Part 7 (2/2)
Mark 4:20 We all want to be this last type of ground. We all want to produce an abundant crop of good fruit. However, the best type of ground didn't have more. It had less.
FIRST PLACE.
When the Lord showed this truth to me, I was just starting out in ministry. It impacted me deeply because I was acutely aware that I was just a hick from Texas. My voice is not what you would call a voice for radio and television. G.o.d chooses the weak things of this world to confound the wise. (1 Corinthians 1:26-28.) If I were picking people to be on radio and television, I wouldn't have picked me. That's for sure! So I was acutely aware of all these liabilities-my voice, the way I look, that I'm a hick from Texas, and that I don't have the ”charisma” that a lot of other people do. Because of this, I honestly doubted that G.o.d could use me. But the Lord really encouraged me through this parable.
He showed me that it was the seed-the Word-that produced the fruit. And the ground that produced the best fruit wasn't the ground that had more, it was the ground that had less-less stones, less thorns, and less weeds. The real productive soil wasn't soil that had more than everything else; it was the soil that had less.
This told me that I didn't necessarily need all of these external talents that people normally put emphasis on in order to be fruitful. It's really just a matter of the heart. If I would rid myself of the stones, thorns, and weeds, I could bear much fruit. I just needed to eliminate the things that occupy my attention and devote myself completely to G.o.d. If I put the Word of G.o.d first place in my heart, then that Word would produce an abundant harvest in my life.
This really encouraged me. I prayed, ”G.o.d, if what really makes Your Word become fruitful is being less, then I can certainly be less. I may not be able to be more, but I can definitely be less. I can get rid of these things that hinder me.”
You may not feel like you're the sharpest knife in the drawer. You may be acutely aware that you have all kinds of liabilities that other people don't have. Yet, you can commit yourself to the Word of G.o.d and meditate on it until G.o.d's Word takes deep root in your heart. You can refuse to allow anything else to divert your attention or sap the strength of your heart that could be going toward the Lord. If you devote yourself completely to the Lord and His Word, G.o.d's Word will make you a success. It will cause fruit to come in whatever area He has called and anointed you to minister.
AN a.s.sET.
Luke's account says: But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke 8:15 If you stop and think about it, this whole parable has been about patience. It's been about a seed being planted and then reaping a harvest. Everyone who has ever dealt with seeds knows that you have to give that seed time to work. Time is actually an a.s.set. It's a benefit to a farmer. It's not a negative, but a positive.
When you put a seed in the ground, you don't know what's happening. But if you'll leave that seed in the ground, keeping it watered and weeded, G.o.d has made it so that over time, it'll germinate and take root. The crop will come up and the fruit will mature. Time is actually a benefit. Instead of looking at time negatively, you need to see it as a friend.
After speaking along these lines about the growth process and it taking time, I remember one of our Bible college students getting mad and saying, ”I don't have ten years to mature. G.o.d has told me that I'm supposed to lead a million people to the Lord. Jesus is coming back soon!” So in spite of all the scriptures that talk about not putting a novice in a position of authority, all the scriptures that speak of growth over time, this guy just determined that he was going to violate all of that, and that he was going to get it done on his own. He actually quit school so he could go ahead and change the world in a short period of time.
This was years ago, and it hasn't come to pa.s.s yet. He saw time as a negative, and had the att.i.tude, ”I can't afford to wait!”
Now that I've been in the ministry for over forty years, I look at time as an a.s.set. I've been sowing the Word of G.o.d in my life for decades. I've been meditating on these truths for years. I'm still reaping today because of the time that I've invested in the kingdom of G.o.d decades ago.
REPRODUCTION AND MULTIPLICATION.
Once a seed is sown, it'll grow and multiply over time. Consider the dandelion. If you were to sow a dandelion seed in your yard, over time that dandelion would reproduce itself and completely fill your yard. That's how seeds work. Time is actually a friend to a seed because it allows reproduction and multiplication.
Don't think, Oh man, I have to spend time growing, maturing, and letting the Word take root on the inside of me. View time positively. Every second you spend meditating in the Word of G.o.d and planting these seeds in your heart, you're starting in motion a process that cannot be stopped. Seeds are powerful.
It's been over twenty years since Mount St. Helens erupted. Because of the devastation, all the scientists back then were predicting that it would take hundreds of years for the area to reforest itself, for the animals to come back, and for the flowers to return. Now they're just shocked that things are so regenerated after only a little more than twenty years' time. It's far beyond everyone's expectations. They didn't understand the power that's in seeds. There was so much heat and so many mudslides, yet those seeds were doing what G.o.d created them to do. They started producing, and by the very next year there were already signs of regeneration sprouting up here and there.
G.o.d has put seeds in His Word. We need to take these seeds, plant them in our heart, and just leave them there. If we keep the Word of G.o.d fresh and alive on the inside of us, it'll continue benefiting us twenty, thirty, even fifty years from now, should the Lord tarry.
This is how the kingdom of G.o.d works. Once you understand this principle, you can take the Word of G.o.d, sow it in your life, and keep it there. Instead of being discouraged that it takes time to grow, you can be encouraged. Once you get this system going, and you've invested that time, the Word of G.o.d will just supernaturally change you. You'll be changed effortlessly by the Word of G.o.d. It'll just spring forth and grow up in your life. You'll be transformed.
