In a recent meeting, Rick Joyner shared on the significance of the operation of the five ministries made available to us for the development of maturity and to unity in the faith.

See Video: The Ephesians 4 Mandate

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You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, this is the first and great commandment. – Matt. 22:37

Our love of God must be born out of a desperate and deep desire for His presence to be manifest in every aspect of our lives.  Notice the scripture states that we are to love God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind.  We are not meant to have a passing acquaintance with our Lord nor are we to have a slave to taskmaster relationship but rather a relationship where every fiber our our being realizes that without Him in our lives we will not be able to experience all the greatness, majesty and joy of His creation.  Nor will we be able to withstand the pain that comes in the night because we will not have access to the truth and the understanding that though our suffering comes in the night, our joy is sure to come in the morning.   His righteousness, His peace, His joy is freely given by His Holy Spirit but our only access is through our intimate relationship with Him.  How can we be the true light to the world if His light is not glowing in us.  His light in us empowers our love for others.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. – 1John 4:7-8

If we as Christians desire to fulfill the Great Commission then we must first fulfill the Great Commandment because love never fails.

When I read this Psalm in the King James, it didn’t ‘light up’, but reading it in the Amplified, it is a message for the people of the Kingdom:

Ps. 84: 4-7:

“Blessed are those who dwell in Your house and Your Presence;

they will be singing Your praises all the day long.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You;

in whose heart are the highways (high ways) TO ZION.

Passing through the valley of weeping, they MAKE it a place of springs;

the early rain also FILLS (the pools) WITH BLESSINGS.

They go from strength to strength,

increasing in victorious power;

each of them appears before God in Zion.”

The  valleys of weeping are not OUR valleys — they are the valleys that those who don’t know the Lord or who are being overwhelmed by the difficulties of life  — as WE pass through those valleys, we make it a place of springs ( refreshing) – and the Lord fills it with  blessings.

18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.  20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;  21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” NKJV

No mention is given in this passage in Matt. 13 as to who the sower is and what type of seeds are being sown.  I don’t think Jesus would just throw seeds around willy-nilly.  And just as unlikely, I don’t believe Satan would waste an opportunity to sow his seed in the most effective place to do the greatest harm.  Therefore, I can only assume the sower is one of us.  Which brings us to the question of the type of seed being sown.

There are basically two categories of seed.  Seed that is of the world (i.e. Good/Bad seed) and seed that is eternal.  “Worldly” seed is carnal and fleshly by nature.  It comes from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  This seed can take root, germinate and grow into something the world would look upon as being “good” however it has no value or worth to the kingdom of God because it is fleshly and carnal by nature and can only produce after its own kind.  However, the eternal seed is sown from the Spirit of God and when it has germinated and grown produces fruit that remains for the purposes of advancing the kingdom of heaven.

So what fruit does the eternal seed produce?  First, it brings forth the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control).  It also produces faith, hope and belief.  Another product of this seed is prosperity (which requires stewardship) and kingdom resources (e.g. power, revelation, healing, wisdom, etc.).  Finally, eternal seed releases God’s word (His promises).  Is. 55:11 declares the following:

Isa 55:11
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

God spoke existence into being.  When He speaks His eternal seed goes forth and seeks fertile ground from which to grow and manifest.  He is constantly looking for fertile soil (hearts prepared to receive His word) for His word to germinate and come forth.  However, we must be careful to sow His eternal word in our hearts and not the seeds of the world.  Galatians 6:7-9 speaks directly to this issue:

Gal 6:7-9

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
NKJV

Notice Paul’s final admonition in the scripture above.  If we do not lose heart and we continue to move forward in faith, trusting God that “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”  As sowers, we can never give up or give in to the world or the plans of the enemy.  Our focus and our faith must continuously be directed toward the Lord believing that His promises are yes, and amen.

Lastly, what will our sowing bring?  It depends on 4 things.

1.   Depends on the type of seed planted.  (i.e. “good” / “bad” or “eternal”)

2.   Depends upon the quality of the soil (our heart condition) the seed is planted in.

3.   Depends upon the effort put forth to cultivate the soil after the seed has been planted.  (e.g. fertilization, watering, weeding, etc.)

4.   Depends upon our expectations for a harvest (Believing faith / Expectant Hope)  -  Heb. 11:1, 11:6

In this season, sowing seed is not enough.  We must be aware of the type of seed we are sowing, even if it appears to be “good” seed.  As we sow into the kingdom of heaven we cannot stop there.  We must continuously cultivate the ground (our hearts) around that seed to make sure it grows into maturity and fruitfulness.  Much darkness and evil seem to be in the world today, however God has a plan to bring forth His eternal word in such as way as to provide a harvest of incredible fruit for the world as a testimony of His greatness.  It’s time to sow our seeds.

John 14:6

Most of us have found “the way” to Jesus through our salvation experience and have entered into “the truth” of His word, but how many of us have totally committed ourselves to Him being “the life” in us?  Positionally we all believe that Jesus lives in us via the Holy Spirit.  However, are we living that truth on a daily basis.  Does our character and values reflect His presence inside us.  Is there evidence of His living water flowing out of us.  If someone were to engage in conversation with you what evidence would they point to as a clear indication of “the life” living inside you.

“The way” speaks of our path to Jesus.  “The truth” speaks of us coming into an understanding of His teaching and precepts.  But “the life” speaks of an intimate, personal, transformational relationship where we are no longer our own, we become like Him reflecting His love wherever we go.  What are you reflecting to others.  Is it the love and life of Christ or something else.  He so desires for all of us to come into a deeper relational experience with Him where His love permeates and transforms our lives every day.  As we allow His love to shine through us then we are truly living “the life” he destined for us to live.