Planting God's Word in Your Heart
Hello Friend,
I remember being somewhat new in my faith, and I struggled to apply the Scriptures to my life. I couldn’t comprehend what verses actually meant, so therefore, practical application to my daily life was a struggle. Have you ever experienced this? It led to frustration, hopelessness, and a stagnant faith.
If you’ve been joining me on the last several live bible studies or blogs, then you know that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was the missing piece that broke this spiritual gap in my life. He quickened me with revelation knowledge and an understanding of Scripture that led to mind renewal, and enabled me to apply the Bible to my life which led to more and more transformation.
What I didn’t know then, but I’m grateful I know now: the Word of God must be planted in your heart like a seed to see its benefits in your everyday life.
“Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” (1 Peter 1:23, NKJV)
It’s also important to note that the Bible says, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9, KJV)
In due season we will reap (harvest) if we don’t faint (relax). Faith and patience inherit the promises (Heb. 6:12). If we sow the Word of God in our hearts, it will produce a good harvest. It requires time, patience, and endurance. If you notice yourself getting weary on the path of faith, take heart, be of good courage, and don’t give up—your harvest is coming.
Practically speaking, how do you sow the Word in your heart to see God’s promises come to pass? When I say promises (or fruit, or harvest), I mean all the benefits that Jesus paid for us to have like healing, deliverance, peace, joy, freedom, prosperity, wholeness, abundance, hope, and the list goes on.
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
Today I’m going to share with you how to sow the Word in your heart from one of my favorite parables—the parable of the sower (Mark 4, Matthew 13, Luke 8). This parable contains some of the most important life lessons I’ve learned on my faith journey. They all deal with God’s Word (the seed) and your heart (the soil). These aren’t the most important because I say so, but because Jesus said so.
“Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable [the parable of the sower], how will you understand all the other parables?” (Mark 4:13, NLT) [brackets mine]
Our understanding of this parable is foundational. What we do with this understanding will determine our spiritual growth over the course of our lifetime.
Jesus consistently used parables throughout the Gospels. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. Parables are relatable and easy to understand, so you can learn how God’s kingdom works (knowledge and understanding), and live accordingly (wisdom).
Jesus used parables to make God’s kingdom accessible; so we can easily grow in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of God’s ways, which will lead to lives of wholeness, healing, and prosperity. This is how we fulfill Jesus’ prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, KJV). So let’s learn what makes this parable so powerful in our daily application of life.
In Mark 4:14, Jesus explained the parable of the sower and tells us that the sower sowed the Word and the soil was people’s hearts. There was nothing different about the seed—the seed was the same—the heart (soil) was the only variable of change.
[SOIL #1] “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. [20] [SOIL #2] But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; [21] yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. [22] [SOIL #3] Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. [23] [SOIL #4] But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." Matthew 13:19-23 (NKJV) [brackets mine]
The amount of fruit you produce from the seed depends on the soil of your heart.
To see God’s promises in your life, you must plant the Word in your heart. To plant the Word in your heart, you must believe it. Believing (or faith) is always how you receive in God’s kingdom. Since believing happens in the heart, then that means that to receive the optimal amount of fruit off of the seed, you must learn how to garden your heart.
Let’s look at each type of heart soil so we can be good gardeners.
Soil #1 believes in God but lacks an understanding of the Word.
In my life, I remember first reading this parable while sitting on my bed, and I knew that my life wasn’t changing. I was frustrated and I lacked an understanding of the Bible. I lacked relationship. Why do we read the Bible? It certainly doesn’t benefit God—it benefits us. We read the Bible because it introduces us to who God is as a person. When we truly encounter God, everything changes, and a relationship begins.
At that point in my life, I didn’t know I could have a relationship with God, but again, the baptism of the Holy Spirit changed everything. He led me to relationship with God, which opened up my understanding of the Scriptures. Relationship with God and understanding the Bible go hand-in-hand. The Holy Spirit is your Helper and Teacher and He will help you with both.
If you notice that you lack a personal relationship with God or understanding the Bible, please be sure to watch my recent Bible study on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This will help you encounter God and fill your life with a burning passion for Jesus.
Soil #2 hears the Word, but they haven’t had time to apply it to their life which roots it in your heart.
As a young Christian, I saw promises in scripture and I wanted to see them instantly in my life. I used the principle of “faith” but disregarded God’s laws of faith (believing and patience over time). (Side note: patience wasn’t my strong suit for many years, but I’d like to believe I’m growing in this). It caused a lot of damage in my life, and I hurt the people around me. I tried to believe in overnight prosperity, overnight healing, and I tried to be an overnight witness for God.
Something that rescued me from my misuse of faith was understanding that it takes time to see God’s promises in your life.
If we will consistently believe the Scriptures, renew our minds, and nurture those seeds in our hearts, it will produce fruit overtime.
Give the seed of God’s word time in your believing heart, and don’t give up.
Soil #3 receives the Word joyfully, but there are rocks and thorns—other things in the soil— that choke the Word, and harm the harvest.
This tells me that cares, worries and distractions are harming my harvest. This is another reason why I cherish and protect my time with God because during this time, He reveals things in my heart that need removed.
God helps us to safely remove and tend to obstacles in our heart that are hindering our spiritual growth. If you notice cares, worries, distractions, or lusts for other things within your heart, go to the Lord and ask Him to help you remove them.
“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7, NKJV)
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;” (Philippians 4:6, NKJV)
Soil #4 is good soil. It is well protected with a good root system, and free from debris.
This heart has had time to grow in their relationship with God. He’s helped them nurture and heal their heart; they’ve grown in knowledge of the way God’s kingdom works, and applied its wisdom to their life with understanding consistently over time. This person has partnered with God to become a good gardener of their heart, and they will continue to bear a great harvest.
The more you grow in relationship with God through His Word, the more your heart will become good soil, and it will bring forth more fruit. God’s kind of harvest gets progressively better and will even impact eternity.
A HARVEST TAKES TIME
Another natural law that mimics God’s kingdom is time: there’s stages and timelines of growth.
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 (KJV)
Again, the Bible gives us these Scriptures for our learning, demonstrating natural, earthly principles to help us better understand the kingdom of God. A harvest tomorrow can’t be expected off a seed planted today.
It’s not our job to determine the amount of fruit we produce or when.
If I’m constantly focused on "being fruitful for God," then my focus will be inward instead of on relationship with Him. When I'm the focus, nothing works, I lose peace and joy, and I start looking at God like a slot machine instead of utter trust and reliance upon Him as my Heavenly Father.
Our only job is relationship with God: as we seek Him in His Word, He’ll help us effortlessly sow the seed in our hearts, and our hearts will bring forth the miracle within the seed.
“And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." Mark 4:26-29 (NKJV)
The job of the farmer is to plant, protect, and nurture the seeds. The miracle of the soil is that it will produce a crop on its own (first the sprout, next the stalk, then the fruit, and thus the harvest is ready).
Learn from me regarding the wrong way to do this. I stopped taking my medication in the name of “faith” because I learned that God wanted me healed. After being off my medication for a few weeks, I became very sick. My family grew concerned and tried to talk some commonsense into me. Months later, it finally dawned on me that this wasn’t God’s will! I humbled myself, began taking my medication again, and my body immediately started to heal.
I also tried to use my faith to see instant financial prosperity in my life. As a result, I experienced severe poverty, lack, and it caused me a lot of harm and emotional pain. Then I realized, this isn’t God‘s best for me!
Yes, God wants good things for us, but we have to follow the laws of His kingdom, or else we’re going to abuse it, potentially harm ourselves or others, and it’s a bad testimony to the people around us. Likewise, if I jump off the top of a building, the law of gravity will take over and I will hit the ground. Period. There's no escaping it. Jesus shares these parables with us so we understand how to operate within God's kingdom and abide by His spiritual laws. There's a proper way to mix faith with God's Word to see a harvest.
God wants us to plant His Word in our heart by believing it, nurture the seed with a healthy heart and thought life, and overtime we’ll see more and more of God‘s goodness and promises in our life.
I have followed these principles now for several years and every area of my life continues to get better and prospers. I see healing, good health, favor with God and man, and the blessings of the Lord overtake my life. Not because of my works or performance, but because I know God’s will for me is good because His Word says so. I believe it, I protect it, I nurture it, and overtime I see it come to pass.
SOW SEEDS YOU WANT TO EAT
Greg and I have a garden at home. I love gardening and eating fruits and vegetables fresh off the vine. In April or May, we start thinking about what food we want to eat from the garden in September. If I lived at sea level (and not in the mountains of Colorado), then I might plant things like corn, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and so forth. Yum!
The seed of God's Word works the same way.
Do you need healing? Is there unforgiveness in your heart? Do you need deliverance? Are you in debt and financial lack? Jesus paid for every area of your life to be whole, and God’s Word contains the power and the promise you need to see breakthrough and freedom in every one of these areas.
Write down verses in the Bible for every area in your life where you want to see godly fruit, believe and trust in those verses in your heart, declare them out loud over your life, take every contrary thought captive that doesn’t align with God’s Word, and be patient while you rely on God for your every need.
If you’ve been doing a lot of sowing and nurturing and you’re wondering where the harvest is, don’t grow weary; in due time you will reap a harvest if you don’t give up!
UPDATE!
I’m still aiming for the launch of my new book, Healthy Habits Made Simple, to be live on September 1. To meet this goal, I’m going to pause writing blog posts and weekly emails for the remainder of this month. You can still join me live on YouTube every Tuesday night at 5:30PM MT as we continue our book study through, Hello, New You! On August 19th, we’ll be covering Chapter 5, “Is Your Mind a Bully?” and the importance of a happy, healthy, helpful mind. This is one of my favorites!
Thank you, friend, for all your love, prayers, and support! Your donations help us share the good news with more people! You can donate or become a partner on our website.
I thank God for His amazing grace working in your life. Be encouraged—He is finishing the good work He’s begun in you!
Love,
Erin
Want to receive our emails? You can sign up here!
Did you enjoy this teaching? Be sure to watch the full video here! Don't forget to Like, Subscribe for more faith-based wellness tips, and Share with your friends and family!
