Kingdom Growth Occurs “Without Visible Cause”

10 Monday Oct 2011

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26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”  Mark 4:26-29

      When I was in the third grade my teacher gave us all cups with potting soil inside.  Next, she provide the class with seeds.  Yes, little sunflower seeds were entrusted to us to plant in our cups.  We all had learned the growth process of plants and now we were getting some first hand knowledge.  With the seeds planted firmly in the soil, they were placed in the window seal.  I was an impatient little farmer and I wanted to see some action.  The first few days there was some complaining among the third grade farmers.  Where were the results?  Fortunately for our teacher, we had to leave them there for a long weekend.  She probably planned it that way!  When we came back everyone’s seed had sprouted and was shooting for the sky.  It was an amazing sight for third grade eyes.  I learned a life long lesson there in that third grade class.  Given the right conditions, seeds planted will grow.  All you have to do is put it in the ground and God will do the rest. 

      This is the same “spiritual” lesson Jesus was trying to teach His disciples in Mark 4.  The word He uses is “automatos“.  It is our word automatic.  It means “without visible cause.”  Seeds planted in the ground grow without visible cause.  A small, insignificant seed is buried in the ground and remains unseen.  Its growth is somewhat secret and mysterious.  Yet it grows until maturity. 

      This is a spiritual law in the Kingdom of God.  Anything you plant in God’s Kingdom will come back 30, 60 and 100 fold.  The how and why is not up to us.  All we as believers have to do is plant seed, the Lord does the rest.  This is why Jesus said “the Kingdom of God is just like a man who cast seed in the soil.”   If we can be farmers here on earth, then we can be farmers in the Kingdom of God as well. 

      The only question we have to ask and answer is…Do we trust the Lord?  Because just as the earthly planting process occurs without cause, so does the spiritual process.  The Lord is responsible for the growth and return.  Lets go back to my third grade class.  I wanted to dig up my seed to see if there was anything happening down in the soil.  If I had kept digging up my seed, would there have been any growth?  No!  The only way for growth to happen is to trust the process. 

      I encourage you today to trust God in your own spiritual process.  Ask the Lord where and what you need to be planting in His Kingdom.  Find a place in your own heart for the word of the Lord to grow.  You will not be able to see it happen, but you will glorify the Lord in the process. 

Blessings,

Pastor

Have You Seen Lately What You Have Been Hearing?

09 Sunday Oct 2011

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24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”  Mark 4:24-25

                I don’t like stepping on the scales.   The scales keeping telling me I’m putting too much food in my mouth.  Ouch!  I keep telling myself, “This can’t be right!”  In the end the scales are always right.  I’ve just been living in denial.  Maybe you have been there? 

                Jesus is discussing with His followers a principle of the Kingdom about hearing.  He is literally saying, “Look at what you hear.”  Now we can’t actually look at what we are hearing because words are sounds and they cannot be seen.  So, just what exactly is Jesus implying.  Jesus is saying we all need to examine our hearing process.  Because all the words and revelations the Father shares with us are placed on scales and measured.  Heaven knows what goes into our ears and the Lord expects a return on His investment. 

                 We have already admitted to ourselves that the scales do not lie… or least I did.  God’s scales do not lie either.  The Lord wants to us to pay close attention to our hearing/listening process because His daily bread to us is more valuable than our real food.  Even though God’s revelations can be difficult to understand at times, they are not impossible to grasp.  They simply require an investment of time and energy on our part.  God will never invite us to accomplish something that is impossible.  Sometimes He may hide the answers so that we will dig and appreciate the process.  These types of difficulties should only serve to spur us on to greater depths, not quit in frustration. 

                Let me share one more important truth with you.  There are heavenly truths and secrets awaiting the genuine seeker right now.  The Lord doesn’t want us to keep studying the saints of yesteryear at the cost of neglecting to seek His face.  There are fresh truths waiting to be released from heaven right now.  This is why the Lord gives us parables.  These little riddles sift out those with other agendas from the genuine seeker.  When we come to the Lord with our agendas and preconceived notions, then we will miss discovering a real relationship with the Lord. 

