May 22 Make me a seed

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

I love this picture!

Once again, an illustration that the people of the day would have understood intuitively.  I am not a farmer, but I have planted a few things.

When I put a kernel of corn in the ground, it produced a cornstalk with two ears and many rows of corn kernels on each ear.  Had I dug under the stalk to find the original seed kernel, it would not be found.  It grew into the new plant.  How it looked when it was put into the ground, changed as it gave its energy to the new growth.

Same thing when I planted peas and sunflowers.  I took a recognizable seed, the part we eat, and it was transformed into a new plant.  The pea, into a vine with many pods of several peas each.  The sunflower seed, into a giant sunflower with a disk of hundreds of seeds.

So, I believe, it will be with me.

Lord, make me a seed that produces a hundred-fold harvest of new seeds.  Take my words and my actions and let them reproduce, inspire, encourage and enlighten people.  Let them draw unbelievers to You.  And let believers be strengthened.

I can be the seed, Lord.  But only You can choose the type of soil, provide the rain, the sunshine, the nutrients that are needed to bring the harvest.

May the harvest You bring forth from my seed, bring glory to You and to Your name.  Amen

John 12:24

May 22 Make me a seed

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

I love this picture!

Once again, an illustration that the people of the day would have understood intuitively.  I am not a farmer, but I have planted a few things.

When I put a kernel of corn in the ground, it produced a cornstalk with two ears and  many rows of corn kernels on each ear.  Had I dug under the stalk to find the original seed kernel, it would not be found.  It grew into the new plant.  How it looked when it was put into the ground, changed as it gave its energy to the new growth.

Same thing when I planted peas and sunflowers.  I took a recognizable seed, the part we eat, and it was transformed into a new plant.  The pea, into a vine with many pods of several peas each.  The sunflower seed, into a giant sunflower with a disk of hundreds of seeds.

So, I believe, it will be with me.  Lord, make me a seed that produces a hundred-fold harvest of new seeds.  Take my words and my actions and let them reproduce, inspire, encourage and enlighten people.  Let them draw unbelievers to You.  And let believers be strengthened.

I can be the seed, Lord.  But only You can choose the type of soil, provide the rain, the sunshine, the nutrients that are needed to bring the harvest.  May the harvest You bring forth from my seed, bring glory to You and to Your name.  Amen

John 12:24

May 22 Make me a seed

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

I love this picture!

Once again, an illustration that the people of the day would have understood intuitively.  I am not a farmer, but I have planted a few things.

When I put a kernel of corn in the ground, it produced a cornstalk with two ears with many rows of corn kernels on each ear.  Had I dug under the stalk to find the original seed kernel, it would not be found.  It grew into the new plant.  How it looked when it was put into the ground, changed as it gave it’s energy to the new plant.

Same thing when I planted peas and sunflowers.  I took a recognizable seed, the part we eat, and it was transformed into a new plant.  The pea, into a vine with many pods of several peas each.  The sunflower seed, into a giant sunflower with a disk of hundreds of seeds.

So, I believe, it will be with me.  Lord, make me a seed that produces a hundred-fold harvest of new seeds.  Take my words and my actions and let them reproduce, inspire, encourage and enlighten people.  Let them draw unbelievers to You.  And let believers be strengthened.

I can be the seed, Lord.  But only You can choose the type of soil, provide the rain, the sunshine, the nutrients that are needed to bring the harvest.  May the harvest You bring forth from my seed, bring glory to You and to Your name.  Amen

John 12:24

Apr 2 Lord of the Harvest

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”

Lord, I didn’t grow up on a farm like my father did, so many scriptural references to farming culture require research for my understanding.  I do understand that a crop is planted and cared for, grows, and when it reaches maturity is harvested in some fashion to gain the benefit of consuming it.

A pastor pointed out in a lesson, that as wheat grows, the topmost part of the stalk called the head, is where the grain is that constitutes the consumable portion of the plant.  As the individual kernels of wheat mature and ripen, they grow larger and heavier.  When the head of the stalk is heavy and bowed down, it is ready for harvest.

So also, he said, it can be observed with people…

The analogy here is that You Lord, are the farmer, the Lord of the harvest.  You plant and care for people in that You have ordained when each one of us will be born, and where and to whom.

People grow and mature also.  You “harvest” us when we are ready to accept the truth that You are the One True God; and believe that Your Son Jesus died on the cross for our sin as the only way to be reconciled to You, and confess with our mouth that we accept that reconciliation and will serve You as our Lord.  When we are reconciled to You, we can help with the harvest, bringing others to know You.

As I can now share the truth with others, there are many ways of reaching people with Your message of good news.  One thing I can look for, to see if people are ready to hear, is the same as with the wheat: when their heads are heavy and bowed down!

For many people, they must come to the end of themselves and their efforts before they are ready to accept You into their lives.   One way to recognize this, is that they will often look tired, worn out or discouraged.  It may be that all I have to do is ask how they are, or what is wrong, or if there is anything I can pray for them about, to do my part in the “harvesting.”

Father, help me be mindful of people who are ready to hear about You and how much You love them and want a personal relationship with them.  Give me the time to listen, and the words to say that will help me be an effective worker in the harvest.  Amen

Luke 10:1-4

Jan 19 Make my life a stage

Dear Lord, I want to be just like Joseph.

Only without all the hardship.

I don’t want to lose my freedom and be sold into slavery. And I definitely don’t want to be imprisoned. I don’t want a family that is jealous of me and treats me with murderous hate.

But in two very significant ways, I do want to be just like him.

First, that You were with Joseph, and second, that others saw that You were.

Genesis says “the Lord was with Joseph…and his master saw that the Lord was with him.” Your presence in Joseph’s life must be what enabled him to endure such hardships as enslavement and imprisonment.

And it was not only an internal sense that Joseph had personally, but it was evident to others around him that that Your blessing was on him, and that You were at work in and touching his life

I already know that You are with me always, because I have the Holy Spirit living in me; given as a seal of my salvation. There has been a merging: You are in me and I am in You through Jesus Christ. But I also know that I can feel far from You when I am walking in disobedience or sin.

Help me see through whatever lie, deception or distraction might cause me to miss where a temptation would lead, so I can turn away from it before I am enticed into sin.

Show me the way of escape so I can avoid the sin trap. That way I can be fully in Your presence and will be able to bear up under whatever the circumstances are, like Joseph did.

And Lord, like Joseph, I desire that my life would be a stage upon which You act out Your purpose and Your will, so others will see You. Jesus told a parable about seed that fell on different kinds of soil. I want to be the good soil that produces a crop yielding thirty or sixty or a hundred times what was sown. That way people will see what is produced and give You glory.

I may never have a prophetic dream, or give the interpretation of one, or save my entire family from famine like Joseph did.

But I ask that whatever You have planted in me, You would bring to fruition so others would see You, through me. I ask in Your name. Amen

Genesis 39:1-23; Matthew 13:1-23; I Corinthians 10:13

Dec 20 Stir up Your Spirit in me

Father, I wonder if I have been like the people Haggai is speaking to?

I believe You placed in me a desire to be part of something bigger than myself, something monumental, that will glorify and honor You.  But it is something I will never be able to do on my own.

You spoke to these people, telling them “You have planted much, but harvested little.  You eat, but never have enough.  You drink, but never have your fill.”  I get the message.  Although effort is being made, until You are “in” it, only little will be accomplished.

It reminds me of an old song where the refrain goes “little is much when God is in it.”

You made little of what these people did because their hearts were wrong.  But here comes the hope!  They listened to Your Word, and obeyed!  

“I am with you declares the Lord.  So the Lord stirred up the spirit” of the people so they would accomplish much!

O Father, stir up Your Spirit in me!  Let me be empowered with Your blessing!

You told the people “the silver is mine and the gold is mine.”  I understand the tools and gifts and talents I will be using are Yours.  But what You can accomplish is incredible, indescribable, uncontainable!  Far beyond anything I can do alone.

You told them “From this day on I will bless you.”  Father, let me live in Your blessing.  If I have been consumed with building my own house while disregarding Yours, then change my heart and my focus.

Show me through Your Spirit stirred up in me, what to do.  Father, use me like Zerubbabel or Joshua or one of the remnant.  Help me not to fear, but to “Be strong…and work.  For You are with me.”   Amen

Haggai 1:1-2:9

Aug 24 Raised Indestructible

“Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow he does not endure.”

“Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of years is as nothing before You. Each man’s life is but a breath.”

Lord, today is the anniversary of my grandmother’s death. Family funerals seem to abound, with my own father’s passing still fresh in my memory. A dear friend and mentor who battled cancer three times is now with You as well. And today I received my own personal “wake up call” diagnosis.

All around me is the evidence of how fragile life is. How fleeting it seems. How quickly it passes. I say all the time that the days sometimes drag on, but the years fly by.   Father, You know I thought the days of changing diapers and wiping faces would never end. Now in their thirties, I wonder how my children got to be so grown; how I got to be so old.

“But now Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in You.”  

I have confidence You are in control. And because of Your power and authority and sovereignty, no one, not any power or circumstance, can take away even a single minute of life that has been ordained by You. “Man’s days are determined; You have decreed the number of his months and have set the limits he cannot exceed.”

Father, I know there are many things I cannot grasp while here on earth. But I love the picture You give of how I will be raised.

When I plant a seed in the ground, it does not look like what will come up. A tomato seed does not look like a tomato or the plant it grows on. Neither does a pumpkin seed, or a carrot seed, or an apple seed, or a peach pit. So my earthly body is like the seed. And my heavenly body is like the plant that springs from it.

My earthly body is fragile, but I will be raised with You indestructible!   I live in weakness and with embarrassment, but I will return with You in power and with glory!

Because I look to You for my eternal future, there is no fear, because Yours is the victory! “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?”   Thanks be to You! You have given me victory through my Lord Jesus Christ!” Amen

Job 14:1-5; I Corinthians 15:29-58; Psalm 39:1-7

May 22 Make me a seed

 

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

I love this picture! Once again, an illustration that the people of the day would have understood intuitively. I am not a farmer, but I have planted a few things. When I put a kernel of corn in the ground, it produced a cornstalk with two ears with many rows of corn kernels on each ear. Had I dug under the stalk to find the original seed kernel, it would not be found. It grew into the new plant. How it looked when it was put into the ground, changed as it gave it’s energy to the new plant.

Same thing when I planted peas and sunflowers. I took a recognizable seed, the part we eat, and it was transformed into a new plant. The pea, into a vine with many pods of several peas each. The sunflower seed, into a giant sunflower with a disk of hundreds of seeds.

So, I believe, it will be with me. Lord, make me a seed that produces a hundred-fold harvest of new seeds. Take my words and my actions and let them reproduce, inspire, encourage and enlighten people. Let them draw unbelievers to You. And let believers be strengthened.

I can be the seed, Lord. But only You can choose the type of soil, provide the rain, the sunshine, the nutrients that are needed to bring the harvest. May the harvest You bring forth from my seed, bring glory to You and to Your name. Amen

John 12:24