Friday Finale - Being Persuaded by God – Episode 15

On Wednesday, I talked about the word disobedient and how that word means ‘unpersuaded’ and ties in closely with the word ‘repent’ which means to change your mind.

I’ve seen for years people rooted and grounded in a belief that they would refuse to give up on or even listen to or consider another thought. They read their bibles with that close-minded attitude, and what they read is colored by that ideology.

I’m not sure at what point a Christian mind becomes so closed that it refuses to accept anything new. As a people, we would all certainly agree that no one knows it all and that we all continue to learn until we die. So why then do we reach a point of refusal to listen and to learn regarding the Bible and God? There is picking and tossing aside. But just how do you know that what you are tossing aside isn’t a critical truth that God himself wants you to know?

Do you toss it aside because it was never taught in your church? Do you toss it aside because your pastor said to? Do you toss it aside because it makes you feel uncomfortable? Do you toss it aside because it is such a new concept that you just can’t get your mind around it?

Nevertheless, at some point you decide to toss it aside. But what if, just what if, it was from God and it was something that He wanted you to know that would change your life forever?

For years I’ve read the parable of the sower. It is in 3 of the 4 Gospels, which tells me it must be a very important principle for us to learn. I’ve heard dozens of teachings and sermons on this parable through the years.

But most have been about whether we are on the path or in the thorns. We try to evaluate ourselves to see which example best describes us. We all, hopefully, want to be good ground or soil. I wrote on this parable in the blog Good Ground. Read Mark 4:1-12.

We should all desire to be good soil for the gospel. But just what constitutes good soil for the gospel? I began to read every account of this parable and Jesus’ explanation in every translation that I could find.

I want to share with you Mark 4:20, where Jesus explains the parable to the disciples. The translation is from the New International Version, but many versions have almost the exact same wording.

Mark 4:13-20 13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

In the King James the word, “accept” is instead received, but in the Greek that word is paradechontai which means accept.

Every Sunday, there are thousands of people attending a church service, even millions worldwide. They are there listening, receiving the word, but they walk out the way they came in, unchanged. I know there are many godly Bible teachers out there and thousands listen to their teachings and read their writings but go on about their lives unchanged for the better.

I’ve come into contact with so many people who I talk to or share something in the word of God with, and they shut down, clam up and resist what I am sharing. I’m not just talking about non-Christians, but people who have professed to be Christians for years. They don’t accept what I am saying, or what you are saying, or what the Word is saying.

I know I’ve lost many readers to my blog because the things that God has been leading me to study and write about are new concepts to many, and because those concepts challenge their beliefs, they reject them and never come back.

But God made it clear to me that when I began writing these posts that I was to study and write my blogs by His inspiration and not to be concerned with what others did or did not do, nor what they said. I’m certainly not writing for popularity’s sake!

Sometimes when hearing a new concept, people will begin shaking their heads and resist what you have to say, no matter what scriptures you are showing them. They are un-teachable.

Their grandmother always said… their church’s doctrine believes… that is not what they experienced… and the list goes on. They completely reject the thought that maybe, just maybe, there is something new out there that could benefit their life and their walk with God.

There is not one person on the face of the earth who knows everything there is to know about the Word of God. No matter how long or hard you have studied, God will continually unveil another layer, another truth that you had not previously seen.

So what is good ground for the Word? Those who hear the Word and accept it, no matter what doctrine it goes against, no matter who taught you differently, no matter what your experience has been.

I believe that the spiritual fruit I’ve harvested in my life, the 30, 60 and 100 hundred fold has been because I’ve had an open mind to be teachable and a hunger for the truth no matter how unpopular it may be or how hard it may be to swallow.

I’m still learning each and every day. I still hear His voice clarifying and teaching as I read His word. I ponder and meditate prayerfully, listening to the Holy Spirit to teach me and filter out adverse preconceived notions.

Now, as I wrote in the post Good Ground, you must be good ground for the fruit of the Spirit to ‘grow’ in your life. But being good ground is much more than that. It is being obedient. Are you so closed-minded to new thoughts and revelations from the Word that you are willing to risk disobedience?

If you are sick and don’t believe in divine health or the fact that Jesus received lashings on His back for your health, maybe God’s gift to you is the ‘good news’ that He has provided healing for you so you don’t have to be sick but when anyone teaches on this you immediately reject it because it isn’t what you’ve always been taught. Because you are so close-minded, you are missing out on one of the greatest gifts God has ever provided for you.

If you are poor and don’t believe that God has provided a way to gain wealth, maybe God’s gift to you is the ‘good news’ that He wants to bless you financially so you can prosper and give to others as well. But you’ve always thought that having money was evil, or so you were taught.

If you are struggling with guilt and condemnation and are convinced it is from God, you reject the idea that He wants you to be free and living a life of joy. But because you always thought that guilt came from God, you refuse to consider a new concept when the cry of God’s heart is to fill you with joy.

Maybe you resist serving God at all because you view Him as a harsh taskmaster and you acknowledge Him and give Him lip service, but go about living your life as you see fit because you believe if you stop long enough to hear His voice he will punish you.

When the truth is, he is a god of extreme love, and His compassion knows no...