I live in the mountains of Colorado. There is a 250 foot vertical rise from the road that runs in front of our house up to our house. Our property is so steep, it's hard to walk on it, especially in winter with the snow. Add to that the fact that our alt.i.tude is 9000 feet and it really taxes your breathing to climb these hills. Therefore, I decided to build a trail that ”switched back” across my property so I could walk up and down without losing my breath.
I started building that trail by just using hand tools in 1994. Most of my property is decomposed granite and I averaged only ten feet per hour. My trail is 2.5 miles round trip. So, it looked like it was going to take me forever to finish that trail. I worked on it until it was completed in 2000 and still maintain it today.
I tell you this story to make a point. Now, every time I go walking on my trail, I am reaping the benefits of the labor I did back in '94-2000. Yes, it took me six years to build that trail, but I've been using it for many years now. That wasn't wasted time. I'm reaping benefits from that investment of time every day. Likewise, the time you take getting G.o.d's Word rooted and grounded in you isn't wasted time. You will reap its rewards for the rest of your life.
Chapter 18.
The Growth Process On the same day that Jesus taught the parable of the sower sowing the seed, He also said: So is the kingdom of G.o.d, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself;first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
Mark 4:26-29 Although this is a simple pa.s.sage of scripture, it's very profound. It's packed with meaning. First of all, it says that the kingdom of G.o.d is as if a man should cast seed into the ground. This is the same principle as in the parable of the sower sowing the seed. G.o.d's Word is like a seed planted in the ground of our heart.
COOPERATE AND REAP.
Notice verse 27 says: And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
Mark 4:27 In the same way that you plant a seed in the ground and don't really know what's happening to make it grow, so it is with the Word. Mankind, with all our knowledge, has put satellites in orbit, people on the moon, and sent s.p.a.cecraft to other planets. For all that mankind has accomplished and all of our c.u.mulative knowledge, we cannot manufacture a seed. Oh, we can make something that looks like a seed, with the same size, color, and chemicals. It could look like an exact replica and fool people, but if you take a man made seed and plant it in the ground, it won't germinate or reproduce itself. Why? There isn't any life in it.
Despite all our knowledge, mankind has not been able to figure out why a seed does what it does. It does what it does just because G.o.d created it that way. However, even though we don't understand all of the specifics, that doesn't keep us from taking seeds and planting them in the ground. We've learned a few things about how long it takes for that seed to germinate and produce a harvest. We've learned about what weeds to keep out. We've learned about what kind of temperature and how much water the seed needs to produce fruit. We've learned enough about a seed to be able to cooperate with it, but we still don't understand it. Yet it works. Every one of us benefit from seeds sown around the world when we eat our bread, fruit, and vegetables. We don't understand it, but we still benefit from it.
This is a tremendous comfort to me. I don't have to understand everything about how the Word works. I don't have to understand why just shutting myself in with the Lord, studying His Word, and listening to Him speak to me does what it does. The fact that I can't totally explain it doesn't keep me from cooperating and reaping the benefits of it.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist, or the sharpest person around. You don't have to understand everything to get G.o.d's Word working in your life. Just start sowing the Word into your heart. Begin meditating on it day and night. The Word of G.o.d will germinate, take root, spring forth, and grow up of itself.
EVERYTHING JESUS PROVIDED.
G.o.d put life in those seeds. Man cannot figure it out, but G.o.d spoke life into physical seeds. He's also spoken life into the spiritual seed of His Word.
Proverbs 4:20-22 says: My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
G.o.d's Word contains His life in it. If you would take His words, His sayings, and put them on the inside of you, then G.o.d's kind of life would start flowing through you. You would find that healing, prosperity, joy, peace- everything Jesus provided-are contained in G.o.d's Word. The Bible isn't like any other book. It's different. It's alive.
For the word of G.o.d is quick [alive], and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword.
Hebrews 4:12, [brackets mine]
G.o.d's Word is alive. It's different than reading any other book-even books about the Bible. The Word of G.o.d is different. There's life in it. If you take it, the Word will give you life where there's been death. It gives light where there was darkness. It's that simple.
PATIENCE.
In light of this truth, I don't know why people don't spend more time studying the Word of G.o.d. I don't know why we spend so much time occupied with all these other things. The only explanation I can think of is that we really don't believe. We really don't believe the power and authority that's in G.o.d's Word. If you understand what I'm saying, then you'll realize that the most important thing you could ever do is just take G.o.d's Word and begin planting it in your life.
G.o.d has created His Word just like a physical seed. It brings forth fruit of itself. Yet, the Word doesn't work until it's sown in your heart just like a seed doesn't work until it's sown into the ground.
They've found seeds in pyramids that had been lying there for four thousand years. They were dormant, never sprouting, because they weren't in the ground. But once they were planted with the right temperature, nutrients, and water, they started sprouting and producing plants. All of a sudden the life that was in them came forth. That's a miracle!
G.o.d's Word has been recorded for thousands of years. If you will take it and sow it into your heart, it will begin to produce.
But the seed has to be in the ground. The Word has to be in your heart for it to begin to release that life. You can't just read it with your eyes and take a little truth into your brain. You have to put it down deep on the inside of you. You must meditate on the Word until it literally takes root on the inside of you. That's when it will just start supernaturally producing. read it with your eyes and take a little truth into your brain. You have to put it down deep on the inside of you. You must meditate on the Word until it literally takes root on the inside of you. That's when it will just start supernaturally producing.
In this parable, Jesus was saying that the kingdom of G.o.d is like a man that takes a seed and puts it in the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day. This implies time. You have to exercise patience.
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