FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
RENEWING
THE MIND – XIV
THE WORD
OF IAUE - 5
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of IAUE.
IAUE wants
the Truth in our inner man to rule our outer man. The only way that
is going
to happen is to rewrite our soul’s library in faith…faith that the Spirit of
IAUE is
the Spirit of Truth; and the Word of IAUE may be trusted implicitly.
The idea of renewing
the mind very quickly focuses upon two important questions…questions we seldom
ever truly answer within the world of Christianity; which is quite odd given
the very nature of belief. The first is:
does IAUE really exist? The second is:
can His word be trusted? When we
consider altering the way we live to follow exclusively the Word of IAUE and go
against all that we have come to believe about how things work in the world, we
quickly come to understand that to do so could frequently mean the difference
between life and death. To put ourselves in the place of depending upon the
Word to be upheld and produce the desired effect, we MUST know that we are
anchoring our lives on something that is both real and reliable. It is almost laughable, even embarrassing to
admit; but anyone who has been following this blog has realized that these two
questions had to be revisited. You don’t
step off a cliff without knowing that His angels will bear you up lest you dash
your foot against a stone.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is
impossible to please him: for he that cometh to IAUE must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Notice that there
are TWO requirements of faith. One, you
must believe that IAUE exists. Two, you must believe He rewards those who seek
him diligently. This second requirement
is important for it reveals the nature of IAUE.
He WANTS to bless. He WANTS to
give. He WANTS to reward our pursuit of
Him. We MUST believe that IAUE not only
exists; but that He is a giver, not a taker; a blesser, not a destroyer. IAUE is naturally inclined to manifest His
goodness toward us. We simply need to
pursue Him to see it.
Most “Christians”
are content to believe that they have their ticket to “pie in the sky bye and
bye.” Consequently, they NEVER pursue
IAUE. They never search Him out to know
Him more intimately, to know His ways, to find out His secrets. That is why the majority of believers never
experience His blessing, His rewards. He
does not just dole them out every Sunday morning to those who filled a pew. The masses that appear in churches every
Sunday morning are not there to diligently seek IAUE. They are there because it is what is expected
of them. By the time they are home for
Sunday dinner (lunch), they don’t even remember what the sermon was; and they
certainly don’t discuss it over the meal.
Their Sunday obligation has been fulfilled. It is time to get on with life as they want
to live it.
After we have resolved
these two questions, we can move on to one more feature of the Word of IAUE.
Mark 4:13 And
he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
Anyone who has been
a believer for very long has either heard a sermon on the Parable of the Sower,
or has read it in the Scriptures many times.
We are basically familiar with its content; but are we familiar with its
meaning and import? When Messiah’s
disciples asked him what the parable meant, he responded to them with this
interesting and telling question. “If
you don’t understand what THIS parable means, how are you going to be able to
understand any of the parables?” The
significance of this parable is that it unfolds and explains one of the secrets
of the Kingdom of IAUE; a foundational principle upon which the entire Kingdom
functions.
Mark 4:11 And he said unto them, Unto
you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of IAUE: but unto them that
are without, all these things are done in parables:
Before He explains the Parable of the Sower,
Messiah tells his disciples that to understand this parable is to understand
the secret of the Kingdom of IAUE. Let’s
look at it.
Mark 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
4 And it came to pass, as he
sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it
up.
5 And some fell on stony ground,
where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no
depth of earth:
6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no
root, it withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns, and
the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
8 And other fell on good ground,
and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some
thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
In these eight
verses contain the revelation of the mystery of the secret foundation of the
Kingdom of IAUE. Now, let’s look at how
the Master explains it to his disciples…to us.
Mark 4: 14 The sower soweth the word.
15 And these are they by the way
side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh
immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 And these are they likewise
which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately
receive it with gladness;
17 And have no root in themselves,
and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth
for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
18 And these are they which are
sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and
the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke
the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
20 And these are they which are
sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth
fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
The first thing we
see is that seed is the Word of IAUE.
When it is sown, it is sown into the heart of man. The Word of IAUE is so filled with the power
of IAUE that when it is heard, it cannot be stopped at the ears. It cannot be stopped at the mind. It penetrates to the heart; for the heart of
man is the garden of the Word of IAUE.
Acts 7:57 Then they cried out with a
loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
When Stephen was
speaking to his attackers, the Word of IAUE which he spoke penetrated to their
hearts and created an internal war within them.
In order to fulfill their intended objective before the power of the
Word of IAUE reversed their course, they had to cry out to drown out Stephen’s
voice, and put their hands over their ears at the same time, in order to
prevent the seed of the Word of IAUE spoken by Stephen to produce its effect in
their lives.
