How Spiritual Growth Actually Works

Proverbs 4 doesn’t repeat itself because the writer ran out of ideas. It repeats because that’s how growth happens. We keep wanting God’s promises to land instantly, but Scripture describes something slower and more powerful: a seed taking root, unseen at first, then showing up as real fruit in your life.

We walk through Mark chapter 4 and connect it to the heartbeat of Proverbs 4. The written Word of God, the logos, works like seed and water when we read it, meditate on it, and speak it until it moves from our head into our heart. That process is how faith matures, how wisdom becomes personal, and how “understanding” turns into a lived, steady confidence rather than religious information. Along the way, we talk about what it actually means to “hear God’s voice” and why that is the practical bottom line behind words like righteousness, holiness, and wisdom.

We also get honest about what stops growth. The parable shows three common ways the seed dies: we dismiss it, we start strong but quit when pressure hits, or we let the cares of the world choke out what God started. Proverbs 4 gives the counter plan: guard your heart, keep your focus straight ahead, refuse the world’s rotten path to success, and stay with the light as it grows brighter day by day. If you’re hungry for biblical wisdom, spiritual growth, and practical steps for recognizing God’s voice, this one will meet you where you are.

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Transcript

The Seed Principle For Faith

Three Ways The Word Dies

Proverbs 4 And Guarding Wisdom

Avoiding The World’s Rotten Path

Light That Grows Brighter Daily

Watch Your Words And Stay Fixed

Seek God Personally And Don’t Quit

Book Recommendation And Closing

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Well, good morning. Here we are now in chapter four of Proverbs, and again we're going to see the same theme. Now you've got to ask yourself, why not just roll it out simply one time? Three verses? We got it. Let's move on. Why keep reiterating the same thing over and over, just with a different angle? Well, let me let you in on a little secret how spiritual growth actually works. And it is found in Mark chapter four, the parable of the sower and the seed. I'll lay it out extremely obviously for us because Jesus put this info first in a parable, but he also explains it in detail to his close followers. Let me explain it to you in today's simple terms. To begin with, when you look at what you want in this world, for example, if you want to become somebody with like a doctorate degree to achieve your goals, you have got to first do what the world says. Go through twelve years of school just to get a high school degree, and then another four years for a college degree, and then usually another four years to get the doctorate. And what the world says is if you do this, then you will be or you will have a steadfast, successful life. That's what the world says. Or let's look at nature. You want an orange tree, well you plant the seed, and it can take many years until the harvest of that seed bears fruit. Now when Jesus walked the earth, he kept showing how heaven works compared to how the earth works. Now this is where we fall short in our thinking. Now listen up, because this is the secret. Where we fall short is when it comes to the things of God and we read something like all our needs are met according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. And we see that, and then we think, All right, God, I believe you, take care of this. And then we just sit back and relax and expect it to happen. And I hate to say it, but it doesn't work that way. He made it clear that the heavenly things are just like the way the things on the earth are done. The earth is like types and shadows of the way things are done in heaven. So he rolls out this parable about a seed. So if you want to know what we have to do to get these spiritual gifts that are the real things that make this life prosperous and peaceful, then we got to have enough foresight to say, okay, obviously what I just read and believed, it doesn't work right away. So then how does it work? Well this is how what you and I get to do is we get to look in the Bible, and the words written on that page are referred to as seed and water. So we get to use our mind, look at the pages of words, and take those seeds and the water and put it into our brain and force it into our heart. We get it into our heart by looking at it and meditating on them. Let your imagination bring it to life with pictures of your receiving the promises you're reading. But we must add in another scripture where Jesus talks about He's the vine and we're the branches. So you take his words and then you keep grinding on them in your head, which gets it into your heart, and you do it day in and day out on a specific angle of what you're wanting from him. And then the seed is growing inside of you, but you won't realize it at first, because there is another parable in there that says you don't know how it grows. You just know if you do your part, and put the word in you, sooner or later you'll have the promise, because that is the way God created us. So your job is to take the word of God, read it, meditate on it, and speak it. For example, the number one thing that Proverbs is teaching us is we need to hear his voice. The whole Bible talks about how God speaks to man when we hear him and do what he says, it will come to pass. So now it's our turn. It's our turn to hear from God. So you take those scriptures and you meditate on them. That's the seed in the water. You find scriptures that says he'll manifest himself to you, that he stands at the door and knocks, and if you open it, he'll come in and he'll hang out with you. And then you look at all the other