The enemy of the human soul and all the earth is out to kill, steal, and destroy anything good. The word of God is good, useful for teaching, rebuking, and exhorting, but if it does not settle on good grown so it can bear good fruit, it cannot perform what God intends.
We take a significant risk when we allow demonic spirits to remain in our lives. Whenever we do not take an aggressive stand against the enemy in our lives, we are likely to fall prey to his agenda. Whenever we leave our hearts open to demonic thoughts, we will eventually succumb to them and do the things we think about. For these reasons and others, we must pursue holiness and consecration.
When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray He told them to ask God for daily bread, another word for bread is manna. Bread is the word of life and not just food. When Satan tried to get Jesus to bow to his will, he told him that man does not live on bread alone but on every word of the Father. Spiritual bread is needed daily if we are going to maintain and flourish in our walk with Jesus and overcome the schemes of the devil.
When looking at the parable of the sower according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke we can see by their writings what Jesus was doing before and after preaching. Luke wrote that as Jesus and His disciples journeyed, many women went with them, providing for them out of their own means. One of these women was Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus cast seven demons out of. Mary received her deliverance with gladness and became one who sat at the feet of Jesus Christ to learn. Though she was demonized, she was desperate. When Jesus cast those spirits out of her she had the opportunity to follow Him or continue in her flesh and do what she was accustomed to - she chose Jesus.
3 "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 "And it happened, as he sowed, [that] some [seed] fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 "Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 "But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 "And some [seed] fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 "But other [seed] fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." 9 And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" - Mar 4:3-9 NKJV
Jesus gave this parable publicly, but in private, He helped the disciples understand the meaning of the sower as well as other parables. Jesus said the secrets of the kingdom of God had been given to those who follow Him, but outsiders were given parables. Then He quoted the prophet, Isaiah, "Though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.' -Lk 8:10b NIV
Some people will not receive the word of the Lord and be saved. Part of the reason is that the mysteries of God are discerned spiritually and not through the natural mind. The Apostle Paul said, "the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned." - 1Co 2:14 NKJV
Many people will believe in the words of a psychic, a fortune-teller, or mediums, but when it comes to the Holy Spirit, people do not understand. They will believe that ghosts from dead people will come back to speak with them and even give them direction, but the Holy Ghost that God sent after Jesus Christ died and ascended is not received. It makes no sense to the human mind that a man should die for them and send His Spirit to live in them.
If we judge spiritual things with our intellect, we will not understand God. God is Spirit, and He provides the most supernatural and spiritual things of the universe. Jesus Christ lived a supernatural life and then died a supernatural death and ascended to Heaven supernaturally. Read the testimony of His life, and death and you will see that what I am saying is true.
When people hear the word and their hearts are not right, the word does not change them unless they are open to hearing because of their desperation, such as Mary was, in which case, there could be a conversion. Jesus explained this parable by saying that the seed is the word of God. He went on to say, 12 "Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 "But the ones on the rock [are those] who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 "Now the ones [that] fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 "But the ones [that] fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep [it] and bear fruit with patience. - Luk 8:12-15
Jesus said the birds represented the devil. Satan does not come unless he kills, destroys, or steals – that is his goal. Demonic birds are all around the body of Christ, hoping to steal the life-changing word that is preached. The word wayside means journey. Some are on the straight and narrow path that is the way to everlasting life, while others are on the wide and broad path that leads to destruction. They hear the word, but it does not change them because the devil has a way into their lives so that he can pluck the word right out of the heart. Judas was like this. Judas betrayed Jesus after Satan put it in his heart to do so, and then Satan entered him. Judas had been with Jesus hearing the word day and night, yet greed allowed Satan to bring destruction.
A heart that is hardened against God will not receive the word with joy and it cannot bear good fruit because it is bad. The devil knows how we live and where we stand regarding our relationship with Jesus because we show fruit. When we are living in sin our hearts will not receive the word either.
Jesus came to give life abundantly, more than we can possibly expect, yet if we do not receive His word, we do not receive the abundant life because the truth brings life and sets us free.
I have seen many people set on spiritual fire from the word of God being planted in their hearts only to see them fizzle out the next week. They received with joy, but as soon as the temptation came, they went back to what they always did to comfort themselves.
But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. - Mat 13:6 NKJV
When the heat is turned up, and the fiery trials of life are on many people who looked good on the outside cave when their faith is challenged. Others have too many concerns about this world to embrace the message of Christ crucified. Jesus said that we were to follow Him to make disciples of us – we follow Jesus today through His word. We do what He commands us to do, and we spread the message of hope. But, if we are not living right and our hearts are not free from sin, the concerns of this world, the love of money, and other things, we will not be equipped to do as called because we cannot receive the word of God.
The Apostle Paul warned young Timothy that those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare as well as into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and hell. Jesus said in Luke 14:33 that whoever does not forsake all that he has cannot be His disciple. I am not talking about taking on a poverty mindset for the sake of being poor, but I am talking about letting go of everything that hinders you. If your house is an idol, sell it! If your body is an idol, repent. If your job is an idol and you find your identity in it, I highly suggest you get it under the blood and find out who you really are in Christ Jesus. Nothing of this world lasts forever. We must lay this world and all its treasures down so that we can fulfill our destiny.
Anything we let go of out of obedience will be multiplied when God restores it to us. He will not ask us to walk away from things just so we can't have them, but so that we will put Him first. Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first; then, everything will be added to you.
"But the ones [that] fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep [it] and bear fruit with patience. - Luk 8:15
Those with an honest and good heart, a heart prepared to hear the truth, will not only receive the word, but they will be doers of the word, which will bear fruit with patience. Patience is essential as God’s people wait for His word to bear fruit in their lives. If God said it, then He will do it and if He promised it, and you are a child of God, living according to His will, you will eventually reap what you sow.
Let's pray,
Heavenly Father, I come to Your throne room this morning with the baggage and idols of my life. I ask You to forgive me for taking on the cares of this world and allowing idols to develop in my life. I give up all to follow You today Jesus. I desire to please You and give back as much of this life as I can to You. I am grateful for the big and the small today and ask that I be given another chance to fulfill my destiny. I ask that You return to me the seed that the demonic birds have taken from my life and allow me the opportunity to do as it is given to me to do. In Jesus' name, Amen.