15 Days of Supernatural Encounters预览

Day 8: Lord, Make Me Good Soil!

Do you want to be moldable and pliable in the Lord’s hands? If so, pray this: “Lord, make me good soil!”

Know:

I want to bear good fruit for Jesus, but I sure mess up a lot. Can anybody identify?

For example, the day I wrote this article, I got really upset at our server at a restaurant when they refused to make one adjustment to a dish–an adjustment they’ve been making for me for many years.

Then, the Holy Spirit convicted me, because man’s anger does not produce the righteousness God requires. So I had to apologize to the server and to the manager, whom I had also talked to about the problem. I was wrong.

(By the way, it’s not that my point was wrong. It’s my attitude that was totally wrong, and I should never have allowed the anger in my heart.)

Sigh.

I felt really bad about it afterward, and I made it right with God. But it sure would have been better if I had been Christ-like enough during the episode to just take it all in stride. There are some things worth getting upset over, like abortion, murder, and injustice … but the restaurant’s refusal to make my food isn’t one of those things. I made the Holy Spirit sad, and I know I did.

So I repented, thought about it a lot, and prayed through it, and all I could think was:

(other than being thankful for God’s forgiveness, of course) …

I need God to keep working in my heart. I need Him to make me good soil that bears good fruit.

Can you identify?

But on this quest to bear good fruit, we can’t get bogged down in today.

We can’t stall out or beat ourselves up about how we messed up today. If we do, we’ll never move forward.

Instead, we have to keep our eyes on Jesus, repent, change our minds, and ask Him to change us too. After all, HE is the One who takes away the sin of the world. He’s the one who even removes our desire to sin, as well as all our fleshly impulses.

• When we get angry in traffic, and the Holy Spirit convicts us …
• When we chew out the server at the restaurant …
• When we get upset at our spouse …

There’s really only one course of action. We have to repent right away, ask the Lord to change our heart, and make things right with Him and with the people we wronged. It’s only when we let Him keep us on a short leash that we can keep clean accounts with Him.

This is where today’s Scripture passage comes in.

Jesus taught the disciples that the state of our heart dictates how much fruit we can produce. If you have a stony heart, you will not produce fruit. The devil will steal away the seed the Lord sows into you.

And on the other end of the spectrum, if you are willing to hear God’s Word, understand, and obey, you will produce good fruit. Not just a little bit of good fruit, either; you can actually produce thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times more fruit than was sown.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be that good soil. I want to produce good fruit, a hundredfold more than was sown into me.

And I don’t want the Holy Spirit’s efforts in me to ever be wasted.

I want to be moldable, humble, and pliable in His hand. I want Him to flow through me with absolutely no hindrances. I want to be a superconductor for Him, His work, and His glory.

Don’t you?

We need to be that good soil. But fortunately, the Holy Spirit will help us become good soil. First John 2:27 says, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

The only way we can become good soil is to receive God’s Word and ask Him for His help to understand and obey it. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher, and He’ll help us if we ask.

Pray:

“Heavenly Father, I really want to be like You. Please change my heart and make me good soil. I want to hear Your Word, receive it, understand it, and bear good fruit, Lord. I want to bear a hundred times more than You sowed into me! But I know I can’t do this by myself.

So Father God, I submit to You and to Your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, please give me a new heart and a new spirit. Make me moldable, humble, and pliable in Your hands, and make me like Jesus.

Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Listen:

If you're streaming your favorite music service today, listen to Jon Thurlow sing his powerful song "Have the Glory." While you listen, ask the Lord to make you into good soil. Ask Him to have all the glory in your life!