Let Go of the Seed: Planting Season is Here

Let Go Of The Seed

Have you ever felt that God placed a call on your life? When I say a call, I mean a specific task or duty that you just can't seem to shake. Often times God calls His children to go out and spread the kingdom message to the world through the gifts that He has placed within us. Usually, when we as believers hear the phrase call of God, our minds immediately drift to preaching in the pulpit. And for some us, that very well may be true. God's kingdom needs evangelists, apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers to expand the kingdom and equip the body of Christ. But God's kingdom does not consist of just pastors and teachers. The kingdom of Heaven needs writers, singers, artists, teachers, and business people as well. The truth is that the body consists of many members each performing their God-ordained tasks to expand Heaven's kingdom on Earth.

Scattering Your Seed

To each of us was given a God placed call on our lives for His kingdom purposes. Think of the call of God as a seed placed in your care. To everyone in the kingdom, God has given a seed tailored made for your unique abilities! I find it so amazing that the God of the universe has decided to partner up with His children to spread the kingdom of Heaven! In order for that seed to be successful and grow, it requires our obedience to our Heavenly Father's directions. You must sow the seed that has been entrusted in your care, and God will take care of the rest. Jesus said in Mark 4:26-29 "And He said, The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know-how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

To those that obey the call of God and plant the seed, there will come many blessings and rewards. God will prosper and multiply HIS SEED, in your life, not yours. This is where the hard part comes into play. There were many, many times in my life where I wanted God to bless and multiply MY SEED. I would ask God to bless MY dreams, My plans, My wants, and MY desires. To be honest with you those dreams I harbored had nothing to do with the kingdom of God. My plans were exactly that; MY plans for building the life I wanted. You know what happens when you ask God to bless the work of your hands with YOUR SEED? Nothing but silence, you don't get heaven's results, you get your own. There were times that I could claim success, but it came with heartbreak and sorrow. I was responsible for tending and caring for the seed that I planted. It was like when God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden. They no longer had God's blessing on their seed in the ground, instead, they had to toil and labor for meager fruit. For the ground would no longer give them its strength.

What happens to the believer that lives their entire life never planting the seed that was entrusted to them? Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:24-28

"Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours. But his lord answered and said to him, You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming, I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

You Reap What You Sow 

Jesus makes it very clear what happens to unprofitable servants in the kingdom of Heaven. the seed that entrusted to the lazy servant by the Master was given to the good servant instead. So it will be with us, to those of us that will sow the Master's seed. God will bless the work of our hands and entrust to us even more seed to grow. You find this principle in farming. At harvest time the farmer keeps back some of the harvests to use for future plantings. Ultimately the choice is ours, we can sow and be profitable or hold on to the seed and have it taken away! 

After a very tough Wilderness (outer darkness) season, I finally yielded my life to God's plans and purposes. God renewed His call and placed a seed in my hands. If you are a gardener, you know that there is no such thing as an instant harvest. In Genesis God told Noah that " While the earth remains seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter, and summer, and day and night shall not cease. ( Genesis 8:22) Once you plant your seed there will be a period of time before you see the results. Do not look at other people during this time and start comparing harvests and seeds. Everything takes place in cycles in farming, planting season, rainy season, and finally harvest season. Now that you have the seed you must plant it before the Lord sends the rains to water His seed in the earth. So let go of the seed in your hand and watch for the harvest that the Lord will bring in!

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Helping Others While Waiting on Boaz

The Rabbit Hole

Full disclosure last night was a very bad night for me. Nothing happened to me in a physical sense, like I got sick or stubbed my toe on the corner of the bed. But mentally I entertained some thoughts that I shouldn't have. Those thoughts sent me into a dark spiral that I didn't leave until very early the next morning. It started with something seemingly innocuous, I saw an Instagram post advertising for treats that you can get your sweetheart for Valentine's Day. As I stared at the pictures of those heart-shaped boxes a sense of dread washed over me.

Red Valentine Heart

I hate Valentine's Day with a passion. My hatred runs the gamut from the pettiest of reasons (I'm not dating anyone right now) to the horrible flashback of my ex-husband telling me that he no longer wanted to be married, as I was getting dressed for a Valentine's Day couple dinner at church. Thus the trip down the rabbit hole of despair began of one depressing thought after another. Will I ever find love again? Will I get married? How can I tell others that God has someone for them and I doubt it myself? Why does my ex have so much success dating and I can't? That last question was probably the pettiest of them all, to be honest.

A funny thing happens when your mind starts to focus on the negatives around you. Everything starts to turn negative. Yesterday was an endless series of why am I the only one cleaning up around here, washing dishes, cooking, etc. After hours of ruminating over these thoughts by the time evening arrived, I was done. I took solace in my bed, cried watched Hulu, cried some more and asked God to help me if He was even bothering listening to me at all. I have to say, my heavenly Father knows how to handle me and my swirling torpedo of emotions. I woke up around 4 am and that is when I heard His voice. Now, this isn't an audible voice from the heavens but rather a gentle imprint in my spirit where He gives me instruction. God gently let me know that my battle began when my thoughts started to focus on ME and what I don't have right now. God did give me a prophecy to the church that kingdom marriages are coming and I was included in that prophecy. What I need to do now is not focus on myself, but rather focus on Him and the work He has given me to do.

Seek First The Kingdom

The kingdom of Heaven runs on acts of love, helping others, and selflessness. God assured me that if I keep my eyes on Him and serve the people that are in my sphere of influence then the promise of marriage will come sooner than I think. Jesus said that if we seek first the KINGDOM OF GOD and His RIGHTEOUSNESS then all these THINGS WILL BE ADDED unto you Matthew 6:33. As understanding began to dawn on me and calmness wrapped around my soul, things began to make more sense.

