When any one heareth the word of the kingdom…

Matthew 13:19 (portion)

When someone hears a word of the Kingdom, something responds, this can no longer remain the same.

In the worst case, the word is misunderstood and stolen quickly away, yet, in other situations, a greater degree of change occurs.

Consider one of the more well known “Words of the Kingdom”, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16).  This is more than words on a page.  When Jesus spoke, he said His words were Spirit and they were life (John 6:63).  There was a content in the content, a message in the message.

Just as when God spoke at Jesus’ baptism, some heard the voice, and many said it thundered.  Some, when they receive the word, cannot understand, cannot perceive the Father, and do not recognize His voice, albeit it clear to everyone else.

Yet, when we hear this word, and understand this word, receiving it with faith, a transformation begins to take place.

When we believe on Jesus, and accept Him as Lord, a change takes place, and we are reborn, born of His Spirit.  From our initial yes, to our dying breath, it is Faith that makes us acceptable to the Lord, and that faith propels us into Spirit-led obedience, but let us look again at that little word.

Although there is a separate immersion in the Spirit, often subsequent to conversion, there is here first a regenerative work, making a new creation where once was a man dead in transgressions and sins.

And, yet, this one word, like a bit of leaven, once in, will change the whole lump.  Where once thoughts were stubborn, gentleness and peace emerge.  Where anger and sin reigned, a desire for truth grows.  This Spirit of Truth should the lead us to greater and greater faith, and a desire for everything of God in our lives, from His Spirit, to His Word, to the miracles and soul-winning.

According to the parable of the four soils, so long as it finds a deep root, and is kept uncluttered from the concerns and anxieties of life, it produces a harvest.

The lights come on, so to speak.  As the Spirit within moves, and is given place, changes take place, and a new thing is formed in the soil of the heart.  Because of His great worth, as we gain greater and greater glimpses of who Christ is, who our Father is, whom we serve, we fall deeper and deeper in love.

Whereas we once counted much of value, perhaps, in our prior lives, we are willing to abandon anything for a deeper, closer walk with Him.  As our love, unfettered by rocks in the good soil of our hearts, and unchoked by the concerns for the temporary riches of this life, begins to expand and overflow, our whole being is taken over with His heart, His spirit.

Where there was once not love, now there is love.

So, that Spirit that came in on a single word, a single thought, produces the whole, even as the mustard seed produces the whole tree (Mark 4:31).  Greater and greater truths are presented, greater and greater realms of His faith, glory, anointing, revelation, beauty, splendor, and majesty are brought before us, and, due to the great worth of Christ and His Kingdom, we become more and more compelled.

The place of faith, seeing the unseen more than the seen and treasuring the creator more than the creation, compels us to sell all.  It is the nature of the Kingdom.  We make an exchange, trading our wretchedness for his righteousness.  We exchange our rejection for His acceptance.  We exchange our sin for His perfection.

Further, as we see the unsurpassed greatness of His being, He, the only greatest one of all, becomes our total, our complete, our all in all.  In joy, we lose our will, our desire, our life, and everything in our possession to be His disciple.  For, love is as strong as death, and it’s jealousy is as unyielding as the grave (Song of Solomon 8:6).

Jesus said that it was the eye, that when it was single, that the whole body was full of light (Matthew 6:22).  In Song of Songs, it is called “doves eyes” (Song of Solomon 4:1).

When the eye has removed all folds, all planks, and all duplicity, it is then able to see clearly.  In the full reception of the light of Christ, the whole body is illumined.

Yet, it has all grown from this single seed.  All the revelation, all the light, all the insight, all the changes, has grown from the One Seed, fallen into the ground.

All the faith, has sprouted from this one truth.

All the mysteries are revealed by the self same Spirit.