NOTE: First of all, I am happy to be back. I enjoyed the break. The rest was much needed. But honestly, I missed Today’s Word. I am thankful to get back to it. Before I get into the Word I want to make you aware of two opportunities to BE a blessing.
First, Isabella is taking a team to Haiti for our annual Haiti Missions trip. Our team will minister to underprivileged children. You may not be able to go, but you can partner with those who are going. When you partner with us, everything done on the trip is attributed to your account in heaven. If you would like to donate, please do so at http://ripministries.org/donate and select Haiti Missions 2018 from the drop down menu.
The second opportunity is also to help children. We give away hundreds of backpacks (full of school supplies) every year to children in the Dominican Republic who would not otherwise get them. Your children may not think twice about a backpack, or notebooks, or pencils, or etc., but for many children around the world, this is major challenge. Help us BE a blessing to 400 children this year. Please make your donation at http://ripministries.org/donate and select Back to School Drive 2018 from the dropdown menu.
Now let’s get into the Word.
Today we continue our new series entitled, “Expecting the Word to Work!” This is part 16.
Before the break we had been looking at the Parable of the Sower for weeks. In our last message I introduced you to the third type of soil: 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.” My question for you this morning is, “What is your life full of?”
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- Jesus taught that the seed of the Word of God cannot produce a harvest in the lives of people who are like thorny ground. There is nothing wrong with the seed. The same seed was sown into all four types of soil. There is nothing wrong with the sower. The same sower was used in every case. The problem is with the soil. The Word of God (the seed) has the potential to produce, but after the Word is sown into the hearts of the people who Jesus likened to the thorny ground, Jesus explained that these people allow their lives to get “full of others things.” They have competing priorities. The Word of God is not first-place in their lives. Their lives are so FULL of other things that there is no room for God or His Word to work. Please don’t make this mistake.
- Take a moment to consider your priorities. If you have several things listed higher than God and His Word, you have positioned yourself for a life of stress, struggle and strain. Even if you occasionally receive an amazing Word from God, the Word is not going to produce results in your life, because your life is, as Jesus said, “full of other things.” It’s time to check your priorities and give God, and His Word, the precedence they deserve.
- When your life is full of the cares of this world, the love of money and your own selfish pursuits, you can go to church and hear the Word, but you never truly give the Word of God a chance to work.
- Jesus likened the Word of God to seed. He also likens the cares of this world, the love of money and selfish desires to weeds. He then explained how the weeds you allow to grow in your life can actually choke-out the seed of the Word and keep it from producing life-changing results.
- If you don’t give the Word of God your focus, you don’t give it a chance to produce the harvest it was intended to produce in your life. You can literally choke-out the potential of the Word by allowing yourself to get consumed with other things.
- What is your life full of? If it is full of God’s Word and His love, then you will become the man/woman God called you to be. Not because you are perfect. Not because you will do everything right. Not because of your self-effort. If you love God and you give His Word first -place in your life, the Word will produce because the power of God is already in the Word. No Word from God is without the power to perform it. The Word of God comes with the grace to do what God commands. The Word will work if you simply allow it to. However, if your life is “full of” the cares of this world, the love of money and your own selfish desires, you will arrive at the end of your life some day and realize you have nothing but regret. You will look in the mirror and realize that you lived your life on your own terms, you did it your way, and all you have to show for it is what you could make happen. God’s plans for your life are much greater than anything you can make happen on your own. Don’t make your life about you and your selfish desires. Make your life about God and the plans He made for you before the world began. When your life is full of God, you will live a full life.
Closing Confession:
Father, this is a season of expectation for me. My expectation is tied to Your Word. I give You and Your Word priority over everything else in my life. I refuse to allow any weeds to choke-out the seed of your Word. I will not allow the cares of this world, the love of money or any selfish pursuits to hinder Your Word from working in me. I yield to You in every area of my life. I meditate and medicate on Your Word day and night. I give You first-place, period. Therefore, Your Word works IN me and You work WITH me to impact the world THROUGH me. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
