Frankie Mazzapica - Three Vineyards
Thank you for tuning in today. My name is Frankie Mazzapica, the title of today's message is "Three Vineyards," Three Vineyards. Let me just lay a scriptural foundation straight away. It's in the Song of Solomon chapter 1, verse 6, where the Bible says, "You have been made a keeper of the vineyards, but you have not kept our vineyard," God's vineyard. You're taking care of everything else, but this, your world, you have forsaken it. Let me kind of focus on three points, the first point is the vineyard that you wouldn't necessarily volunteer for, but it's a responsibility.
The third one, I'm sorry, the second point, I'm gonna talk about the vineyard in your backyard, and that particular vineyard has three different sections in it, and we're gonna talk about that. And then the third point is the fruit, the three types of fruit that you receive when you focus, going back to point number two, on the three vineyards within your backyard. So, let me talk about the vineyard that you have to pay attention to, it's time-consuming, you don't have a choice, you gotta do it.
The first one is your occupation, your job, this is the vineyard that you have to pay attention to. It doesn't translate to eternity, it translates to putting fried chicken on your dinner plate, that's how, it translates to turning the lights on it, it translates to having a car and gas, you get what I'm saying. It's time-consuming. You wake up in the morning, you're thinking about this vineyard, you're thinking about it eight hours, some of you ten hours a day, the drive home you're thinking about it, you get home and you gotta decompress, it's the vineyard that you gotta keep. Then there's other vineyards that you don't really like to do, but it's a responsibility, and I'm gonna use parenting as this.
There's two parts of parenting, there's the type of parenting that comes from your heart and soul, and then there's the part of parenting that's just like a responsibility, like, you know, being an Uber driver for your kids, right? It's the changing the diapers, it's like nobody's like, "I can't wait to have a baby, I just wanna change diapers for two years," right? It's the responsibility, it's the vineyard part. Which is kind of funny, because we have three children and our first one, her name is Presley, and when she was born, she loved to have like this little nook, pacifier.
And we carried her like she was made of glass, right? And any time the nook fell out of her mouth and landed on the ground, we'll probably throw it away, like, "That's trash". Or it would be sanitized in a machine, we'd put it under hot water before it goes back into her mouth. The second kid, the second kid is Luke, we're so sorry about this, but the nook falls out of his mouth, we pick it up off the floor, "All right, it's ready," are you with me? The third kid, poor Kate, nook falls out of her mouth, lay down, pick it up, just stick it back in there, it's a two-second rule, you'll be just fine. Are you with me?
These are the vineyards of responsibility, you have to take care of the responsibility, they're time-consuming, as it should be. When Adam and Eve were in the garden, they didn't just walk around whispering, "I love you," "I love you," "No, I love you," "I love you more," "I love you more". I tell you what, it's frustrating, and sometimes Allie and I will do this, and she upstages me. I'll say, "Allie, I love you so much," and then she'll go, "I love you more". And I'm like, "Well, now what do I do"? "I love you to the moon and back," you know, you gotta pull that out. "I love you to infinity".
Okay, you know what? Just know I love you with, you know, I'm running out of words. Adam and Eve didn't walk around going, "I love you," "Oh, no, I love you too". No, they had to take care of the garden, they had a vineyard given to them, a responsibility, and it was time-consuming. But then, as the Scripture says, "You have been given a vineyard to keep, but you have not kept your own vineyard". What are we talking about here? Well, our own vineyard in our own backyard, it's broken up into sections. In one of the sections is your own spirit, where the Lord's saying, "Have you taken care of the vineyard within your spirit"?
I'm just gonna give you a few examples for the sake of time. As you live your life, no doubt someone comes into your life and hurts you, you didn't provoke that level of hurt. You're not perfect, but it didn't merit those words, it didn't merit that abandonment, it didn't merit that, and so it's painful. And so, now there's a level of anger that rises up in the spirit, it's in your spirit. And so, now there's anger, and the interesting thing about anger is once you get angry at someone, it's easy to get angry at someone else. Have you ever been around somebody and they're always bitter, they're always angry, there's always criticizing someone?
You can see it in their face, they call your phone and you know, you gotta wait for six rings before you hit decline so they don't know you hit decline? I got a friend of mine that, in their phone, they put as their name, "Do Not Answer". They just drain the mess out of you, it's just they're angry. The Bible says this in Song of Solomon in chapter 2, verse 15, it says, "Beware of the little foxes, that sneak into your vineyard to kill the fruit". These are the foxes, there's anger or there's these addictions that nobody knows about, there's this self-hatred. We were talking to a friend of ours and she said, "We experienced the lowest moment of our life as a parent last year because I looked at my daughter's arm and I could see that she was cutting herself".
