Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship!

As we've shown in previous newsletters, the "Parable of the Sower and Soils" (Mark 4:3-20, Matthew 13:3-23 and Luke 8:4-15) has a special ability to open our understanding to the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:11). In sum it says that if you can PERCEIVE what this parable wants to get across, more illumination will be given to you by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 13:12) so that you can UNDERSTAND ALL the other parables and also how the Kingdom of God operates. So in my view this ought to be a key part of Scripture that every Christian makes a particular effort to pay attention to.

But the problem for most of us is that we tend to go into the Word of God with a predisposition to pay attention to the easy parts and leave the more difficult things for an undefined future date when we think we'll have more time. Unfortunately, whatever little bit we get out of one of those hard parts before we decide to come back to it in the future is quickly stolen away by the enemy. Or it comes in contact with SOIL conditions that prohibit it from throwing down any roots. And the truth is, we rarely come back to those difficult parts anyway until much later when we "happen upon" them by accident.

Connecting to Spiritual Perception

Jesus said that if we want to bear fruit, we have to actually PERCEIVE the Word so that it can then be planted into GOOD SOIL (Matthew 13:16, 23). But we haven't discussed yet what it means to PERCEIVE. Two Believers can be sitting in any given assembly on Sunday morning hearing the Pastor's teaching and one will come away with a rooted understanding of what the message was teaching and the other person just won't get the point. Both Believers received the teaching with their five physical senses but only one actually PERCEIVED it. So biblical PERCEPTION is something beyond the five physical senses and has to do instead with UNDERSTANDING by the SPIRITUAL SENSES. When Jesus said "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Mark 4:9), He was talking about SPIRITUAL SENSES, in other words UNDERSTANDING on a supernatural level which is where the Holy Spirit operates.

Spiritual PERCEPTION comes through the renewing of the MIND so that eventually we can comprehend everything that's good and acceptable and perfect, which is the will of God (Romans 12:2). We know by the spiritual senses what's right and wrong, the choices we ought to make, which way to go and how the Holy Spirit is leading (Romans 8:14). We can hear with spiritual ears and we can see with spiritual eyes (Matthew 13:14-17). We're content with the fact that our carnal physical senses don't understand what's happening on a spiritual level because we finally understand that the things we PERCEIVE with our spiritual senses are real and ETERNAL (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Since PERCEPTION has so much to do with this parable, let's again review the highlights of what we've established in previous articles so we don't lose the context. First, the Word of God is a SEED that has to be sowed into GOOD SOIL in order for it to produce a harvest of FRUIT for the Kingdom of God. The SOIL is the MIND of the Believer and it has to be GOOD SOIL for the SEED to be able to take root and grow into healthy plants that will eventually produce the harvest. FRUIT represents personal transformation from non-believer into the image of Christ along with good works that benefit the Kingdom of God.

Also, there are four possible MIND-SOIL conditions the SEED has to deal with. Only one of the four will receive the SEED and use it for the growth and transformation it was intended for toward the production of a harvest. Here again are the four types of SOIL we've discussed one-by-one during the previous weeks:

1. Packed down soil

2. Rocky ground with shallow soil

3. Soil that's full of thorns

4. Good soil

Friend, it takes GOOD SOIL for a Believer to have effective Spiritual PERCEPTION. And it takes effective Spiritual PERCEPTION to be victorious in life. Unfortunately most Christians limit themselves to their five carnal senses so their SOIL conditions are not fully receptive to the SEED. It takes WORD-SEEDS constantly going into the MIND of the Believer and taking firm root in there so that conditions can improve enough for a bumper crop of FRUIT to be produced and harvested for the Kingdom of God. In other words, we have to MEDITATE on the WORD-SEEDS of God until we can UNDERSTAND them. At that point PERCEPTION occurs and we can take ownership of those SEEDS and use them to produce success and victory in EVERY area of life: spirit, soul and body.

In sum, spiritual PERCEPTION is a really big deal because we have to have "ears to hear and eyes to see" what the Spirit of God is doing and teaching and saying and leading. But the non-Believer has no chance at spiritual perception; it's impossible because a person's spirit-man has to be regenerated (born again) before it can comprehend the things of the Holy Spirit. That is, only a true Believer can have Spiritual PERCEPTION. And among Believers, the only ones who can exercise real Spiritual PERCEPTION are the ones who have dealt with their SOIL conditions enough to be able to make some GOOD SOIL available to receive the SEED of the WORD.

Corrective Action

Only a small percentage of believers in the Body of Christ have attained any notable amount of spiritual PERCEPTION. They are "CARNAL Christians" because they are ruled by their five physical senses. They may be faithful, tithe-paying, church-working believers in Christ, but their actual UNDERSTANDING of the Word is negligible. They are CARNAL Christians because they haven't made the effort to deal with the condition of their SOIL and their carnality holds them back from fulfilling a higher calling in the Kingdom of God. So the remaining question tonight is this: what should we do about our current SOIL condition?

