Note: I am traveling home early in the morning tomorrow. So I won’t send out Today’s Word. The next “Today’s Word” you will get from me will be on Monday morning. Thank you for allowing me to share God’s Word with you.
You will get a note from me on Saturday morning, as Isabella and I do a “virtual launch” of my first book, “Level Up Your Life.” I believe this book is going to be a blessing to many.
This morning we continue our series entitled “Leveling Up with the Word!” We have been looking at the parable of the sower. So let’s continue through it today.
Jesus said:
(Mark 4:13-20 ERV)
“The farmer is like someone who plants God’s teaching in people. Sometimes the teaching falls on the path. That is like some people who hear the teaching of God. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them.
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.
Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They 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.
And others are like the seed planted on the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce a good crop—sometimes 30 times more, sometimes 60 times more, and sometimes 100 times more.”
The major issue with the people Jesus likens to the thorny ground is that they have allowed their lives to become “full of other things.” So let’s talk about clearing out every competing priority.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God’s commandments are not suggestions.
— The commandments found in God’s Word and the instructions received directly from the Holy Spirit are NOT suggestions. God expects us to DO what He says. This is what made Jesus so successful on the earth. Jesus only did what He was led of the Father to do, and He only said what He heard the Father say.
— Jesus was God in the flesh, but He did not walk around as God on this planet. He walked around as a human who had God on the inside of Him. In this way, He became an example for us. If He did things as God, then we could not imitate Him because we are not God. But since He did things as a human who was submitted to God, He became our perfect example. That being the case, I need to drive home the point that His power was derived from His submission. If you want to walk in the same power Jesus walked in, then like Jesus, you must be submitted to the Father in every way.
— A few days ago, I taught you to give yourself the license to rid your heart and mind of all distractors, so you can rest in God’s presence and hear His voice. God made you a free moral agent. Your ability to make your own decisions puts you in a position to dictate the direction of your life. What you don’t want to do is to use that power (the freedom to choose) to lead yourself above or away from God. Said another way, never give yourself the license to debate God or to put your ideas above His.
— God has given you the right to choose. You get to decide whether or not you will submit to or simply disregard God and His instructions. This freedom can either help you or hurt you. If you submit to God and His ways, you will be choosing to walk in the Blessing, and you will enjoy God’s best. However, if you choose to put your ideas above God’s, your desires above His will, and your pursuits above His purpose, then you will, in effect, override God, and you will have to live with the results.
— Your power, as a child of God, comes from your obedience to God and His Word.
2. We must give God and His Word the priority they deserve.
— When you read or hear what God’s position is on any given topic, and you immediately know that your position does not line up with it, you know you have a choice. You can either accept the fact that you disagree with God, or you can make your mind up, at that moment, to change. If you switch to God’s position, you are positioning yourself to walk in His best. But if you stubbornly maintain your position, even when you know it is against God, you are blatantly disobeying God, and it will cost you. At that point, the Word sown in your heart will NOT produce a harvest.
— When I first started walking with God, it seemed like I was discovering conflicts between God’s ideas and my ideas every day. But this was not a bad thing. On the contrary, I saw it as a good thing. My hunger for God was so strong that I wanted to know how I was NOT pleasing to Him. So every time I came across a scripture I did not line up with or every time the Holy Spirit convicted me about something, I was quick to repent and head in a new direction (God’s direction). This is how we allow the Word to work in our lives. This is what God is looking for.
— If you make it a practice to place God’s will above your own — being quick to repent and change EVERY TIME you find a conflict between you and God — the Word will start to work in your life, it will produce fruit in/with/through you, and you will begin to experience God’s best. However, if you make it a practice to debate God, stubbornly maintain your position, even when you know it is against His, and attempt to argue with anyone lovingly showing you what the Bible says, you will pay for it stubbornness. God will not debate with you. His commandments are not up for debate. Either you honor Him and do what He says, or you can do life on your own. The choice is yours, but please choose wisely.
— Changing your will and ways to align with God’s is more than worth it. If you make a practice of this, you will wake up one morning to realize that your ways are God’s ways, your thoughts are God’s thoughts, and your conduct is Godly and holy. When you get to this point, there is nothing God cannot do through you!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of LEVELING UP for me! I LEVEL UP my life by giving You first place in every area. I clear a way for Your Word to work in my heart and mind. Every time I come across a scripture that my thinking does NOT line up with, and every time the Holy Spirit speaks to me about something that is NOT pleasing to You, I am quick to repent. I won’t debate Your will. I won’t stubbornly disagree with Your ways. Instead, I quickly and regularly repent and change. Your will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven, through me, all for Your glory. And I declare that I get to the point where my will IS Your will, where my desires ARE Your desires, and where my conduct is Godly and holy. GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
