9/3/12 - "GROW YOUR GARDEN"

1 Pet. 1:23 You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

Could you imagine a farmer who wanted to harvest crops so that he could have what was needed to sustain his family, both by what he grows to put on his own table, and through the harvest he would sell to provide the funds to take care of the rest of their needs, yet never plants any seed? He goes to a feed store or supply house and picks up that seed then brings it home and puts it in his barn, but never takes the time to go and plant it. The obvious reason there would be no harvest is because there is no seed in the ground.

Yet often believer’s who are born again who have a desire to harvest the kind of life that Jesus has died and paid for and made available for them, don’t realize that their seed is sitting in their barn. If they want to experience the harvest of all God has for them they need to get the seed out of the barn and in the ground for it to grow up in them. You must first go to the supply store and get the seed. As our foundation verse reveals that seed is the Word of God. It is called an incorruptible (imperishable) seed. That means it cannot decay. As scripture reveals God’s Word does not return void. It never loses its power.

The store where we get this seed is the Bible. Going to scripture is how we go to the feed store where that seed is awaiting us to be brought home and placed in our barns while we get the ground prepared for that seed. When you go to God’s Word it is primarily first head knowledge. Just as our foundation verse reveals it is through this seed that we became born again. Most people don’t respond to the gospel the very first time they hear it. It becomes head knowledge to them, but it must become revelation in their hearts for it to produce new life.

The minute someone gets revelation of the Son of God and then turns their life over to Him they become born again. I know in my life I had several different encounters with the gospel over a couple of years before I finally got it. When I got the revelation of what Christ had done for me, it was then I had the faith to act upon that Word and receive this new birth experience. But it all started with a seed. The key then for us to continue in our walk with God and experience growing our garden and bringing forth what He desires for our life, is getting the seed from the Word, the supply store if you will, then taking it from our barn, which is head knowledge, and planting it in our hearts.

One of the most important parts of taking that seed from knowledge form and now getting revelation of that Word in our hearts comes through the work of the Holy Spirit. Once God’s Word becomes revelation to you, the seed is planted now in your heart and can bring forth a harvest of God’s truth in your life. This is where people often miss it with God’s Word, and thus one of the primary reasons they are not seeing the kind of harvest the Word promises.

Prov. 29:18 Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; …

In the natural if man did not plant his seed, grow that crop, and then harvest it, without food he would perish. The people of God who do not plant the Word of God and harvest it will perish or lack the harvest of what God has for them as well. Without revelation of the Word of God there is no seed yet planted. It may be in your barn (head knowledge), but you need to get it in soil to grow (your heart by way of revelation). I am not trying to belabor this point, but it is imperative if you want to grow the things of God in your garden.

Eph. 3:3 The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above.

The Word of God scripture reveals is full of mysteries, which simply means hidden truths. They are not hidden from us but for us. This does not mean that God is keeping them from us, for He declares in His Word that there is nothing secret in His Word that will not be revealed. But the Bible also teaches us that the fleshly man, or one ruled by their carnal nature, is blind to these truths. They just don’t get it. They can read the Bible and get head knowledge, but it does not become revelation to them.

What is the difference between head knowledge and revelation? Head knowledge is nothing more than knowing the facts of what scripture teaches. Revelation of the Word is when it comes alive in your heart as revealed by the Spirit of God. You will know when this happens for there will be an absolute knowing within it is so. How then do we get this seed from the barn (head knowledge) into the ground (revelation in our hearts)?

1 Cor. 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
1 Cor. 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

The Holy Spirit is the One who knows all the things of God, and no one can know the things of God except by the Holy Spirit. We have received Him so that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. The word “know” here means to have understanding. In this same context in verse 14 we find out that the things of God are spiritually discerned or understood. When one has understanding of the Word in their hearts as given by the Holy Spirit, they have revelation of God’s Word.

So here is a key. What if I am living a life of willful sin, choosing to quench, resist, or then even grieve the Holy Spirit? I am negating His ability to reveal God’s Word to me. This is why so many churches who have now removed the work of the Holy Spirit from their church or never allowed Him to work in the first place are filling people with head knowledge, but are not getting revelation of God’s Word. If the church where they go does not welcome the third part of the Trinity and those who attend like it that way, they certainly don’t welcome Him working in their life when they leave church.

I had someone awhile back tell me that one of the things that they were concerned about had to do with the church they attended. They did not understand why people came to church and acted one way, then left and were no different than worldly people. If the Word of God does not become revelation in you heart it is not going to change your life. Unless it becomes a seed planted there will be no harvest. There is of course one other very important part here to grow our garden. That is the condition of the soil in which the seed is planted.

Mark 4:14 The sower sows the word.Mark 4:15 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.Mark 4:16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;Mark 4:17 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.Mark 4:18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,Mark 4:19 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.Mark 4:20 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.”

Jesus in this parable teaches us how the seed of God’s Word when planted in good ground will produce a harvest of the Word in our lives. There are four types of soil He refers to. The first is wayside soil, which being hardened, the seed falls upon the heart but satan comes immediately and snatches it away. To keep our hearts from being wayside soil we must remain yielded and open to the Holy Spirit. One’s heart becomes hardened when they no longer respond to the work of the Holy Spirit in their life.

The second type of soil is stony ground. This refers to people who are not rooted in Christ; they are to caught up in other things, which would include man-made religion. The third type of soil are those who allow the cares of life, deceitfulness of riches, or desire for other things to become their focus and they choke out the Word of God. But those who are good ground are going to produce a harvest, and that harvest will become more productive as they grow in God.

So grow your garden in God! Take time to go to the supply store to get seed, get it into your barn, prepare your ground for the seed, and then get that seed planted. This will produce a godly harvest of God’s goodness in your life.

See You Again Next Week For More “Weekly Wisdom”

May God’s Best Be Yours!

Pastor Darryl Baker