Buried Seeds of Life

 

“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. (James 1:21)

The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that is planted in the ground and starts out small, but then grows to become the largest of all plants with long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade (Mark 4:31).

We know from the parable of the farmer planning seeds that what soil the seed lands on matters and has significant impact on the growth of the Kingdom. Luke 8:13-15 tells us that we must be deeply rooted or we will fall into temptation; or, the seed of His Kingdom could also be easily crowed out by cares, riches, and pleasures of this life and just never flourish. It is the seeds that fall onto good soil that flourish and these are, “Honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.”

As seeds that are planted, our faith is meant to reap a huge harvest. And what needs to die is all the expectations and fleshly ambitions that go along with our hopes. It needs good ground in order to flourish. There are many things that can choke out these seeds of faith. It takes all our heart and surrendered effort in trust to nurture these seeds. When we are holding something in faith and hoping, we are pregnant with His purposes.

Psalm 130:5 proclaims, “I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on Him [with my whole heart]. I have put my hope in His Word [and promises to me in them]. Let’s be honest, there are ebbs and flows in our life. Sometimes we feel on top of the world and other times we can feel crushed under the weight of it. Temptation, distractions, cares of the world hit us at different times.

If we are on top of the world, there is a temptation that says, you deserve it and are entitled. We see this with some high-level pastors and ministry leaders. They get to what seems to be the top and they become self-satisfied. They begin to see their success as their doing over the favor and blessing of God and begin compromising. As they do, the very fabric of faith begins to erode beneath them.

We see this with Hezekiah. He had success after success as he cried out and depended upon God. But then he took credit for all God gave him and his heart became proud. He showed the Babylon’s all that he acquired and boasted in himself rather than God. Because of this, we learn that he leaves no legacy but is satisfied with this because he still benefits in his time.

We see by his response to losing the very thing he built by faith in his legacy and not caring that he was self-focused and prideful. His heart was no longer in the right place. He offered up these incredible blessings by God to get some favor by man. He wanted these folks from Babylon to be in awe of him.

Something we can notice for ourselves is that when we start seeking favor of others rather than using our favor from God in thankfulness, for advancing God’s Kingdom, we begin compromising because our heart is not right.

Bill Johnson writes about this situation with Hezekiah, “When you compromise to obtain favor, you lose the favor you had.”[1] God does not reward us for seeking after an idol. As he notes, favor with man is meant to draw people to God. We are not to seek it for our own glory. He also writes, “The need for applause and the desire to impress people with God’s favor are signs of weakness that will affect our legacy.”[2]

Here is a trap –as we are blessed and given favor, there is a temptation to make ourselves central. Jesus came as One who served and we follow Him when our hearts are set to serve others for their benefit. When we stop serving out of love and look for others to cater to us, we lose our footing as we will believe we should be served and honored at the expense of others. We will wield our power for our own benefit rather than the benefit of those we are called to serve. Like Hezekiah, our hearts become hard and we stop caring about God’s purposes for our generation and the generation following.

Daniel is an example of someone who maintained a heart set on the Lord no matter the circumstances and favor he had. He had such great favor from God for a period of time under King Nebuchadnezzar because of his excellent spirit and he was considered a top ruler over everyone else.

Then after this term of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was tossed aside and left in insignificance in a foreign country where many hated him just because he was an exile from Judah. With Nebuchadnezzar’s son, he didn’t even recognize or acknowledge Daniel until he needed something from him. Yet Daniel stayed focused on the Lord. He again used his favor from the Lord to witness in such a way that Belshazzar saw the truth before he died.

Bill Johnson writes that we have the responsibility to use favor for its intended purpose of glorifying God and benefiting others. He notes that this causes it to increase because it is a gift that we cannot take credit for. [3] All things God gives us are meant to glorify Him.

Daniel again rose to the top with Darius, the next king, and was given authority again. Yet, because of his favor, he was also hated by the other leaders. They were jealous of him and felt his favor was unfair. As a result, they colluded together and looked for ways to trap him and get him in trouble.

Jealousy arose because of Daniel’s favor. When God rewards us openly with favor, it will frequently be seen as undeserved by others around us. And this is true! It is favor because it is undeserved. At the same time, it is not because God is no respecter of persons. Daniel was faithful and honoring to God in all that He did. His favor, significantly beyond anything Daniel could expect, was a result of his pursuit and continual seeking the Lord and putting him first.

Bill notes that sometimes giving a gift of honor to others will silence jealousy with them.[4] When we have favor, we can use it freely to bless others and demonstrate the Lord’s love for them, further advancing the Kingdom. When we use it to give others favor, they flourish.