scripture where he talks to men and women, that is the most important thing that Proverbs is trying to teach us. And it all ties back to Mark in chapter four where he says Hmm, I'll just say it like this. I The words in the Bible are seed and water. The fancy Greek word is called logos. Logos means words that have been written. You take these words and you put them in your heart, and then you put demand on them like you want it, but you don't get it just because you want it. It has to grow. You've just got to keep meditating on it and demanding it and meditating and demanding it. Now you don't know how it grows, like you don't know how a tree grows. You just know that if you watch over it and take care of it, it will. The difference between a tree and the words or promises of God are this you can physically see the tree growing. The word of God is spiritual. At first you cannot see it growing with the natural eye, but after you do this, and I call it winning when the spiritual fruit appears. After you have done this a few times, you can tell when your spiritual tree is growing. Now there are three things the parable tells us that can happen to you and I during this process. One, you straight up don't believe what I am saying. That's a reference to the devil taking your seed away immediately. Secondly, you believe, but you don't have much root, so when you hear people say Oh, that's not going to work, the Bible says that is called persecution. Or you heard and believed but quit. And then there's a third way it doesn't come to pass, because the cares of the world start taking over, and you're like, you know, I want this, but I don't have time to wait is taking to long. And the Bible calls this choking the new plant or killing it. But there's the winning way. You take this word and you keep it and you don't quit, and you keep putting it in and putting it in. And every day you keep reading and meditating and reading and meditating, and then the Bible says that this word will turn into fruit. The seed and the watering that you planted in your heart will turn into fruit, and the fruit equals you hearing God's voice, and when you hear his voice talk to you on the subject, then it is yours. This is what faith, righteousness, holiness, wisdom, equity, all those mysterious fancy words in the Bible, they all boil down to one thing hearing God speak to you and you acting on it. And that's where the Bible promises receiving thirty, sixty, hundredfold return. The return is huge, it's the same symbolism. Like if you plant an apple tree seed, all the apples that grow out of it. God is saying the same thing with his word, plant it in your heart, don't let it go. He's the one that makes it grow. Then when the fruit permits, and you will know when it is ready. That's God's way of secretly telling you it is time to receive the promise. Another parable in the same chapter four of Mark says the farmer doesn't know what makes it grow. He just knows if he tends to it and takes care of it, it will turn into fruit. And the same goes for you hearing the voice of God and receiving his promises. Now that was just me laying it out plainly for us. So let's look at chapter four now and see how it compares to what we just learned. Beginning with verse one Hear O sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may know understanding. Again, we want to know understanding, not about it. You want to know the person who created all things, not just read about it and say, Oh I know all about that. No, you want to meet wisdom personally. For I give you sound teaching, do not abandon my instructions. Verse three as Solomon goes on to say that when he was a son to his father, tender and the only son in the sight of his mother, then he taught me and said to me, Let your heart hold fast my words, keep my commandments, and live. This statement and live means to keep alive, give, promise life, nourish up, recover, repair, restore to God's type of life. Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding. Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Did you catch that? The same thing, don't give up from what the word says, and look at what the world is saying. Now it's the same thing that David told Solomon and Solomon told us, and now I'm hopefully making it extremely plain to you. Do not turn away from the words you're hearing, because they're true. Verse six Do not forsake her, and she will guard you, love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is acquire wisdom, and with all your acquiring, get understanding. That was verse six and seven, which is saying the same thing again, don't quit until you meet her. If you embrace her, she will place on your head a garland of grace, she will present you with a crown of beauty. ten says it again, hear my son and accept my sayings, and the years of your life will be many. I have directed you in the way of wisdom, I have led you in upright paths. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded, and if you run, you will not stumble. Take hold of instruction, do not let go, guard her, for she is your life. That's all the way to verse thirteen. Solomon keeps saying it in different ways, over and over, so you'll grasp it and it'll grow inside your heart, and that's the same thing for you and I. We want it to grow inside our heart. So again, Solomon is saying, and I'm saying that don't quit until you meet God. That's really the bottom line. Now as a father to a his son, he goes on in verse fourteen, do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it, turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they do evil, and they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. That's up to verse seventeen. Now remember, evil and wickedness is not always somebody like Hitler. Really what it is is the way the world operates