Fertile Soil Produces Amazing Harvest
Greetings in the Lord~
Today's word comes from Mark 4, especially verses 21-25:
Then Jesus asked them, "Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where the light will shine. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. Anyone with ears to hear should listen.
Then he added, "Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given--and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them."
Since January, I have received several words about this pandemic time period we are in and interestingly, much of it had to do with the Lord uprooting and exposing corruption and spiritual realignment, in general, a kind of holy "timeout" or divine reset of sorts. Nobody likes to use the word judgment, but definitely a time of discipline to get our attention. Many things are being unveiled and exposed these days--especially at a government level. Expect more of this to come.
And like Jesus says in the verses today, "Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given--and you will receive even more." The idea is one of active listening, or putting into practice what you are hearing. Then, when you not only hear it but do it, you will receive even more understanding and insight. Wisdom has a chance to take root in your life, and you will see the good fruit of His wisdom as you nurture, water and prune it.
However, the opposite is true as well. "But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them." It is not good to refuse to accept or to shrug off discipline, to stubbornly dig in your heels and continue in a bad way. It only leads to greater disaster. And so it goes for the rebellious. That's why Jesus spoke in parables--"When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven." Isaiah 6:9-10.
How did you spend your quarantine time? Were you able to reflect at all and realize the ways in which you may be out of balance or out of tune with flow of the Holy Spirit in your life? Was there any nudging that maybe some of the ways you were spending your time, energy and resources was really, in fact, not that important after all? Did you notice anything profound about your life at all?
Mark 4:1-9 gives a parable of a farmer sowing seeds in his field. The seeds fell on four types of ground; the first was a worn footpath which made it easy for the birds to come and eat the seeds; the second was shallow soil with rock underneath--the plants sprouted quickly but fell because their roots were not deep and they wilted in the hot sun; the third ground was full of thorns and the plants were choked and unable to produce any grain. The last ground was fertile soil and the seeds grew to produce 30, 60 even 100 times what was sown originally! Obviously, the moral of the story is to make sure that you are like the fertile soil; be the active listener to apply what you hear from the Holy Spirit and you will be very fruitful for the Kingdom of God. You will accomplish all that the Lord has for you to accomplish, for the doors the Lord opens cannot be shut, and the doors He shuts cannot be opened. The desires of the wicked will come to nothing, while the Lord's plans and purposes remain firm and will be accomplished.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
Today's word comes from Mark 4, especially verses 21-25:
Then Jesus asked them, "Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where the light will shine. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. Anyone with ears to hear should listen.
Then he added, "Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given--and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them."
Since January, I have received several words about this pandemic time period we are in and interestingly, much of it had to do with the Lord uprooting and exposing corruption and spiritual realignment, in general, a kind of holy "timeout" or divine reset of sorts. Nobody likes to use the word judgment, but definitely a time of discipline to get our attention. Many things are being unveiled and exposed these days--especially at a government level. Expect more of this to come.
And like Jesus says in the verses today, "Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given--and you will receive even more." The idea is one of active listening, or putting into practice what you are hearing. Then, when you not only hear it but do it, you will receive even more understanding and insight. Wisdom has a chance to take root in your life, and you will see the good fruit of His wisdom as you nurture, water and prune it.
However, the opposite is true as well. "But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them." It is not good to refuse to accept or to shrug off discipline, to stubbornly dig in your heels and continue in a bad way. It only leads to greater disaster. And so it goes for the rebellious. That's why Jesus spoke in parables--"When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven." Isaiah 6:9-10.
How did you spend your quarantine time? Were you able to reflect at all and realize the ways in which you may be out of balance or out of tune with flow of the Holy Spirit in your life? Was there any nudging that maybe some of the ways you were spending your time, energy and resources was really, in fact, not that important after all? Did you notice anything profound about your life at all?
Mark 4:1-9 gives a parable of a farmer sowing seeds in his field. The seeds fell on four types of ground; the first was a worn footpath which made it easy for the birds to come and eat the seeds; the second was shallow soil with rock underneath--the plants sprouted quickly but fell because their roots were not deep and they wilted in the hot sun; the third ground was full of thorns and the plants were choked and unable to produce any grain. The last ground was fertile soil and the seeds grew to produce 30, 60 even 100 times what was sown originally! Obviously, the moral of the story is to make sure that you are like the fertile soil; be the active listener to apply what you hear from the Holy Spirit and you will be very fruitful for the Kingdom of God. You will accomplish all that the Lord has for you to accomplish, for the doors the Lord opens cannot be shut, and the doors He shuts cannot be opened. The desires of the wicked will come to nothing, while the Lord's plans and purposes remain firm and will be accomplished.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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