Growth Triggers

Matthew 6:^33-34 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (NKJV)

Yesterday, I was telling you that after reading Mark 4:18-19, I said to the Lord, “Is there something wrong with wanting to have nice things?” In answering the question, God said to me, “Look at Me and how I designed the world. I am a God of good things, so good things will naturally flow in your life. But when you desire good things and you are seeking them, they choke the life out of your life. So, some of the most intense people I know, some of the most intentional, scheduled people are also the most distracted people. Their time is scheduled but their lives are totally distracted away from the important things. They have full calendars, but their lives are empty. God wants you to get rid of the distractions.

You will overcome familiarity in the Name of Jesus. You will overcome shallowness in the Name of Jesus. And you will overcome distractions in the Name of Jesus. Now let’s get into the growth triggers Mark 4:²⁰ “And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” (emphasis added). So, those who are like the seed sown in good soil do these three things—they hear the Word of God, they accept it, they engage with it, and then they produce a harvest. They hear the Word of God intentionally. Intentionally put yourself in places where you can hear the Word of God. Like I said, it is how you hear that determines your listening. And that is what determines your understanding. And that is what determines your prosperity. You need to hear, that is where it starts.

Secondly, you need to accept the Word. To accept the Word is to engage with the Word. How do you accept the Word? How do you engage the Word? Think of it as four Ps—Personal, Practical, Possible, and Provable. To engage with the Word that you hear, you need to make it personal. Personal means that when you hear the truth, you think about how it fits into your life. This is why I challenge you to think of how the Word applies to you personally. You don’t hear the Word and start to think of how it applies to your sister and if she has heard the same Word. No, it is about you. Practical is about how you bring it to pass in your life.

Do you want to become more like Jesus? How? It is easy for people to say they want to be more like Jesus, so they are going to fast and pray and become more like Jesus. But how exactly? You need to be practical. Are you going to stop gossiping, stop being rash, or stop being abusive?

Prayer: Father, help me to be personal and practical about Your Word, in Jesus Name. Amen!