The One who sent me stays with me. He doesn’t abandon me. He sees how much joy I take in pleasing him.
When he put it in these terms, many people decided to believe.
Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure.
Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.
John 8:29-32 The Message
If you stick with this.
In the Gospel stories, Jesus told a story about a farmer sowing seed. He described how the seed fell in various areas,
The road
When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.
Matthew 13:19 The Message
The gravel
The seed cast in the gravel – this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm.
But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.
Matthew 13:20-21 The Message
The weeds
The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.
Matthew 13:22 The Message
The field
The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.
Matthew 13:23 The Message
Jesus means this when he says, “If you stick with this.”
He is referring to the heart:
- Your actions speak louder than your words.
- Your integrity to do what is right
- Your willingness to abandon what you want
If you stick with this (Jesus talking), you will produce a harvest beyond your wildest dreams.
A harvest is the result of your labor or efforts. While it is true that bringing souls into the kingdom of God is part of this passage, it is also true that your surrendered heart (to the Lord) produces an incredible harvest of life.
If you stick with this (Jesus talking), you will experience liberating truth.
According to the OUTLINE OF BIBLICAL USES on the online Blue Letter Bible,
the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians.
In other words, freedom is knowing the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, and righteousness and religion.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is needed now more than ever.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.
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