Good Day and welcome to your Weekday Devotional for Wednesday, January 24th. Our New Victory for today is getting AND keeping good soil. Mark 4 is the parable that Jesus describes as the most important parable of them all. He informs us that if we do not understand THIS parable then we will NOT understand any of the others. Jesus associates getting an understanding with the condition of your heart. Of the 4 possibilities that exist, only one can yield a harvest.
On last week we discussed the enemy's role in creating the wayside, stoney and thorny ground in our lives. Some things are merely suggestive thoughts called fiery darts from the enemy. Other things are real afflictions and actual problems. Then there is simply the desire to create the best life you can for yourself while you are here. In any case, when we become consumed with those types of things we are no longer good soil. We can be in the greatest church with the greatest preacher and be failing in our spiritual growth and productivity with God and the things of God.
While it's challenging to manage every thought that comes in your mind, address physical and/or emotional pains that are taking their toil, along with the "Jones'" throwing all of their worldly success and accomplishments in your face on facebook God does not give us an OUT! He never says 'Go ahead and let the enemy make you depressed with all the negative 'what ifs'. ' He never says, 'I know you're hurting so it's okay to just let your spiritual life begin to die as well'. He never says, "I blessed the Jones' with what? You better get another job to try and catch up! I bless the child that has it's own!"
The key to keeping a good heart, a pure heart, and healthy heart is by guarding it with due diligence according to Proverbs 4:23.
When we think about guarding, we all know we have to be on watch. Watching to see who is coming near. Watching to see who is currently in our space. Watching anything lurking around in the background. When we are in guard mode, we look at everything and suspect everything. Therefore to keep our hearts guarded we have to watch what grieves it, what drains it, what and who makes it heavy. To allow people and problems to put us in this heart condition means we are not guarding it well at all. Things that way us down keep our minds pre-occupied. It's not going to be any surprise that this person is not ebbing and flowing in the things of God.
We also have to watch for people that can hurt us emotionally and physically as best we can. Sometimes we miss the signs. Sometimes we chose to ignore the signs. That's why having a spiritual covering/leader and spiritual friends are so important. They can see what we can't or won't see. But beyond that, whenever we are done wrong by others, we have to work diligently not to let the experience change the condition of our hearts. Prayer has to take place and forgiveness HAS to be rendered. Letting things go is a MUST in the Kingdom of God. Why? Because GOD let's ALL of our stuff go EVERY DAY! Even after we promise not to do it again. Our salvation is built on the premise of forgiveness. Jesus had EVERY right to be angry and hate Pilot, the Roman soldiers, the Jews that yelled, "Crucify HIM!", the 10 disciples who were no where to be found when all this went down AND the crazy thief on the cross talking smack saying 'IF you be the Son of God then get us both down from here'. What a DAY??!! And Jesus, being FULLY MAN, just said, "Forgive them Father, for they
know not what they do.". People that do all manners of evil to us, either don't realize they are being evil to us OR they are truly allowing Satan to control their thoughts and actions. Ephesians 6:12 lets us know:
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Satan loves for us to forget this or ignore it but it doesn't make it any less true. If you're going to be and remain good soil, we must forgive and do it as quickly as possible. If you need counseling, get it! If you need prayer, find a prayer warrior today! If you need a drink.... I can't speak to that for the obvious :) But unforgiveness hurts US and causes our soil to not be pure.
The last thing we will discuss in this devotional regarding guarding the heart, is watching for the desire to be admired, acknowledged, or exalted. While the world says, it's a