This morning we continue our new series entitled “Leveling Up with the Word!” For the past few days, we have been looking at the parable of the sower. We are walking our way through it. Let’s get back to it today.
Setting the stage:
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.”
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. There is a battle for the Word of God.
Yesterday we discussed the soil along the path. Today’s message flows in the same vein. I already pointed out the fact that the sower seeks out the soil, and the not the other way around. Let’s think about this for a minute.
God sends people to us to provide us the seed of His Word. Why? Because the seed of God’s Word has the power to produce change in us and fruit from us. This all comes down to the life of faith. There is a clear connection between God’s Word and our faith. Paul explained this well in Romans 10. Paul told us that people will not believe in a God they have not heard about, nor can they hear without a preacher. Further, the preacher cannot preach unless he/she is sent. So, God anoints humans to preach His Word (which in this parable we see is likened to seed) into the hearts of people. This is the picture we get when the sower goes forth to sow seed into different types of soil.
In the same passage in Romans 10, Paul goes on to explain that faith comes by hearing the Word. So there is a direct connection between hearing/receiving God’s Word and your faith increasing. Two chapters later, in Romans 12:3, Paul taught us that God has dealt every man “the measure of faith.” Bringing it all together: every human has been given a certain measure of faith, and this faith is activated when they hear the Word of God. This is why satan is so quick to come and snatch the Word away. The King James Version of Mark 4:15 emphasizes how fast satan comes. It reads, “These are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.”
God has called and commanded you to walk and live by faith. You can’t live by faith without God’s Word. Faith begins where the will of God is known. So God goes out of His way to sow His Word down in your heart. This Word is a supernatural and incorruptible seed. It can activate your faith and change you from the inside out. However, if you don’t understand the Word you heard (or read), satan comes immediately to snatch the Word out of your heart because He knows that without the Word, you won’t live by faith, and you won’t change. This is how powerful the Word of God is, and it is why satan doesn’t want you to hear it, understand it, believe it, and apply it.
There is a battle for the Word of God. The good news is that if you understand a word from God and you hide it in your heart (meditating and medicating on it), satan cannot snatch it from you. This is why you must pursue divine understanding.
2. Words from God are full of spirit and life.
Jesus said, “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. The very words I have spoken to you are full of spirit and life.” (John 6:63).
— Jesus was the Word of God in the flesh (John 1:1). He was the embodiment of the Word.
— Jesus was the Word, and as He walked around He spoke words. He was life, and the words He spoke were also full of spirit and life.
— When we receive and release the Word of God, we are receiving and releasing the same spirit and life. We are receiving and releasing God’s power. It has nothing to do with human effort or ability. When we declare what God has already decreed, God Himself watches over His Word to perform it! (Jer 1:12).
3. God’s Word is so powerful that the entire universe was created by it.
The Bible says, “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Heb 11:3).
— God did not create the universe by working hard or through tireless effort. God created the universe by speaking words.
— God said, and God said, and God said… and then God saw everything that He said.
— The Word of God contains the power of the God of the Word.
— The same power that created the universe is contained in the words that flow from God.
— The is POWER in the Word of God. When you declare God’s Word over your life, your children, your health, your finances, your career, your future, and etc., you are releasing the power of God into this world. Angels respond to the VOICE of God’s Word (Psalm 103:20), and God Himself watches over His Word to perform it (Jer 1:12).
4. Satan comes to snatch the Word immediately, because he knows how powerful it is.
(Mark 4:15 KJV)
These are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
— When you understand the power that is contained in the Word of God, you see why God goes out of His way to sow this Word down in your heart. You also understand why satan does His best to snatch it away from you before you understand it and are changed by it.
— The Word of God has the power to change you forever.
— I gave my life to Christ at 23 years old. I was a young, arrogant Staff Sergeant in the United States Army who was full of pride and unsure of what to do with his life. I spent the first few years of my walk with Christ devouring the Word of God. The Word of God changed me from the inside out. Over 25 years later, I still get into God’s Word every day. There is POWER in the Word of God! This is why God wants you to read it and satan wants to snatch it away from you.
To LEVEL UP, you must renew your commitment to the word of God!
5. Satan will do all he can to keep you from walking in God’s best.
God sends people your way, to bring His Word to you in ways you can understand. These are the preachers He “sends,” as explained in Romans 10.
— The preacher (or the sower) comes with the Word of God. When the Word comes, faith can come (see Rom 10:17).
— The sower comes, the Word comes, faith can come, but then satan comes immediately. Why? Because he wants to snatch the Word (or seed) away before it can develop your faith and produce results in your life.
— Satan is after the Word because he is after your faith. Satan knows he cannot stop you when you are in-faith, accessing God’s grace. But if he can get you before you activate your faith, he can stop you, because at that stage you are still operating with human ability. Satan wants to stop you in the natural BEFORE you tap into the supernatural. Because once you do, he knows he is powerless against God.
— Satan cannot stop you when you have a functional understanding of God’s Word and you are living by every Word God speaks to you. This is why we have to get back to the basics: let’s get back to God’s Word!
6. God goes out of His way to bless you.
God has been extremely good to you! Think about it… You did not pursue God without God first pursuing you. You could not love God until God first loved you. You did not pursue the Word until God went out of His way to send people to bring the Word to you. God even gave you the faith you need to receive the Word, so the Word can produce in your life. So, pause for a moment to think about the goodness of God.
God gave you faith, He gave you His Word, He gave you His love, He gave You His Son, and now He gives you His plans for your life. Your part is to simply use the faith He has given you to access His grace and goodness, and then REMAIN FOCUSED as you seek to ALLOW GOD to do the work through you in pursuit of your purpose. Who would not want to serve a God like that?
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season for me to LEVEL UP! I do so by giving careful attention to Your Word. Your Word became flesh and dwelt among us in Your Son Jesus. The Words He released were full of Spirit and life. The entire universe was created by You speaking Words. Your Word still contains that power. I receive and release Your power as I receive and release Your Word. I read Your Word daily. I meditate and medicate on it day and night. Your Word produces change IN me and then produces fruit FROM me. Life-changing and world-changing power flow from me daily because I am full of Your Word. This has nothing to do with human ability and everything to do with Your grace!
Living this way, I LEVEL UP my life in 2021! GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