This is the little foxes coming in to tell this poor girl evil lies about herself, and not hearing God's voice, it's a fight. And let me just tell you, if you're in this room or you're hearing my voice, let me just say, this is the voice of the enemy. And I want you to say, "God, I need to see you, I need to see myself the way you see me," and you pray that prayer, and he will help you and he will deliver you. Come on, he will help you. But these are the foxes that come into our vineyard to pull us down and to draw us into, they pull you into certain areas where you know you're living a life of sin. Nobody needs to tell you, you know it. And the Lord's saying, "You've been given care of the vineyard," your job, your responsibilities, "But your own soul is dying".
Another category or section of your own vineyard is your family, this is a very touchy thing, because families, they're not important, they're the most important, but yet they're the most delicate. It's like looking at a rose, the rose is the prettiest flower in the garden, but it's also delicate. I was at a funeral a couple of years ago, and my friend, his father died. So, I wasn't officiating it, I was just listening, and he got up there and he said, "My father didn't tell me that he loved me very much, but I knew it deep down inside". And my heart just broke, it just broke it, it shattered, because who in this room doesn't need our parent to say "I love you"?
Who in this room, maybe your mother, your father has already passed away, and you miss hearing them say, "I love you, Sweetie"? And when I was there, this probably happened like five years ago, now, my daughter was like 15, my oldest daughter was like 15 at that time, and I thought, "This is insane, what father in their right mind wouldn't just call and say, 'I love you'"? But at that time, my kids were little and when they're little, you look at your boys and you say, "Big boy, you're strong, you're strong," but with little girls, you take the princess route, "You're so pretty, you're so sweet, you're so kind, you're sweet as, you know, buttermilk pie". "That's my boy," you know?
And it's easy to be loving and caring, but then, as they get older, it becomes a little bit more of a challenge. You know, like I said, my daughter's 20, she's off to college, and I squeeze my phone, going, "I know I need to call her, I know I need to call her," but as a dad I'm like, "She's probably busy, I shouldn't interrupt her". And then what I find is days go by and I haven't called her.
You know, it's much easier for Allie, she's like, "Hey, what are you doing"? And I'm like, "I wanna be able to do that, but it's just awkward". And I have to do that because our family is our vineyard, it's our vineyard, it's our vineyard. And I tell you, if you're a parent, you gotta break through awkward moments, you gotta break through, otherwise, on your funeral, your kids will stand there and go, "Well, I always knew they loved me, even though they didn't say it, I always knew it". That's not the legacy we want to have. Are you with me? Say yes, come on, yes.
Those of you who have your children in children's church right now, I'm telling you that is the greatest thing you'll probably do with your entire life, to get them in there and to take them to church. There'll be times where you're like, "I don't feel like going". Who cares about you in this conversation? This has everything to do with your kid. Our two oldest went to private school and elementary school, and Allie and I would say, "Hey, as soon as you're ready to go to public school, let us know. Maybe you wanna graduate in this private school, we're fine with that. You wanna go to public school? We're fine with that too".
We just started them off there. Well, both of them, as soon as they got to high school, were like, "We're ready to go," and both of them, as soon as they went to that first day of school, I looked at Allie and I said, "There is nothing about sex they do not know as of right now". First day of school, first day, as soon as they sit at that lunch table, there's nothing they don't know. Now all the parents in the room are going, "Oh shoot," but you know. If our kids don't spend time in that Sunday school, their foundation is not there, and they will get blown around like a dead leaf down the street, a dead leaf, if it's not in there.
And this is what gets scary, as they grow up, you don't even wanna ask what church they go to, because as a parent, you don't wanna hear them say, "Well, I haven't picked one yet, so I haven't been there". Parents who have little children, you are on a clock, doot, because you can control them, "Oh, you're going to church, you're going to church," but you're on a stop clock, because there's gonna be a day where they got hair under their arms, and you say, "You're going to church," and they're like, "You may be going to church, I'm staying home". And what are you gonna do? They're grown, checkmate. Parents have this much time...to work on their vineyard with their kids, this much time... Now, let me encourage the parents who have adults, and you're sitting there and you're going, "Well, I blew it".
Let me encourage you. Our whole family tree, none of them believed in Jesus Christ, none. My father, 20 years old, 19, 20 years old, got invited to church. Now my dad grew up in Queens, so he could not speak, couldn't say a sentence unless there was 17 F-words in there. I can't, "F you," there we go, there we go. He got invited to church three, four times, "F you, I'm not going to your F-ing church, and you know, your F-ing mom," he just went around and talked about everything. One day, he picked up a shovel and flung it at him... clink, blink. Finally, my dad said, "Fine, I'll go to church, once".
He walked through the back door, cried his way down to the altar, raised his hands and worshiped God. His kids are in church, his grandkids are in church, I wanna challenge you, parents, "Lord, arrest his heart, arrest her mind, arrest them". I'm gonna tell you, all the way back up, I think if you took our family tree all the way back up, I think it goes to Cain, they're all bad, all the way down, until you get to my dad. Your family is your vineyard, your spirit, keep those foxes out of there. And then, very last, I wanna talk about your heart.