                I want to encourage you to begin seeking the Lord and expect to receive a fresh revelation from the Lord.  If you have seen the movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, then purpose to be more like Frodo, not Gandolf.    In the movie, the fellowship is trying to make their way to destroy the ring of power.  They reach a point where they have to go through a series of mines. The problem is that the door of the mine is locked and they can’t get inside. Gandolf doesn’t take the time to read the inscription on the door, and instead, he tries all the secret passwords that he knows. Of course, none of them work, so he sits down in frustration, giving up. But the simple hobbit Frodo reads the inscription and he sees that it’s a riddle. So Frodo solves the riddle and the solution to the riddle opens the door. 

                Approach the Lord with fresh eyes tomorrow.  There are no secret passwords to His presence.  He doesn’t want you to act religious with Him any longer.  He simply wants to you to pursue Him and experience a loving relationship with Him.  It is that simple.  He is waiting. 

Blessings,

Pastor

Encouraging Faith Quotes

08 Saturday Oct 2011

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“Now Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  HEBREWS 11:1

A FAITH that hasn’t been tested can’t be trusted.
– Adrian Rogers

FAITH, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.
– A. W. Tozer

FAITH is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a Gift from God.
– Blaise Pascal

A FAITH to live by, a self to live with, and a purpose to live for.
– Bob Harrington

FAITH is the art of holding on to things your reason once accepted, despite your changing moods.
– C. S. Lewis

Obedience is the fruit of FAITH.
– Christina Rossetti

FAITH is building on what you know is here, so you can reach what you know is there.
– Cullen Hightower

FAITH is the refusal to panic.
– David Martyn Lloyd-Jones

FAITH makes all things possible… love makes all things easy.
– Dwight L. Moody

The key to FAITH is what we are willing to sacrifice to obtain it.
– Elder Cloward

FAITH is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.
– Elton Trueblood

There are no miracles for those that have no FAITH in them.
– French Proverb

The beginning of anxiety is the end of FAITH, and the beginning of true FAITH is the end of anxiety.
– George E. Mueller

FAITH is a higher faculty than reason.
– Henry Christopher Bailey

FAITHless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
– J. R. R. Tolkien

The greatest act of FAITH is when a man understands he is not God.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

FAITH has to do with things that are not seen, and hope with things that are not in hand.
– Saint Thomas Acquinas

FAITH is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this FAITH is to see what we believe.
– St. Augustine

Vision looks inwards and becomes duty. Vision looks outwards and becomes aspiration. Vision looks upwards and becomes FAITH.
– Stephen S. Wise

The errors of FAITH are better than the best thoughts of unbelief.
– Thomas Russell

It’s not dying for FAITH that’s so hard, it’s living up to it.
– William M. Thackeray

 

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Why Young Christians Are Leaving the Church…

08 Saturday Oct 2011

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      Greetings.  In my message this weekend, I am using this illustration from the Christian Post.  I was so distrubed by these recent satistics, I thought I would pass them along.  I have highlighted the six major points. 

Pastor…. 

 

     Nearly three out of every five young Christians disconnect from their churches after the age of 15, but why? A new research study released by the Barna Group points to six different reasons as to why young people aren’t staying in their pews.

  • harvest crusade
    (Photo: Harvest)
 

     The results of this study come from the interviews of teenagers, young adults, youth pastors, senior pastors and parents that were taken over the course of five years.

     First, the study says, churches appear to be overprotective. Nearly one-fourth of the 18- to 29-year-olds interviewed said “Christians demonize everything outside of the church” most of the time. Twenty-two percent also said the church ignores real-world problems and 18 percent said that their church was too concerned about the negative impact of movies, music and video games.

      Many young adults also feel that their experience of Christianity was shallow. One-third of survey participants felt that “church is boring.” Twenty percent of those who attended as a teenager said that God appeared to be missing from their experience of church.

