Tag Archives: seeds

February 12, 2024 · 5:38 AM

Stewarding The Seed

Seeds are fascinating to me. They can lie dormant for the longest time waiting for the right conditions in order to activate. The first thing they need is water. The water causes a seed to expand and release enzymes. Those enzymes cause the seed to ramp up metabolic energy and release food storage that’s built into it. Then a tap root breaks out of one end and starts heading down. On the other end a stem comes out heading upwards. Once it reaches the surface, two leaves form and photosynthesis begins. Depending on moisture and oxygen levels in the soil and sunlight, the seed takes on life and becomes what it was designed to be.

A seed was planted in Terah, Abraham’s father, to go to the land of Canaan. When his father died, he gather his sons and their families to head to Canaan. Genesis 11:31 says that while on their way, they stopped in Haran and settled there. In the next chapter, the word of the Lord co,es to Abraham and tells him to leave where his father stopped and continue the journey to Canaan. God then planted another seed in Abraham. He told him in the new land he would become the father of many nations and would bless him. The seeds in him began to sprout so he packed up everything and left his father. When he arrived, the Lord planted another seed in him telling him that He would give him all that land to his descendants.

In Isaiah 30:21, the Lord tells Israel that he will respond and guide us telling us which way we should go. Verse 23 says, “Then the Lord will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your livestock” (NLT). I know that God has already planted seeds in you. They may be lying dormant right now waiting for the watering of the Lord. It will come when the time is right. The seed will grow, send down roots and sending a shoot up. Though it’s been dormant for a while, it is not dead. God will bring it to pass. You may have to get into a place, like Abraham did, where it can grow. You may have to get in the right environment so it can thrive. Seek God on what you need to be doing in the meantime to steward that seed and prepare it for growth. God will bring about a harvest to every seed He’s planted in you.

Photo by imso gabriel on Unsplash

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April 27, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Breaking Spiritual Dormancy

I was helping my son prepare for a science test recently. His class was learning about seeds, germination, the parts of a flower and roots. I was going down the study guide asking him questions and he was doing pretty good. I then read a question that said, “What is dormant?” He replied word for word what the study guide said. It was, “Alive, but not growing.” I kept reading the other questions on the guide, but my mind kept going back to that definition. I asked him to define it again. I started thinking how so many of us live dormant Christian lives. We’re alive in Christ, but we’re not growing. Then I started to think about areas in my life that are dormant according to that definition. I believe God wants to wake us up from dormancy and begin the germination process in each of us where our roots grow.

I researched how to wake a seed up from dormancy. I found that the process is called breaking dormancy. I believe it’s pretty similar to how we break out of spiritual dormancy too. The first thing you have to do is soak the seed in water. The water has to penetrate the seed coat that is keeping the seed dormant. For you and I that means we need to saturate ourselves in the water of God’s Word. We have to let it penetrate into every area of our lives removing the things that so easily beset us. We can’t just read the Bible for content. We have to read it to connect with a God, to hear what He has to say and to declare it over the dormant parts of our lives. God is faithful to complete the work He began in you (Philippians 1:6).

In order to break dormancy, a seed also needs oxygen. I can’t help but think of Adam, having been fully formed laying on the ground. He had everything he needed to sustain life, but was laying there. It was then that God breathed the breath of life in him and man came alive. I believe God wants to breathe His breath of life into the parts of our lives that are dormant and bring them to life. Like Ezekiel had to prophesy to the valley of dry bones for breath to come in them, you may need to speak to those dormant areas of your life and speak life back into them. Once we do that, the germination process can begin and the primary root will come out and begin the growth process. Colossians 2:7 says, “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness” (NLT). Growth is around the corner. You can break out of spiritual dormancy.

