I don’t have a world to build or
kingdoms to conquer.
I have a seed to sow –
a seed of
love and
life and
peace.
Loving God,
let me sow it
joyfully and generously,
fervently and faithfully,
knowing that You, Lord,
will bring an abundant harvest.
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Hymn: Bless This Seed
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Your Implanted Word
Matthew 13
As we worship, You will sow among us
Your Word,
Your precious, eternal, life-giving truth,
Your truth about Jesus Christ, Your Son.
Your Word will be read, sung, taught, and proclaimed.
O Father, help me receive it with an
open mind and
open heart.
Help me to listen as Your Spirit whispers it to me.
Help me to nurture Your implanted Word with
trust and
obedience.
Father, may the seed of Your Word
grow in my heart and life and
bear much fruit,
all to Your glory.
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Hymn: Bless This Seed
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When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”
They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. (Matthew 14:15-19, NASB)
Father, You have shown me needy people.
There they are, spread out before me.
I see the need.
I feel the need.
It is very real.
I hold something that I believe could help.
But it is so small,
and I am so small.
I don’t know how to get this to them.
I don’t know how to begin to use it in any meaningful way.
So I bring it to You, Father –
just biscuits and fish.
Use it.
Use me.
I am small,
but You encompass all that is.
I am ignorant,
but Your knowing is perfect.
Your loving is perfect.
Father, I am available.
Show me where to start.
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Hymn: Bless This Seed
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I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. (1 Corinthians 3:6-9, NASB)
The Lord had called me to a task, and in spite of personal misgivings and insecurities, I had obeyed. For four years I had done all He led me to do, all He enabled me to do, all I knew to do. I had worked hard. I had believed in the project and its importance. I had financed it with my own money.
The response: almost nothing. As near to nothing as one can get.
I spoke to the Lord about my discouragement, and He answered me. He said that I was planting seeds, and I’d have to trust Him and wait for the harvest.
That helped me see my entire life in a new light. I am planting seeds, trusting God for the growth and the eventual harvest.
Thank You, Father! How much light is shed by a simple word from You! How much broader and deeper is Your perspective!
So, friends:
Do not be discouraged by
small numbers in your work for the Lord.
Be content to plant seeds.
The harvest will come in His time.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Bless This Seed
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Jesus said:
“Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds…fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” (Matthew 13:3-4, 8, NASB)
Consider the seed.
It’s so small…and hard…and dry…
very unspectacular in appearance.
We bury it in the earth.
We water it. We tend it.
We protect it. We watch it.
And do you know what happens?
Nothing.
Nothing happens… at least not immediately.
But hidden in that seed is a mysterious, powerful, irrepressible life.
And if we wait patiently,
one day a tiny, tender sprout begins to push up through the earth.
That sprout becomes a little stem,
and after much more watering and tending and protecting,
it produces flowers for us to see and smell.
It gives delicious fruit for us to eat and enjoy.
But do you know what else it produces?
More seeds!
Our one seed is now hundreds, even thousands of seeds.
And if those seeds fall to the ground and die,
some will bear flowers and fruit
and give more and more seeds.
The entire earth could become a beautiful, fruitful garden
from one seed.
Jesus Christ was one seed.
Each of us is just…one…seed.
Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Bless This Seed
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics
