be costly, obedience may be painful, and waiting may be difficult. But on the other side of that narrow path is true life. On the other side is Zoe, and on the other side is the enduring glory of God. May the Lord give us the grace to reject every shortcut the enemy places before us and to walk faithfully on the narrow path that leads to life, in the mighty Name of Jesus.

HOW DOES THE ENEMY SOW HIS SEED TODAY?

Sisters, the devil does not usually come carrying a placard that says, “I am here to destroy your destiny.” He comes with a seed. It looks completely small at first, and it looks entirely harmless. But years later, it begins to grow. That is why Jesus warned us: “While men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat…” (Matthew 13:25). What exactly might those tares look like in our everyday lives today?

Perhaps the Lord has called a young woman to raise a godly home that will become a powerful testimony of biblical womanhood. She is passionate about Christ, and she longs to disciple her children, support her husband, and actively serve the Kingdom. Then, almost overnight, a strange physical affliction appears. She wakes up unable to walk. Suddenly, hospital visits replace her spiritual intimacy, and grueling physical rehabilitation replaces her private ministry. Instead of spending her strength on the glorious assignment God gave her, she must spend it fighting an unexpected physical battle. Could it be that the enemy has sown a tare specifically to contend with the divine seed within her? Be the judge.

Or consider a husband and wife whom God ordained to chase ten thousand together. Before marriage, they were both exceptionally healthy and strong. But after marriage, one unexplained sickness follows another: PCOS, infertility, hormonal disorders, chronic pain, and mysterious conditions. They face endless medical appointments, endless expenses, and an endless emotional strain. The very couple that should have been dynamically advancing the Kingdom together now spend their days advancing from one clinical specialist to another. The enemy understands a spiritual law: if he can completely occupy their lives with constant, exhausting physical battles, he can rob them of their intimacy with God and weaken the manifestation of Zoe.

Take another family for instance. They have finally made a quality decision: “We will give ourselves wholly to the Lord. We will serve Him with all our hearts.” Then suddenly, the husband develops a severe psychiatric condition. Everything changes in an instant. Their days become filled with specialists, heavy medications, psychiatric emergencies, and sleepless nights. Instead of growing deeper in the Lord together, all their marital energy is consumed by mere survival. Prayer points changed heavily from spiritual growth to deliverance. The enemy has planted a heavy thing, hoping to choke the life God intended to flourish.

Or imagine a sister who sincerely desires to grow in God. She has a simple job that allows her plenty of time to pray, study the Word, attend fellowship, and cultivate deep intimacy with the Holy Spirit. Then, a glittering new opportunity comes along: a better salary, a better car, and better social status. Everyone warmly congratulates her, and it looks like a clear promotion from heaven. But she never truly sought the Lord about it, or perhaps she chose to ignore His gentle, internal warning. Now, her mornings are frantically rushed, and her evenings are completely exhausted. She still manages a quick, thirty-minute devotional; she still follows the daily reading plan, and she still posts encouraging Scriptures on her social media platforms. Outwardly, everything looks absolutely fine. But inwardly, the precious seed of Zoe is no longer being cultivated as before. Years later, she discovers that she has gained a successful career but drifted completely from the assignment God originally gave her. The enemy did not need to make her immoral; he only needed to distract her. That was a tare.

Sometimes the devil does not destroy you through blatant sin. Sometimes he destroys your purpose through subtle distraction. Sometimes he plants extreme busyness, constant crises, fear, sickness, or opportunities that are completely outside God’s will. Sometimes he plants relationships that slowly, quietly pull your heart away from Christ.

The tragedy is that while we are busy dealing with the tares, the wheat is no longer receiving the focused attention it needs to grow.

If he cannot uproot the seed, he will do everything possible to choke its growth, divert your attention, consume your time, and weaken your intimacy with God, because Zoe only grows where intimacy is cultivated. If your intimacy is continually contended with, the manifestation of that divine life is inevitably delayed.

HOW DOES THE ENEMY CHOKE ZOE IN US?

The Lord Jesus did not leave us guessing. He told us some of the very things that choke the life He plants within us.

In the Parable of the Sower, He explicitly stated:

“And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark 4:18–19).

