SUNDAY, APRIL 5
Scripture: Luke 8:11-15

Kat-ekh-o is also used in a very positive sense. Now, the parable of the seed and the sower highlights the issue of whether we take out the stones, deal with issues that choke the seed and do what is necessary to make our soil good. Kat-ekh-o is used to describe that process. Verse 15 says, “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it/kat-ekh-o and bear fruit with patience.” In verse 15, kat-ekh-o is the refusing to let go, the detaining of all that is good. It is the keeping of all that is good, locking it up and refusing to let it go that causes a great, great harvest. So kat-ekh-o is not just used for praying judgment and restraining evil. It is also used for the motivation of heart that says, ‘I refuse to let this go – this is something good and I am going to keep it.’ Flipping that over to the opposite side is, this is evil and I choose to restrain it. Just like we choose to restrain evil we can choose to hold fast to that which is good. And kat-ekh-o is used for both processes. It is for both refusing to let go of the good and refusing to allow the enemy to steal. Kat-ekh-o is a description of a noble and a good heart and a description of one who obeys the Holy Spirit and prays judicially on those who are trying to steal, kill and destroy!