Photo by おにぎり on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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September 7, 2016 · 5:00 AM

A Potential Harvest


A year ago, I bought several bags of seeds so I could teach my son the importance of sowing and reaping. Our garden is small and I could only plant a portion of the seeds. From the ones we planted, we got cucumbers, jalapeños, tomatoes, and a watermelon. From the ones we didn’t plant, we didn’t get anything. In fact, they’re still in their bag and haven’t produced anything. The potential is there to grow, but until they’re taken out of the bag, planted, and watered, they will only be seeds with great potential.

You and I are like those bags of seeds. As long as the seeds are in us, they only have the potential to do great things. Jesus called you and I to be sowers. We are to broadcast the seeds that are in us. They will never grow unless we disperse them and water them. We weren’t meant to just have potential. We were created to meet it and even exceed it. God can’t bless a seed that hasn’t been sown, and He can’t force us to plant. If we are willing to, He’s promised to bless it.

In Haggai 2:18-19, God said, “I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you” (NLT). God wants you to know that before you ever sow one seed, He has already blessed it. Before there is a harvest, God guarantees a blessing if we will simply do the work of a sower. He has placed potential in each one of us, but we have to be willing to let go.

People often ask me how much they should give and what they should tithe on. I offer the same response in the form of a question every time: How much do you want God to bless you? If you only want a little blessing, then give only a little. If you want a big blessing, then give a lot. “Little” and “big” are relative to each person. The widow gave two mites, but Jesus said she gave more than anyone else. God blessed the seeds she planted and we recognize her gift over 2,000 years later.

What seeds are laying dormant with potential in you? Where do you need to plant them? How much do you want God to bless you?

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April 11, 2013 · 8:47 AM

Pray Like Rain

Last night I got to hear Doug Stringer from “Somebody Cares International” preach. One of the things he said really stood out to me. He said, “Prayer is the rain in our lives.” It’s what waters the seeds we’ve planted. It’s what makes things grow. I loved this analogy because so many of us plant seeds in our lives or into the lives of others and wonder why they don’t grow.

To me, he answered the question. We don’t water them enough with prayer. Planting a seed is not enough. If it is not watered by you or someone else, how can it grow? I Corinthians 3:7 says, “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” It’s our prayers that water it and move God to grow it.

In my personal life, I’m not a big fan of rain. When I wake up in the morning and hear rain, I know immediately that 30 minutes just got added to my commute. Rain creates traffic. It also creates the beautiful flowers we see each Spring. We have a saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” We endure the rainy season to enjoy the beauty of Spring. So it is in the spiritual realm.

The rain from our prayers create traffic. I don’t mind spiritual traffic though. Traffic is a sign that things are moving. Things are happening. That kind of thing gets me excited. Spiritual rain also causes the seeds in our lives to grow and produce fragrant flowers in our lives or in the lives of others. The difference is we create the rainy season. If we aren’t experiencing many flowers or growth, chances are we haven’t been creating rain through prayer.

Things don’t just happen because we were faithful to plant seeds. We must pray through that season to make things grow. We read in Daniel 10 where Daniel needed an answer from God. When things didn’t happen, he didn’t quit praying. Instead, he prayed more. He prayed for 3 weeks for this one answer. Finally an angel showed up in verse 12 and said, “Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in Heaven. I have come to answer your prayer.”

Just like if you were planting a garden, you can’t plant the seeds and water it once. You have to keep watering them daily, even when you see the sprouts come up. You keep watering until you receive the harvest. If you stop any time before then, you run the risk of no harvest or a small harvest. Seeing growth should encourage us to pray even more, but for some reason it has the opposite effect. We see growth and think we can stop praying, but we can’t.

Today, I want to encourage you to keep praying even if you haven’t seen growth yet. Who knows what battles in the spiritual realm that God is fighting just to get that seed to sprout. Just because it hasn’t broken the surface yet doesn’t mean it isn’t growing or God isn’t moving. Keep watering it with prayer. And when you start to see the results of your prayer, keep watering until you get your harvest. Then, start the cycle again. May you never leave a rainy season in your life and always see your seeds grow!

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