right now. We all want to be successful, but the way they go after it is by putting pressure on other people and scheme and cheat and lie to get money so they can spend it on themselves and have what they believe would make a great life. And that is really the definition of evil in this world. Evil is referred to something that is broken or rotten, and we see this broken and rottenness before our eyes every day, in relationships and the way we treat each other, it's ugly because we want more and more, but only know how to achieve it by the world's standards, and we end up like a dictator that is just purely out of control, not only to others, but your own mind won't stop pushing you for more. But here Solomon is saying Don't go that route. Listen to what he says in verse eighteen, but the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. Now I love verse eighteen because this is one of the ones I dwelt on forever until God gave me the Rima about it, or the fruit that it says I'm ready. And remember, Rema means hearing from God. So I learned verse eighteen means when you first see the sunrise, you see a little glimmer of light, and that's like where you and I are now, learning in Proverbs here. It's like, okay, I see it, I don't really have it, but I think this is the direction I need to go. And if you keep searching and believing and reading it and meditating on it, the Lord opens it up so you understand a little more, and you are like, yes, this is the way. And as days go by you get more light and more light, and then pretty soon you're in the full day sun where you realize this is obviously the right way to go. And you ask yourself, why doesn't everybody see it? Well you've spent a long time of dedication to get to this point. They stopped at one of the three ways that kills the word. So if you see a glimmer of light, like is this the way? Or you say to yourself, Why does this verse keep popping up in my mind? Keep focusing on that light. Do what Proverbs is telling you to do here and don't quit, and it'll get brighter and brighter. In other words, or another way to put it, you will see the fruit appearing more and more, the thirty sixty hundredfold. nineteen The way of the wicked is like darkness, they do not know over what they stumble. My son, give attention to my words Here he is again saying the same thing. Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to all their whole body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. That is up to verse twenty three. This may sound like I'm repeating myself a thousand times, but no, this time it is Solomon. Put the words in your brain, that's what we get to do. Just meditate on it and keep saying it and keep looking at it and demanding on it. That's how it gets into your heart. When it's in your heart, it's still not the fruit yet. It's not until you hear God speak to you from your heart into your head, and you're like, whoa, is this really God? And then you believe it and act on it, then and only then it comes to pass. And then you start growing stronger and stronger and believing quicker, hearing God speak to you. That's like what we talked about earlier. It's like a little ray of light, but it gets brighter and brighter and brighter. Verse twenty four put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious lips far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead, and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. In layman's words, don't start saying Ah, this isn't working. That's a deceitful tongue speaking and it will kill the seed. Or devious lips, words you speak which don't line up with the logos, or the written words you have read. You and I have got a lot of stuff we have to clear out of our minds. This world has taught us so much of the wrong way. So even though it's not happening right away, remember the analogy I gave you about getting a doctor's degree that the world teaches that takes twenty something years. Hearing from God doesn't take that long, and it's the best way to live, you'll see. twenty six Watch the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right or the left, turn your foot from evil. Again, just keep meditating on the written word. Now that was chapter four. Another beautiful way of saying all of this You and I have a part to play. We have got to believe there is a God and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, and get those scriptures out of the Bible, look at them and say, Why not me? Actually get kind of defiant about it. Say to yourself, I want to know God personally. I want him to give me his wisdom, send it to me, Lord, I need it. And do not quit until you get it, because you see in the Bible, hundreds of people who God talked to and brought up out of poverty and out of heartache, and he can do it and wants to do it for you. That's the whole reason he sent Jesus. He loves us. He sent his son to die on the cross for our sins. And God then rose up Jesus three days later for this one main promise that He would send His Spirit. That was the goal. So when you hear these things like Oh, just believe in Jesus. Believe what? Believe that what He did and what He said is true. His promise to give us the actual Spirit of God Himself to dwell within you and I, so go after it, and do not quit until next week stay strong and let's receive His promise. Before we close, I just want to mention that if today's teaching resonated with you and you'd like to go deeper in learning how to recognize God's voice in everyday life. I've written a book called God, Why Won't You Talk to Me, written by Edward L. Carpenter. It's available on Amazon and it's very practical, no hype and no theory, just real everyday tools to help you understand how God speaks and how to respond with clarity and peace. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible.