What is the supreme care of this world? Strife! The right to
be ugly if you want to…the right to talk against your brother if
you want to…the right to be fussy if you want to…the right to
say whatever you want to! The most worldly thing that exists is
strife! Satan is strife itself. It is worldly. It is sin. It is deadly, and
it brings disease on its wings almost 100 percent of the time.
James 3:16 says, “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion
and every evil work.” The Apostle Paul in his letter to the
Galatians listed strife along with adultery, fornication, idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, murder and drunkenness (see Galatians
5:19-21). You can see that when a man gets in strife, it is easy
for him to commit murder, adultery or these other things. Strife
is the motivating force. When a man is operating in love, he
won’t act that way. If he is operating in the love of God, he
won’t look at another woman to lust after her. It is when you
are thinking of yourself that lust gets in.
Strife is the number one tool of Satan. Jesus said in Mark
11:25-26, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought
against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive
you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your
Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Unforgiveness
and strife are under the law of sin and death, and God’s forgiveness
through Jesus Christ is the only way the power of this law can
be broken in a person’s life. Each time a person operates in
strife and unforgiveness, he submits to the law of sin and death,
and he cannot get God’s forgiveness until he forgives his brother
and gets the strife out of his life. Satan knows how this works,
and he will try to keep you in strife. He will attack your weakest
area first and break you down if he can.
Make up your mind at this point that you will never again
operate in any area of unforgiveness. You can’t afford to play
around with it. Faith works by love. The very instant you get
into strife will be the very instant your faith begins to falter. If
you notice your faith weakening in some area, look at your
household, your family, your friends—strife is involved somewhere.
Find it, repent of it and get it straightened out. It doesn’t
matter what people have done to you. Love them in spite of it!
Give love and you will get love. It may take a day, a week or a
year, but it will come! Love never fails!
“And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as
hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold,
some sixty, and some an hundred.” When you receive the Word
into your heart, it will bring forth fruit, as much as a hundredfold.
Praise the Lord.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
In the parable of the sower, Jesus is teaching about the
Word of God and how the Word bears fruit. Let’s examine it
closely and discuss some significant facts as we go.
Verse 15, “And these are they by the way side, where the word is
sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh
away the word that was sown in their hearts.” The seed, the Word of
God, did its job. It went into their hearts. This tells us that Satan
will come immediately to take away the Word which was sown…
immediately. Have you ever wondered why a man can preach healing
and almost everyone in church will get sick? The answer is that
Satan comes to steal the Word from them concerning healing.
“And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground;
who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with
gladness; And have no root in themselves.” They have no confidence
in themselves as Christians, as believers. So what happens?
They endure for a time.
“Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the
word’s sake, immediately they are offended.” It is because of the
Word that you have persecution and affliction. When you begin
dealing in the Word, you are marked and Satan will do everything
he can to defeat you. However, if you will use it, the
Word will fight its own fight and cause you to be more than a
conqueror (see Romans 8:37). Put the Word to work. Use it. It
is the sword of the Spirit. Jam it into Satan! “Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Just remember, he won’t flee
if you merely lie down and play dead. You must resist him with
the Word!
“And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as
hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness
of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the
word, and it becometh unfruitful.” Don’t make the mistake of
lumping these three together. They are not the same. The cares
of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are two different
areas. I want to focus here on the cares of this world. This one
area is probably the most dangerous and the most capable of
totally defeating you in your Christian walk. The cares of this
world will stop your faith, stop the Word in your life, stop your
thinking, and cripple your insides.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
We have been discussing the laws of prosperity and particularly
have covered the promises of the hundredfold return as in
Mark 10:30. Now I want to examine some things Jesus taught
in Mark 4. Here again, Jesus speaks of the hundredfold return
in the parable of the sower. Let’s begin with verse 14:
The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the
way side, where the word is sown; but when they have
heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the
word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they
likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when
they have heard the word, immediately receive it with
gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so
endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution
ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they
are offended. And these are they which are sown among
thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of
other things entering in, choke the word, and it
becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown
on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it,
and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and
some an hundred.
Jesus is teaching here about the Word of God. The very
first rule—the predominant rule—about believing God is faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Acting
on God’s Word brings results. You should act on His Word as
quickly as you would the word of a doctor, a lawyer, or a trusted
friend—regardless of what your circumstances dictate and
regardless of what your physical senses tell you. Acting on
God’s Word as the truth brings forth faith. Faith comes into
action and causes the laws of the world of the spirit to function
and bring results.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also
sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap
also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth
in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity,
for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to
make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having
all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every
good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad;
he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth
for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both
minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed
sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)
Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness,
which causeth through us thanksgiving to God
(2 Corinthians 9:6-11).
The Amplified Bible says it this way:
And God is able to make all grace (every favor and
earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you
may always and under all circumstances and whatever
the need, be self-sufficient—possessing enough to
require no aid or support and furnished in abundance
for every good work and charitable donation….And
[God] Who provides seed for the sower and bread for
eating will also provide and multiply your [resources
for] sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness….
Thus you will be enriched in all things and in
every way, so that you can be generous, [and your generosity
as it is] administered by us will bring forth thanksgiving
to God (verses 8, 10-11).
As you give cheerfully and generously, God will cause every
blessing to come to you. He wants you to be able to give to others,
to help meet their needs; therefore, He will multiply your
resources for giving. This is the way God’s system works!
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
