Weekly Word

The Bible teaches that your heart or soul has the ability to produce whatever is put into it.  Like the fertile soil of a farm, our soul is a growing or producing agent.  It grows what we plant or think on.  Jesus taught us this in the parable of the sower  Matthew 13:3-8, 19-23 says,

“And He spoke many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth,   And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them;  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.  When any one hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart.  This is he which received seed by the way side.

The parable tells us the the seed is the Word of God.  The four kinds of soil are descriptions of four different heart conditions.   This is really a parable about the heart of man. 

Notice in verses 4 and 19 that the first soil received the seed of God’s Word, but the birds (or Satan) came and devoured the seed, because it was planted by the wayside.  Verse 19 says that because the person did not understand, it was stolen from him.  This soil represents the lazy mind.  This is the mind that refuses to put any work into learning.  The lazy mind is Satans playground.  This mind will never bring success and victory in that person’s life.  Minds must be challenged or disciplined.  It’s never too late to change your mind and discipline your learning habits.

The stony places are the places with no root.  Roots are a type of diligence, discipline and commitment.  Roots only go as deep as we plant them.  The root signifies the foundations of the Word of God.  These foudations must be planted firmly, with a deliberate intent to be cared for so they will stay planted and not be able to be uprooted.  Roots are to be unmovable, steadfast and sure.    Without this kind of roots planted, we can become easily distracted and therefore overtaken by the deceitfulness of the world and its attractions.

Some fell among thorns.  Thorns here speaks of weeds.  We are taught in the word that the tares and the wheat will grow up together.  When the Word falls among thorns, it is tainted by self.  When the seed falls among the thorns or weeds, it is like planting something quickly but easily let go for something that presents an easier way.  It’s always easier to walk after our own ways than to walk the way of the Cross.  Our own way are weeds in our gardens.  Weeds grow up if we allow them and cause the seed to be fruitless.

The heart that receives the Word on good ground is a heart that understands.  It is the heart/soul that will produce and will continue to produce.  We have learned that many are called and few are chosen, and that it is a choice to be chosen.  When the Word of God comes to us, we decide what we want to do with it.  If our heart is sincerely ready to understand, growth will begin and we will receive the Word on good ground.  A heart that wants to produce will produce.  The amount that we produce is determined by our commitment to follow God and to give ourselves to His will for our lives rather than our own.

It’s time to consider what type of ground is the Word of God in your life planted in.  The word tells us if we lack wisdom we can ask of God and He will give it.  Ask today and begin to produce like never before.  Remember you will produce as much good fruit that you desire.  It’s a choice, it’s never to late to replant, to water, or to grow.

Jeremiah 4:3 says, “Break up the follow ground”   The fallow ground is that which once produced.  Like many gardens that have not been dilligently cared for, there are times that we have not been properly caring for the gardens of our lifes.  Take the inititive and break up the ground, pull the weeds, plant the word, and seek the Lord.  You will produce!!

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As we learned last week, the soul is the mind, emotions, intellect and will and the secret to transformed living is renewing the mind according to the Word of God.

Changing our thought process takes time.  That’s why the Word tells us that we go from Glory to Glory.   It took a lifetime to produce in us thoughts and opinions.  Thank God His Word is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword; therefore according to our application of the Word and obedience to the Word, we will change. 

Your thoughts control your life.  Proverbs 23:7 states: “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  As you see from this scripture, the mind is related to our soul and our soul is related to our heart.   Therefore; if you want to change your life, you must first change your thoughts.  Change always begins in our thought life.  Jesus expounded on this truth with teachings in Matthew 6:25-34.  Five times He says, Take no Thought.  Jesus was teaching how to overcome stress, anxiety, worry and fear–do not think about it!  Do not let problems be the focus of your thoughts.  Rather He taught “whatsoever things be honest, whatsoever things be pure, whatsoever things be of good report, Think on these things.”

Matthew 12:33-34 shows us how the thought process works.  First of all, it tells us in verse 33, a tree is known by its fruit.  God’s fruit is the evidence of success or maturity in a person.  (Fruit is the outcome of your life)  But in verse 34 we see that Jesus says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”    As you can see you will speak or consistenty speak what you think on.

