Daily Bread 4-13-17
Luke 8:12
Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
ref. - Jas 1:23,24 - For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and forth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
2Cor 2:11 - Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Our biggest enemy is sometimes ourselves. Our indecisiveness and our lack of patience is a weakness that way too many of us have. This is what keeps us from receiving the promises that we are supposed to be receiving. We hear the word directly contact us in our hearts but we make reasons within ourselves not to take action. An offer for forgiveness is given, and we get a case of the "yeah but's, or the what if's??" An offer for help is given and we think, "it's not the right time, I will wait". We are rebuked by the word of God and we get defensive or we think it is for someone else. Healing is being offered and we are scared to go up and just believe because we think "what if I go up there and don't get healed, then what?" There are so many reasons we can come up with to back away from the promises of God but they are all fueled by one, that is the devil. When the word of God is given to us in a way that we can find it useful and helpful in our lives then it is not only for someone else, it is for us as well. When we hear the word of God and a promise is offered, we dare not let anything get in the way of our pursuit of that gift. Just because it doesn't come upon us right away or our needs are not fulfilled this instant does not mean that God hasn't heard our prayers. Don't be discouraged, his timing is definitely not our timing. All the devil wants is to get our minds off of what God has promised us in Jesus Christ. Why? Because he cannot provide us with these miracles, he doesn't have the ability to hand out gifts, he cannot heal us, he also will not judge us. Take the power away from the devil and give it to Christ where it belongs. By not only hearing the word of God but putting it into practice we take away every stronghold that the enemy has. He knows that once we have tasted of the heavenly things and of the true Holy Spirit of God that we will not be returning under his wing. So, today, let the word of God fall on good ground, believe it, nurture it, believe it is a seed that has been planted that must be taken care of. Begin to water that seed with prayer and faith and then watch it as it grows in to a fruitful plant that feeds us for the rest of our days! The word of God is a miracle waiting to happen. But, like a wise man once said, "In order to do something good, we must do something." The promise is ours for the taking, all we have to do is put what we are taught to practice and the enemy will fall at our feet. So let us today pray for more faith, pray for more patience, pray for obedience, and when our answers come, let us put them into practice. What we will soon see is a small seedling coming from the ground. Stick with it through flood, drought, sunny days, and beautiful rain, and you will see, God planted that seed on good ground! He planted it on holy ground!! Have a great day!!!