Tag Archives: bloom where planted

Purposefully Planted

I grew up having watermelon seed spitting contests with my friends. These days you have to look hard to find a watermelon with seeds in it. There’s a lot of seedless fruit these days in the produce section. While it’s convenient to eat, I can’t help but think about we’ve learned to circumvent God’s process for growth and reproduction. Seedless fruits are created through processes where fertilization occurs, but the seeds to reproduce the fruit don’t mature. It produces fruit that’s easy to consume, but lacks generational continuance.

I love the story of the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus asked her for a drink to open the conversation and then let her know that He had living water to satisfy her spiritual thirst. Verses 28-30 say, “Then the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and began telling the people, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done! Can this be the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)?” So the people left the city and were coming to Him” (AMP). Once she experienced salvation, she ran into the city spreading seeds about Jesus. The people came out to the well and believed in Jesus as well.

In John 15:16 Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting.” You have been planted right where you are to plant seeds and bear fruit that remains. God isn’t looking for superficial results from your life where it’s busy with activity but doesn’t plant seeds in others. When we fail to share our faith, we’re just like a seedless watermelon. He’s purposefully planted you so you can multiply the kingdom the way the woman at the well did.

Photo by shri on Unsplash

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The Blessings Of The Righteous

If you ever travel to the Middle East, one of the things you will see lots of are Palm Date trees. It grows very well in desert conditions as well as just about any climate. They refer to it as the tree of life. Without these trees, it would be difficult to sustain life in such harsh conditions. These trees provide shade on a blistering, hot day. The trunk and even the leaves are used as building materials. It’s not uncommon to see the leaves placed in roads where cars drive over them to break them down so they can be used to build with. The fruit stalks are used to make rope and of course, the dates are delicious with many health benefits. Palm trees thrive and help to sustain life wherever they’re planted.

Abraham is one of the great heroes of faith. He trusted what God said and acted on it. When God asked him to leave his family to go to place he’d never been, he packed up and left. When God told him that he would have descendants as many as the stars, he trusted God at His word. When God asked him to sacrifice his only son, the only way to fulfill His promise, he bound his son and took out his knife. Because he believed God, Genesis 15:6 tells us he was counted as righteous. Not only are we counted as righteous when we believe, we are now given a robe of righteousness when we believe in Jesus. That means you and I are entitled to the benefits of the righteous.

Psalm 92:12 says, “The righteous will flourish like the date palm [long-lived, upright and useful]; They will grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic and stable]” (AMP). Wherever God has you planted right now, you have the ability to flourish, be useful and bring life. It doesn’t matter how old you are, what season of life you’re in or who is around you. God will bless you so that you can withstand the conditions and produce fruit. We can’t look at where God has us and use that as an excuse for not bearing fruit or being useful because He has given you the blessings of the righteous that produce fruit in all seasons. Don’t complain to God about how difficult it is. Instead, ask Him to use you to bring life wherever you go and to use every facet of your life to be a blessing to others.

Photo by Hosni Hannoun:

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