Some believers are quick to think that the devil is fighting them in every sphere of their lives \u2013 in their health, marriages, finances, and so on. Yet they are oblivious of one vital area of their lives that he attacks \u2013 the word of God in their hearts. In the parable of the sower Jesus said that the seeds that fell by the roadside are those who heard the Word and immediately Satan came to take away the Word from their hearts because they did not understand it (Matthew 13:19).<\/p>\n
Once the enemy succeeds in stealing the Word from your heart, he does not need to fight you because he knows you cannot go far without the Word. You cannot practise the Word that has been stolen from your heart; and if you cannot practise the Word, you cannot see the desired change in your life. Consequently you will become frustrated, thinking that the Word is not working for you. So we must begin to renew our commitment to the Word of God.<\/p>\n
Jesus said in Matthew 11:12, \u201cAnd from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize \u2014 a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion]\u201d.
\nThe Kingdom of God is the realm of God\u2019s absolute dominion. A share of the Kingdom therefore is the ability to function from God\u2019s realm on the earth right\u00a0Now. For example, Jesus\u2019 earthly walk was nothing less than absolute mastery over the circumstances of life, because He functioned from the Kingdom (God\u2019s spirit realm of dominion) all the time. To take a share of the Kingdom means you are in control of the circumstances of this life, not subject to them. It means that you are not subject to sin and its effects \u2013 sickness, poverty, shame and all that Satan represents.\u00a0 But you cannot take your share of this kingdom by being a passive Christian; you will need to apply intense exertion.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.\u00a06 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:\u00a07 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.\u00a08And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.\u00a0\u00a09 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates\u201d (Deuteronomy 6:5-9).<\/p>\n
The above scripture indicates what it means to be intense with the Word \u2013 keeping the Word before our eyes and in our ears.\u00a0 It is studying, confessing and meditating the Word.\u00a0 It is not sufficient to keep the Bible on your phone or your iPad; keep reading and listening to it constantly; when you are on the road, at home with the family, in the kitchen \u2013 the Word must be with you at all times! Paul said in Hebrews 5: 14,\u00a0\u201cBut strong meat\u00a0belongeth\u00a0to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.\u201d\u00a0The Word you use is the Word you own.<\/p>\n
Napoleon Bonaparte said \u201cthe Bible is no mere book but a living creature with power that conquered all that opposes it\u201d. \u00a0The word of God can make such a significant impact on you and the generation after you, if you engage the Word with intense exertion \u2013 if you ensure the Word is always on your mind and becomes how you think.\u00a0 Anybody that has this kind of relationship with the word of God will not be ordinary.\u00a0 The devil knows this, and that is why, in the parable of the Sower, he\u00a0immediately\u00a0took the Word out of the hearts of those who did not understand the Word they have heard.<\/p>\n
How do I do this? Apostle Paul admonished Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:15, \u201cMeditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all\u201d.\u00a0 If you desire to see a change in your life and in your circumstances, resolve to change your level of commitment to God\u2019s word. Be more intense, and as you do, you will become significant in life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some believers are quick to think that the devil is fighting them in every sphere of their lives \u2013 in their health, marriages, finances, and so on. Yet they are oblivious of one vital area of their lives that he attacks \u2013 the word of God in their hearts. In the parable of the sower […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,33,4,38],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-meditation","category-others","category-the-word","tag-grace"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235,"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions\/235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingdomexpression.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>\u201cBut by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:10).\u00a0 The Grace of God is not a substitute for labouring. \u00a0Grace is the energy of God; the divine enablement that takes hold of your spirit to help you do the things you could otherwise not do. While there is no short cut to intense exertion in the pursuit of God, Grace is available to help you make the Word a priority in your life.<\/p>\n