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.”
For the past few messages, I have been talking about the varying degrees of harvest associated with the “good ground.” I will continue to flow in this vein today.
Solomon said, “The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.” (Prov 18:21). Good or bad, you will have what you say. What are you saying about 2021? What are you saying about this season? What are you saying about LEVELING UP? Faith has a language and if you want to level up, you must speak the language of faith.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Faith begins where the will of God is known.
— Faith is not about God granting you your selfish desires. Faith is about you aligning with God’s desires for your life.
— Faith is not about you trying to get God to put a “YES” on your plans. Faith is about God trying to get you to put a “YES” on His plans.
— Faith is not what happens when you convince God to give you what you came up with. Faith is what happens when God convinces you! When you are fully persuaded of God.
— In many regards, faith is something that happens TO you. As you walk with God and He speaks to you — or in the case of the parable of the sower, He sows seed (Word) in your heart — faith is what happens when you believe it. When you are so convinced of what God planned, you are willing to believe it, ANNOUNCE IT, and perform corresponding actions to receive it, even when everything you see in this world shows you evidence against it!
— Faith is about God’s will. Faith begins when you know what God said, either in His written Word or to you directly. In the parable, the soil doesn’t decide what to produce. The soil only produces the seed that is sown in it. Therefore, faith is based on something you come up with in your heart. Faith is based on what God revealed to you that was birthed in His heart.
— Revelation is actually the authorization of your faith. If you don’t know what the will of God is in any given situation, you can’t exercise faith. You can hope, wish and pray. But it is not faith until you can stand on a Word from God.
— The soil can have confidence that the seed will produce because the seed came from the sower. The sower knew what He was doing when he sowed the seed. Likewise, when you know you have a Word from God, and you know you are not pursuing something you came up with on your own, you can have confidence that our God, who is both the sower and the Lord of the Harvest, will see to it that the seed (Word) He placed in your heart shall come to pass. If He said it, He will perform it. If He declared it, He will make His Word good (Numbers 23:19).
2. Faith believes what God said (or revealed), no matter how impossible it seems.
— Faith believes the IMPOSSIBLE. If God said it, and you know what He said is clearly impossible, then guess what? The impossible just became possible for you! Because no Word from God ever comes without the power to perform it!
— Faith puts the emphasis on God’s power and not your lack of it. Faith says, “If God said it, then I can do it. Not by my power, but by His!” This is the mindset required to walk and live by faith.
— The fact that God said it is His invitation for you to experience it. This is how Jesus lived. Jesus only said what He heard the Father say, and He only did what He saw the Father do. Hearing and seeing in the Spirit is critical to living by faith.
— When Jesus said that He only did what He “saw” the Father do, He was saying, “The Father shows me things. He shows me what He is doing in the earth. And this revelation becomes my invitation for participation. I am not walking around the earth, asking the Father to get involved in what I am doing. The Father is inviting me to get involved in what He is doing.” This mindset keeps the emphasis on God and not us. This is the life of faith!
— Your ability to receive seed (Word from God) and then BELIEVE it is critical to your ability to live supernaturally. If you don’t know what God said, you don’t know what you can or cannot do.
— If you want to see the supernatural manifested in your marriage, relationships, health, career, finances, and etc., then you must seek God concerning these things. Find out what He said in His written Word about it. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you concerning it. When God speaks, you must believe what He revealed, no matter how impossible it seems. If you can believe it, God can do it in your life! You are only limited by your capacity to believe what God speaks to you!
3. Faith is about having so much confidence in God that you will SAY what you SAW (what He revealed).
(2 Corinthians 4:13 NKJV)
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak.
— The spirit of faith speaks the language of faith. It speaks words of faith from a believing heart.
— Faith has to audacity to SAY what God has SAID, no matter how impossible or crazy it seems. When you do this, you are taking God public.
— It’s easy to believe God in your heart. No one knows what is going on in your heart. Your heart is where you meditate, medicate, and let the Word of God ruminate. But when you open up your mouth and say, OUT LOUD, what is going on in your heart, you are taking God public. You are exposing externally what is going on in your heart internally. This takes your faith to another level because you are speaking the language of faith. You have mustered up the faith to say publicly what you believe privately. This type of faith is required because God has set up a system in this world where you will have what you say from a believing heart.