I had a dream that there was this incredible tree that started with seeds and became this glory filled flourishing tree that then infused back the ground that it came from with glory. I woke up and drew a picture of it and wrote next to it that it was a tree of honor. As we sow seeds of noticing God in others and speaking it out, honoring them, it causes them to flourish but also causes the one giving honor to flourish.

We also need to be aware that if jealousy resides within ourselves, it is rooted in seeking favor and blessing above others. It is competitive. It does not want the best for others but the best for us over others. We can work to kill jealousy by identifying, supporting and endorsing God’s favor in other’s lives. We can get behind what God is doing in them and praying for it to flourish.

Knowing that Daniel was faithful to pray every day, the jealous co-workers of Daniel talked the king into setting orders that would prohibit this. Then when he still faithfully prayed to God, they trapped the king into throwing Daniel in the lion’s den. How discouraging this had to be as he just couldn’t win and was undeservingly placed in the lion’s den. Yet, he let God use it to prove His power.

“I chose to be holy, set apart for you my Master” sings in the background.

We need to learn to live through the ups and downs of life while keeping our focus on the Lord rather than ourselves or what we are getting. The minute that we focus on ourselves, we will lose our balance and become discouraged or get caught up in sin, distraction, or other worldly concerns. We stop flourishing.

Practicing thankfulness is one way to keep our heart’s focused on God. We cannot be grateful and grumbling at the same time. Gratefulness reminds us that we are undeserving sinners who have received such mercy and goodness. It also brings our heart back to the faithfulness of God.

Besides thankfulness, pressing into our faith by stepping out or giving more can reignite our heart for God’s purposes. Bill Johnson writes that when we quit breaking new ground and taking the land, we can have tendency to stop giving God that which costs us something. [4]

Then when God blesses us in it and gives us His favor, we need to keep our heart in check through thankfulness and humility. Bill Johnson writes, “it is the disciplined heart with humility and thankfulness that enables us to survive and thrive with the high cost of blessing.” [5]

Also, it is good to remember that blessing and God’s favor does not always look like this nice life of luxury where everything is handed to us. Rather, blessing has to do with God using us in His Kingdom purposes. He blessing is for the purpose of making Him known on earth and bringing salvation to those around us (Psalm 67:1-2). John the Baptist was blessed and the greatest man alive. He had tremendous favor with God and the most significant ministry next to Jesus. Yet, he was made to be least so other could become greatest in the Kingdom.

His ministry declined into nothing and then he was locked up and waiting to die. What a discouraging time if his expectations were set on his own benefit. He lived by faith and died by faith, hearing a disciple speak what was being seen… "The blind see, The lame walk, Lepers are cleansed, The deaf hear, The dead are raised, The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side." This is where his heart and faith were set, so, I imagine he had great joy in the midst of his suffering.

David Wilkerson writes, “I believe that if we seek a larger, more widespread reputation, something is missing in our message. Self is too prominent. Christ should be gaining, and we should be losing recognition. We should be less known as the years go by until, like Paul, we end up shut in with God. May we all decrease! May he alone increase! God help us to get back to this holy ground.’ [6]

As I have been struggling with some discouragement due to putting some of my worth into being valued and respected by others, I need to remember what all I have to be thankful for, which is immense. When I feel like I am far from blessed, it is because I am looking to the wrong things. I have been looking for my circumstances which leave me feeling dry, discouraged, and in lack. This is always going to be true because my circumstances will never give me joy… Only God can give me this. When I look to Him, I have joy for all He is doing.

Whenever I am looking to receive honor rather than give honor, I am trying to get something from it. If God so fills me, there is no room to crave and long to receive. We are overflowing like Jesus and empowered to give life to others. It is not that God wants us to have a life that has no meaning. It is that God has this immense life of meaning for us but we need to get this from Him so we genuinely have something to give to others.

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life.” – Romans 6:4 (KJV)

This buried seed is the old life, the old ways of trying to suck our lives from the world (lust) and craving to be filled by everything around us. As we die to this, new life springs forth with an abundance. 2 Peter 1:4 (MEV) says, “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these things you might become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust."

This blessing is exceedingly great and precious. It is to be partakers of His divine nature in being able to bring His life to all around us. It is genuinely having something to offer. These seeds of dying to craving and lust, somehow burst forth into these amazing fragrant blossoms that bless everyone around.

Lord, You are my reward. Forgive me where I have made myself central or looked for reward or encouragement from people. Give us hearts like John the Baptist that give all until the very end, no matter the circumstances. You are worthy of all we have and can offer. Thank you that you help us to genuinely flourish.

1-5. Johnson, Bill. Born for Significance: Master the Purpose, Process, and Peril of Promotion. Charisma House, Lake Mary, Florida. 2020.

6. Wilkerson, David. A Place of No Reputation. World Challenge. Daily Devotional, November 29, 2022.