Week
Three
Plant
It
A
misconception that most of us develop is that in order for us to be
happy, we need our needs met. This is just plain wrong. We are made
in the image of God. Do you know what God gets a kick out of?
Blessing His creation! Yes, we do derive some joy and happiness from
receiving, but to be really satisfied, we need to be a blessing.
Think
about the last time you did something that really helped someone or
even something. Maybe you participated in a fundraiser for something
you really believed in, or sat with a sick friend or even rescued a
kitten. How did that make you feel? Share some of those experiences
with your prayer partner(s).
One
of the most important concepts we all need to understand is the law
of sowing and reaping. Those of you who have never gardened or farmed
might not be familiar with these terms. To sow means to plant and to
reap means to harvest. God has set up this spiritual law with a
natural example. It is found in
Galatians
6:7 Do
not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap.
I'm
a gardener. I started out with a little 4 x 8 sand box that I decided
to make into a garden one year when the cats had used it for a litter
box and the kids were no longer using it much. My life was pretty
much like this sandbox, full of icky stuff and not much use to
anyone. I decided to mix a little dirt into this sandbox and see if I
could grow a little food. It was amazing how much food came out of
that little garden. I was addicted! I didn't do it perfectly at
first, but God blessed my efforts in spite of me and I learned. Soon,
my whole back yard was a garden. Then my husband started helping. Now
we produce so much that we spend our summers going to farmer's
markets and providing food for others. We are still learning and
trying new things. Sometimes things flop, but for the most part, we
see growth and a better harvest every year.
At
the same time I was learning about the spiritual law of sowing and
reaping. It made sense to me, so I decided to try it. The results
have been amazing! My husband was sitting back watching and he is now
sowing his own spiritual seeds! Through the years, I've been able to
share this concept with many others and let me tell you, the
satisfaction you get from being a blessing and then watching others
succeed at being a blessing is immense!
If
I go out to my garden and sow a pack of pea seeds, when the plants
mature, I will reap peas, not corn. If I don't prepare the ground
properly and just throw the pea seeds out there without really
planting them, they are likely to be eaten by birds or mice and I'll
wind up with a patch of weeds.
In
the same way, if I sow time or provisions or kindness or any variety
of things into any of God's creation, I will reap those things in the
future. The really great thing about it is that whatever you plant
will be most likely be multiplied! There are some things that can
steal your harvest, but we'll discuss that as we go along.
Over
the last two weeks, you have been sowing the Word into your spirit
and nutrition and exercise into your body. Your spirit needs to be
constantly fed the Word of God to keep it healthy just like your body
needs to be fed good things. Keep doing these things!
This
week we are going to start sowing blessings outside of ourselves and
into the earth. Sowing is a deliberate process that we need to be
doing on a constant basis to ensure a constant harvest in the future.
But sowing is just a part of the process in reaping a harvest.
When
I go to plant a garden, the first thing I do is decide what and where
I'm going to plant. I look at several things when considering this.
First, I choose what I want to plant based on what I need or want.
Then I ask myself: How much light does this plant need? What kind of
soil does it need? How much water will it need? Based on this
information I make decisions about where I'm going to plant.
What
are some of the things you need in your life? Hope? A kind word?
Help? A hug? Take 5 minutes and list those things here:
Think
about places where you could plant these things. Is there soup
kitchen you could help at? Could you adopt someone in a nursing home?
Those are big things … Could you write a little encouraging note to
a friend? Read a book to a child? Mow a neighbor's lawn? Pay a toll
for the stranger behind you?The possibilities are endless! Take a few
minutes to brainstorm possible ideas here:
One
of the things I find myself most in need of is time. Over the years,
I've invested quite a few volunteer hours in the church cleaning,
teaching Sunday school and organizing events. Occasionally, when I've
had super busy seasons, God has slowed down time for me so I can get
more done. I have no idea how He does it, but the days will seem like
they go on forever and I get twice as much done as I normally would.
After
I decide what and where I'm going to plant, I need to prepare the
soil. I dig it up, take out any plants or weeds that are already
there and put some fertilizer on it. In the spirit we have to do
similar things.
At
one time, I felt very unlovable. I needed to be accepted and there
was a woman in our church that I really didn't like. I asked God how
I could love her. He told me to give her a hug every time I saw her.
At first, it wasn't pleasant hugging her. I really had to work to
make myself do it. But over time, I grew to love her and she became a
huge part of a breakthrough that I desperately needed.
I
came from a fairly affluent family, but the decisions I had made in
my life got me into a place where I felt that I was the family
charity case. I believed I was a burden and somehow not worth loving
because of this. God used several people to help me in this area, but
it all came to a head during a trip to a women's conference in St.
Louis. On the way home, there was a woman in the van that I hardly
knew. She knew nothing about my situation, but she saw a vision that
depicted my life perfectly and then started ministering to me about
how God accepts me just like I am and that I didn't need to be
ashamed.
At
the next church service we were asked to share what we had
experienced at the conference. As I was sharing about what had
happened on the way home this woman suddenly ran up to me, grabbed my
shirt and stuck some money in my bra. She declared, “Sue, God says
He wants Your cup to be full!” Suddenly, all the shame totally
broke off of me as my tears burst into laughter. From that moment on,
the curse of poverty was totally broken off my life.
I
had been planting seeds with my tithes and offerings for years and I
had reaped little miracles here and there, but the huge weed of shame
in my garden was shading out those seeds and stunting my harvest.
Your
life is your garden. When you first establish a garden, there are
other things growing there that you have to clear out. Some of them
may have good uses, like grass, but you don't want grass growing up
in your garden. Look at your life. Are there things there that you
really don't want? Maybe things other people have planted that don't
fit in your life? Weeds like unforgiveness, condemnation, shame and
rejection? The Bible emphasizes these particular weeds in Ephesians
4:31
“Let
all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away
from you, with all malice.”
They are incredibly nasty invasive weeds that will steal your
harvest. Make sure you deal especially with them and are vigilant
about these weeds if they try to creep back in.
Take
some time to identify the weeds and things that just don't fit in
your life.
Ask
God for help in removing them. You won't get them all right away and
even when you think you have them conquered, they will pop up again.
Just keep at it. I have found that it generally takes 2 to 3 years of
intensive weeding to establish a new garden bed in my garden, but it
gets easier after that. The same thing goes for removing weeds and
unwanted things from your heart.
Now
that you've made some decisions and prepared your soil, it's time to
go out and plant! Remember,
“He
who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows
bountifully will also reap bountifully.” That's found in I
Corinthians 9:6.
It may seem like you just don't have any seed to plant. Ask God for
seed. He loves you and will get you started! Plant whatever you can.
Ask God to multiply it and plant more next time. You will see it
grow!
The
hardest part is now done, but there's still a few more things needed
to get your harvest. The two most important things to do are watering
and weeding. In the spirit realm, Watering has to do with prayer.
Tell God how thankful you are for the crop He is giving you. Do this
on a regular basis. Weeding is just repenting of those sins that
creep in and keeping your eyes on Jesus! There are other things you
might have to do depending on the situation. God will show you as you
go along.
Then
comes harvest time! It's important to know what your harvest is going
to look like and for that you have to have God's wisdom.
You've
probably heard the old story about the preacher who lived in a town
that was about to be flooded. When he was told that he should
evacuate because the levy was going to break he refused to go saying,
“My God will deliver me!” The flood waters rolled in and he had
to get up into the second story of his house. A boat came by and
offered to take him to safety, but he refused saying “My God will
save me!” Later, he had to cut a hole in the roof of his house to
get above the flood waters. A helicopter came by and put down a rope,
but he refused to climb it, still believing God would rescue him.
When he got to Heaven, he asked God, “Why didn't you save me LORD?”
And the LORD answered, “Well I sent someone to warn you. Then I
sent a boat and a helicopter!”
That
preacher had probably been involved in saving and rescuing many
people. He had planted, but he didn't recognize his harvest when it
came.
Several
years ago my youngest son was 18 and needed more space than the
little room he inhabited in our house. During his teen years, he had
worked for his dad and helped us buy the little plot of land our
trailer sat on so he owned it along with us. As I was praying one
day, the LORD told me that by March of the next year we would have a
new house. I got so excited! I dreamed about a new house on our
property that would be big enough for us and the family that Jesse
dreamed of. Early the next year, my husband started looking at a
piece of land that had 7 ½ acres and a house. I was wondering how we
could possibly buy that property and build a new house when it
suddenly occurred to me that this place might be the new house God
was talking about. We closed on the place in March. We not only had a
new to us house but 7 ½ acres to boot!
Sometimes
our vision of a harvest isn't the same as God's. Pray for His wisdom
to recognize your harvest.
This
week's assignments:
Focus
on one weed. Find scriptures to personalize and memorize concerning
that weed. See how many you can memorize this week.
Plant
something in the spirit realm every day. Share what you did each day
with your prayer partner(s). Also discuss any harvests you receive
with them.
Continue
with your Bible reading, scripture meals and physical goals.
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