Seasons of a Seed an Introduction to Seedtime and Harvest Post#1

There are many preachers out there that are basically teaching, that a widely understood process of nature is all you have to practice, in order to get your needs met. Be it your health, finances, relationships, etc... Whatever the need, they claim that participating in this simple process, will virtually garauntee you, your desired result. What I'm referring to is a teaching called seedtime & harvest or as it's commonly referenced, seed faith. And I would agree... and disagree.

Why I Agree

Now I'm by no means a farmer. The only 'growing' experience I have to date was a tiny little garden my wife & I planted a while back. So let's all throw technicalities aside for a bit. That said, before a seed even comes to exist, there has already been a considerable amount of happenings take place. For instance, an already mature plant must be pollinated & then fertilized. Then, a seed will be produced & can be collected and used for growing more plants. Hello again science class (:
Which is a general explanation of how the process works. As you see, just like everything else in a wisely wired world, this part alone is 'poetry in motion'. But it's only the beginning. So yes, I agree that planting seed creates a crop, ergo, you will reap what you sow...sowing a seed does lead to a harvest. 

Why I Disagree

The bible does in fact tell us repeatedly in many variations that we reap what we sow. So they are on course with the promise of this truth. Unfortunately it's just not that simple. It's not the whole story. It's like the salesman that says 'this motor has zero miles on it' or 'all of the flooring in this house has been re-done, it's brand new.' Yeah, right! What they're failing to disclose it that the original motor & flooring were ruined by flood waters or fire! Because saying that would create suspicion, raise questions and potentially stop a sale cold. I'm not saying that people are being intentionally misleading, just that in having watched many of such teachings on television myself, you don't really get the complete picture of what seedtime and harvest truly require.

Like the salesman I mentioned, we'd be less than forthcoming to teach green, prospective farmers that all they had to do was put their seed of choice in the ground, believe for a harvest & in time they'd have the yield of their life. NOT! Neither can we as believers present a half truth to new innocent seekers. I'm afraid that a mixed message like this can come across when we sit in on one of these plea sermons that entice the listener with this type of communication. And as Christians, we need to avoid even the appearance of being deceptive. I'm also hopeful that these teachers are giving expanded lessons on campus for their congregants. I'm sure they are. My hope is for us is that we could do the same here... Broaden our view of this God given principle of seed & harvest, reaping and sowing to see what is required and maybe find ourselves in the process somewhere.

So stick around! In the following post, we'll look at what I'm calling the 'Seasons of a Seed' & learn how we can apply them to our lives in order to reap spiritual (and maybe monetary) harvests like we've never known!

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What are your thoughts and experiences with seedtime & harvest? I'd love to hear about it!

Hopefully this helps the growth within, come out

Rodney

P.S.- You can become a part of the Life Shared Gang by subscribing via email or feed reader to get
post updates (1-2 a week)and other resources as they become available. Your information will only be used for the purposes of this blog. If you're on a mobile device, click 'view web version' and those options will be to the top right & bottom of the page. For desktop users, those locations are the same. Thanks for sharing your time here!

The Father's Forgiveness Container

Forgiveness is one of those benefits that we quickly receive but are often hesitant to fully release to others. It's the foundational premise behind the entire bible, from Genesis to Revelation. If there is no need for it, there's no need for a savior and thus, no need to strive toward holiness. But there is a need for forgiveness. Every human being has the capability of doing wrong and that wrong is contrary to holiness. It's sin to put a biblical term on it. So to counteract our natural inclination to do as we please(sin)...forgiveness must be made available in order to fulfill mankind's original design.

I'll be completely honest here, I struggle with forgiving people. I tend to hold grudges, and define people by what they do to wrong me. If I'm not careful they'll always be guilty in my book. There's a problem with this. Like I said, forgiveness is the headliner of the show called the bible, so for me not to forgive creates a contradiction. It's commanded of me and you if your a christian.

Since it's pretty obvious if you've read scripture at any length, that this is a command,
I think it's more beneficial for us to understand the impact of un-forgiveness instead.
That's really the issue. Isn't it?

Typically, no one who has committed a crime or offense, will say they don't want to be forgiven or that forgiveness in general is unnecessary. We all want forgiveness. Even if it's only from our moms for snagging that extra cookie from the cookie jar! We need it.

Here are a few things I learned in looking to understand un-forgiveness.

By withholding forgiveness we are inherently saying the following 3 things (at least):

1. We deserve the forgiveness of the cross...MORE than those that offend us.
   
     I mean, we wouldn't dare ask God, who we've offended, to NOT forgive us, would we. At least 9 times the bible tells us to love our neighbor as ourself, verbatim. So if we want forgiveness for ourselves, we've got to want it for our neighbor, even, when they've done us wrong...

