Gentle Knocking at your Heart

One thing more specifically that the Lord is teaching me is that despite what the enemy says, His word is in fact not fleeting and neither is He. I have learned so much by just sitting and meditating on the word in Matthew 13 with Parable of the Sower. When we recognize the true character of Jesus we will come to realize and truly TASTE and SEE what a blessing it is that everything of this world is vastly the opposite of God's word. Before I dive into Matthew 13, let's start with Matthew 9. I do not know about you, but I have always been vulnerable to the lies of the enemy that miracles only happen only every once in a while to those who are well deserving and who have lived a life full of accomplishments. However, the GOOD NEWS is that his words say the exact opposite.

Starting in Matthew 9 when Jesus forgives and heals a paralyzed man. He steps onto a boat and goes into his own town, and that is when some people who had seen his previous miracles of restoring two demon possessed men bring him another man, though this time he was paralyzed who was lying down on a mat, obviously unable to walk. Jesus saw this and without hesitation said “take heart son, your sins are forgiven.” How beautiful to know that Jesus did not have to talk to him and did not have to ask him how he became paralyzed and what the battles were that he has experienced. Instead Jesus showed compassion and grace toward this man because that is his character. You might be thinking, “How does Jesus not have to ask these questions to the man, Isn't it important to ask these questions to know if he is worthy of healing and ready to give his heart and life to Jesus?” The answer to this is that Jesus is all knowing and all powerful and knows our hearts before we even have to open our lips. One of my favorite pastors, Steven Furtick, said that Jesus has the power to intercede our groans when we don't have the ability to identify our anxiety; we have the ability to go to a name that already does and can easily defeat this before it becomes something of the enemy.

Continuing on with Matthew 9, these people began to accuse Jesus of being crazy and using Blasphemy (the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.) BUT knowing their thoughts because he already knows before they uttered a word, he says “Why do you entertain these evil thoughts and allow them to enter your heart, for I, the son of God have the ability to forgive sins.” After this, he asked the grown man to take up his mat and go home. THEN you won't even believe this because this is how POWERFUL Jesus is. The man STOOD UP and went home the crowd stood in awe when they saw this and they praised God who commanded this to happen. How interesting is it that the exact ones who were accusing Jesus of using Blasphemy stood in awe once they saw his miracles. I think that is something that is so common in this world today and with the battle we face against the enemy and the kingdom. We get so content in the ways of this world and assume that we were made for constant suffering and agony and would rather settle into the ways of this world because it seems easier than this idea planted by the enemy that says the ways of following Jesus are strictly a rule book of to do’s and not do’s. However, this is NOT true and like I mentioned previously, everything of this world is opposite of scripture. So to contrast the lie that the world succumbs to Jesus says this, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick, but go learn what this means, I desire mercy not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous but the sinners.”

Okay now back to Matthew 13 as promised!! In this chapter are many parables, but the one I want to focus on is the Parable of the Sower. In this Parable Jesus goes out and sits by the lake and so many people who were fascinated by him gathered around him, leaving such little space that he got up and went into a boat while they stood on the shore. While he was on the boat he began to speak, but he chose to speak in parables just as a teacher or parent would use an analogy to allow their child or student to understand more clearly. When he was speaking, the disciples asked him why he spoke in these parables. He replied that the kingdom of Heaven is given to those who choose to hear his voice and those who hear his voice will be able to understand the parables. From this he continues to say that if you do not hear his voice you will continue to have ears, but not truly hear or understand, you will have eyes to see with, but never see the true light that we are so lucky to have, your hearts will be calloused and the enemy will continue in his destruction of God's love for us. So I want to leave you with this parable and the meaning of what he was saying in it. Here it is: A farmer went out to sow his seed as he was scattering his seeds, some fell along the path and the birds came and ate them up. Some fell on rocky places that did not have much soil. Because they were on little soil they sprang up quickly and looked pleasing to the eye, but when the sun came, they withered and died because they had no roots. 

1st LESSON: 

To me, the meaning of this parable means that if we are Christians only to impress others and to look better we will succumb to the temptations and hardships of the world because our hearts are not deeply rooted in scripture and do not truly desire the Lord. Next he says that other seeds fell among thorns which then grew and choked these plants.

2nd LESSON: 

This part of parable is one that I am so thankful for and that I am so excited to share because it is something that the Lord has been so kind to me with and has truly worked through me with and now here I am being able to write about it and pray that everyone is also rescued from the attempts of the enemy because he tries SO hard with this one. This parable means that when we place our hearts into the things of the world and the things that are “supposed to comfort us” they will eventually run out and leave us feeling empty, searching for yet another void, which slowly begins to suffocate and kill us because we do not have a firm, steady, consistent foundation to lean upon. This could be anything ranging from shopping addictions, gossip, laziness, lust, sexual sin, the opinions or approval of others, and so many more. I have truly seen the consequences of these things and am so thankful that I have been given the eyes and ears to understand this parable. Lastly, he says that there are the ones who are spread among good soil where it produces more than it began with - a hundred, sixty or thirty times more!! This leads to abundance and multiplication of fruit because a good heart and good true produces what is inside of it 

He says in Matthew 7, “a good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is thrown into the fire and destroyed.”

3rd LESSON: 

There is simply nothing that the Lord asks of us that will lead us into a place of harm or darkness, he will make our paths straight and multiply the things he desires for us. Obedience is a blessing because that is where we find all of the hidden treasures, even when we did not know they were there because they are HIDDEN until we seek him and revealed afterwards because our faith has made us WELL!!!! 

SO I want to end this with one last thing. 

ALL it takes is one ounce of faith because his invitation waits for us so patiently and he says that “the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard which the man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, when it grows, it is the largest of the garden plants and becomes a tree so the birds come perch in its branches.” All it takes to receive the Lord and his blessings is ONE MUSTARD seed of faith and saying yes to him. It is

NOT some rule book for those who deserve it. It is for ALL of US the ones who do not deserve it!!! Do you hear his gentle knocking at that heart of yours? I hope so!!!!