31 Jul Mark 4:20 “And these are they which are sown on good ground. Part Four of a 4 part series of “The four types of people who hear the word”.

First, I thank and praise God for this who here’s the word of truth. This person endures to the end through much trials and tribulation. Satan’s attempts at destroying them were not fruitful, but God’s calling on their lives prevailed!

They endured persecution, accusation, false witnessing, back biting, deceit and conspiracy, betrayal, manipulations, slander, assault, unfairness, injustices, judgments, abandoned by Men but not God, sufferings and became victims of the worlds attacks.

They were made out to be evil by those who practice evil, but in the midst of their unfair treatment, they did not retaliate with evil. Instead they stay focused on what lies ahead. They have been cemented in favor of God and held up by the pillar of Grace. They held on to what was true, even when what was true appeared absent.

Like Joseph they endured through many sufferings. I hope this is you. I pray this is us. To the end that we follow the Lord, and faint not. This journey is not one without many stops. When Abraham walked with the Lord he encountered many obstacles that tested his faith. As did Issaac, as did Jacob, as did Moses, as did Noah, as did Elijah, but God was successful and faithful in pulling them all through it.

He will pull through the one who is able to endure. Those whose treasure in this life is not the Lord’s will nor affection, cannot endure to the end. They will be carried away by the pleasures, promises, and fears of this world.

Those who endure have made the Lord’s affection and their relationship with him their treasure, so they are able to endure. They gave up their present life to obtain the life in the here after which never ends. They learned to substitute their love of their things, for the love of God. They have been transformed away from the World’s way of thinking.

They have taken on the likeness of the Lord, because they have made him their treasure. Whatever you cherish most in this life, is your treasure. Whatever you model your behavior after most, is your treasure. When the word was heard by this person, they stored it in their hearts and guarded it because they considered it valuable.

This not to mistake the one who back slides. Those who backslides who have a foundation in the Lord due repent and come back. Those who have no root in the Lord are lost, because they had no root. There was nothing in them to restore them back to the vine.

This is the person who Satan tested thoroughly and was not able to uproot the word that was sown in their heart and spirit. They were tested when weak, when vulnerable, when prideful, when ignorant, when fearful, and the Lord in his miraculous way pulled them through the wrath of the wicked one.

He suffered many things, but those on the outside saw a victorious saint. His appearance to the world whom God put in their presence to affect, had a profound affect and influence in deed. Not only did they practice love, and faith, and forgiveness, and patience, but through the fruits of the spirit, they were able to lead others to truth.

It was not done because they possessed the things of the world that people admire, but because they possessed the things that the world does not possess. The fruit of the spirit is not found in the flesh in its fullness. A carnal person can be greedy and generous, but the fruit of the spirit is generosity and charity.

The fruit of the spirit is love and forgiveness, the fruit of the flesh is love and to be unforgiving. It can be both giving and malicious. It can never be one without the other. When you hear the word of God, satan comes and attacks the word immediately. If he fails to convince you not to believe in your heart, then he will attempt to stop you from acting on what is in your heart.

This attack is not a hammer or mallet striking a bell to create a loud sound, it is a gentle wind blowing against your ear. One way to stop a person from acting on faith, is to distract them in the areas of their lives where they are weak.

If money is extremely important to you, then obtaining money can be a distraction for you. If finding love is extremely important to you, then finding a Husband or Wife, Girlfriend or Boyfriend can be a distraction for you. Television, the internet, social media, pornography, politics, all things that are used to distract you from pursuing faithfully the things Gods has called us all to.

Some of these things are successful for a while. I for one can vouch personally, on the effectiveness of these strategies. Leaning on will power to endure will not work. Nor will a “schedule”. Only faith. Faith in-conjunction with a schedule will work, but without faith a schedule is useless.

This is because we are not wrestling or battling against flesh and blood only. Ephesians 6:12 states “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“. So we cannot conquer our weakness in the flesh, with our might and strength from the same flesh.

Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered”.

We get to a place where we can no longer put together the words to describe our pains and sufferings. We come to the end of our pleadings, and the spirit prays to God to express what it is inexpressible in our sufferings.

I’ve wept for God’s response to my pain and suffering when I lacked the words to express how I was feeling fully. Sometimes silence and tears speak louder than anything the mouth can say. Job’s friends sat with him in silence for 7 days. That struck a serious chord with me. They did not know what to say. He was in such dire straits, all they could do for 7 days is just sit in silence and be there with their friend.

Jobs friends get a lot of slack for what they said to him, and rightfully so, but let’s acknowledge that they sat with him for 7 days and did not speak 1 word. But sat with him. Don’t EVER underestimate the gesture of just sitting with someone who’s going through a terrible time in their life. Just you being there can be the difference between life and death for them. I’m serious. Don’t you ever forget that.

Those who endure to the end I pray for earnestly, because they are in the eye of the storm. Not that good fortune doesn’t come to those who love God. Trials and tribulations come for sure, but so does God’s good fortune according to his plans for your life.

Stay in prayer. Even when God is not responding in the present. I have never seen Jesus turn his back on the faithful. Nor have I seen him judge the downtrodden. A broken and contrite heart he cannot deny. Those who endure to the end cannot be found ashamed. As Christ sits in glory, one day shall we sit in glory with him.

This is his promise to us. That we will be with him and that we will be like him. I pray for you all, because the days seem long, but our lives are short. The moments feel like they linger, but they’re over before our eyes blink. Make the most of your time here. Be bold in who you are in Christ, and in what he has done for you.

Do not separate flesh from spirit, we are not “two” people. But recognize Christ in all that you do. You cannot be one person to the world and another to Jesus and those in the body. Do not be double-minded like the hypocrites having a form of Godliness but denying the power. Do not just read truth, but live truth, think truth, and speak it.

Christ’s words fell on their ears and grew strong roots in their hearts that the world could not strip away.

It is not just the lusts of the world we must endure, but it is also the disappointment of life and the crushing of our dreams, because we were told this life is ours to do what it is we wish. We are the Lords of our own lives. This was true until God called us, then we lost leadership of our lives.

Some of us willingly, some of us grudgingly, but those who kept the truth in their hearts did lose it, and gained a greater work from the Lord. I pray that God keeps you passionate about ministry and truth. That he stays the treasure that you so value and earnestly seek. That he makes you love, and not just an instrument that is being used for it to pass through.

But in all things concerning Christ, you are genuine and sincere as he was genuine and sincere.

Our fight, our struggles, our sufferings, our tears, our pains, our injustices, our persecutions, our slanders will not be made in vain. God be with you and endure to the end…

We have reached the end of this Four Part Series in the book of Mark dealing with the 4 types of people who hear the word of God. I pray that this series has been a blessing to you as it was to me in writing and preparing this. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them.

As always, God Bless you…