 The next thing we say by withholding forgiveness would then be:

2. We don't want to be forgiven

    

 Matthew 6:14-15 says "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

   

    This was after the Lord's Prayer teaching, Jesus gave his followers a model to pray, an outline that they could use in their regular communications with the Father... and from it the ONLY thing he emphasized was forgiveness.  See also Mark 11:25-26 and Luke 6:37-38.

 

3. Lastly, in our un-forgiveness  toward others, we're asking God not to forgive them either

   

    Again the Lord's model prayer says in

    Matthew 6:10 "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...

 

In other words do here what is done there. Now link that with the principle in

 

Matthew 18:18 that says"Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 

 

This does NOT mean that people can't be saved unless you or I approve...I'm not implying that we have any power over salvation at all. That's laughable!

 

    I also realize this passage in context is about the steps to take to deal with a fellow believer living in sin. But look at it this way, sin is an offense, offenses are either forgiven or not (which is the ultimate desire of this process, to restore relationship with one another), and v.17 ends with if your brother won't reconcile, let him be like a 'heathen or tax collector' to you. But what does that really mean? Does it mean you can write him off without feeling guilty? Maybe. But, remember... Jesus? He ate with & mingled with such sinners ALL the time. We, ourselves would have fallen into the heathen category at one point and maybe we still do from time to time. So maybe, maybe, this text isn't giving us a right to break ties rather than a directive to look at our 'brother' as one we can spend intentional time with in an effort to win them back to the Lord... Maybe. So the principle of this binding & loosing in reference to forgiveness is saying that if we restrict the forgiving work of the cross on earth, we restrict the work of the resurrected Christ from heaven.

 

In Summary

 

If you want something... give that very thing away. Just as the following verse implicates.  

Matthew 7:12- "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you...

 

An Exercise in Forgiveness

• Make yourself a "one way in" style box, tape it, glue it, nail it...in the end, you want to only be able to get a small piece of paper inside of it and for it to be difficult to get anything out of it. We'll call it, God's Forgiveness Container.
• On small pieces of paper or index cards, write down the names of people that you need to forgive. Then on the back of those papers, write your own name as well. 
• Fold them as small as possible and place all cards into your 'impenetrable' container.(the reason for the many folds is that it takes effort to actually forgive someone)
• Pray and ask God to help you truly forgive those people. As often as needed.
• Keep this container in a visible location and pray often, multiple times daily if needed, for those individuals including yourself, that your relationships would be restored.
• You can make this a family practice(:

Now, since we are not God we can retract our vow of forgiveness. Thus the "one way in box". In order for you to retrieve your forgiveness, it will take a conscious decision & intentional effort to get back into that box. Further, it's God's container and since we all fall short and need forgiveness(if only from God), you're in there too. So you can un-forgive those people who's names you put in, but remember you wrote your name on the back... so you'll have to un-forgive yourself in the process!

 

This is only a demonstration and the real work can only take place in your heart, between you and the Holy Spirit. However, we all know that a good visual can change everything. I believe that seeing this container, placing yourself in the same position as your offenders and spending diligent time in prayer will advance your aptitude towards forgiveness. Making it more enticing than ever to fully... release. After all, the true impact of un-forgiveness rests upon the the one who's un-willing to forgive... That doesn't have to be you, it doesn't have to be me either.

 

Hopefully this helps the growth within, come out

 

Rodney

P.S.- You can become a part of the Life Shared Gang by subscribing via email or feed reader to get
post updates (1-2 a week)and other resources as they become available. Your information will only be used for the purposes of this blog. If you're on a mobile device, click 'view web version' and those options will be to the top right & bottom of the page. For desktop users, those locations are the same. Thanks for sharing your time here!

 

The Fear of Love

Ahhh, the season of love.... It is the time of year when the thought of loving someone, is most on our minds. We run out and by ridiculous amounts of candy, stuffed animals, flowers and the like. Don't hear me being a pessimist, it's a good way to show those you care about, that you care. And who doesn't enjoy such over the top expression from others, occasionally? We all do. Even if it does come a slight bit out of obligation and not pure choice. The love is still there but as we many have determined, there's just something about our innate craving for love that no other person can satisfy. It's nothing to be held against someone but there's always a need for more.

I find that people are in 3 general categories of emotion when it comes to love.

1. They feel loved
2. They don't feel loved
                or
3. They no longer feel loved

...even those that claim not to need love, fall into one of these groups

The threat in either group, is that they are all producers of fear. Fear of the ever increasing possibility that at any point, we may find ourselves migrating from one branch to the other...against our will. Unexpectedly. Someone else is always in control of whether or not we feel loved. At least when it comes to receiving that love from other people. We panic if the relationship takes a turn. If the other person becomes what we consider too busy to give us the attention we need or shows any disinterest at all. Ahhh, love. It can be exhausting. The emotion of it, that is.

