This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”. We have been studying the parable of the sower for months. Before I move on to the next topic, I feel led to recap what we have learned from this powerful parable. This is recap #2.
So what does this mean to you today? Two things.
1. The Word of God has the power to change you from the inside-out.
a) In the parable of the sower Jesus did not say that once the seed (the Word of God) is sown into the soil (a person’s heart) that the seed grows. No, Jesus said the person grows. The seed causes the soil to grow.
b) In Romans 12:1&2 Paul talks about our minds being renewed through the Word of God. The Word used in the original Greek is the word translated “metamorphosis”. The type of change a caterpillar goes through in order to become a butterfly is the type of change the Word of God can produce in your life. You can literally become a new person.
c) The moment you were Born-Again your spirit was made new. However, your soul was not. Your soul is comprised of your mind (the way you think), emotions (the way you feel) and will (the way you make decisions). While your spirit was made new instantly through the power of the Holy Spirit, your soul must be made new progressively through the power of the Word of God. The more you meditate and medicate on God’s Word, the more you will think, feel and make decisions like God.
2. The soil (a human being) gets to decide how it receives and responds to the seed (the Word of God).
a) In the parable of the sower the same seed was provided to four different types of soil and it produced four different types of results. The variation did not come because of the sower; it was the same sower. The variation did not come because of the seed; it was the same seed. The variation came because of the soil. You are the soil in the parable. The composition of your heart and your attitude towards the Word of God will either cause the Word to flourish in you or it will hinder it from working.
b) It is critically important that you develop a hunger, thirst and healthy respect for God’s Word. The more Word you get down in your heart, the better equipped you will be to hear God’s voice, to know His will, and to walk in His best in the earth.
c) If you truly want to know God, you will spend time in His Word. The more you know the Word of God, the more you will know the God of the Word. You have the Bible. You probably have more than one. You must decide what you are going to do with it. Will you read it and obey to be blessed? Or ignore it and walk in your own ways. The choice is yours… and you will have to live with whatever you decide.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. I bring my life into focus in 2016 by giving Your Word the attention is deserves. I meditate and medicate on Your word day and night. I keep it before my eyes. I do not allow it to depart from out of my mouth. I observe to DO what it commands me daily. Living this way I am making an alignment with my divine assignment and I will get to live the life I was born to live. Your will shall be done, on earth, as it is in heaven, THROUGH ME, for Your glory! I live in accordance with what You SAID [in Your Word], and with what You SAY to me every day! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
1 comment
Thank you