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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1531125
hearts before it can take root. If they hear the Word about healing, for example, the devil might remind them of somebody who prayed for healing and didn't receive it. So, they dismiss the Word of God they heard, and it produces nothing for them. Not one thing. The second group of people Jesus described in the parable He called "stony" ground. The person in this group "hears the Word and at once welcomes and accepts it with joy; yet it has no real root in him, but is temporary (inconstant, lasts but a little while); and when až iction or trouble or persecution comes on account of the Word, at once he is caused to stumble…and he falls away" (verses 20–21, AMPC). When stony ground people hear God's Word about prosperity, they initially get excited and say things like, "That's wonderful! I would love to prosper!" But at the fi rst sign of fi nancial trouble, they let go of the Word. So they miss the prosperity God has for their lives. As believers, if we want our God-given vision to come to pass, we must hold on to what God's Word says about it! If we want to walk in our God-ordained calling, we must hold on to that calling. Maybe you've been in the ministry or in business for 30 years, and the vision God gave you in the beginning hasn't come to pass yet. Don't let it go now. Don't let the devil talk you out of it after you've held onto it for 30 years! Instead, B V O V : 2 9 Having a God-given vision for your life is vital! We must have a divine vision so we can release our faith for it and God can bring it to pass. can fi nd out what you need to do step by step and day by day to experience the fulfi llment of that vision. That makes for a happy life! For as Proverbs 29:18 goes on to say, although where there is no vision, the people perish, "he that keepeth the law," (or he who hears and heeds the Word of God) "happy is he." True happiness isn't available to people who reject God's Word. They may come up with a vision on their own and even manage to achieve it. But they miss out on the real joy God has planned for them, because His vision for their lives remains a mystery to them. Not so, however, for you! As a believer, "it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 13:11). So, as you seek God in His written Word and listen to the voice of His Spirit, His plan for you becomes increasingly clear. He reveals it and puts His vision for you in your heart! Of course, that vision won't automatically become a manifested reality just because God reveals it to you. For it to come to pass, you must make a choice. You must believe and act on what God shows you. That's how His kingdom works. We always have a choice. You didn't automatically get born again just because you heard the gospel. For what you heard to make a di¦ erence in your life, you had to believe and act on it. Until you chose to do that, nothing in your life changed. Once you did make that choice and believed, though, everything changed. You became a new creation in Christ Jesus and were never the same again! The same principle holds true when it comes to your God-given vision. How much of it comes to pass depends on what you do with what He has said to you about it in His Word and by His Spirit. Jesus talked about this in Matthew 13 in the parable of the sower. He said there that the seed of the Word is sown into the lives of four groups of people, and compared the groups to four di¦ erent kinds of ground. Group 1 He called "wayside" ground. Wayside ground people are those who hear the Word but let the devil steal it out of their