How many times have we heard something good and then we immediately forget it? How many times have we been to church and we remember the service being amazing but it’s hard for us to articulate what was actually being taught? How many times has God given us a Word, an instruction, an encouragement, an order, an act of faith but we quickly forget about it?
Allow me to breakdown what the Lord revealed to me as to why it is so easy to forget what the Lord has said.
Trust me this is something I have learned and continue to learn with the utmost humility. What I am about to share humbles me, checks my heart, and reminds me if what I am doing in life is aligned with the Words the Lord has spoken to me in the quiet place.
Before I get right into it, I want to share something vulnerable about me. Things I internally struggle with is fear to fail and fear of not doing the Lord’s will. I get stuck and I am my own worst enemy because I get scared that I might take the wrong step and it will take me off course. I fear to fail because I’ve experienced doing things on my own accord and it’s set me back and I don’t want to go through that. Then there’s this other side of me where I am scared I am not doing the Lord’s will. I second guess and question everything. I will get Word straight from the bible of what I believe the Lord is telling me to do and I get so excited and then once I go on about my day, I forget about it and then I quickly lose my fire to do what I was supposed to do. I get stuck.
However, by the grace of God and His Goodness and patience, the Lord’s will – will be done and He has searched my heart and showed me where I am in my life. What I am about to share is heavy and deep, it’s plain and simple, but it really shows you where your heart is at.
If you’re reading this blog, it means I have taken the jump, I took the leap of faith, and I am actively doing what I believe the Lord has instructed me to do.
With that, I want to share the parable that checked my heart and brought me back into alignment. When I tell you I was convicted, I was convicted.
The best thing about the Lord our God is He is our Father. Although our Father instructs us, He allows us to live our life and then corrects us when we go astray. In doing so, He is so gracious and loving when He does correct us, so find encouragement and hope in His character. God will never leave us nor forsake us.
Anyways, I want to take you to Matthew 13:18-23 (Worldwide English – WE) This might be a coincidence because I never have this translation/version in my Bible app but this version is what did it for me. (note: reading different translations has helped me in understanding the bible and studying it deeper)
Matthew 13:18-23
“18 `So listen to hear what the story means, about the man who sowed the seed.’
19 `People listen to the message about the kingdom of heaven. If anyone does not understand it, the devil comes along and takes the message out of his heart. That person is like the seed which fell on the road.
20 Some seed fell on the stony ground. That is like a person who hears the message and right away he is glad to hear it.
21 But it does not go down deep in his heart. He believes it for a short time. When trouble or a hard time comes because of the message, he stops believing.
22 Some seed fell among the weeds. That is like the person who hears the message. But he thinks about the things of this world. He wants to get money to be happy. These things push the message out of his heart. No good comes from it.
23 Some seed fell on good ground. That is like a person who hears the message and understands it. Much good comes from it. Some people are like the seed that gave a hundred more seeds. Some people are like the seed that gave sixty. Some people are like the seed that gave thirty.’
I know. Take a moment to process the passage. The ground represents our heart. The seed represents the Word of the Lord. How does this passage relate to you? Do you resonate with any of the examples? Truthfully, I see myself in almost all of them at one point or another. Now, I can say my seed has finally fallen on good ground, but there was a time where it was falling on stony ground and fell amongst the weeds.
I got to this point of allowing the seed to fall on good ground because the Lord had to remind me to believe and receive! I had to open my heart to receive the word and not let anything taint the Word. I had to continually open and soften my heart to receive. I couldn’t let doubt, lies, or fear stop me anymore. I was tired of feeling stuck, and the only way to move was to do something different. I had to take my step in faith and believe what I couldn’t see.
I had to remember the Words God gave me to keep propelling forward. I had to make sure my soil – my heart, was good ground, by staying pure, sober minded, prayerful, and reminding myself of the Word!
What is the Word? The Word is the Bible. The Word is Jesus, because how and why? The Word became Flesh (John 1:14).
How do I receive the Word? You have to get into the quiet place. You have to go ask, seek, and knock. You have to go to the secret place and ask God for yourself for a Word. Wherever you are in your faith journey with God, and you’re looking for instruction or encouragement or whatever it may be – God has the answer. We have access to God the Father because Jesus died for our sins so there will be a bridge between man and God again. Jesus died and God sent the Helper aka the Holy Spirit that dwells amongst us all. He gifted us the Spirit so we can do life with Him.
The only way we are able to move in life according to what God has planned for us, is if we live by the Word. In the Bible, Matthew 4:4 (AMP) says “But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ” [Deut 8:3]”
We walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), therefore we have to live by the Word because His Word is a lamp unto our feet (Psalms 119:105).
I know it is easier said than done, but I am writing this blog to be vulnerable and let you know where I fell short and how God changed my heart. I allowed the Words God gave me to be easily taken away and removed and I couldn’t receive it fully because my heart was not as good as I thought it was. It wasn’t as strong as I thought. There were some cracks I didn’t know I had. I had to remove stones of offense, hurt, pain, etc. I had to let God pull the weeds. I had to love the Kingdom more than the desires of the world. I couldn’t let what I see inhibit me from what I don’t see from the Lord.
I know this is easier said than done, but if you’re stuck like I was, then you have to remember what God did for you in the past. This might be your next step of faith that catapults you into the next layer God wants to unravel in your life.
If you have nothing to hold onto because this might be the first time God is asking you to move and take a step of faith, I want you to inspect the fruits of the spirit. Is what God is asking you to do come with peace, hope, and joy? The only thing that is stopping you is fear and doubt? Let me remind you that fear paralyzes us, but the only thing that is holding us back is a “what if?” We don’t know what is on the other side of the mountain unless we take a step and move to see what’s there.
Follow the peace that surprasses all understanding (Phillipians 4:7).
Lord, today I pray for the reader on the other side of the screen. I pray every single Word that proceeds from your mouth will fall on good ground. Uproot any weeds and remove any stones in their hearts. I rebuke any attack of the enemy inhibiting them from receiving what is theirs to receive from You, Lord. I pray for a Holy covering upon their life. I declare from this day forward they will walk by faith and not by sight and they will receive every Word that comes from your Mouth, Lord. Holy Spirit help lead us and guide us into all Truth. In Jesus Name, Amen.
My Alabaster Box | Written on 02.06.2025 by Keilani Mayo