The Ground, The Heart, Part 2
Yesterday we introduced the parable of the sower and began talking about our hearts as good ground. Today let’s talk about preparing our hearts to receive God’s Word. Let’s see from this parable what it takes to prepare our hearts to receive the seed, what it takes for it to grow into mature plants which produce fruit.
There is a life that we can live in this earth which is like days of Heaven on earth, the way it was in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve sinned. What every one of us must realize is that we have an enemy, a contender for our faith, a thief who has the purpose of stealing from us any word that we may get, killing our expectations and destroying our trust, our faith in the power of the Word to produce results in our lives.
As long as we are on this earth, there will be persecution, affliction and trials introduced by our enemy to defeat us. That will not go away. However, there is a place where we can walk consistently with God’s Word as our stronghold, our steady guide and walk right on through these places in victory. We don’t arrive overnight. We continue obeying God and His Word and rest in His victory over satan and his works and his emissaries.
There is work involved here but not working to achieve. The battle has already been won. The work is the work that we personally do with the Word of God. Our minds have to be renewed daily to His Word. We are living in a world that is contrary to the principles of God’s Word. We must know His Word so that we can counteract those worldly thoughts and belief system. The more we know God and His Word, the easier it becomes.
What we have to do is get past the beginner’s stage where it is so tough to overcome what we have believed for all those years, which is opposite to the way God thinks. Children are so blessed if they come to the Lord and learn His Word when they are young. They have very little to overcome in their thought patterns. They start out right.
When the seed of the Word of God is sown in our hearts, the first thing we must overcome is the lack of understanding of the Word. We may not grasp it right away. That is the place where we must dig our heels in and say that we are not quitting until we do understand. Our Teacher is the Holy Spirit. We must ask Him to teach us, show us the reality of scripture passages that we don’t understand. We must also ask Him to show us places in our minds and hearts that don’t line up with His Word. He will show us. He has shown me so much over the years and I am grateful.
The truth of the Word does, indeed, bring joy to our lives. We do accept it. We do receive it. We do welcome it. What we must realize is that there will be a contention by satan for that Word developing in our lives. The greatest thing we have to fight is offense, offense against God and others when things start happening to trouble us and it looks like the opposite is happening. We must beware of “why, God, why” and “when, God, when.” What the enemy wants us to do is to question God’s faithfulness to take care of us. That is exactly what offense does.
Then there are always all the anxieties of living in this world that come to tell us we aren’t going to make it. There is the temptation to dwell on the security of riches and forge ahead to bring those riches into our lives, even just for things we need. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus told us that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things will be added to us. I have personal testimony of that in my life when I lived as a widow for 18 years. But, you know, there is a practical side to that also. I didn’t spend beyond my income and run up great credit card debt just so I could have everything that I thought I wanted. My son and I never lacked for any good thing. God always supplied. And, yes, even though I was in the ministry, there were a number of years that I worked so that we would have the necessary income we needed.
We must be careful that we don’t crave and desire things of the world instead of God and His Kingdom. He will supply all that we need and desire. Let’s do it His way and fruit will be produced.
There is a life that we can live in this earth which is like days of Heaven on earth, the way it was in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve sinned. What every one of us must realize is that we have an enemy, a contender for our faith, a thief who has the purpose of stealing from us any word that we may get, killing our expectations and destroying our trust, our faith in the power of the Word to produce results in our lives.
As long as we are on this earth, there will be persecution, affliction and trials introduced by our enemy to defeat us. That will not go away. However, there is a place where we can walk consistently with God’s Word as our stronghold, our steady guide and walk right on through these places in victory. We don’t arrive overnight. We continue obeying God and His Word and rest in His victory over satan and his works and his emissaries.
There is work involved here but not working to achieve. The battle has already been won. The work is the work that we personally do with the Word of God. Our minds have to be renewed daily to His Word. We are living in a world that is contrary to the principles of God’s Word. We must know His Word so that we can counteract those worldly thoughts and belief system. The more we know God and His Word, the easier it becomes.
What we have to do is get past the beginner’s stage where it is so tough to overcome what we have believed for all those years, which is opposite to the way God thinks. Children are so blessed if they come to the Lord and learn His Word when they are young. They have very little to overcome in their thought patterns. They start out right.
When the seed of the Word of God is sown in our hearts, the first thing we must overcome is the lack of understanding of the Word. We may not grasp it right away. That is the place where we must dig our heels in and say that we are not quitting until we do understand. Our Teacher is the Holy Spirit. We must ask Him to teach us, show us the reality of scripture passages that we don’t understand. We must also ask Him to show us places in our minds and hearts that don’t line up with His Word. He will show us. He has shown me so much over the years and I am grateful.
The truth of the Word does, indeed, bring joy to our lives. We do accept it. We do receive it. We do welcome it. What we must realize is that there will be a contention by satan for that Word developing in our lives. The greatest thing we have to fight is offense, offense against God and others when things start happening to trouble us and it looks like the opposite is happening. We must beware of “why, God, why” and “when, God, when.” What the enemy wants us to do is to question God’s faithfulness to take care of us. That is exactly what offense does.
Then there are always all the anxieties of living in this world that come to tell us we aren’t going to make it. There is the temptation to dwell on the security of riches and forge ahead to bring those riches into our lives, even just for things we need. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus told us that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things will be added to us. I have personal testimony of that in my life when I lived as a widow for 18 years. But, you know, there is a practical side to that also. I didn’t spend beyond my income and run up great credit card debt just so I could have everything that I thought I wanted. My son and I never lacked for any good thing. God always supplied. And, yes, even though I was in the ministry, there were a number of years that I worked so that we would have the necessary income we needed.
We must be careful that we don’t crave and desire things of the world instead of God and His Kingdom. He will supply all that we need and desire. Let’s do it His way and fruit will be produced.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 10:12 AM
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