Keys to a Productive Life
Mark 4:1-9 NKJ
And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was
gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the
whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many
things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: “Listen! Behold, a
sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell
by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on
stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang
up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was
scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell
among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up,
increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Mark 4:10-13 NKJ
But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about
the parable. And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the
mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come
in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they
may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be
forgiven them.’” And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?
How then will you understand all the parables?”
Mark 4:14-19 NKJ
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. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they
are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the
deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the
word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Level Four Christianity:
- Informational: Knowing about Christ
- Revelational: Understanding Christ
- Incarnational: Christ in you
- Transformational: Christ through you
Proverbs 4:23 NKJ
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
Different Kinds of Ground:
- HARDENED GROUND
Mark 4:15 NKJ
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.
• THE KEY: A TEACHABLE HEART - SHALLOW GROUND
Mark 4:16-17 NKJ
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.
John 1:17 NKJ
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ.
John 8:31-32 NKJ
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word,
you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free.”
• THE KEY: A CORRECTABLE HEART - DISTRACTED GROUND
Mark 4:18-19 NKJ
Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the
word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires
for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Matthew 6:19-21 NKJ
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves
do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.”
Matthew 6:24 NKJ
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon.”
Matthew 10:37-39 NKJ
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he
who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who
does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds
his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
• THE KEY: A DEVOTED HEART - PRODUCTIVE GROUND
Mark 4:20 NKJ
“But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word,
accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
• THE KEY: A PURPOSEFUL HEART
Mark 4:24-29 NKJ
Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure
you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.
For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have,
even what he has will be taken away from him.” And He said, “The kingdom
of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by
night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does
not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the
head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens,
immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”