What do you do with the Word?

For the past few weeks I have been reading about, thinking about and talking about the Word.

 Any of you that happen to read my blog would know that I love the Word with all my heart. I truly believe that the answer to any problem or issue we could ever have is found in the Word of God. I have made a new commitment to the Word of God to give It the priority and the first place It deserves in my life.

This renewal came when I read the familiar parable of the sower in The Harmony of the Gospels.

I have read this many times and heard it preached on many times, but recently I 'saw' something I had never seen before. Thank you Holy Spirit for enlightenment.

 After Jesus gave the parable of the sower, the disciples asked what did He mean when He gave this parable. Jesus' answer was an eye-opener for me.  He basically said, if you don't know the meaning to this parable, then how can you expect to know the meaning of any other parable? If you can't understand this one, then you won't be able to understand any other. (Mark 4:13) I was like, wow!!!

So, I decided if Jesus said that this parable was the foundation, the launching pad for all other parables, then I had to spend some time with it. Therefore, I have been spending time with this parable and meditating on what it really means.

I would invite you to do the same. It could change your life forever, if you let it. It certainly has shifted some things in my life.

Immediately after telling them this was the most important parable, Jesus said, in Mark 4:14 "The sower sows the Word."

That's all the verse says.
 It just stands out among the other verses.
 Nothing else with it so you can't misunderstand it.

 Jesus said this parable is not about a farmer, its not about seed, its simply about the Word. So if Jesus says this is the most important parable and without understanding it we are in darkness about other parables, then HE is saying the Word is the most important thing and if we don't understand the Word and what it does then we are in trouble.

He goes on to tell us about the different kinds of soil, meaning the difference in the hearts that receive the Word. One thing I noticed is that HE keeps saying seed/Word of the same kind. I see it in verses 5, 7 & 8. To me that says, the Word or the seed that was sown didn't change. It's the kind of heart that was different.
It explains why two people can hear the same word from the same teacher or preacher and it changes the life of one and not the other.

What kind of heart are you receiving the Word of God with?
 Do you have a  heart like the soil that was full of rocks?
 Do you have a heart like the soil that was full of thorns?
 The kind of heart that we have determines what the Word will be able to do in our lives. A heart that's stubborn will reject the Word right away, a heart that's self-sufficient will hear the Word but doesn't think  It can affect any change in their life.
I believe all of us want to have the kind of heart that receives the word of God and allows it to bear fruit in our lives. It's what God wants for us too.
Hearing and receiving the Word is just a start. The Word must be watered so it will grow and produce.

Prayer, fasting, fellowship etc are all forms of fertilizers for the seed of the Word.
I hear many people talk about praying all the time but they hardly read the Word. Prayer is vital, it's important but without the Word to stand on, then prayer is in vain. When we spend adequate time in the Word, then we pray the Word and change comes.

For a long time I was wondering why it is that some people pray so much, they are always in prayer and fasting but nothing seems to have changed or is changing in their lives. I know now it's because there is no root of the Word in their heart.

Jesus said in verse 24, "Be careful what you are hearing. The measure of thought and study you give to the truth that you hear will be the measure of virtue and knowledge that comes back to you - and more besides will be give to you who hear." 

The more attention we pay to the Word, the more we meditate on it, the more we speak it, the more it will be evidenced in our lives.
I have often heard that prayer changes things.  Prayer doesn't change things, I believe PRAYER OF THE WORD is what changes things. If prayer just changed things, then it would be different for many of us who have been praying all the time.
When we pray the Word we are in agreement with what God says and therefore HE is obligated to answer His word. Why is it that James says we receive not because we ask not?  Many of us would say, "I have been asking for the longest time, but I haven't received." It's because we haven't been praying His word.
Psalm 138:2 says, " I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy name."


Can you imagine, that God has magnified His word above His name, knowing all the power there is in His name? 
Let's make our way back to the Word of God. God's word is a seed, and if it is sown, it will grow to bring about any change in our lives.
In my next few posts I want to look at our hearts, the soil that we sow the word into. The word never changes, its incorruptible,(1 Peter 1:23) so therefore the problems lie with our hearts. 


I want a heart that is always sensitive to the touch of God, a heart that the Word can be rooted in and produce even a hundred times as much as had been sown. Mark 4:8


I pray the Holy Spirit open our eyes to these truths and that they find a lodging place in our hearts.


Blessings,
Vickie