Encouragement
The Power In The Seed - John 12:20-26
“Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
This was a few days before the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. He was already in Jerusalem, when He was approached by some people who desired to meet with Him. We are told that they were foreigners – Greeks, who had come to worship in Jerusalem, and celebrate the Passover. It is possible that they approached Philip because they already knew him, or because he spoke their language (Philip is from the Greek name ‘Philipos'), and was from the cosmopolitan coastal city of Bethsaida, which was accustomed to foreigners passing through. They had heard about Jesus, and now they sought to meet with Him. They were in Jerusalem to worship at the Feast, but there worship would only be complete if they met with Jesus!
Jesus said “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Here were these people from another nation seeking after Jesus; but within a few days, the precious life of the Lamb of God would be sacrificed to bring redemption to all people from all nations and races of the world. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of God's great plan of salvation for all mankind, when the Lord Jesus walked the road to Jerusalem and laid His life down in obedience to the will of God. It was in laying down His life in obedience to the Father that the name of Jesus was truly glorified. He humbled Himself to the will of God; He died to His own will and desires; and God exalted and glorified Him forever. Jesus said in Matthew 23:12 “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
When Jesus referred to the grain of wheat which had to fall to the ground and die, in order to multiply, He was talking about His own life, which had to be laid down, and buried, for life and salvation to flow for the millions who have believed and received. He was the immortal Seed of God, who submitted to the laws of mortality, that the bounds of mortality be broken and the gift of eternal life made available to all who sought Him. He ‘fell to the ground' when He descended from Heaven to earth, and when He stepped from earth to death upon the cross. From that Seed that died, life burst forth for the countless souls that received Him and became sons and daughters of the Most High. God sowed the Seed of His Son, and from the ‘death' of that Seed came an uncountable family!
There is a message of freedom, power and increase in what Jesus said to His disciples. He said “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it eternally…” When we let go of what is most precious to us, and release it to God, He blesses it, and gives it back to us multiplied and overflowing! I believe this can apply to everything in our lives. It applies to what is most dear to your heart and is the source of your greatest joy, as well as the cause of your deepest pain. It could be your career ambitions or your child; it could be your spouse or your ministry. It is the passion of your heart, and whatever it may be, the Lord Jesus is asking you today to lay it at His feet. Let it “fall to the ground”. Stop striving to make it happen. As you release it to Jesus, you will see it blessed and increased to abundance. As you lay your own plans down ‘on the ground' you will see better ones brought forth by the Father, as He opens doors that no man could have opened. For example, if you have been praying for God's provision in your finances, the way to see your harvest is to stop holding on to the money you have, and start sowing it in faith into fertile Kingdom ground instead. As that seed falls to the ground, and your every desire and anxiety for it is allowed to die, it will begin to take root within the earth, and life and power and harvest will burst out of it and into your hand. It is a spiritual principle that can never fail; God's Word which can never return void.
These words of Jesus also help us to look at what our lives are really based on, and what we love the most; whether they are things of eternal value or the things of the world which are for today and gone tomorrow. He said in Matthew 6:21: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Our physical existence is to be enjoyed and blessed, but is it lived to the exclusion of those eternal and spiritual things which God has called us to walk in? Are we investing in treasures of an eternal nature, or is our life and passion knitted solely into our earthly existence? Jesus said to His disciples that if what is physical and worldly was all they were focused on, they would lose the other life which was for eternity, and God's gift to be received in faith.
Everything in the Kingdom is based on the seed falling to the ground. There is no return without the investment of the seed. Galatians 6:7-9 say “A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up.” Serving Jesus means following Him – living as He lived, loving as He loved, giving as He gave, even His own life! And He promises that when we serve Him and walk as He walked, we will be “where He is”; on another level of love, faith and power, with signs and wonders following us, and victory over every challenge and attack of the enemy. It means ‘carrying' Heaven with us wherever we go. And God promises to honor those who are faithful to Jesus!
And friends, we always tend to fear the thought of something dying, but there is always something greater that comes from a seed that dies. When Jesus died upon that cruel cross, his disciples mourned Him, and wept for what they thought were shattered dreams; but from His death on the cross came resurrection and life, and power over sin, sickness and death. The earthly end of a child of God only means more beautiful resurrected life in the presence of the Father for eternity. New life always springs forth from what is laid to rest. The death of the seed brings life in the form of new plants that spring up through the ground. There is abundance and blessing to come, but first the seed has to die in the womb of the earth, just as your own dreams have to be laid to rest but only to receive the greater ones which God has for you.
We can take some threads of Truth from what Jesus said to His disciples. He is calling us to:
1) Seek God's will and flow with it. This is what He did when He laid His life down in fulfillment of the Father's plan for the salvation of man. He is calling us to lay down our own will, die to our own plans and desires, and surrender to what God wants to do through our lives. This is the path to power!
2) Lay down what you have been struggling to keep or achieve. Give what you want to receive. Jesus sowed His life for the salvation of every man, woman and child doomed to eternal death. Sow into the life or ministry of another whatever you want to receive or see more of.
3) Follow the Master and obey God – you will see the Father honor you, and the presence of Jesus your daily portion. (Proverbs 27:18 says “He who looks after his master will be honored”). You will walk in the anointing and power of Jesus as you walk in His will!
4) There is power in the seed - but it has to be laid to rest.
May you see fruitful harvest and great blessing in every area of your life, as you lay it down at the feet of Jesus and allow the seed to die. You are giving way to something better and bigger! There is power in the seed that falls!
Minoli Haththotuwa -22 February 2010
www.wingslikeeagles.info
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