April Blog
Be the Seed
Good sunny morning! Welcome to my home! Today I'm going to take you up to the part of the yard which I've never shown you before because, frankly, it was so ugly I didn't want to show anybody! This area surrounds the septic tank—one of the joys of country living! But nothing would grow in this area except bamboo. And if you know anything about bamboo, it's terribly hard to get rid of. So, I covered this area with some fake grass and kind of smothered the bamboo. I'm so excited now, because, as I was praying about what to do with this area, the Lord gave me some great ideas!
First of all, I bought this lovely raised bed in which I'm going to grow some veggies and some flowers. But I still had this other area that was just all rocks with some bamboo growing up. I just didn't know what to do with it. Well, the Lord gave me this idea! I found these beautiful red chairs online which I put around our fire pit. I'm so excited about upcoming plans we have to gather around this pit!
But I just wanted to share with you a little bit today about what God's been speaking to me as I gather here with you around the fire pit. Yesterday was just an amazing day! As I was getting ready for the day, the Lord said to me, “Tell them what I taught you.”
Yesterday morning, as I was preparing for church, I was thinking about seeds and how seeds have to fall in the ground and die before they grow up and bear fruit. I had told the Lord years ago that I wanted to be fruitful for Him. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus says that when seed falls into good soil, it grows up and bears 30, 60, and 100 times as much as what sown. I have told the Lord that 30 and 60 pretty good, but I want to bear 100 times as much as was sown. I want to be that good soil!
But yesterday, the Lord was speaking to me about me being the seed! The seed has to fall into the ground and die before it can grow up and bear fruit, so I prayed, “Yes, Lord, I want to do that.”
Then, when I went to church, the Lord spoke to me during worship time about being the seed. He showed me that as a seed, I had this crusty shell around myself. That crusty shell was the residual of grief after Bob passing away. Though I've gone through tremendous growth and healing, still the Lord showed me I needed to be freed from that crusty shell of grief around my heart. So, during worship, I just ripped off that crusty shell and said, “Lord plant me. Let me go into the ground and die and bear fruit.”
Earlier that morning, as I was preparing for church, the quote came to mind, “Jesus bids me come and die.” Now there is an old song that says, “The Master calls us, ‘Come and dine.’” And that's true. Jesus fed the multitude. He fed the disciples at the Last Supper. And even after He rose from the dead, He fed the disciples breakfast on the beach where He had prepared fish for them. They had caught fish the night before and He said, “Bring some of that fish and join me here at the beach.”
So yes, Jesus does feed us. And He is actually called the “Bread of Life”. But He also says that if we want to follow Him we must take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Him. So, with that quote “He bids me come and die” ringing in my ears, I went to church thinking about being that seed in the ground but also giving Him the living sacrifice of my life. After that wonderful time of worship, Pastor John Hammer announced his text and, wouldn't you know it? It was Romans 12:1 & 2 which goes like this: “Therefore, I urge you brothers in view of God's mercy to offer your body as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what is God's will, His good pleasing and perfect will.”
As we die to self and offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, then we'll know His good and pleasing and perfect will in our lives.
And wouldn't you know it, as Pastor John went on through his sermon, he stopped and said, “He bids me come and die.” There was that quote again!
After church, I came home and was sharing with my son Stevie and his wife Jasmine what God had spoken to me. Stevie reminded me that the famous quote “He bids me come and die” was from a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer called The Cost of Discipleship. Dietrich was a famous German pastor who was part of the resistance against Adolf Hitler. As a result, he lost his life. But he wrote this famous quote before he knew that he was going to be martyred. My point here is, unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it won't bear fruit. But if it does fall to the ground and die, it will bear much fruit.
After church, I was talking to a friend who said, “If Bob hadn't died, you would not be involved with The Widows Project, which is reaching all around the world.” That’s true. But did God take Bob to heaven so I could do this ministry? I don't believe so. But I do believe that it was Bob's time to go. God has numbered our days and because it was his time, he went home to be with Jesus. And God has been with me ever since in a special way to bring healing and wholeness in my heart.
So, as I'm getting ready to plant veggies and flowers I picked up a very special package of seeds for some beautiful, blue Forget-Me-Nots. Forget-Me-Nots were Bob's favorite flower. He loved that shade of blue. So, when my kids come over tomorrow and we commemorate Bob's passing, I'm going to offer them each packet of Forget-Me-Not seeds to plant.
We'll never forget Bob. He was God's gift to my life for 41 years. But that was then, and this is now. And as I offer my life as a living sacrifice to God, He is bringing much fruit out of my life. As I am willing to give Him my life, that seed to be planted in good soil, it will grow up and bear much fruit for his Kingdom.
I share this to help encourage you that no matter what you face in this life, God can redeem it. And as we offer our lives to him, we can take courage because he has great plans for us.inda: Here we are, down by the water.
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You can choose to have them contribute to The Widows Project in proportion to your spending at Fred Meyer.
Go to the Fred Meyer website and your account, and then search for “Community Rewards”.
Please choose The Widows Project.
Thank you so much.
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