He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until that Day.

Mark 4:13-20
13 “But if you can’t understand this story, how will you understand all the others I am going to tell? 14 The farmer I talked about is the one who brings God’s message to others. 15 The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the message, but then Satan comes at once and takes it away from them. 16 The rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy. 17 But like young plants in such soil, their roots don’t go very deep. At first they get along fine, but they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe the word. 18 The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for nice things, so no crop is produced. 20 But the good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s message and produce a huge harvest-thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

When we receive the Word of God into our hearts, it can be life changing. But Christ warns us that Satan will try to steal from us what God has planted. The first thing he will do is immediately bring doubt and confusion into your mind. The second thing Satan will do is bring a circumstance that will discourage you. If you don’t recognize what is happening and fight against him, the Word planted in your heart will not grow and you will stumble over and over again without ever receiving what God has promised. Christ is warning us that Satan comes with lies and half truths and discouraging circumstances to keep us from receiving the promises of God. If you are not growing in your walk with Christ look at what is happening with the Word planted in your heart. Don’t let Satan steal it from you.

Receiving the Word of God into your life is more than just reading, it is speaking the Word, meditating on the Word and then to acting on the Word. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 that he was “confident in this very thing:–this one thing, this one truth– that “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until that Day.” The Word of God in your life and brought to the harvest stage of producing “seed” will change your life. But you must take that Word and speak it, meditate on it and then act on it for it to grow and produce the crop that God intended. But while it is growing in your heart, Satan will try to steal it from you. Beware of him and rebuke him in the name of Jesus and take what God intended for you. God has so much He wants you to know and so much He wants you to receive, but you need to keep His Word on your lips, in you mind and in your actions before it can grow into the promise.