Read James 3:2-6  In these verses we are told that our tongue turns our whole body.  We see that our tongue or words are like the rudder of a ship or the bridle of a horse and they determine the direction in which we go.

We make the choice.   “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”  Proverbs 18:21

Now to put this simply together.  Our soul is the realm where we make choices to either obey the Word of God or to continue to serve self, opinions or the teachings of men.  In Romans 10:10 we are told that we must believe in our hearts first, then speak with our mouths.    Matthew 15:16-18 So Jesus said, “Are you still without understanding?  Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

Here we see that all sin is a heart problem.  Sin comes from our carnal nature, which is our soul - our mind, emotions, intellect and will.

Make the right choice today and renew your mind according to the Word.  Your heart will change and you will be well on your way to an abundant, victorious life.

What exactly is the soul of man.  As we discussed we are a triune being.   Spirit, Soul and Body.  Our soul is made up of our Mind, Emotions, Intellect, and Will.   It is in the soul realm that we have been given a choice.  It is in the soul realm we are told to bring everything into subjection to the will of God.  It is in the sould realm that we are told to bring every thought into the captivity of Christ.  (this implies lining up our thoughts to think like God thinks given to us in the Word of God)

Because of confusion about what is the soul of man, many have not understood how to walk in victory in Christ.  Maybe you have been told that when you received Jesus as savior, everything would just work out.  With this understanding, you just plundered through life without understanding why you are not changing or growing.  Maybe you are wondering when God will finanally bring an answer to your problems. 

It’s time now to learn how to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  Yes, we are saved by grace through faith, but many times this is not understood.  We tend to either aimlessly walk through life or we try to work for our salvation, bringing ourseves into condemnation.

 God has placed in His Word a plan and a way for us to be transformed.

 God wants us to succeed.  He wants only the best for us.  He has given us a future filled with hope. Jer. 29:11.          He has given us “richly all things to enjoy.”  I Tim 6:18b   When we understand that we serve a creator who gave us everything that we need to have a happy life, then we can joyfully walk through life, letting the Word of God conform us into His image.  We can now walk without condemnation.  And we can now dedicate ourselves to taking time to put God’s Word into our hearts so we can walk in all He has for us.  Even in the most difficult places of life, God gives us all that we need.

You will prosper even as your soul prospers.  3 John also tells us to walk in truth. That truth is God’s Word.  We must be filled with truth to possess a prosperous, abundant, victorious lifestyle.

The Word of God tells us that we are to have abundant life.  In John 10:10 it says “The theif comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; but I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Self-help, self-improvement, self-hypnosis, self-understanding, self-love, and self-aareness are all trends that the world sees be better their lives.  It is a good thing to want to better our lives but the key here is the word “self”.  Man cannot solve his own problems.    Jesus died and rose again to give us life abundantly. 

Our lives must be firmly planted in Jesus and His Word which will bring life and produce fruit.  Jesus tells us in John 15:5  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Although the principle of abiding seems so simple, as humans it is a daily challange to pick up our cross daily and follow Him. 

God gave us a life-changing program that is found in Romans 12:2  “And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

So the secret to transformed living is by the renewing your mind!!!

To “not be conformed to this world” means to not think like or live like the world does, but to be transformed.  The word “transformation: in the Greek means “a transformation of nature; a metamorphosis.”  God transforms or changes us by our obedience to his Word.  When we renew our minds according to the Word of God and therefore, changing what we think about.  Since God’s Word is filled with power and life, His Word is what changes us!

Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividion asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

This is not self-help, it is God’s help!  This is the secret to transformed living.

Your life will change in proportion to your commitment and dedication to renewing your mind.  Your physical, financial, social, and circumstantial life will change as you begin to work at filling your life with God’s Word.  This is not a temporary solution, but your entire life is dependent on what you do with the Word of God — Beginning Today!