Furthermore, Luke adds another critically important phrase to this warning:

“…they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection” (Luke 8:14).

Notice something of vital importance in these verses: Jesus did not say that the seed died. He said it became unfruitful.

The life was fully there, the divine potential was there, and the Word had been genuinely received. But something else simultaneously occupied the field until the life of God could no longer flourish as it was designed to do.

This is exactly what Satan wants. He does not always need to completely remove Zoe from your life; if he can simply choke it and keep it from bearing fruit, he has already successfully accomplished much of his malicious purpose.

To achieve this, the Lord mentioned several specific “thorns” that we must look out for. First, He highlighted the cares of this world.

These are the everyday anxieties, weights, and pressures of life: food, rent, bills, school fees, work, and family responsibilities. None of these things are inherently sinful in themselves. But when they consume our thoughts and drain our hearts until there is no room left for God, they subtly begin to choke the divine life within us.

Next, He spoke clearly about the deceitfulness of riches. Notice that He did not say “riches” themselves were the thorn; He specifically warned against the deceitfulness of riches. Riches deceive the human heart. They quietly whisper: “If you just have enough money, you will finally have absolute peace. If you become successful enough, you won’t need to depend on God as much. Just pursue wealth first, and you can seek God properly later.”

That is a total lie. Money makes a wonderful servant, but it makes a terrible master. The very moment the pursuit of riches replaces the pursuit of Christ, the life of God within you begins to be suffocated.

Then, Jesus explicitly mentioned the desires for other things and the pleasures of this life. This is undoubtedly one of Satan’s greatest and most deployed weapons in our 2026 generation. Everything around us clamors for your attention, your affection, your time, and your heart: social media, modern entertainment, endless digital scrolling, public recognition, popularity, physical comfort, and personal ambition. None of these things may appear evil or harmful at first glance; in fact, many of them look exactly like wheat. But if they gradually take the sacred place that belongs to Christ alone, they transform into deadly thorns.

Sisters, this is why comparison is so dangerous. You look at someone else’s life and suddenly become deeply dissatisfied with the beautiful story God is writing through yours. Ah, no!

Comparison plants discontentment, discontentment produces human striving, and striving completely steals your peace. Before long, you find yourself frantically chasing a life God never wrote for you. The thorn has successfully begun to choke the seed.

This is why we must never judge a life or a ministry purely by outward appearances. Someone may look phenomenally successful to the world and yet be completely barren in the spirit. Someone may appear deeply religious and yet have absolutely no Zoe flourishing within. Someone may have massive influence, applause, wealth, titles, and recognition, while the life of God inside them is slowly being suffocated to death. Only God sees the true state of the field.

Therefore, our prayer must never be, “Father, make me look successful and fruitful to men.” Instead, our prayer must be: “Father, remove every single thorn. Remove every tare. Remove absolutely everything that competes with Your life within me, until Your Zoe flourishes freely and bears fruit to perfection.”

A MAJOR WAY THE ENEMY SOWS TARES IN WOMEN TODAY

Another way the enemy sows tares today is through the voices we continually allow into our hearts. These days, especially in Nigeria, there are countless pastors, teachers, coaches, influencers, and counselors all over social media. Every single day, they are teaching about marriage, purpose, parenting, finances, business, relationships, and even the Christian life. Sis, you must be incredibly careful about what you are feeding on!!!

Many of these teachings sound very wise, highly practical, and deeply intelligent. They make perfect sense to the natural, human mind. Yet, little by little, they are subtly teaching you to rely less on the Holy Spirit and more on yourself. They tell you, “Use your brain,” “Don’t over-spiritualize everything,” “You cannot be asking God about every little thing,” or “Just do what works,” ”Why did God give you a brain?” ”I cannot take that from my own husband” 

Before you even realize what has happened, you have completely stopped asking, “Father, what do You want?” Instead, you have begun asking, “What is the smartest thing for me to do?” That is a tare of a seed.

Remember what we have been learning throughout this entire journey of Juicy July. The true Christian life is not merely about making good, smart decisions. It is about completely abandoning our own life so that the uncreated life of Christ may live through us.

The Holy Spirit was never given to us to be our adviser; He was given to be our absolute Leader. Our Guide. Our Teacher.