Heb 4:12 For the word of IAUE is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart.
Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith IAUE.
9 For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and
the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and
maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to
the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I
sent it.
So, we see there is
no problem with the seed. The seed (the
Word of IAUE) is full of the power of IAUE.
What we understand, then, is that the only thing that prevents the seed
from growing and bearing fruit is the nature of the ground (the heart) into
which it is sown. Briefly, let’s look at
those four heart conditions.
The wayside = hearts that have no response whatsoever to the
Word of IAUE. The seed is just sitting
there waiting for Satan to take it away.
That heart is so hard it does not even invite the seed to germinate.
The stony ground = hearts that have but a passive interest
in the Word of IAUE. It is sufficient ground
to allow the seed to germinate and to begin the growth process; but there is
absolutely no care given to the Word and it suffers from the lack of nutrients
our hearts are supposed to contribute to its growth. It has no root. When the Word is challenged (and it WILL be
challenged), their minds are so unrenewed that they hold to the world’s way of
thinking and yield up the Word of IAUE. Persecution
and affliction arises because of the seed that has germinated. The enemy find this to be a threatening
development. With the seed sown on the
wayside, Satan is able to just gobble it up; but once the seed has germinated
and has begun to grow, this represents a whole different problem for Satan for
he knows that once germinated, the power of IAUE is released in the seed and it
is on the way toward bearing fruit. [In the garden of Eden, Satan’s first
approach was to question the Word: “Has IAUE said?”
Then he moved to a direct challenge to
the Word, “You shall not surely die.” Then
he moved to challenging the motive of IAUE. “IAUE
doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and
ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Gen 3:1-5]
John tells us in John
12:24 “Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” So, once the seed
has germinated, the power of IAUE is released to go to work; but hearts that
hardened are vulnerable to these direct challenges. The Scripture says they endure for a while,
but eventually are “offended.” This does not mean they have an attitude of
resentment or bitterness, it means they are caused to stumble and fall. They are tripped up, and they yield up the
life of the seed. I believe this ground characterizes most believers, today.
The thorny ground = hearts that are cultivated enough to
germinate the seed and to grow a plant; but not to the point of bearing
fruit. Why cannot it bear fruit? “The cares of
this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things
entering in, choke the word.”
These are attributes of a heart that needs to repent. This heart is more concerned about what it
wants than what IAUE wants; and THAT is a critical factor in fruit
bearing. There MUST be agreement in the
heart to the purpose and objective of the Word.
It is also a heart condition that reflects a need for renewing the mind;
for if the mind were renewed the heart would not need to repent. It would already be in agreement with the
Word of IAUE instead of still valuing the countering thoughts of the
world. There
is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
(Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25)
The good ground = hearts
that have depth of earth that can nourish the seed; and which do not stumble
over challenges or apparent contradictions to the Word. (Let IAUE be true
and every man a liar. Rom 3:4) Repentance,
both initial and persistent, marks this kind of heart. These are hearts that have resolved that IAUE
is, and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him; so they are not
focused on their own interests; but rather, are focused on the purpose and will
of IAUE. The Word sown in these hearts WILL produce fruit up to 30X, 60X and
even 100X.The only hindrance to the seed producing its maximum fruit is the
measure of renewing the mind that has been accomplished in the heart. The weeds in the heart have been removed. The only hindrance, now, is the areas of our
mind which still need to be renewed to think with the thoughts of IAUE. In the areas where we have already renewed
our minds, the Word of IAUE has our full agreement and compliance; and the
power of IAUE which has been given unto us, we may freely give to others.
It is very important
for us to realize that there is no problem with the quality of the seed. Regardless where it is sown, it is full of the
power of IAUE to bear fruit, to produce exactly what IAUE intended it to produce.
It is also very
important for us to realize that from the moment the seed of the Word of IAUE
is germinated in our hearts, the power of IAUE is released in our lives.
Finally, if the Word
of IAUE is not germinated, if it does not produce life (revelation knowledge),
then all we have of the Word of IAUE are the letters on the page. We have lifeless doctrine. The letter kills. It is the Spirit that gives life. It profits us nothing to have a head full of
Bible doctrine when none of that teaching has been allowed to germinate within
our hearts and release the power of IAUE.
The secret of the
Kingdom of Heaven is found in Yahushua’s words spoken to the Pharisees.
Luke 17:20 And when he was
demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of IAUE should come, he answered
them and said, The kingdom of IAUE cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo
here! or, lo there! for, behold, the
kingdom of IAUE is within you.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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