Next Week — The Sould of Man - Part 2

The first secret to realizing and releasing God’s Word to work for you is to understand from God’s Word, how we are made.  God is a triune being — Father, Son and Spirit. The Bible says these three are one and at the same time three separate personalities.  Man is created in the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 1 & 2)  Man is a triune being also in that we, too, have three separate parts but are still one person. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says:

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Man is made up of a physical body. The body is a biological container for a soul and spirit.  The soul of man is his mental,emotional and decision-making abilities; his mind, will, emotions and imaginations.  The soulish part of man is the area where God desires to impart His Word into our lives. 

 The third part of man’s trinune nature is his spirit.  It is a hidden but a vital part of our existence.  It is sometimes called the subconsious or the inner conscious.  The Bible calls it the “spirit.”

Therefore we are a triune being — Body, Soul and Spirit.

 Jesus said in John 4:2 that we being in His image, are spiritual children or spirit beings. Jesus also said that mankind was spiritually dead and had to be reborn or resurrected.  John 3:3, 5-6 says;

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.  Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

The spiritual awakening occurs by believing that Jesus, God’s Son, is the Savior of mankind and responding to Him.  This personal experience of receiving, believing, and confessing salvation through Jesus Christ is found in John 3:16-17.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Romans 10:9-10 tells us how we respond:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

John 6:63  “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are Spirit, and they are life.”

The momen you pray, believe and receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you are “born again” spiritually.  Your spirit-being comes back into relationship with God (Father, Son, Spirit)

2 Corinthians 5:17 teaches us:

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

This is the MOST IMPORTANT DECISION you will ever make!

PRAY NOW to receive Jesus and become new in Christ and have your Spirit become alive with God’s Spirit.

Heavelny Father, I thank you for sending Your only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for my sins.  I receive and believe that the blood Jesus shed was for me. That he rose from the dead and sits at Your right hand.  I thank you for saving me.  I thank you that now I’m a new creation.   Come into my life and Show me your way, Lord Jesus.  In Jesus Name I Pray, Amen.

The spirit part of you is now living and God-filled.  The spiritual part of you is already in order for He who is order lives in you.

Now is the time to redirect the other vital part of your life, your soul.  Your soul must come into agreement with your spirit and God’s Word.   Then victory and success will be yours in your life through this ongoing process.

 Next Week:  The Soul Of Man

How to Begin With God’s Word

 There are words on the earth that are filled with supernatural power.  These words are designed to benefit, empower, liberate and translate the human race.

There are no other works like them in the earth.  No words which can stand the comparison.  None that have infulenced and inspired more lives.  None that can make the same outlandish, seemingly impossible claims.  None so crystal clear in purpose and direction.  None that bring life found no othe way.  these are the Word of God.

Your attitude toward God’s Word will determine your reception and benefit from it.  The Bible is the inspiried, infallible, unalterable Word of God.  It is complete and inspearably connected in its ooks.   The Bible is the Word of God.  These words are eternal just as their Author is eternal.  These words are unchangeable just as their Author is unchangeable.  These words of heavenly, supernatural love ajust as their Author is LOVE.

 If there was ever a time that god’s Word was needed. It is NOW!  If there was ever a time that God’s Word is relevant, it is NOW!!  In His eternal wisdom, God has given us the answers and solutions for today’s problems in His Word.  The Creator has give us the answers and solutions for today’s problems in His Word.  The Creator has given us directions to put life together successfully.  He ha given us a handbook for success.  A blueprint to build for results.  because man’s basic needs have always been the same, God’s unchanging Word has always had the answers.  Because we live on the verge of the 21st century, God, who knows no limitations, has prepared the solutions through His eternal preparation by His eternal Word.  GOd is well able to have spoken four thousand years about about problems He saw arising today. 

Mankind has never been more ready for God’s answers and God’s life and power as today.

As you continue on with this study on Transformed Living, you will learn how God’s word is God himself and how He is in you.  As you allow his words of truth to become a part of you, you will walk out in Transformed Living.

Next week.  The Spirit of Man

For God so loved the world that He gave

His Only begotten Son, that who so ever believes in Him would not

perish, but have everlasting life!  John 3:16