First, we need to each make an assessment and figure out where we stand in our determination to learn and UNDERSTAND the Word. So for example, if you just don't understand the WORD when you hear or read it, it means that the enemy is stealing it away before it has a chance to take root (Matthew 13:19) and it may mean that your SOIL is packed down too hard for the SEED to penetrate. What should you do?

1. Acknowledge that you have an important spiritual problem that you need to CORRECT.

2. Read your Bible at every opportunity including when your Pastor is teaching from it.

3. Take notes during ALL teachings and review them afterwards.

4. Speak out what you've learned.

5. Approach KNOWLEDGEABLE church Elders and Teachers with your questions.  

6. Confess any hidden sin to the Lord which means to AGREE with Him. He already knows about it

    anyway.

7. Resist the devil by speaking your authority.

8. Resist any lack of understanding by faith and keep pursuing any point you don't understand until

    you do.

Or, if you have a lot of rocks in your SOIL (Mark 4:16-17) it means you're living by traditions and customs and old thinking that contradict the Word of God and make it impossible for the SEED to take a firm root. What do you have to do? In order to have GOOD SOIL you'll have to start by looking for the rocks because the main mass of them is often below the surface of the SOIL. And you'll have to dig them up and cast them totally out of your MIND-SOIL. It's not easy to give up on long-held traditions and ways of thinking and doing things but the rock removal has to be done. As you become more knowledgeable in the Word your PERCEPTION will improve rapidly and you'll discover rocks you didn't even know you had. Be faithful to cast them out when you find them so you can develop your Spiritual PERCEPTION. And the main way you'll have to cast them out is to face your trials and tribulations and persecutions in FAITH. You'll also have to resist the devil (James 4:7) with the Word instead of getting mad at God and giving up (Mark 4:17).

And don't forget to deal with all the thorns (Mark 4:18-19) because a lot of us are comfortable with them. What do you have to do? Keep in mind that the thorns represent all the places that we're too closely connected to in the World and that they're choking out the Word so it can't ever take root in our MINDS. This happens even when we understand the Word we've heard because the thorns make it impossible for our UNDERSTANDING to produce transformation. We stay stuck in the World doing things the way they do them and speaking over our lives with their words that produce death instead of life. Thorns have to be laboriously and thoroughly removed from your SOIL:

1. You have to RESIST worry and anxiety casting your cares on the Lord (1 Peter 5:5-10).

2. You have to cut off all your get rich quick schemes and stop trying to get a financial victory by your own ways.

3. You have to RESIST the pleasures of the World that are mostly destructive. Some of them are subtle and you'll have to use your growing perceptiveness to reveal every thorn for you so you can take appropriate ACTION.

In conclusion, there's only ONE way to Christian victory in life and that's by harvesting FRUIT from GOOD SOIL. That only comes by UNDERSTANDING the Word of God. The Bible says that the knowledge of God brings us EVERYTHING that we need pertaining to life and godliness through His magnificent promises that will allow us to escape the bondage of the World (2 Peter 1:2-4). But we can't access those promises by the Flesh; that requires the supernatural, which requires living by the Spirit, which requires SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION, which requires UNDERSTANDING of the Word of God, which requires having GOOD SOIL. May God bless you as you work to apply these teachings in your life in your PURSUIT of success and victory by grace through faith!

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on February 15. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), compelling you to PROSPER in every area of life!

Sinners' Prayer

If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you need to and you can do it today just by saying out loud the following simple prayer:

Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.

If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.

And, when you get a chance have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer today and believing what you said:

Romans 10:9

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 2:8

Prayer Requests

If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM eastern time. Agree with us for God to answer your petition.

http://www.creditcounseling.net/prayer-request.aspx 

Donations

If you've been edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, you may want to consider making a SEED FAITH offering to support the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7). God has instructed us to simply provide folks with an opportunity to sow seed into good ground so in due season you'll be eligible to reap a harvest and the rest is up to you as the Spirit leads. For your information PLN is a nonprofit gift to the Body of Christ so your financial offerings will usually be tax deductible (consult your tax advisor). Just go to the secure Shopping Cart on the Cornerstone web site by connecting through the following link. We appreciate your support and generosity.

http://www.creditcounseling.net/shop/item.aspx?itemid=1 

About Prosperous Life Newsletter

PLN is an outreach ministry of Make A Way Ministries and has been published continuously since January 1998. It's an e-publication about life in the Kingdom of God and is sent ONLY to our email list of MINISTRY MEMBERS. If you're reading this and aren't yet on our growing email list, please let us know and we'll be so very happy to add you to the list.

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