Have you ever had the Holy Spirit reveal something that’s not right in your heart, as you read the Bible…and then you decide to live and do better…only for you to discover, months later, that the Holy Spirit is drawing your attention to that same thing, again…and that only means you didn’t follow through with your decision, earlier on, to do better?
If yes, then you really need to keep reading, because that was me too…on several occasions actually, and I just want to share what the Holy Spirit laid in my heart as I cried out, in frustration, over a recent situation. The insight from the Holy Spirit came through the parable of the Sower, as recorded in Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:4-15. Now, if you’re not familiar with this parable I’ll really advise you take a break here…get a Bible, and carefully read through that parable. You don’t have to read all three books. It is the same parable, just recorded in all three books. It’s still cool to see how it was recorded in all three books though.
In summary, the parable is about a sower who went out to sow seeds. The sower scattered the seeds and the seeds fell on different soils. Some fell on the road side, some fell on the rocks, and others fell in the midst of the thorns…and some fell into good soil. And of course, it was only the seeds that fell into good soil that grew up and yielded fruits. Jesus said the seeds represent the Word of God and the soils represent different hearts…hearts of men.
Every heart on earth has the potential of being a “good soil.” As a matter of fact, every heart was created a good soil. Our default setting is what God inserted in us when He fashioned us and placed us in our mother’s womb. And that default setting is good. It is not just good…it is perfect. God created man…every human on earth…in His image and after His likeness, and His image and likeness is perfect.
Because of the fall of man in the beginning, we show up on earth and our fallen nature gets in the way. We make decisions that make our default setting not visible. We see things…hear things and believe things that are just not right and it affects the way we respond to God, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re good…we’re “good soils.”
When God’s Word comes to you, you have all it takes to allow that Word fulfill its purpose in your life and not let the devil snatch it away from you, or allow the trials and temptations of the world make it die away or let the distractions of the world choke and suffocate it. It is on us to decide what kind of soil our hearts will be for God’s Word. God brings His Word your way to change you, and it is on you to allow the Word fulfill its purpose. The way to allow the Word fulfill its purpose in you is…staying with the Word.
We’ll never know God to the fullest while still on earth, but God does not want us to remain on the same level.
Every human being loves growth. When we plant, when we teach, when we start a business…we all want to see growth. We want to see the outcome of our effort and hard work, and we want the outcome to be GOOD. We got that from God. God created growth, and when He created us in His likeness, He made us like Himself. Now, God wouldn’t go about stressing Himself like we would, but He loves to see us grow too. When God brings a Word to you, He wants you to change and adjust to the Word…until He brings you to the next level. God will never get tired of waiting for us to learn, but He desires to see us grow.
No matter how much we already know about God, there’ll always be a better revelation. No matter what you already know about “giving” there’ll always be a better revelation about “giving.” Even the “great preachers” we all honour and respect will sincerely admit that they get to learn more on a particular topic each time they read the Word. We can’t know God to the fullest while still on earth. Our “wisest wisdom” is still foolishness before God. There’ll always be a higher level and a deeper level to all and everything we already know about God, and it is God’s will for us to keep moving. He doesn’t want us to remain on a particular level, even if He doesn’t mind waiting for and on us.
Yes, when God shows you an area in your life that you need to pay attention to, it is possible to just learn what God will have you learn, without God needing to repeat Himself. God doesn’t have to repeat Himself on a particular thing on a particular level over and over before we get it. He wants us to hear Him and obey…to keep hearing and to keep obeying. God wants us to avoid “delayed obedience and submission to His Word.”
Most often than none, we don’t see the change we want because we don’t stay with a particular Word
Most times, we sincerely want to change. God’s Word gets to us and in all honesty we want to do what the Word we have us do, and see our lives transformed, but that’s not always the case, why? Because we don’t let the Word go in, die, sprout out, take roots and bear its fruit in us. We are easily distracted. We easily let go of it. We don’t stay with the Word.
When God is pointing your attention towards a direction, allow your attention to stay where God has directed it. Don’t be distracted by a bunch of other things you believe you should also pay attention to. We can’t learn everything at the same time. We need to learn, as the Holy Spirit leads us. If the Holy Spirit is pointing you towards communication, stay on communication and learn what God will have you learn about communication in the season you’re in. If He is leading you towards giving, stay with giving. If the Holy Spirit is pointing you towards communication, giving, faith…then stick with those. The point is: let the Holy Spirit be in charge. Don’t let guilt (which is never God’s strategy, by the way) make you feel bad about other areas you need to grow in. You have to watch it, because the devil does that a whole lot, and his major aim is to distract us from what God will have us pay attention to, at each moment.
When you allow guilt set in, you’ll leave the Holy Spirit; you’ll be trying to do everything at the same time. You’ll be trying to change everything about your life at the same time. At this point, it’s no longer about God…it’s now about you. You’ll be trying to please God…to bring your good deeds before God. When you’re in this mood, nothing…absolutely nothing…will change, because nobody…absolutely nobody…can change his own life or that of another without the help Holy Spirit.
God knows our strength. He knows how to make the learning process run smoothly. He sees us…all about us; He knows what we can take and how much we can take at a particular time. If you can learn 10 things at the same time, He knows. If you can handle only 3 or maybe just 1…guess what? He knows. You just have to trust Him. God doesn’t want to overwhelm you with everything at the same time. He wants to gradually take you from A to B to C…and just keep leading you.
Don’t ever believe the devil…God isn’t angry with you and He can never be angry with you again. Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. When the Holy Spirit convicts you through the Word…stay there…mediate on that particular Word…refuse to let it go…until you see the fruit manifest in your life.
So, am I saying when we see the fruits we can now let go of the Word? No! The beautiful part is, when you see the fruits it means the Word is now planted in your heart…and when it’s planted in you, it will keep bearing fruits. The Holy Spirit will now know how to point you towards another direction as He helps you to keep nurturing the area that’s already planted in you. That’s how we keep getting transformed by the Word.
So, let’s take all of the effort from ourselves, and just learn to trust the Holy Spirit. Let’s learn to walk with Him…one day at a time.
My prayer for you and me:
I pray you see and hear beyond these words. I pray we understand the importance of staying with what God will have us learn and not just get excited and then letting go without learning. I pray we see the changes we so desire, because we were convicted by the Holy Spirit. May we never get to have the Holy Spirit teach us a particular thing over and over and over again…Amen.
Do get in the gym, and
Stay Spiritually Fit.
