NOTE: Next week I will be on vacation with my family. The week after we will be at our church’s Family Conference. I have been doing Today’s Word for 21 years. Through the years, while on vacation, I have left my family in the hotel room, found a quiet place in the hotel early in the morning, and have done Today’s Word. The Lord started dealing with me a couple of days ago about NOT doing so this time. My first ministry is to my family. If I don’t minister to my family, I should not be ministering to you. I count it a privilege and an honor to be able to share the Word of God with you on a daily basis. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life. As you too are a part of mine, I pray you understand why I need to focus on my family for the next couple of weeks. Today’s message will be the last message until after the 4th of July weekend. I’ll be back at it on July 9th. Please pray for me and I will do the same for you!
Today we continue our new series entitled, “Expecting the Word to Work!” This is part 15.
We have been looking at the Parable of the Sower. We have been studying this parable for weeks. Thus far I introduced the parable to you and we covered the first two types of soil. Today we transition to the third: thorny weeds. Jesus likened this type of ground to believers who, “hear the teaching, but their lives become full of other things: the worries of this life, the love of money, and everything else they want. This keeps the teaching from growing, and it does not produce a crop in their lives.” This type of person is a perfect example of why a series like this is so important. God wants your focus. He wants your heart. Why? Because He wants to use you to change the world. However, the becomes difficult for God to do when you are distracted from Him or flat-out dedicated to something else. This is a matter of priorities.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- The key to being used of God is simply living in-sync with Him. For God to supernaturally operate in your life He just needs you to cooperate with Him. Grace is not forced. Grace flows. When you are receiving and responding to God, He is simply flowing TO you and then flowing THROUGH you! That’s the goal. That’s how we live AS JESUS IS, in this world!
- God has boundless power and unsearchable wisdom. There are no limits in God. Our limitless God wants to work through you to do things you could never accomplish on your own. However, you hinder God from manifesting His super through your natural, when you fail to hear and do what He says.
- The key to being used of God is getting out of the way. The less flesh (or carnality) you have in the way, the more God can speak through your vocal chords, think through your mind and operate through your limbs. That should be your goal.
- God will not compete with you. If you want to run your own life, make your own decisions, and pursue your own idea of success, and pursue it with your own strength, God will stand by and wait ‘till you get tired. When you are tired of living life with human ability alone, He will be ready to step in, but He will only do so at your invitation. If you want to be the lord of your own life, God will LET you. But when you are ready to make Him Lord, He will USE you.
- The person Jesus describes as thorny ground cannot be used of God because he/she is focused on other things. This person allows the cares of this world, the love of money, and personal pursuits to override God’s agenda and purpose. As a result, they live their own lives. Even when they do receive a Word of God, the seed of the Word cannot produce a harvest because the seed is competing with weeds. Don’t let this be you. Make Jesus Your Lord. Give Him first place. Rid yourself of all distractions. Prioritize God and His Word above everything and everyone else. This way God’s Word will produce a harvest in your life and you will become the man/woman God called you to be.
Closing Confession:
Father, this is a season of expectation for me. My expectation is tied to Your Word and to my dedication to give You priority over everything else in my life. Making You my Lord means You are Lord of all. I don’t have anything in my life that is more important than You. I prioritize You over my marriage, my children, my career, my desires, and my money. I see to it that You don’t have to compete with anything else. I also see to it that the seed of Your Word does not have to compete with selfish weeds. I want Your Word to produce a harvest in me. So I clear my mind, I give You my focus, I make You my Lord, I submit to You in all my ways, I meditate and medicate Your Word day and night, and I give myself over to You daily to be used of You for Your glory. Living this way I become a yielded vessel in the hands of my mighty God and as a result, I change the world! Because it is You Father, living in me, You give me the words and You perform the work! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
