We have the authority and the responsibility to choose our attitudes, thoughts, and responses to life's circumstances. It is so much easier to put the blame and responsibility on others or even God. 

The truth is the responsibility of what we think on belongs to us. Thankfully, along with the responsibility to guard our thought life comes the authority to take hold of our thoughts and emotions with the Word of God and cast down wrong ways of thinking. (2 Corinthians 10:5) 

Life consists of relationships: our relationship with one another and our relationship with God. 

The value we place on our relationship with God determines how we perceive ourselves, others, and events that occur in our lives. 

For some, past hurts and experiences have tainted their understanding of God. They misunderstand God because they filter God through their experiences and what others have said. A wrong understanding of God will create wrong beliefs about God’s true nature. 

Romans 15:13

 Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As believers, we are never without hope! How the Bible defines hope and how the world defines hope are very different. The world thinks hope is wishing something will happen. But how the Bible defines hope as a confident expectation that what God has said will come to pass! 

1 John 3:1 

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Behold, the heart of our Heavenly Father, His love toward you, that He has called you His child. 

It's no wonder we don't fit into this world's system and ideas. Our identity is from God, the Creator Himself. 

There is a kingdom of darkness, and there is a kingdom of light! The devil aims to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came so that we may have life! (John 10:10) 

Each of us has gone through hurt, pain, and rejection because of the kingdom of darkness operating in this world. The aim of satan is for the hurts, pain and rejection that we go through to become our identity and hinder us from walking in the light and the truth of who we are in Christ

Philippians 3:7-8 "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ."

In the world we live in, it is common for people to identify with different things, whether it be gender, race, feelings, family, words spoken over them, gifts, talents, etc.

When we are Born Again, our identity is found in Christ. The apostle Paul discovered that when he surrounded his life to the Lord Jesus Christ, what he once identified with was now worth nothing because he understood that his value was not based on his own achievements but on what God said about him.

Luke 8:15 “But the ones that  fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”

The desire of our heart is to be the good soil that produces fruit. Living a fruitful life means that we walk in the promises of God in our own lives, but we also get to be a blessing to others. Living a fruitful life brings God glory. (John 15:8)

I love this time of the year when people are more open and reflective on what Jesus has done for them on the cross. We're mindful of the amazing truth that the Son of God willingly laid down His life for the whole world, past, present and future, and as a result, Salvation is available to all who would believe in His Name.

As I was reflecting on the goriness and brutality of the scourging and the crucifixion that Jesus went through, the Holy Spirit said to me, "That is how valuable people are to Me."

Luke 8:15 AMPC

“But as for that [seed] in the good soil, these are [the people] who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in a just noble, virtuous) and worthy heart, and steadily bring forth fruit with patience.”

The Seed of the Word of God is incorruptible, enduring and lasts forever. Within this Seed is the power to change a person into a whole new creation and change the destiny of their eternity. 

In the natural, a seed must be planted in order for the power within the seed to grow and become what it is designed to be. No matter how much power that seed contains, it will only produce a harvest if it is planted in good soil that will provide the right environment for it to flourish.

Mark 4:14-17

The sower sows the Word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the Word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the Word’s sake, immediately they stumble.

The Word of God is the seed; our hearts are the soil. 

It is our choice what kind of soil we are. Our willingness to hear, understand and act on what we have heard will determine what kind of soil we are. 

"And He *said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the Word. These are the ones who are beside the road where the Word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the Word which has been sown in them."

In science class, when researching the impact or effect of an object, two different things were considered when determining the outcome. 

The Variable and the Constant. 

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus talks about the seed, which is the Word of God, and the soil, which is our heart. 

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. 2 Corinthians 1:20

When we face problems and troubles in life, rather than letting those things dictate our beliefs, we choose to believe in the promises of God; that is what brings God glory!

The promises of God are seeds that we can sow when we face circumstances contrary to the life that Jesus bought for us.

We know from the Word of God that the seed that Jesus is talking about in the parable of the sower is the Word of God. 

God's words are life; they bring healing, provision, and light to any situation. In order for the Word of God to produce in our lives, the condition of the soil (our hearts) needs to be open and ready to receive and believe His Words. 

Luke 7:9: "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel."

It wasn't often that Jesus was amazed at someone's great faith, but with the Roman Centurion, Jesus marvelled! 

What was it about the Roman Centurion that caught the attention of Jesus? It was his understanding of authority and submission. The Centurion understood that Jesus was under the authority of the Heavenly Father and that whatever Jesus said, there was power behind it. 

Acts 3:16, “And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.”

Faith in the Name of Jesus empowered that crippled man to rise up and walk! 

Jesus said to His disciples that whatever you ask in My Name, I will do it. (John 14:12). That doesn’t apply just to the disciples, but it applies to us too! 

Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus has been given the Name that is above every name! His Name reigns in heaven, on earth and over the demonic realm. 

We have been given the right to use the Name of Jesus! Jesus said that “All power and authority on heaven and earth has been given to me; therefore you go…” (Matthew 28:19)

When Jesus died on the cross, He took back the power and authority from the devil and delegated that authority to His Church. With that authority comes the right to use His Name over the domain of darkness. In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John used the Name of Jesus over sickness, and the man who once was paralysed began to walk because of the authority that is in the Name of Jesus!