      The study also found many young adults do not like the way churches appear to be against science. Over one-third of young adults said that “Christians are too confident they know all the answers” and one-fourth of them said that “Christianity is anti-science.”

      Some also feel that churches are too simple or too judgmental when it comes to issues of sexuality. Seventeen percent of young Christians say they’ve “made mistakes and feel judged in church because of them.” Two out of five young adult Catholics said that the church’s teachings on birth control and sex are “out of date.”

      The fifth reason the study gives for such an exodus from churches is many young adults struggle with the exclusivity of Christianity. Twenty-nine percent of young Christians said “churches are afraid of the beliefs of other faiths” and feel they have to choose between their friends and their faith.

      The last reason the study gives for young people leaving the church is they feel it is “unfriendly to those who doubt.” Over one-third of young adults said they feel like they can’t ask life’s most pressing questions in church and 23 percent said they had “significant intellectual doubts” about their faith.

      David Kinnaman, Barna Group president and author of the book on these findings, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church and Rethinking Church, said part of the problem may be that many churches are geared toward “traditional” young adults.

       “But most young adults no longer follow the typical path of leaving home, getting and education, finding a job, getting married and having kids – all before the age of 30,” he said. “These life events are being delayed, reordered, and sometimes pushed completely off the radar among today’s young adults.”

      The Barna Update that highlights this study also says that today’s young adults are heavily influenced by the major social, spiritual and technological changes that have occurred in the last quarter century.

      Dan Smith, pastor of Momentum Christian Church in Cleveland, Ohio, told The Christian Post in an email that the six points “resonate” with him.  “I feel like part of God’s calling on my life is to reach those 85 percent (made-up stat) who want to connect with God … but don’t feel like the typical church is helping with that,” he said.

     “Most of our church is made up of 20s, 30s, and 40s – younger people – because our leaders have the same mindset as some of the younger people do – we won’t tolerate inauthenicity ‘on stage,’ trite answers, anti-scientific discussion, etc. As Scripture says, we believe that if Jesus is lifted up, young people should also be drawn to him … so we try to lift him up in a way they can participate.”

      Instead of overreacting to these statistics (by gearing churches specifically toward young people) or remaining indifferent to them, Kinnaman suggests that churches should cultivate “intergenerational relationships” within their congregations.

      “In many churches, this means changing the metaphor from simply passing the baton to the next generation to a more functional, biblical picture of a body – that is, the entire community of faith, across the entire lifespan, working together to fulfill God’s purposes.”

Twelve Favorite Leonard Ravenhill Quotes

07 Friday Oct 2011

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      Here are some quotes by Leonard Ravenhill to bless your weekend.

Blessings!

“Today’s church wants to be raptured from responsibility.”

      – Leonard Ravenhill

“If weak in prayer, we are weak everywhere.”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

“Men give advice; God gives guidance.”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

“Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

“A sinning man stops praying, a praying man stops sinning”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

“The only reason we don’t have revival is because we are willing to live without it!”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

“If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified.”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

“The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity.”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

“Most people are bothered by those passages, which they cannot understand; the Scriptures which troubles me the most is the Scripture I do understand.”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

“The only vision (many) of you have is television.”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

“The darker it gets, the brighter your light will shine.”

     – Leonard Ravenhill

You can’t say, “Christ is all I need,” until Christ is all you have.

     – Leonard Ravenhill

This Little Light of Mine

06 Thursday Oct 2011

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 21 And He was saying to them,“A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the  lamp stand? 22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”  Mark 4:21-23

      This verse takes me back to my first grade Sunday School class.  Maybe you remember singing a song called, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”  The thrust of this song was to not let the wind, the devil, or a basket cover your light.  In other words, keep that light shining at all cost!  I can remember holding my little finger up, purposing not to let my light get snuffed out!  I was tough back in the first grade.  Hey, life was simple back in the those days. 

