The Promise Test

Hearing the Word of God is not the end, but the beginning. 

  

It's not about knowledge. 

God is not mental.  

He is Spirit.  

God's Word is Spirit, too (John 6:63)! 

When God speaks to you, He's not informing you, but He is planting it in you. 

His words can change you inside and out. 

The word of God is like seed that must be planted in us, and watered for it to grow. 

75% of the people mentioned by Jesus got zero results. 

The Word of God comes up if it's received into the soil and remains there. 

The first time you hear it. It's being planted.  

When you hear it again, it's being watered.  The sunlight is God's presence. 

  

Luke 8:4-8  (ESV)

4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he (Jesus) said in a parable, 

5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.

6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 

8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 

10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

People don't know God's word is like food.  It must be digested.   God has a word for every situation in our live.  

Matthew 4:4(ESV)

...“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,   but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Luke 8:13 (ESV)

13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. 

But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

25% of the people who hear God's word fall into this category.  

It was a quick reception, but a shallow reception in the soil with underlying rock.      

Matthew 13:5-6 (NLT)

5 Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 

6 But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died.

It takes time for God's promises to work.   

If you ask big, you have to be prepared to stand long.  

You may have been in faith, but then quit.  

You get the same result of never believing at all.  

Beware of setting time limits.

Psalm 107:20 (ESV)

 He (God) sent out his word and healed them,
    and delivered them from their destruction.

God's promises don't have a shelf life.  

You can go back and pick your faith back up.

This time don't quit. 

We aren't really testing God's word.  

They are testing us. 

Psalm 105:19 (ESV)

¹⁹ until what he had said came to pass,
    the word of the Lord tested him (Joseph in prison).

God's word can shatter decades of the devil's work.

  

Satan brings persecution on us using pressure and tribulation to drive away.  

Satan is trying to separate us from God's word.  

Satan is trying to get us tripped up and offended by what God has said.  

Mark 6:2-3  (NKJV)

2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. 

And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, 

“Where did this Man get these things? 

And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 

3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? 

And are not His sisters here with us?” 

So they were offended at Him.

When you lose respect for God's word, you've lost your answer for God's promise that you're believing for.  

If you're in joy, you're still in faith, and passing the test.     

  

Keith Moore, Faith Life Church
https://flcmedia.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/productvideo/1214-GodsIncorruptibleWordSeed-06-StoneyGround-HD.mp4