Small Bible class

I know you are probably asking at this point what does helping others in the kingdom, have to do with feeling lonely? Well, glad you asked, the reason God told me to focus on serving His people is that it blunts the attack of Satan. One of Satan's most effective tools is selfishness and comparing our selves to others. When I started looking at what other people were doing (dating, getting married, etc..) I started questioning why I didn't have that. Mind you before the dreaded thoughts of Valentine's Day came to mind, I was perfectly fine and happy. I was thinking of the projects God had given me to do and was feeling really fulfilled. Of course, Satan can't have us happy and fulfilled doing our kingdom duties, so he did what he is really good at. Make you question God's integrity. Has God really said that you will get married one day? If God wants you to get married, why won't He let you date like everyone else? If you could date like everyone else then you wouldn't be lonely anymore. I fell for the classic Has God really said play. I started questioning God's goodness, His promises and God's character in general. Once I stepped into that territory I began to sink and opened myself up to the attacks of Satan.

Humble Yourself

Keeping myself busy with the work of the kingdom gives me such a sense of fulfillment that there is no room for a sense of loss. What God was relaying to me, is that one of the keys to promotion is serving in the kingdom of God. When we make it our priority to humble ourselves and advance the kingdom of God, then God makes it His priority to reward those seeking to do His will. 1 Peter 5:6 says "Humble yourselves, therefore under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." When I use the word promotion that stands for God's fulfilled promise for you. When we obey God's word and serve in His kingdom, God will be sure to have all things (marriage, job, peace, joy, provision) added to us.

Groom putting on shoes on bride's feet.

Just like Jesus did not come to be served but to serve, I must follow the same example. If I just focus on what I want God to do for me I will miss out on His greater purpose. In helping others, I am humbling myself, practicing submission to a future husband and preparing for the ministry that we will do together. Remember the goal of the upcoming kingdom marriages is to serve the church and help to equip the body for the end times.

God rewards and exalts those that choose to humble themselves. Recall what Paul said in  Philippians:3-4 NIV "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." As long as I humble myself and focus on the assignment God has given me to do in the kingdom, God will be sure to honor me in due time. This Valentine's Day I will get my toes done and I won't wait until the next day to get Valentine's Day chocolate. I will treat myself by paying full price for a fancy box of chocolate and get myself flowers because I deserve it. On second thought I'll just get the flowers and wait to get the chocolate at 50% off later.

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HOW TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The Invisible Kingdom

The Kingdom of Heaven is God's invisible dominion in the spirit realm, that makes itself visible through the children of God on Earth. Because God's children were born and raised in the cultures and mannerisms of Earth, sometimes those habits and patterns bleed into the domain of the Heavenly kingdom. When Jesus walked the Earth, his disciples asked him what is actually an age-old question. "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven"? It is quite natural for us to want to be the top of the class, or to be successful in life. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be great or to seek to do all things well. The problem comes about when we as believers bring the kingdom of the world ways of operating into the kingdom of heaven. 

Castle in the sky

Jesus did not rebuke the disciples for asking the question. What He did instead was to explain how promotion works in God's dominion. Matthew 18:1-5 states " At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said. Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.

Childlike Faith

When I became a parent I sometimes marveled at just how much my children trust what I say. A newborn child is at the complete mercy of the parents' care. As a child grows the parents are the child's primary source of information on how the world works. If I were to tell my children that talking to strangers is bad then they believe me. If I were to say that vegetables are good for you even if they taste bad, then my children believe that too. A child is born with an implicit trust in the honesty of their parent's words. That trust in the parent's word is called faith, and when the child acts on the parent's words it is called obedience.

Perils of Disobeying Your Parent

Recently while dressing my four-year-old child, she objected to the idea of moisturizing her skin. As the parent, I know that in the winter the air is cold and dry, which can result in dry and cracked skin. My little girl objected to this daily ritual and stated that she was no longer going to listen to my ideas. My four year old went on to explain that she thinks that her ideas are best and I can't trick her anymore into doing my ideas. Now considering that I was in the middle of writing this article I was dumbfounded by the idea that a 4-year-old child would declare that she knows more than me.  I was also struck that she felt if she followed my advice that I was tricking her out of having a better outcome in life.

Now how often have we as believers rejected the Father's counsel opting to do things our way instead! Just like a human baby, when we are born again we are new creatures in Christ. We have to be fed the pure milk of the word, and we grow and eventually switch to solid foods growing and maturing in the Lord. A new believer is born into the Kingdom of Heaven and has God Himself as their parent! Jesus before leaving for heaven declared that He would not leave us orphans but would give us another Helper.
John 14:15-18 If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him for He dwells with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
The Holy Spirit is the best parent that anyone can ask for. In everything He will lead, guide, comfort, teach and point us to Christ Jesus.

Instead of operating according to the principles of God's kingdom, we often fall for the same trap that Adam did in the Garden of Eden. We listen to Satan's deception " Has God indeed said?" (Genesis 3:1).

The outcome of following our own counsel instead of following the directives of our Heavenly parent is ALWAYS disastrous! This line of thinking that a created human (which is lower than the angels), has more wisdom than the Most High God is rebellion. Just like any good parent will not tolerate rebellion in a child residing in their house. So our Heavenly Father will not tolerate rebellion in His own children. 
The Discipline of God

Hebrews 12:5-11 states
"And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord LOVES He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons, Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for OUR profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."- NKJV
Just like we discipline our children so that things will go well for them, so our Heavenly Father disciplines us.
Who Then is the Greatest?

The greatest in the kingdom of Heaven comes down to the one that humbles himself as a little child (Matthew 18:4). The humble child is the one that listens to their Father and obeys His commands. The truths of the kingdom of Heaven are often simple yet profound at the same time. As the old song says "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

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