      We all want to be lights and this is a good thing.  Before we can be lights for the Lord, we must have something in our hearts to shine.  Let me draw a distinction between receiving a word from the Lord versus letting that word shine.  In our passage Jesus purposefully places this parable about being a light right after the parable of the sower.  The words or revelations we receive from the Lord should be finding good soil and growing to maturity in our heart.  Revelations are real-time spiritual insight and information about God, the Bible, others, and life in general.  We desperately need this type of information.  If we are obedient to God’s revelation, it changes everything about us. 

      When God’s word matures in us, then it can become light for others to observe.  Light then is how we project our words and revelations to others.  The first group of people who are going to see our light is our close family and friends.  Usually God’s first words to us are about how we are to interact and respond to those closest to us.  Why?  This immediate circle is the place where we will have our greatest impact.  As our circle spreads out, our light should impact school, work, and other friends.  Jesus states later, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works.”  Most of the time we do not have to be aggressive witnesses for this group to know we love the Lord.  We live is such a way that they see our light.  As someone once said, “Preach the Word and if needed use words.” 

      Unfortunately some never go through the maturity process to allow their words from the Lord to shine.  We want to be light!  Real light must originate from real revelation.  If we fail to allow this process to happen, we will only beam our own personal light.  Which light would you rather project…God’s light or your light? 

      I encourage you to stick with the process God has you in today.  Allow His word to flourish in your life.  Only then will your light be one that will truly reach your family and friends. 

Blessings,

Pastor

The Cross – Bridge of Deliverance

05 Wednesday Oct 2011

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The Cross Walk

By Georgy

       Maybe you have been at this place before…several times.  You heard God’s call to bear something in your life.  The first few times you picked up the burden only to lay it back down.  In your heart you knew your obedience…bear it!

       Every believer’s walk is different.  But many look around to spy what other believers are bearing or not bearing.  God doesn’t allow “cross-disobedience” or cross comparisons with fellow travelers.  (see John 21:18-23)  When Peter inquired about the burdens John had to bear, Jesus replied, “What is it to you?  You follow Me.”  Ouch!  All God’s children are unique and special.  Your obedience is not my obedience and my obedience is not your obedience.  We both may know what “bearing” feels like, but it will not be the same thing.
     I remember a line in the movie The Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King that illustrates this very issue.  Sam says to Frodo as they struggle to the end of their journey, “I can’t carry it for you (the ring), but I can carry you.”  Sam grabs Frodo like a sack of potatoes and proceeds up to Mount Doom.  It is an exciting scene.  Why couldn’t Sam just grab the ring and take off himself?  It was not his burden to bear.  His burden was helping Frodo.

      Each of us is given something to bear in this life.  We are kindred spirits with slightly different journeys.  Here are some helpful hints.

  • Don’t constantly be asking for the Lord to remove your burden.  Yes, you may arrive at the point when your burden can be released.  Until that time your calling is to bear.  In fact as the cartoon suggest, your burden may be your bridge of deliverance. 
  • Instead, pray for strength to carry your burden.  Why, because God is a burden bearer too.  We are more like the Lord when we carry burdens than any other moment in life.  This is why Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.”
  • Always be discerning about your burdens.  As a pastor I have had to learn the hard way there were certain burdens God never intended for me to carry.  Now other people intended for me to carry certain burdens, but God didn’t call me.  Beware!  Others will not be happy over your decision…but God will.
  • Beware of false guilt!  This is kin to my previous point.  God doesn’t lead us in this fashion.  God simply speaks and convicts.  Guilt is a human emotion and a terrible leader.  Don’t be motivated by guilt.  Process your guilt and get back on your word!
  • Expect the devil to attack.  The enemy always attacks when we are most vulnerable.  It is unfair, I know.  This is simply the ways he operates.  But if you stay in your process, you will grow stronger and he will be defeated!
  • Expect the Lord to glorify Himself through your process of burden bearing.  Think about the stories that impacted your life the most and glorified the Lord.  Most assuredly, they were stories of people bearing enormous burdens.  They were not broken by their experience, but grew stronger through it.     

      There is a cross in your future.  If you have been neglecting to carry the burdens the Lord has laid before you, then simply confess it, repent, and get back to your process.  Life is not about your destination.  Life is about the journey.  Choose to glorify the Lord today by taking up your cross, bearing it, and following Him. 

