Mark 4: 26-28 (AMP)
And He said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground. And then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases – he knows not how. The earth produces (acting) by itself – first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”
THE SEED:
If you consider for just a minute, the size of a seed, it is so small and yet it carries so much life and power. The fruit that grows from the seed planted, sustains life, provides health and growth as well a sense of satisfaction to the one who consumes the fruit. If you love to grow things in your garden, you will know that once you have sown the seed into the prepared ground, it will take some time before you see the blade pop up above the soil – first the blade, then the leaves and then the flowers which evolve forth into fruit – we know not how.
In this context, the seed is the Word of God and just like a seed, the Word of God carries life and power, so much so that it can completely transform and change the vilest of human beings, a human being that society may have given up on, but not God. God’s Word can deliver, heal and touch his heart imparting life and love resurrecting him from death to life. What takes man a lifetime to accomplish, can take God a split second with a simple impartation of His Word and love.
THE GROUND:
The ground in this parable is one’s heart and even though the Word carries life and power, just like the seed it will not sprout forth its life and power until it is sown into the ground. The Word will not sprout forth its life and power in our lives unless we plant it in our hearts and meditate on it. The Hebrew word for meditate is ‘hagah’, which means to mutter under your breath, to muse, to ponder, to study – to speak that Word over and over while you keep your mind focused on it. You might feel the urge to say, “Isn’t that vain repetition?” Well yes, it would be if you have the brain of a parrot. A parrot cannot and will not keep his mind focused on the word while he repeats it over and over. When we meditate on God’s Word keeping our mind focused on it, it will bring our hearts into a place of positioning to receive – receive what? Divine revelation.
REVELATION – The Holy Spirit’s doing:
Psalm 39: 3 (AMP)
My heart was hot within me. While I was musing, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.
I heard someone once say that there are things in life that cannot be taught, they have to be caught – in other words, they have to be caught/ understood with our hearts. I believe that revelation is the Holy Spirit’s doing. The Holy Spirit causes the Word to burn with fresh understanding in our hearts. He quickens our hearts to receive spiritual understanding so that our hearts connect with God’s heart on the matter – our hearts align with God’s heart and we understand and see matters exactly the way God does – from His perspective. Therefore, when we declare the Word from a position of heart revelation and faith in Jesus, then there is power in our declaration. It will fulfil the very purpose for which it was sent.
INSTANT SOUP:
We live in a generation of instant noodles, instant soup and microwave meals – in fact, I don’t think the microwave is fast enough anymore. We want to see big results in our life, but we don’t want to wait for them. We are a generation that expects instant soup to be quicker than instant. Jesus specifically tells us through the parable that growth comes with time – first the blade, then the ear and then the full grain in the ear – sounds like waiting to me.
Genesis 8: 22 (KJV)
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest…………………..
The word seedtime here does not refer to the time designated to the sowing of the seed, but it refers to seed, plus time, plus harvest. There will always be time between the sowing of the seed and the reaping of the harvest. If you are a farmer or you love to grow your own produce, you will completely identify with the waiting game – believe me, much patience is required. The Word planted in your heart needs time to develop, just like seeds needs time to germinate and develop a strong root system. Why? Because the stronger and deeper the root system, the stronger and more grounded you will be as a Christian.
WORD + FAITH:
Romans 10: 17 (KJV)
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God.
This hearing is not with your ears which are planted at the sides of your head, but this hearing is with your spiritual ears – your spirit and your heart. For me, the root system is your faith built upon the seed which you have planted and meditated on over time.
WE KNOW NOT HOW:
We know not how the seed grows and we know not how the Word grows, but it does, and you know what? We don’t need to know how! We simply need to sow the Word into our heart, mix it with faith and declare it.
THE WORD COMES WITH POWER:
The Word of God that you speak carries so much power that it can completely turn around your situation from negative to positive, it can change atmospheres, bring healing and deliverance as well as salvation. The Holy Spirit will ride on the Word of God that you speak in the same way as He hovered over the surface of the deep at Creation waiting on the words of God, ‘Let there be…………’ He will manifest the power of God in your life bringing breakthrough to your situation, releasing miracles and healing, or tugging at the hearts of those who are broken and hurting drawing them to the feet of Jesus – again, we don’t know how, but God does.
Acts 10:44 (AMP)
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the message.
If you know the book of Acts, you will know that this book covers a time span in history where the author, none other than Dr Luke, shares how the church was birthed. It really is a book about the acts of the Holy Spirit. We see how the apostles went about preaching the Word boldly and sharing all that they had seen Jesus do and speak. As they preached, the Holy Spirit fell on the listeners and brought about many salvations, water baptisms, baptisms in the Holy Spirit as well as signs and wonders. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit go hand in hand and never should be separated from one another – after all, the Holy Spirit imparted the Word of God to man. The Word and the Spirit are one. I had a lecturer at Bible College who use to say, ‘All Word and you will dry up. All Spirit and you will blow up. Put the Word and the Spirit together and you will grow up.’
It is the Holy Spirit who dwells within you, who will cause the Word that you have sown into your heart to rise upon your tongue in powerful declaration. I always use to tell my congregation in the Middle East that if you don’t sow the Word into your hearts, then the Holy Spirit has nothing to work with. Whatever situation you may find yourself in, the Holy Spirit will cause the perfect scripture to come to mind and take hold of your heart which you can declare in that situation – however, one needs to have spent time in the Word.
The Word of God and the Spirit together will strengthen you, cause you to be bold and courageous, increase you, anoint you, transform you, prosper you, heal you, deliver you and position you in your God-given authority as a believer.
CHILL OUT:
The man in Jesus’ parable scattered his seed, and then he slept and rose night and day while the seed sprouted, grew and increased – he knew not how. The man did not stress or panic, and neither did he sow the seed and then wonder how or if it was going to grow. No, he sowed his seed and then he chilled out – basically he slept on it and took it easy – faith comes from a place of rest. When our trust is in God alone and our root system runs deep and strong, then we can declare Papa God’s Word over our circumstances and then chill out. Once you have prayed into the situation using the Word, then thank Him. Thank God every day for the breakthrough that is on the way because you know that He is always faithful to perform His Word.
Read on: THE WORD NEVER RETURNS EMPTY.
