IF YOU DO WELL

“Receive with meekness the implanted word

Which is able to save your souls.”

James 1:21

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me.”

Psalm 51:10

The word God speaks and the Holy Spirit implants within us is not simply for information, but for transformation.  It is implanted in the heart, a clean heart free from all filthiness and wickedness.  Only God can give me a clean heart free from all filthiness and wickedness.  I must keep my heart clean by preparing it just as a farmer prepares his fields to sow his seeds in.

I must be slow to speak until the seed is well within me, so it cannot be trampled or snatched away by the words and opinions of others, including the devil himself.

I must be patient and give the seed time to grow roots.

I must clear away all debris of filthiness and wickedness, as well as the cares, riches, and pleasures that the world offers in an instant and wait for the true fruit to mature.

I must break up the fallow ground by sacrifice, sometimes suffering aloneness, misunderstanding and even persecution, knowing that God is with me through it all.

I must truly believe that the seed of God’s word will work within me to produce the righteousness of God that He wishes me to image to the world.

The life of a follower of Jesus is a life of sacrifice.  The flesh must be denied of its need for instant gratification and constant pleasure.  But in the sacrifice comes the transformation that frees the bondage to self and the choice to live in the safety of God’s boundaries, where true freedom dwells.