PASTOR DARRYL BAKER

Mark 4:14-15
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.

Parable of the Sower – Part 1
One of the areas that can be overlooked when it comes to faith is the condition of your heart. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Kenneth Hagin who was a great man of faith once said, “Faith always comes, but faith is not always received.” When the Word is preached, faith is there, but if the heart upon which the Word comes is not good ground, that seed of the Word does not produce faith.

In the parable of the sower there are two things revealed. The seed of God’s Word, and the condition of the soil (the heart of man). The first of the four soil or heart conditions Jesus mentions is wayside soil. Wayside soil is the outer perimeter of the farmer’s field. This soil becomes hardened because it was not plowed like the rest of the field. Because the ground was hardened the birds of the air would come and immediately take the seed that was scattered there. Jesus compares this to satan, who does the same thing with believers whose hearts are not plowed and prepared for the Word.

This happens when those who are in church are not listening intently when the Word is preached. Many today are on their cell phones or daydreaming about other things. They are believers who are ruled by their flesh. They are yielding to their fleshly nature. Jesus said to take heed HOW you hear, for to him who hears more will be given, but to him who does not hear, even what he has will be taken away. If your heart is set on God and not your flesh, you give your full attention to the preaching of God’s Word.

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1 Peter 1:18-19
18 Realize that you weren’t set free from the worthless life handed down to you from your ancestors by a payment of silver or gold which can be destroyed.
19 Rather, the payment that freed you was the precious blood of Christ, the lamb with no defects or imperfections.

Several years ago, I was watching a car auction, and they had a very rare car that sold for 1.2 million dollars. Because it was rare, someone was willing to pay a lot of money for it. What makes something valuable? There are basically two things that determine value. How rare something is, and how much someone is willing to pay for it. How valuable are you to God? According to verse 19 above, very valuable.

The most valuable thing ever known to man was the precious blood of Jesus. The word precious means very valuable. That is the price God paid for every human to be liberated from their old fallen spirit man. How valuable does that make you to God? Many who are born again do not truly understand how valuable their life is to Him. There has never been a higher price paid for anything than what Jesus was willing to pay so that you could become a child of a God, get to know Him, and live a new life.

In verse 18 above it says you were set free from a worthless lifestyle that came from our fathers, which was passed down from Adam because of his sin. The word used for “set free” is redeemed. It means to be liberated by the payment of a ransom. The payment Jesus made by shedding His blood for us was all that was needed to free us from the old fallen nature. Stop trying to find you worth in this world. Find your worth in Christ Jesus through relationship with Him, and you can live a life that is worthy of Him, for you are very valuable to God.

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Mark 11:23b
…but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Many believers do not realize how powerful their words are. When you believe something in your heart, and you confess it as yours, Jesus said you will have whatever you say. Notice He did not say you would only have what God’s Word says, but that you would have whatever you say. Because many do not understand this spiritual law, they continue to live with and put up with things that really don’t belong to them as a believer.

When you say things like my arthritis, my anxiety, my depression, my (name a sickness), etc, you are going to continue to have what you say. It is like when a package is delivered to your home, your confession saying it is yours is like signing for the package, and you give satan the right to leave it with you. Psalm 45:1 says your tongue is the pen of a ready writer. You must learn to agree with what God says about you, change what you believe in your heart and what you speak with your mouth, and get in agreement with God.

Romans 4:17 tells us that God calls those things which do not exist as though they did. God’s Word says you are healed, you have peace, that you have the joy of the Lord. Start saying what God’s Word says until you believe it in your heart, and then keep saying it. In doing so you are now agreeing with what God says about you, and you are now signing for the package God has given you and rejecting what the devil wants you to have. What are you claiming in your life? What you believe in your heart and speak with your mouth, you will have.

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Psalms 9:10
Your loyal followers trust in you, for you, LORD, do not abandon those who seek your help.

One of the most key elements of faith that is often overlooked is revealed through the understanding of this simple word, trust. Years ago, a great man of God Dr. Lester Sumralll was asked by a young minister what faith was. Dr. Sumralll looked at the young man and asked him, “How far can you trust God”? When you define what trust is, it is simply another word for faith. It means you are fully convinced.

For example, if someone made you a promise to do something you needed done and you had developed a personal relationship with them having spent quality time with that person, you would have no problem trusting them and could take them at their word. So it is with God. Many struggle in their faith walk because they have not really gotten to know the One who they are to put their trust in. They just know about Him. A loyal follower is one who has made the decision to know God.

The best way to develop this relationship is through daily time in His Word, especially in the New Testament where we learn about our covenant, and about Jesus, and in doing so we can get to know God. Jesus said if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. Whenever you open the Word of God you should treat it as if you just sat down to spend time with Him. God’s Word is God speaking to you. Take the time to develop a genuine relationship with your God through the Word, and you can learn to put your trust in Him, and receive the help He has promised to give you.

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 James 1:22
But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

Hearing what God’s Word says about any subject that relates to what scripture teaches us and not being a doer of the Word in our life leads to self-deception. This self-deception comes by reasoning contrary to the Truth of God’s Word. Scripture teaches us God’s way is perfect, and proven. For example, this is exactly what king Saul did after being directed by God to deal with and wipe out the Amalekites for what they had done to God’s people.

Saul took his men and went to battle, but Saul spared king Agag, the sheep, the oxen, and all that was good. God then spoke to Samuel and told him that He regretted making Saul king for he had not obeyed God’s Word. Samuel was sent by God to deal with Saul. When Saul first saw Samuel, he declared that he had fully obeyed the Lord. Samuel then asks about the sound of the sheep and the oxen in the background, and why king Agag was with them still alive. Saul blamed the people for this disobedience saying they wanted to sacrifice the animals to the Lord.