Blessings,

Pastor

The Bipolar Believer

04 Tuesday Oct 2011

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       I love roller-coasters. I want to visit them in amusement parks, but I don’t want to live on one.  They are good for a thrill or two, not a way of life. 

      The plight of many believers is trying to live in two opposite worlds…at the same time.  They straddle an imaginary line of their own creation.  This belief keeps them in good graces with God while affording them ample opportunities to engage in more materialistic affairs.  Sound crazy?  It is!  Yet, this is the reality for many believers.  This is why the Lord states emphatically in Revelation 3:15-16, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” 

      The question is …what does this do to a person over an extended period of time?  I believe it reinforces a bipolar type of existence.   Here are some of the highlights:

  • They alternate between being spiritually on fire to being spiritually washed out.
  • Their highs are really high and their lows are really low. 
  • They fluctuate between varying moods.  Their mood swings are noticeable to others and many times ugly.
  • They struggle with the need to assess blame on someone or something. 
  • They are constantly trying to fill holes in their lives that cannot be filled.  Their lives are like “sink holes.” 
  • The world revolves around them and their needs. 
  • They are spiritual “vampires”.   They will tap into you, suck you dry, and leave you for dead. 

      Does this sound like anyone you know?  Maybe you have been trying to help someone in this condition.  Maybe this describes you?  How do you end this never-ending cycle?  I am glad you asked. 

  1. The “imaginary line” doesn’t exist.  God is not fooled by our flirtations with “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.”  If we purposefully dance along the edges of sin, we will always fall into it.  None of us can dance in these places.  It is only imaginary because we tell ourselves we can flirt with the line between good and bad.  So stop fooling yourself. 
  2. The devil knows our playground!  God is not fooled and the devil is not fooled either.  He knows that those who play with fire get burned.  Instead of being in the position of rebuking Satan out of our lives, he is allowed to tempt us into further sin.  The bipolar believer loses his authority over the evil forces in their life.  This authority can be taken back at any time, but those living in two worlds cannot discern the truth. 
  3. Repent and Return to the Lord.  By grace the Lord is always ready to receive a repentant and sincere believer.  Repentance is not just a one time event, but a way of life.  The goal should be to keep “short accounts with God.”
  4. Do not ride on the roller-coaster of a bipolar believer.  Like I said, “It is a nice place to visit, but you never want to live there!”  You cannot help a person if you are constantly on his/her’s emotional journey.  Their lows are so low; you will never be able to pull them up.  But they sure can pull you down and keep you down.  Instead, be a constant variable in their life.  One that is stable, growing in the Lord.  This way you can reach out to them in love.

      The Lord never intended for His children to live in this fashion.  Through the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ, we all can stand in freedom.  But we cannot flaunt our freedom and push the lines between right and wrong.  Those who desire spiritual freedom can be free.  It is always our choice. 

Blessings,

Pastor

Bloom Where You’re Planted!

03 Monday Oct 2011

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10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.”  Matthew 13:11-12

      I blogged on this a few days ago.  Help me, I can’t stay away from thinking about these verses.  It is the plight of being a pastor.  When you begin to meditate on certain issues, they ruminate in your spirit until you share them.  So listen up! 

      I struggled with these verses for several years.  Why are some given beauty, talent, higher IQ’s, and athletic ability, while others do not appear to have been “granted” as much?  When we are young, these differences seem to be even more glaring.  Some have even taken their dissatisfaction and have grown to despise the Lord for His creative neglect.  They are somewhat bitter over their limited ability, skills, or physical appearance. 

      At first glance, Jesus’ words appear to confirm what many falsely believe.  God has favorites!  Some have been granted more and others have not been granted very much.  How could God allow such a thing to happen in the Spirit as well?  Life is not fair!  How could some be given an inside track to God’s mysteries, while others are left out? 