— The power of life and death are in your tongue (Prov 18:21). Whichever you speak is what you will experience. Good or bad, you will have what you SAY!
— If you have the faith to SAY what God said from a believing heart, it is only a matter of time before you SEE what God said in this world!
— Anyone can say what God said to them AFTER God does it. Let’s say there a guy named Jim who loves God. God speaks to him. God reveals certain plans to Jim. Jim believes God. He meditates on those plans. The Holy Spirit leads Jim to take God public. The Holy Spirit wants Jim to talk about it out loud (related note: in the Kingdom of God, things often do not happen until you ANNOUNCE them). But let’s say Jim is scared. He has allowed fear to stifle his faith. He is concerned about what people will say about this crazy idea God placed in his heart. He is okay with dreaming about it, but he is not okay with talking about it. This lack of faith causes Jim a delay.
What should have happened in a month took him a year. But after a year of God working with him, God finally brought it to pass. Now Jim has the promise. People can see it. People congratulate him on it. Jim then says, “Hey guys, just so you know, God spoke to me about this over a year ago. This is something God placed in my heart and how it is here. Glory to God!” What Jim failed to say was, “But God told me to take Him public 11 months ago. I was too scared to do so. I failed to speak the language of faith. Who knows? What took me a year could have taken me a month. But I just did not have the faith to be public about what I was believing and my concern for what other people would think has cost me.”
Anyone can ANNOUNCE something after it is already done. Anyone can say, “Oh yeah, I was believing God for this,” after they have it. That’s easy. Even the heathen can do that. But the language of faith I am talking about today is reserved for those who open their hearts to what God reveals to them about their future, and they then have the audacity to SAY what they SAW! And they keep SAYING what they SAW until they SEE what they SAW in this world. This is the language of faith. This is how we are supposed to live.
4. Speaking the language of faith is an expression of your confidence in God.
I know that speaking the language of faith can be scary at times. When you are fully persuaded by God and the Holy Spirit is leading you to SAY what God is saying to you, out loud, to others, you know you are saying it AT THE RISK OF LOOKING FOOLISH. I can’t tell you how many times I have been through this, and I thought to myself, “But what if it does not happen? What if I missed God? What if this thing I am believing God for is nothing more than a desire I came up with? What if I say it and it never comes to pass? How is that going to make me look?”
Listen, I have been there more times than I want to remember. I have missed God. I did say things that did not happen. I have run the RISK OF LOOKING FOOLISH many times, and guess what? Sometimes I have looked foolish. No one is perfect. You are going to miss God sometimes. You will make mistakes. But you cannot hit a home run if you don’t take the swing. You cannot walk on water if you do not get out of the boat. You can play it safe and only say what you believe AFTER God does it. But if you live that way your entire life, you are going to get to heaven, only to realize that your lack of faith caused yourself many delays. Faith has a language. SPEAK IT!
God reveals your TO BE stage from your RIGHT NOW stage. And God then often requires you to ANNOUNCE what He revealed. God loves it when you have enough confidence in Him to say what He revealed, AT THE RISK OF LOOKING FOOLISH, because, at that point, God knows your confidence is in Him and Him alone! I can’t tell you how many times I have done this and then said, “Okay God, I said it. I put myself out there. I released my faith. All my confidence is in you. I can’t make this thing happen. I believe You will make it happen. If you don’t do it, it won’t get done. Please don’t let me look stupid!”
I am not perfect. I have made many mistakes. But I would rather take the swing and miss than never take the swing at all.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of LEVELING UP for me! I live by every Word You speak to me. You have given me Your written Word. I live by that. You have also given me Your Spirit. Your Spirit reveals TO ME the plans You established FOR ME before the world began. I live by those words as well. I believe everything You reveal to me, no matter how impossible it seems, and I have the audacity to SAY IT, OUT LOUD! You reveal things to me, and I SAY what I SAW until I SEE what I SAW in this world. I speak the language of faith daily! Therefore, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
