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Listening for God

Luke 8:11-15
“This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the Word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among the thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

Perseverance. This word means something different to all of us even though the definition remains the same. To have Godly perseverance, we must have a seed uprooted in the Word of God that can flourish, growing stronger in times of testing. To me, perseverance is simply making it through the day. I am the one on rocky ground, I love receiving the word, but because I do not have a strong root built on Christ, life’s struggles quickly pull me away. James 23-24 says, “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in the mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” I do not want to be like this man anymore, which is a lot of the reason why I am here. I long for that strong, personal relationship with Christ but was never able to nurture it anywhere else. Being engulfed in the world and having little time for the Lord was a life filled with misery and lies. Though now that I am praying and filling myself with the good news everyday, I still feel as though God is not talking to me. Am I listening? How do I listen for God? How do I build a seed on good soil so that the word I receive may actually penetrate my heart and change me? I have spent my whole life running away from God because I wanted to do things on my own, I always figured I was too broken to be fixed anyways. The devil has one too many times stolen the truth from my heart but even then, I have to remember God’s love fought for me. Even when I was not seeking Him, He was seeking me.

Application
This week, I will write down the lies my mind is overcome by on a sheet of paper and next to it, use the Word of God to quote verses to defeat the lies with His truth.

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