This is why the scriptures tell us to love God above all and to know that his love is what truly, truly fulfills us. Sure we are called to love others and be loved by them, and the need for human affection is designed by God himself, but ultimately we can't even love without first knowing the love of God. And this love, holds no fear at all, not even a little. We can have complete confidence that it will ALWAYS be there! It will always remain...

Whichever category you find yourself in today, know that it's not what defines you. Enjoy the loves you have, and don't concern yourself with the others. In Christ, you have access to love that depends not on what you or others do right or wrong, even the love... of the king... of the universe. Be loved!

"There is no remedy for love but to love more."- Henry David Thoreau

What are your thoughts on love?

Scripture References 1 John 4:16-19, Romans 8:35, 1 Corinthians 13:13

P.S.- You can become a part of the Life Shared Gang by subscribing via email or feed reader to get
post updates (1-2 a week) and other resources as they become available. Your information will only be used for the purposes of this blog. If you're on a mobile device, click 'view web version' and those options will be to the top right & bottom of the page. For desktop users, those locations are the same. Thanks for sharing your time here!



 

God, the Premier Business Man

Some will agree with what I write here today. Some will label me a heretic. Some may have no opinion at all. Either way, here goes. I recently saw God in a different light than I normally do. He actually holds a role that I'm not sure many of us consider. That is, he, is the first 'businessman.' An entrepreneur if you will. Now before you exit stage left, let's look at what being a businessperson involves.

If You're In Business 

   
    You have a product

       
        You have a target audience 

           
            You have a model for how to market & distribute your product. 

I know there's much more to be said, but these are the basics. So what is God's product? And how should it affect you? 

God's Product

His product is Eternal Life.
In his great love, he naturally intended for himself, the angels, and every single person that ever was, to experience this product of his. You could even say that before the economic crisis called 'the fall', his product was absolutely free. However, after the fall took place is where the strategizing begins to surface. I say 'surface' because God's plan has been the same & wasn't altered because of the insolence of mankind. The plan is brilliantly simple... allow the consumer to choose, even if that means they go to another supplier. Sounds so counter productive but stay with it. I'm not sure who said it first but...effective business runs best on the principle of do one thing & do it well. In fact, this could be said of any aspect of our existence. God exampled this before anyone. He resigned to the idea of freedom of choice, and although he could have, he didn't exercise a monopoly, so to speak. Furthermore, his confidence in his 1 product, is so extremely high, that he will never have to compromise on the terms that dictate how one must obtain it. That's good strategy... Create a service that warrants off the chart demand, set the price as high as you can, then watch as floods of end users flock to you to get it. Genius! Don't even get me started on the free word of mouth marketing plan he implemented. 

How This Product Affects You

Not only did he create a rock solid, desirable service, he takes it a step farther when he makes the connection that if , there's freedom of choice, then there has to be competition. And if , there is competition, there has to be a perceived equal or better option on the shelf. In other words if I've offered eternal life that has 'x' promises, there will be another offer of eternal life that offers 'y' promises. That is eternity in heaven vs. eternity in hell. That's the business. So, how it affects you is, you are...garaunteed...eternity. One way or the other. The choice, is yours. You can lean towards God's offering or the alternative. But you will lean towards one. 

Choose Your Product

This is all pretty heavy, even for me, and I've already chosen. I don't want to leave you discouraged though... While the requirement needed to have this invaluable asset is extremely costly, there's a 'financing option' available. Jesus has paid the high cost by dying on the cross for your and my insolence. He has transferred funds from his positive account into our deficient ones. To say it is now free to us would be somewhat of an inaccurate expression. Our payment, is however, accounted for. While this doesn't get us 'off the hook' with our debtor, it does give us an extended grace period. See it's like a loan, Christ gave his life, for ours. We don't have to die. He simply wants us, to live, now as though we are already enjoying the benefits of then...our eternal life. Our life of no more pain, suffering, stress & doubt. We 'repay' our loan, by living, living out the rest of our time here on earth as though we are debt free, because in Him, we are.  

Your Question: Which product have you chosen to enjoy, forever? I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks for visiting

Rodney

P.S.- You can become a part of the Life Shared Gang by subscribing via email or feed reader to get post updates (1-2 a week) and other resources as they become available. Your information will only be used for the purposes of this blog. If you're on a mobile device, click 'view web version' and those options will be to the top right & bottom of the page. For desktop users, those locations are the same. Thanks for sharing your time here!