Trouble and Persecution

Today we continue our new series entitled, “Expecting the Word to Work!”  This is part 12.  

We have been looking at the Parable of the Sower.  For the past couple of messages we have been looking at the “rocky ground” in the passage.  Let’s get back to it again today. Jesus said:

“Other people are like the seed planted on rocky ground.  They hear the teaching, and they quickly and gladly accept it.  But they don’t allow it to go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time.  As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.” (Mark 4: ERV)

Jesus was clear that the boundless potential He places in His Word actually attracts opposition from the enemy.  Satan wants to stop you before the Word works in your life.  He wants to derail you from your destiny. He wants to frustrate you to the point where you give up, cave in and quit.  This is why the text says that trouble and persecution will come BECAUSE of the Word.  

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  The Word of God attracts trouble.

1. a)  Here is the definition of “trouble” from Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language (1828 edition): To agitate; to disturb; to perplex; to put into confused motion.  When God sows His Word in your heart, the Bible says trouble will come BECAUSE of it. Satan will do all he can to agitate, disturb, perplex, and confuse you.  Satan does this because he knows that if you FOCUS on the trouble, and you begin to meditate on it, you will lose your focus on what God said. Once you are no longer focused on what God said, and the trouble you are facing becomes more real to you than the Word God spoke, then you will be like the Rocky Ground in Jesus’ story.  Jesus said that these people do not have deep roots in the Word of God and as soon as trouble and persecution come, BECAUSE of the Word they heard, they are QUICK TO GIVE UP! In this case, satan did not actually stop them. They stopped themselves by giving up on God and His Word. Please don’t make this mistake. If God said it, the Word He spoke WILL PRODUCE in your life, if you do not give up before your harvest time!

1. b)  Satan is powerless against God and His Word.  Satan knows he cannot stop the power of the Word of God.  But if he can trouble you long enough to get you agitated, irritated, and disturbed, he knows he can cause you to lose your FOCUS and without focus you run the risk of derailing yourself from your destiny.

2.  The Word of God attracts persecution.

1. a)  Here is the definition of “persecution” from Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language (1828 edition): Severe affliction; distresses of life; vexations; the infliction of pain, punishment or death upon others unjustly, particularly for adhering to a religious creed or mode of worship, either by way of penalty or for compelling them to renounce their principles.  Satan knows that if you receive a Word from God and you stand on that Word, the Word will produce Godly change IN you and then Godly fruit FROM you. This is why he puts pressure on you to give up while you are standing. And this is why God tells you, “Having done all, STAND!”  And when you feel like you can’t keep going, the Holy Spirit will say, “Keep STANDING for I am STANDING with you!”

1. b)  The three Hebrews boys were persecuted for what they believed.  When they refused to bow before the king, the heat in the furnace was cranked up 7X hotter than normal.  Level 1 fire was enough to kill them. Cranking the heat up to Level 8 was not going to change anything. But this is exactly what satan does.  He will crank up the heat on you, putting pressure on you, hoping you will give up, cave in, and quit. But like the Hebrew boys, refuse to give up.  Even if you get thrown into the fire, we serve a God who will GET IN THE FIRE WITH YOU! If you DON’T BOW, you WON’T BURN!

1. c)  Don’t allow any pressure or persecution from the enemy to cause you to lose your focus!  You shall reap… if you don’t give up!

1. d)  Never allow what the enemy causes you to SEE in the earth to cause you to change what God SAID from heaven!

1. e)  If you live your life with your focus on heaven, and on what you are seeing and hearing from heaven, you will not be moved by what you see and hear in the earth.  This is how you experience heaven-on-earth!

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  My expectation is tied to Your Word. I meditate and medicate on Your Word day and night.  I understand how the purpose and potential You placed IN me, along with the purpose and potential found in Your Word, will attract trouble and persecution.  That’s okay. I shall not be moved. I shall not be shaken. I shall not be swayed. I keep my heart and my mind fixed and focused on You. Even if the devil cranks up the heat on me, even if he intensifies the pressure, I refuse to quit.  I will not allow what I see and hear in this world to cause me to lose focus from what I saw and heard from heaven! No devil, demon or demonic influence can derail me from my destiny! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!