Realizing God’s Full Potential in Your Life

Mark 4:30-32 (AMP)- And he said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all seeds upon the earth; Yet after it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all garden herbs and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air are able to make nests and dwell in its shade.

Here, Jesus is describing how the Kingdom of God should look like in your life. In essence, He is saying that if you profess to have The Kingdom within you, then there should come a time when your “branches” bear fruit and your character mirrors that of Christ, providing rest for the restless and comfort for the weary.

However, for many of us this is not the case. As I was driving into my garage this morning I peeked on our patio and looked at a tree that I have been growing for the past couple of years. Now, I’m no expert gardener or anything, I put a seed in a pot and put it outside. Nonetheless, the seed began to grow and do what God designed it to do. However, over the past couple of months the little sapling has not grown. It’s still alive and doing well, but it’s not growing. The reason that it’s not growing is because I still have it in the same small pot that I started it in. Its root system has no more room to expand.

So, as I was pulling into the garage the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that this is analogous to the spiritual condition of many who have the seed of the Kingdom of God within them. Many of us have ceased the spiritual growth process in Christ. If you take a peek at your life, do you sense that you are not experiencing God’s full potential in your life? Has it been years since you have been excited about your relationship with God? Do you feel that you are not exhibiting the characteristics in the above scripture? When people look at you do they see someone that they can rest in, someone who is nurturing, someone who has a lot to offer spiritually? When they see you do they see The Father?

If you feel that you have stopped growing spiritually, then you probably have. However, just because you have stopped growing doesn’t mean that you are dying. As you see, my tree sapling is still alive and well because the soil is still good and it still receives water and sun. In order to continue to mature and grow The Kingdom of God within you so that you become what you were created to be, your root system needs to expand. God wants you to expand, He wants you to increase in Him, He wants to put you in a bigger “pot.” In order for this to take place we must be willing to be uprooted from our comfort zones and allow God to do whatever He wants.

Just as God commanded Abram to leave his country and leave his father’s house, He wants us to do the same. For many of us He literally wants to take us to a different location like Abram. This is what I experienced when I left my home and comfort zone in Detroit to move to New York where I knew no one. For others, he wants us to symbolically leave that comfort zone. He wants your heart to be willing and ready for an increase, a change in your situation.

This is what we are called to do and become, to mature and grow for the benefit of others. Today, make the choice to expand your root system and leave your comfort zone.
Be blessed!

Pastor Daryle Houston II