The Bible says, I think it's in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verse 11, it says that, "The Lord has placed eternity in every heart". Let me give you the Frankie International Version. When the Lord made you, he put lungs, gave you bones, gave you a brain, whether you use it or not, it's a brain, gave you veins, gave you skin. He placed it within you, and then, he didn't stop there, he placed eternity in you, which means every person is believing and longing for something more. If you look at Hollywood, they put more money into a particular genre of movies than any other genre and it's not chick flicks. No, there is an element of supernatural power. I'll give you an example. Don't ever watch horror movies again, ever, that is demonic.
When I'm in the movie theater and those come up as previews, ... hat down, you don't let that stuff get in there, and if it already got in there, pray that it gets out of there, it's bad stuff, God will take it out... just pull it right out. But why do people like to watch horror movies? Supernatural. Why do people like to watch "Superman," "Batman," and all these? You know, Batman has no powers, but he's just really, really rich, but why do people like to watch superheroes? It's supernatural, if they can bring an element of supernatural powers, they know the world comes out too. Why is that?
There's a gravitational pull towards eternity, and this is in your heart and the Lord's saying, "This is your vineyard". It's not just your family, it's to cultivate this, put your mind on it, think about it. Don't just pay attention to the vineyard of putting bacon on your plate and making a salary. No, no, no, no, no, no, your family, your heart, watch out for those little foxes. If you do that, the spirit you pay attention to the most is the spirit that is most dominant in your life. I'm challenging you, constantly, mind's attention, heart's affection on God, mind's attention, heart's affection. And just talk to him, "I love you, just want you to know, I love you. I love you, I just want you to know I love you".
One spirit can't exist, two spirits can't exist in the same spot, it's either a demonic, evil spirit, full of temptation and bitterness and addiction, or it's the presence of God, two can't be in the same spot. And the one that is there is the one that you're paying attention to. Just for the sake of it, would you put your hands together? That's really good, I'm just like, "That's really good".
Three benefits for taking care of those three vineyards in your heart, this is point number three. The first one is God kills the foxes. See, these foxes of bitterness and anger and resentment and affliction, you can't kill those, you can't kill them. There's certain drugs out there, from what I hear, you can walk away from them, right? Like a person who's smoking weed, if they're like, "I'm not gonna", it doesn't have as much of an addictive line, I don't know the right thing. But if you take heroin, if you take crack, if you take cocaine, the probability of being freed from that and you never do it again, it's almost impossible.
This is a fox that can come in someone's life with long fangs and drain the spirit right out of them, these are foxes. But when you're paying attention, "Lord, I love you, my mind is on you," I'm not paying attention to that spirit, I'm turning my face, I don't care if I gotta walk away from every single friend I got, I'll have no friends before I have those friends. The Lord steps in and he says, "I see you paying attention to your vineyard, I see those addictions, and guess what? You can't kill them, so I'm gonna kill them".
That's how easy. If you need a physical healing, a healing in your spirit, never forget this: It's as easy for God to do that miracle as it is for you to blink. You don't even think about blinking, it's the easiest thing you do, blink, blink, blink, I just said 700 blinks without even blinking, it's easy. So, he says, "I'm gonna get rid of the foxes," and then he says this, "I am going to show you your purpose". You pick up a job because you need a job, but your purpose, why you're here.
Now, a lot of times your job and your purpose can kinda overlap, but to see clearly the strategy that God has to where your eyes can look into another person's eyes and you just know what to do, this is your divine invitation. You can reject it if you want to, it's your divine invitation. That's why my first book is "Your Divine Invitation," because I talk about it.
So, what are the benefits for taking care of this vineyard? One, he kills the foxes; two, he introduces to you what your divine invitation is and how to walk in it; and then, number three, the other fruit for paying attention to this vineyard is this intimacy with God that you didn't even know existed. My wife and I were in New Jersey last week, we were in New Jersey for a few days, I needed to oversee or officiate a wedding. We went to New York for three days after that just to be with each other. But while I was in New Jersey, I just felt sad out of nowhere, I'm having a blast, I'm with my family, we're having a blast.
And I was like, "What in the world is going on"? I just felt heavy, I felt sad, and then it dawned on me, "I'm in vacation mode, so my usual routine has been crazy, it's been interrupted, so I'm not praying like I usually do, and now I feel distant from the Lord, so now I am exposed to the devil to make me as sad as he wants". So, I said, "I need to get away and get on my knees".
And then about that time Allie comes along, she's like, I think I'm gonna go work out, just like that, "Work out," I love you, in this hotel, little fitness area. I was like, "Perfect, you go work out, I'm going to the room, I'm gonna shut the door behind me and I'm just gonna say, 'Lord, I love you.'" And what's so wonderful about God is, one sentence, intimacy right there, "I love you". This is a reward, a fruit, for taking care of your own vineyard. Do you receive that, today? Come on, receive that.