When we are no longer obedient to the Word of God and confronted by spiritual leadership, we often think we have obeyed God, but when proven wrong we may even begin to put the blame on others around us. Don’t just hear what God’s Word says, be diligent to obey His Word. Don’t allow human reasoning to lead you astray from the Truth. As James 1:25 tells us, those who do what scripture teaches, they will be blessed in what they do. Be a doer of the Word.

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Acts 7:41
So they made a calf as their new god, and they even sacrificed to it and celebrated an object they had fabricated as if it was their God.

In chapter seven of the book of Acts Stephen is recounting when the children of Israel who were not willing to obey what God had said but had chosen to go their own way had made a golden calf to worship. This is known as idolatry. Idolatry is when someone chooses to make a god that fits their own way of living. We still see believers doing this today.

A false god or idol is when we try to make God to be someone He is not, trying to fit our own beliefs, what we want. This is what the children of Israel did after God had delivered them from Egypt, which for us represents what Jesus did to deliver us from the world when we were born again. When we know what scripture teaches us about God and His ways but choose our own way instead, changing scripture to fit what we want, that is idolatry.

For example, the New Testament tells us that we are to have a shepherd and gather with a body of believers. Yet many believers today say, “God doesn’t care if I go to church or not.” They have made a god to fit their own lifestyle because they choose to ignore scripture, saying things about God that are not true. Simply put, when we like the children of Israel choose what we want and not what God has said, we have made a false god. In doing so we miss out on what God has made available for us. Don’t go the way of Idolatry, for in doing so you will miss out on God’s best for your life, which is knowing Him.

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Colossians 2:6-8
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Paul reveals in the above verses that as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. How did we receive Jesus? By faith in what He has done for us. Paul is saying that you began this walk with Him by faith, and that you should continue to walk in Him by faith. In other words, you did not earn your salvation and therefore after being born again, don’t try now to earn what you have been given through Christ Jesus.

In the above verse he warns that you must beware of being cheated out of this new life of faith through philosophy, and through empty deceit. Philosophy as he tells us is based on the traditions of men. The religious traditions of man are going to try and get you to earn what you have in Christ, instead of putting your faith in what Jesus has done. It will be all about earning what you have instead of learning what you have in Christ.

The other warning refers to empty deceit, which he reveals is according to the principles of the world. Worldly principles teach you that you won’t be complete and truly happy unless you obtain what the world has to offer, but true happiness and contentment is found in the only One that completes you, Jesus Christ. So, beware of those who may think they are helping you in life but will in fact lead you away from a life of faith in Christ, knowing in Him you already have all that makes you complete.

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1 Corinthians 1:30
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.

What Jesus became for us we now have because we are in Him. In Christ Jesus we have wisdom from God (the mind of Christ), the ability to know and see things the way God does. We have righteousness (right standing with God), and with knowledge of our right standing with God we have the right to all He has provided for us.

We also have sanctification (set apart to pursue God), the ability to now know Him through an intimate relationship as we pursue Him. We also have redemption (deliverance from evil and all its works) for we have been redeemed from the curse of the law, which includes spiritual death, sickness and disease, and poverty. Jesus bore all these things for us, and in doing so He purchased our freedom from them.

Get to know Jesus through the Word of God, and the more one who is born again does so, the more you get to know the new you, because we have become one spirit with the Lord. Reading and meditating on the Word of God is spending time with the unseen Christ, for He is the Word that became flesh. The written Word reveals to us the living Word Jesus Christ, and as you get to know Him, you get to know all that He has made available to you.

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2 Peter 1:3
God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and for godliness. This power was given to us through knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and integrity.

Did you know once you are born again that everything you need in this life has already been given to you through the power we have received through salvation. Many do not realize this as they are always looking to God, asking Him for what He has already provided. What we need to realize is that our Heavenly Father will reveal how we can receive and walk in the light of all He has already given to us through Christ Jesus.

The key to how we can come to know what we have, and how we can partake of what He has already provided for us is through the knowledge of the One who has made all things available to us. This reference Peter makes about the knowledge of the One is referring to knowing Him, not just knowing about Him. You see if we have the desire to “ know Him” and pursue that desire, we will have no problem learning from Him how to become partakers of what He has already made available.

When we develop an intimate relationship with the Lord, we not only come to know what He has done for us, but we will also in getting to know Him have no problem believing in what He has promised to us, for we will see Him for who He is. Scripture reveals that He is a good God, from whom come all good things. It’s not hard to put faith in God when you learn of His love and desire for you to receive all He has provided. The more you get to know Him through the Word, the more you will experience the priceless privilege of relationship with God, and what He desires for your life.

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Romans 12:5
so we, being many, are one body in Christ, …

The key here is “one body in Christ”. Jesus is the head; we are the body. Whatever is true of the head is true of the body. When you look at a person you don’t look at their head and body as separate, and so it is with us, for we are one with Christ. We are in Him and therefore we have become one spirit with the Lord. As He is, so are we in this present world.

See yourself as one with Christ. Everything Jesus is we have become. We are more than conquerors because He is more than a conqueror. We are to rule and reign upon this earth as earth warriors, trampling upon all the powers of darkness, knowing the works of evil are no match for us because they are no match for Him. He became wisdom from God, and therefore we have the mind of Christ.

We can come boldly to the throne of God’s grace and never be afraid to approach our Heavenly Father just as Jesus would never be afraid to do so. He is our healer, so we have been healed. Who Jesus is we have become because we have been made one with Him. When we walk in this reality by faith in our hearts, we can walk in all that He is, for we are the body of Christ.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas