The Seed

In the book of Isaiah, God tells the prophet Isaiah to foretell the ruin and destruction of His people. God's people had a habit (and still do) of rejecting Him after He supplied goodness to them. They forgot His ways and began following their own. Because of this rejection of Him, He would withdraw His hand from them in order to get their attention so they would once again return to Him. That's what's going on here in Ch. 6. Isaiah is to tell the people of God of the coming destruction and desolation upon them. What grabbed my attention in this chapter is that at the end of the "doom to come" message Isaiah gives them, he adds that in the midst of the destruction, in the middle of the desolation (and it's going to be dark), there shall be a holy seed. Whew! I wanted to come out of my seat!

You see, in the midst of every circumstance in our lives, if we are born again Christians, there is a holy seed. This particular scripture is stating that there will still be a people of God even once this destruction comes upon them. A group of people regardless of the desolation who will continue to be dedicated and set apart to God. You see, in the midst of God's people is God Himself. He's the beginning seed. Am I being clear with this? No matter how dark it is, there is a HOLY SEED. It doesn't matter how ugly your situation, there is a HOLY SEED. When you think you can't go on any longer, there is a HOLY SEED. The ultimate seed is Jesus. He's right dab in the middle of where you are NO MATTER WHAT!!!

Let me take this even further. Within you is Jesus Christ, the Holy Seed. Also within you are gifts, callings and abilities that God has placed in you for His glory. Before God formed Jeremiah (I switched prophets on you), He ordained Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations (Jer. 1:5). There was a prophet seed within Jeremiah to be used for the glory of God. Within you, my dear friend, is an ordained seed as well. Within you are many seeds ready to be birthed into full bloom in your life! A seed to do what? Whatever God has gifted within you; teaching, preaching, administration, giving, intercession, helping, encouraging, empowering, singing, playing the oboe, etc, etc. You have gifts. You have an ordained calling.

Okay! I have so much more about the seed to share with you. I hate to continue typing in fear that you will become overwhelmed and delete me! So, I encourage you to take your time reading this. If you have to come back, then do so, just don't let me lose you now.

Psalm 139 states that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. That means our gifts, talents and abilities are as well. We all have dreams, visions and purposes in God or at least we should. Unfortunately, because of life circumstances, what we've been told all our lives or because of our self-image, we allow these gifts, purposes and dreams to lie dormant within us. We don't allow the seed within us to become nurtured. It lies dormant and produces nothing. If it isn't nourished, it doesn't grow. An apple seed must be planted and nourished in order to grow. But when it does grow it produces many more apples. One apple seed can produce in its lifetime more apples than one person is able to count. That's a lot of apples!!

What does a seed do? Well, a seed brings forth life. There is power within the seed to bring forth something new. Seeds release and stimulate growth and development. The apple seed is not known to produce life until that seed grows and sprouts forth a tree, branches and ultimately bears fruit. What does the fruit do? It sustains life. As the apple tree begins to grow, it must sustain both good and bad weather; rain, snow, scorching heat and other environmental conditions. The roots of the tree have to be strong or the tree will not survive. Friends, we have much weather to bear in our lives, but if we allow those conditions to make us strong, we will eventually bear fruit. Our seed will spring forth into new life.

Let me give you another truth. The seed is independent of its environment. You weren't given a gift or calling because your daddy is rich or because your mother is from the royal family! You weren't given your specific purpose because you have friends or because you do everything right or anything right. Are you following me? Your gift is yours regardless of how many times you've been on the altar asking for forgiveness. No matter what you've done, you've been given a purpose and it will lie dormant within you until you allow it to grow.

One more truth. No seed is a weed. If you see your gift as "less important" than someone else's seed, your purpose will never spring forth. If another person sees your seed or gift as a weed and wants to pluck you out of the garden, then rest assured that God will replant you right where He wants you. For instance, last summer I had a huge weed growing in my landscape. When my mother saw the thing, she asked if she could dig it up and take it home with her. She wanted that weed for her garden so it could continue to grow into what the creator created it to be. She saw the value of a plant that I saw as a weed. When you are what the Creator, or God, created you to be, then you will find your greatest fulfillment!!!

I pray you have been blessed with the truth of these words. God has purpose for you. Don't allow the enemy to continue to keep dormant within you what God wants to use for His glory. Allow yourself to be fulfilled as you use the gifts God has given to you.

Dream On

I want to empower you today with just a few words of encouragement. For those of you who attend Strong Tower this is only a continuation of the Pastor's message titled I Have a Dream. Dreaming is a favorite pasttime of mine. I love to dream and I love to see thoughts spoken turn into action which allows dreams to come true. For those of you who are Team Leaders and volunteers at STM, I am honored to serve with you knowing that I will be around to see a measure your dreams come to pass.

I attended a Kids' Church conference about 5 years ago in Atlanta, GA. There was a speaker there by the name of Steve Siemens. He told a story of a man, whose name escapes me, who prayed for the power of God. He said this man prayed fervently and persistently. One day when the man became frustrated with God he asked God why God had not given him the power he had been praying for. He said God quietly whispered in his ear, "with plans no bigger than yours, you don't need my power."

Sir Francis Drake is quoted as saying these words, "Disturb us Lord when we are too well pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little. When we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us Lord."

Folks, God's vision and dream for your life is bigger and better than you've ever hoped for. Pastor said once (back in early 2007) that God instills the dream within us and we allow Him to use us for its fulfillment. When your dreams live, you make the Kingdom of God better. Allow God to give you a dream. Allow Him to use you for its fulfillment. If the dream's too big for you then it's the perfect size for God! He gets the glory and others are drawn to Him.

God has created each one of you with a dream, a vision. Regardless of your life's circumstances, where you've been or not been or what you've done or not done, God has a dream for you. It's bigger than you and only He can make it come to pass. God loves you, He created you for greatness and whether you believe these words or not, they are true. Don't let your past or present hold tomorrow's dreams hostage. Be a dreamer!

Have a great day my friends. Dream on!!!