Be careful, sisters. Sometimes, just thirty seconds of a social media clip can plant a toxic seed that takes years of agonizing prayer to uproot. It could be one minute of relationship advice, forty-five seconds of parenting counsel, a short motivational speech, or a relationship expert telling you, “Never let your husband do this to you.” Another voice says, “Protect yourself first,” while another claims, “Children are a burden; don’t let them stop your dreams,” and yet another whispers, “You deserve better than this.”

You listen, it sounds perfectly reasonable, and it even feels temporarily empowering. You save the video, and you share it with your friends. But you do not realize that a strange seed has just entered the soil of your heart.

Months later, the home that was once completely peaceful is no longer peaceful. You find yourself becoming easily irritated with your husband. You begin keeping financial or emotional secrets because an online counselor taught you that you must always protect yourself. Oneness begins to disappear, submission begins to feel like degrading weakness, and sacrifice begins to feel like unfair oppression. Your children suddenly become frustrating interruptions instead of a beautiful inheritance from the Lord. The home that was once growing in Christ slowly but surely begins to grow in self.

What on earth happened? A seed was planted while you were sleeping!!!!!

Sisters, you must guard your heart with all diligence. Not everything that is popular is profitable, not everything that is practical is spiritual, and not everything that sounds worldly-wise comes from the Spirit of God. You must ask yourself continually before taking any teaching in:

These searching questions will save you from cultivating many dangerous tares.

GUARD YOUR FIELD

As we bring today’s study to a close, the Holy Spirit leaves us with a very simple but incredibly powerful responsibility: guard your field.

God is the One who plants, and God is the One who faithfully gives the increase. But He has also uniquely entrusted you with the personal responsibility of guarding what He has planted within your life.

That was Adam’s primary assignment in the Garden of Eden. The Lord placed him there “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). He was to cultivate it, but he was also to aggressively guard it. Unfortunately, Adam failed to guard the boundaries of the garden, and another seed quickly found its way into the precise place where only God’s seed should have been.

Sisters, do not make that same mistake. The enemy will come, that should not surprise you. The bird will fly over your head. The question is never whether it will come; the question is whether you will allow it to build a nest.

Martin Luther once famously said, “You cannot keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.”

The enemy may bring the thought, the temptation, the fear, the offense, or the advertisement, but you are the one who must decide whether it stays.

Satan is constantly advertising his products. He knows your human weaknesses, your history, and the exact places where you once fell, so he places the same familiar temptations before you again. The question is: will you buy it?

You are the one who decides. He may knock loudly on the door of your heart, but you are the one who decides whether that door will be opened!

He may whisper another toxic thought into your mind, but you are the one who decides whether that thought will be entertained or cast down.

You cannot stop Satan from knocking, but by the grace of God, you can absolutely refuse to let him in.

This is exactly why the Bible strongly tells us: “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

Your heart is simply too precious to leave unguarded. Your marriage is too precious, your children are too precious, your calling is too precious, and the Zoe-life that God has planted within you is far too precious. Do not allow strange, wild seeds to grow beside it. Do not allow yourself to become spiritually sleepy or careless with your prayer life, with the Word of God, with the voices you listen to, with the friendships you keep, or with the things you continually feed your mind. Stay awake, stay watchful, and stay close to Jesus.

If, as the Holy Spirit has been speaking to you today, you have recognized specific seeds that your Heavenly Father did not plant, do not protect them. Do not excuse them, do not negotiate with them, and do not try to learn to live with them.

The Lord Jesus has already declared: “Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up” (Matthew 15:13).

Bring them before the Lord today and let them be thoroughly uprooted. By the power of the Holy Spirit, refuse every shortcut, every counterfeit, every lie, every distraction, and every seed that competes with the life of God.

Guard the field that God has entrusted to you. Protect the seed of Zoe, water it with the Word, strengthen it through prayer, and nourish it by consistent obedience. In due season, that little seed will become exactly what God intended it to become: a mighty tree, full of life, full of fruit, and full of His glory, blessing generations to come.

May the Lord keep us awake. May He make us faithful keepers of His field, and may the Zoe He has planted within us flourish unhindered until Christ is fully formed in us, entirely to the glory of God. Amen.

Prayer