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. The title of today’s message comes in the form of a question. The question is: Are you hindering God from moving in your life due to a lack of belief/faith?
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. You can be good ground and still miss out on God’s best.
I have already covered how the first three types of soil in the parable of the sower received ZERO harvests. God’s Word was sown down in their hearts and the seed sown did not produce anything. It was basically a wasted investment on God’s part. God sees a return on His investment in the last type of soil, good ground, but even then, there are varying yield levels.
Some people open their hearts to receive, and as soon as their situation starts turning towards what God said, they receive the INITIAL blessing and they think that’s it. So they shift their hearts on to the next things. I believe this is a picture of the people who receive but who only receive a 30 fold return.
Others receive 60 fold. I believe this is a picture of the people who endure for a while, they enjoy a tremendous blessing, but while they know they have not received ALL of what God said, they think “the blessing” is enough. So they move on in their heart, thinking, “God has already been better to me than I deserve. So that’s enough.”
For those of us who are pursuing 100 (symbolic of the fulness of what God said), we will remain in faith until God does what He said He would do. While we appreciate the journey, we will never be satisfied until we see everything God promised come to pass!
I will use myself as an example. I am a blessed man. God has already blessed me beyond every dream I ever had as a child. But in many ways, I am JUST GETTING STARTED. I refuse to settle for any less than what God said. I want the fulness of everything God promised. I want 100! Nothing more, nothing less. I pray that is your desire as well.
2. Your capacity to believe God agrees with God so He can move (that’s faith), or it will KEEP Him from moving in your life (that’s unbelief).
The parable of the sower is a parable about faith. If you want a 100 fold return on every seed (Word) God has spoken over you, you must believe and receive what God said, and you must then remain in faith, for the long haul, to see it comes to pass.
The seed in the parable is God’s Word. Jesus referred to this as the most important parable because of the importance of God’s Word in our lives.
Jesus said, “It is not just bread that keeps people alive. Their lives depend on what God says” (Matthew 4:4). We are supposed to live off of what God is saying to us. What is God saying to you in this season?
Jesus said, “All things are possible for the one who believes” (Mark 9:23). Good or bad, you will only experience God on the level of your belief system.
— You are only limited by your capacity to believe God.
— Our God is a God of no limits. If you see limits when God speaks to you, you are seeing limits you came up with. God does not see limits when He speaks to you because He is a limitless God. Therefore, if you want the fulness of what God wants to do in and through your life, you must remove every artificial limit you have ever placed on our limitless God. If you maintain limits, you are hindering God from moving in your life. Said another way, if you can’t believe it, you will never receive it.
— Don’t believe based on your power. Many Christians make the mistake of dreaming small dreams or believing God for things based on their power, ability, and strength. When God gives them a big dream, they whittle the dream down to the size of their belief system because their capacity to believe is based on their resume. This is a major mistake. This is NOT how God deals with us! God wants to bless you by grace, not your human ability. God wants to use you based on HIS POWER, not your own. God routinely calls you to operate on levels that exceed your experience, education, finances, and circle of friends. Why? Because He wants you to rely on HIM and HIS GRACE, not you and your limited power.
— There is nothing God can’t do. Think about that for a minute. God is limitless. He is infinite. He has all power. He sits on the circle of the earth. And this same God LIVES INSIDE OF YOU! So He is the one who wants to do things through you in 2021. He is the one who wants you to LEVEL UP your thinking and your believing, so He can LEVEL UP your life! He is the one who lives in you, giving you the words and performing the work (John 14:10). So stop basing your future on your limited ability. No matter how smart you are, you are not that smart. No matter how much money you think you have, you don’t have enough to do what God has called you to do. Stop basing your life on YOU! Make your life ALL ABOUT HIM! If you ever get to that point, you will be amazed at what God does in/with/through you! You are only limited by your capacity to believe God!
I wanted to give you more, but that is enough for today.
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 live by every Word You speak to me, and I have removed every limit I have ever placed on You. I see the invisible, and I am ready to be used by You to perform the seemingly impossible. GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
