Prophetic Word 2024 - Day 25: If your heart is good soil, you will stay the course.

“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.“

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭35‬-‭39‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Over the last several days we have been discussing things that can cause someone to fall away from following Christ.

As we have discussed, the word of God tells us that there will be a great Apostasy, a great falling away, just before the return of Jesus Christ. Indeed, that falling away has already begun, and will only get worse.

However, I do believe that as this falling away from following Christ is happening, there will yet be an unusual harvest of souls. Unusual, in that it will suddenly produce zealous workers for the Kingdom, who almost immediately join the workers in the field of harvest, bringing in a multitude of souls in a short amount of time.

For our purposes of understanding, we have looked at some, who, in one way or another, denied Jesus when He walked among us.

Understand, although Jesus gathered huge crowds, there were also those who never even started following, like the rich young ruler.

“Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” [Jesus said,] You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!””

‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬, ‭19‬-‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Sadly, his possessions had possession of him, and he could not let them go, not even to follow the One Who offered eternal life.

And, even among the huge crowds who did follow Him, there came a time when many of them turned away from following when He said that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Taking this command literally, they were offended, and walked away from Him (John 6: 48-66).

So, why did some fall away from following Him, while others stayed the course, to spread the Gospel across the world?

Jesus told a parable illustrating why the same word spoken to different people can produce very different outcomes.

A sower took seed and sowed it across four different types of soil: compacted, rocket, thorny, and good ground.

The seed that fell on a compacted pathway, never was given the opportunity to germinate, but was rather eaten by the birds.

The seed that fell on the rocky ground, did germinate and spring up, but could not withstand heat or drought for lack of good roots, and so withered.

The seed falling on the thorny ground, although it also germinated, was choked out by the thorns that grew up with it.

But, the seed that fell on the good ground, not only germinated, but yielded a good crop.

The disciples, not understanding the point of the parable, asked Jesus for clarification, so He explained it to them.

“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭19‬-‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Think of it: In this scenario, Jesus is talking about Himself; He was the One spreading the word of the Kingdom of God at that point. Yet, not all who heard, received it, and allowed it to grow in them to the point of producing a wonderful harvest of good works.

What I have received from this parable is that we are talking about different levels of access to the human heart, in terms of the word of God.

I would say that the compacted ground represents hearts that—for whatever reason—are hardened to the point that they really don’t even understand, what they’re being told. As such, the devil sees to it that the seed never has a chance to germinate. These people are like the religious leaders who Jesus said had no place in them for His word. Hardened hearts give no access to the word.

Then there are those represented by the rocky ground, who give limited access to the word, but do not allow the word room in their lives to grow and produce a harvest. They will not give up those things that make their heart too cluttered for the word to take deep root. And, with these people, any level of adversity is too much for their level of faith, so they fall away.

The heart represented by the thorny ground, will initially give the word access to their hearts, developing some good roots. But because their affections stay divided, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, will eventually win out over their faith, and they will fall away.

Of course, the good ground represents a heart that will give the word complete access so that it grows up, puts down deep roots, and produces good works and a life that becomes a light shining in darkness.

James provides a concise instruction for making sure that the heart is good ground for the seed of the word.

“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.“

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We will never be able to stay the course if we allow things to continue to operate in our lives that are contrary to the word of God. We will never stay the course if we let our affections draw us off course, away from following Him, into sin. As well, we will never stay the course unless the word is put into practice in our being and doing.

In our opening scripture, the writer of Hebrews gives good instruction concerning our need to remain steadfast.

Yes, a great apostasy is coming, and even now has begun. But, we are not of those who turn back to perdition. We are those who believe to the saving of our soul!

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#resolveforhim