Becoming Established Part 7

I want to close this series looking a little deeper at what Jesus taught about revelation and receiving His word. In my last post I looked at Jesus explanation of what we know as the Parable of the Sower. Now I want to dig a little deeper into the parable itself.

In Mark 4:2-8 Jesus tells us there are four places the seed of His word can fall. The first three produce nothing, the seed is lost or aborted. Only the fourth location produces something and that something differs by degree. Look below at what Jesus told us.

¹³  And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴  The sower sows the word. ¹⁵  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. ¹⁶  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷  and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. ¹⁸  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹  and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” Mark 4:13-20 (NKJV)

What can happen to the seed, which is His word? Here are the four options.

• 1) The seed is stolen away.
• 2) There is no depth in the receiver, it is merely an emotional response with no true heart commitment and no counting of the cost.
• 3) There is a desire for what is spoken but other things (think of our busy lives) choke the life from the word.
• 4) The word is accepted and bears fruit.

What does it mean to ‘accept’ the word the Holy Spirit seeks to sow in our hearts? The Greek word is below.

3720. παραδέχομαι paradechomai verb

To accept, to acknowledge (as correct), to receive, to delight in.

The Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary

The key to seeing His word bear fruit in our lives is; accepting it, acknowledging that it is correct/true and embracing/delighting in it. This approach creates an incubator in our hearts where His word can bring forth life and fruit. This is the seedbed of revelation in our lives.

I heard John Wimber say more than once, “God often offends our minds to reveal what is in our hearts.” Let us press past offense and become established by embracing His word in fullness and bringing forth thirty, sixty or a hundred fold.