       What do you think?  Do you feel God has kept His best from you?  Do you feel God placed you at the end of the line when He passed out both physical and spiritual abilities?  Have you grown bitter over such issues?  I think I might be able to help you.  There is a better, more complete way of viewing these types of situations and this passage….follow me for a few moments.   

  1. Don’t fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy!  “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;  15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,”   What comes first, a hard heart or God keeping His revelation from you?  Let me paraphrase Isaiah’s words.  Isaiah’s prophecy states that if we keep a dull and hard heart, it prohibits us from hearing God and being healed.  Wow!  God doesn’t want it to be this way.  It is simply a spiritual law at work.  It works 24/7/365.  The polar opposite is equally true.  A soft heart allows God’s revelation to flow to us.  Anytime you find your heart growing hard and calloused towards God, repent immediately. 
  2. Purpose to “bloom where you are planted.”  Physically speaking…you are where you are.   It may not be in the best of places, but it is the place God has planted you.  God made you the way you are and loves you the way He made you…warts and all.  Don’t allow your circumstances to make you bitter.  Permit the hardships of life to make you better.  This is more than just making lemonade out of lemons.  It is about allowing the glory of the Lord to manifest in your life.  Remember, a soft heart towards God changes everything.  God will open up the heavens for a soft heart…believe it.    

      This helps to explain why some appear to grow more easily than others.  It is not that God has favorites.  Those with a soft heart are simply in compliance with God’s spiritual order of things.  Where do you stand?  Is your heart soft towards God today.  Only you can change that situation. 

Blessings!

God’s Word Has a Shelf Life

02 Sunday Oct 2011

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          The sower sows the word. (Mark 4:14)  God is faithful about sending us His word.  It reaches us in various ways.  Most people I know don’t think they could ever lose God’s word.  How could anyone lose the words of God.  Could you lose Shakespeare or Plato?  I have some stuff that’s gotten into my head that I wish would go away.  Jesus is making the case in this passage that you can lose the revelation of the Lord.  Wow!  In fact, Jesus gives a short discourse on how this process takes place in our lives.  So God’s word to us does have a shelf life unless it is acted upon quickly. Jesus offers four different scenarios in Mark 4.   

  1. The word is actually stolen from us.  15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.  I don’t ever remember feeling like Satan was stealing God’s word from me.  Of course, you never realize your being stolen from unless the person is caught.  I have never caught him.  In reality, I  don’t think he goes into our minds and retracts God’s word.  I do believe he speaks lies and falsehoods that counter what truths we are given.  As long as he can negate the word of God, he wins and we continue in disbelief.  Unless we believe and tuck God’s word away in our belief system, Satan can come into our life like a bird and eat our seed.  This probably happens in the first 24 hours of a revelation. 
  2. The word is challenged and we give up on it.  16 In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.  I can relate to this scenario.  When I was a newbie believer, I was so excited about everything I learned.  Like Jesus suggests, I was shallow.  When someone would challenge what I was learning, many times I caved in and lost the word.  After several times of starting over, I began to develop a root system.  This probably happens in the first two or three days of receiving a revelation. 
  3. The word is choked out of our lives because of worldly cares and concerns.  18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  The word of God cannot thrive when it has to constantly compete with other worldly issues in our life.  Our mind, heart, and spirit resemble a natural garden.  If you allow weeds to take over your garden, they will eventually outgrow your plantings.  Weeds grow faster than plants.  This is why you have to do something about them early and often.  It is a fact….weeds will take over!  Unless we deal with the worldly weeds in our life, God’s revelations will be choked out.  This happens within the first week of receiving a word from God. 
  4.  The Word is given the right place to grow.   20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”   Just as the three examples are so bad, this fourth one is equally as good.  Our mind, heart, spirit, and soul can be perfect places for the Lord to place His revelation.  There is a promise attached to the good soil.  The good soil gets to bear fruit because the word is accepted right from the beginning! 

      There is hope in this passage.  The first three scenarios can be corrected.  I know because I have had to correct these issues in my life.  You can too!  The date on God’s word to you doesn’t have to expire.  Purpose today to make yourself the perfect place for God’s word. 

Blessings!