And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.' Matthew 12:10-15
Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Luke 13:23-24
Jesus Christ the author and finisher of the Christian faith told us "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. So the burden to having an abundance or poverty and even be saved is on us, not on God! We alone determine what we get out of the kingdom of God through God’s word and through His Spirit. Jesus clearly taught us this in His words:
"Therefore hear the parable of the sower: "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. "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; "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. "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. "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 13:18-23
And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it." But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. Matthew 9:28-31
And Apostle Paul told us the word of God which is in our mouth and our heart will produce great results including salvation:
But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:9-17
God has provided us with a great and complete salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed, to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? (Hebrews 2:3-4).
God wants us to become complete, stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, be perfect and complete lacking nothing and He is able to sanctify us completely so that our whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The word “save” comes from the Greek word “sozo,” which means the complete salvation for the spirit, soul and body. The Word of God affects all three parts of the human being. As a result our soul needs to be renewed, to be re-adjusted to think like the Word, to feel like the Word. When our soul is renewed we will have the full assurance of faith and not only partial assurance, half assurance, quarter assurance. When the Word of God has its perfect work in us, we will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. We will have a perfect and complete answer to all our prayers, all the things that we want. Our soul will be lined up with our human spirit, which is born again. God will come forth to overcome the circumstances in our life when we have the Word of God rooted in our soul.
Wise King Solomon told us in the book of Proverb says the Word of God will become flesh to our bones. But it had to flow through our soul. It has to become a part of our thinking life, the way we think, act and talk. It has to be predominating in our lives and then we will be prosperous and successful just like Jesus told us:
But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' “Matthew 4:4
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:1-8
The fruit that we bear has to do with the character of Jesus in our lives, and the character of Jesus will result in the power of God and prosperity and healing in our life. These things flow from that fruit that is developed in our life. It’s according to the strength of our inner man that the outward man can function. And the strength of our inner man is determined by the amount of change or the transformation of the character of Jesus in our inner man.
Jesus Christ is the word made flesh. To abide in Christ is not only to walk and live in His Spirit but to walk and live in accordance to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. When the Word of God becomes predominate factor in our life, the resulting words that we speak by the Spirit of the LORD will conquer and overcome all things. When we receive the Word of God we digest it until it becomes a part of us. We allow it to be to be digested by our spirit and to renew our soul until our soul is steadily held by the Word of God. Then the Word of God produces faith in our human spirit and confidence in the Word of God. And then we speak forth those things which we desire based on the Word of God and it becomes a reality!
Yes, when the word is the Word and is already on our inside and we can make a decree to any mountain. And what we decree we believe that our words will come to pass. And so when we tell the mountain, move from hence forth to yonder it will obey because God’s word shall not return void but will accomplish that for which it is sent. God’s word is unchanging:
So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20
Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? "It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; "but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade." Mark 4:30-32
Since the fall of man the soul of human being have been wavering. Doubts come from our soul, distress come from our soul and emotions, and all the wrong things that is coming from our soul. Hence the human soul needs to be girded with the Word of God to be stabilized. An unstable soul will not receive the promises of God for one tiny doubt will cancel the whole process. Doubt is the quality of the fallen soul. That is why we need the renewal of the mind and the Word of God to stabilize our soul. The more Word we have in our life, the more we are stabilized in our soul. We need patience which is not an attribute of our human spirit. It’s an attribute of a renewed soul and renewed mind. Patience is an attribute of our human soul according to the Word of God. Hence we count it all joy when we fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience and if we let patience have its perfect work, we will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Tribulation works patience, and patience develops character in us. Tribulation works character in our lives. But it may not be good character. Whether it’s good character or bad character is determined by how we react to the tribulation. If in the tribulation or difficulty, we react wrongly and keep on reacting wrongly, it becomes a part of our life and character. Whether we are changed in the wrong character or changed in the good character is determined by how we react. How we react is determined by our understanding of choices that are available for us. There are always many ways we can choose to react in response. Now we may have natural feelings and emotions being human in all kind of tribulations. But we are old enough in life to know that we don’t need to yield to our emotions or to react with our emotions.
It’s to be noted that between tribulations and character is an important word called perseverance. The word perseverance also means patience. As we abide in Christ and in His word and His word abides in us, He gives us perseverance or patience. In other words we get power of God in our life and the character of Jesus from abiding in Christ and His word. The developing of character comes by experiencing tribulation and tribulation comes from being on this planet earth. Jesus said in the world you shall receive tribulations but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.
It’s to be noted that between tribulations and character is an important word called perseverance. The word perseverance also means patience. As we abide in Christ and in His word and His word abides in us, He gives us perseverance or patience. In other words we get power of God in our life and the character of Jesus from abiding in Christ and His word. The developing of character comes by experiencing tribulation and tribulation comes from being on this planet earth. Jesus said in the world you shall receive tribulations but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.
It’s also to be noted that Temptation is not from God but it is more our own internal inclination and weaknesses that need to be overcome. Temptation is not found in our spirit. Temptation is found in our soul and our flesh. When those areas are renewed by the Word of God, our human spirit now works together with our soul. The Holy Spirit becomes available. He is the free gift of grace and promise of God to our lives. But He is limited according to what we ask or think, limited according to the limitations of our soul. Our human soul is a conduit by which the Holy Spirit flows. Therefore we need to develop our soul in the Word of God. Then we will be a real man or woman of God who is like Jesus, all our r thoughts are always in line with the Word of God. The closer we are with Jesus the more our thought conforms to His image.
If we walk with Jesus we are in perfect will of God. And we’re doing God’s perfect will. And as a result the power of God will flow in us and through us and God will grant us all our desires. We can cry out to God for His supernatural help now and the supernatural help comes. It flows forth from our abiding in Christ our abiding covers all our beings. Our abiding is so strong and the character of Jesus is so strong that we can be poked left, right and center and it doesn’t change our life. We know how to abide in and have patience in tribulation; we stand like the rock of Gibraltar, against the storm and until we see our desired result. God’s word is unchanging:
"And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him "and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Acts 7:9-10
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 2 Corinthians 1:3-10
Yes we might have seasons when we meet with losses and crosses in the world, but the joy of the Lord is still our strength. And He will make our feet like deer's feet, and He will make us walk on our high hills. The great redemptive work of our Lord covers the complete person—body, soul and spirit. It reaches even into the realm of physical necessities. Jesus said to his disciples, “Take no anxious thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, How shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:31–34).
We don’t live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and God is our source of our total supply, our provision, our exceeding great reward and all that we need. Through God's grace and Spirit we can be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and stand until the victory and our breakthrough is manifested proving the faithfulness of our God. In the midst of all our troubles Jesus is still a balm for every wound, a cordial for every care. He is still a friend who sticks closer than a brother!
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