TAKE HEED
(Pay attention)Mark 4:24 Amplified: "Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you, and more [besides] will be given to you who hear."
Study to know WHAT it says, and ponder it deeply to understand WHAT IT MEANS. Then the virtue in it will come to you, and true knowledge from God will make you free from uncertainty.
We all feel the need to be more Christ like, and to live in constant victory over sin and temptation. If our best efforts fail, we should cry out to the Lord for a greater measure of His grace, love and power.
In the above text, Jesus taught us how to gain the virtue that we need. Something happens in our heart when we allow God's Word to deeply affect us. There arises out of the Word itself, Holy influence and spiritual strength.
In this parable of the Sower, Jesus showed us how the Kingdom of God "operates." It comes to us in the form of seed, which must be given opportunity to grow and produce its results. If we sow God's Word in our heart and water it with study and attention and obedience to it, it WILL produce in us.
New Christians often need to hear over and over again, the facts of redemption. All believers need to hear again and again, even the most familiar of Scriptures.
Taking heed to what we hear means more than knowing a verse is in the Bible. It means to allow the Scripture to regulate our life.
A Godly life will be a life that is deeply engrossed in the written Word of God, and a life that is led by the Holy Spirit. NO ONE lives close to God, who fails in those two things.
After a number of years in the ministry, I have observed that God's Word is able to work wondrous changes in the life of anyone who will deeply study it.
Extensive, correct study of the Scripture will keep a person from doctrinal error Don't 'spiritualize' the texts to make them fit an idea. Then we must be willing to change, when God reveals the truth to us.
If there is an area of need in your life, regardless of what it is, an honest study and believing of the Scripture WILL bring you to victory. Note John 8:31-32:
"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
The same is true, if you are seeking Divine Healing from God. Constant study and deep thinking about it and confessing the fact that Jesus bore our sicknesses and carried our diseases (Isa. 53:4-6, 1 Pet. 2:24) will build up your faith until you can receive what Jesus did for us at Calvary.
Note the words of Acts 20:32: "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified."
No wonder that Jesus urged us to study and ponder the Word of God. Jesus also said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God. Matthew 4:4.
My friend, if you want close fellowship with the Lord; if you want strong assurance for your life now and for eternity, then do what Jesus said in Mark 4:24. An occasional trip to Church, a hit or miss pattern of Bible reading, prayer only when you are desperate, will not enable you to experience what the Bible promises to diligent believers.
The opposite is likely to happen, according to Jesus in Mark 4:14-19.
If you have been truly born again, but are uncomfortable in reading the Bible, or in talking about the Lord Jesus, you have allowed some "weeds" to grow in your heart. Something is wrong.
You need to get so acquainted with the Bible, and with the Holy Spirit that joy is a constant fact in your life. Romans 15:13.
Don't keep living so "far away" from the Lord, that things in this life, even unrighteous things, seem more important to you than the things of God.
Go the Lord in prayer. Ask Him to forgive your sins and failures. Renew your commitment to read the Bible daily and ponder what it says during your waking hours.
Set aside time to pray daily. Become regular in attending a Church where God's Word is taught. Do this so that you may grow in your faith. Growing in grace and faith depends upon you doing these things.
Romans 15:13: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."
That is God's will for you. Don't listen to things, attitudes, and ideas that are wrong. Listen to what God's Word says, and allow it to affect you with God's grace, power, love and peace. James 1:21 says that the engrafted Word of God is able to save our souls.
Jesus came from heaven, died on the cross and rose from the dead so that we can enjoy real, eternal life, now and forever. Don't let anything keep you from it. The beginning point for everyone is Romans 10:9:
"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."
God bless you, I love you.
Pastor Poole