Daring to Plant in Faith

DARING TO PLANT IN FAITH

DAILY DEVOTIONS

SUPPLEMENTAL 3

DAY 1

The Bible compares the Christian life to gardening over and over and over again.

Genesis 8:22 (ETRV) 22 As long as the earth continues, there will always be a time for planting and a time for harvest…”

Galatians 6:7 (NIV) 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

God has laws regarding sowing and reaping and if you ignore the laws of sowing and reaping in your life it’s going to hurt you. It will harm you. BUT if you wisely use the laws of sowing and reaping in your life you’re going to be blessed by it. You can use the laws literally in every single area of your life.

You can use the laws of sowing and reaping in relationships.

You can use the laws in your health – what you sow you will reap.

You can use it in your finances.

You can use it in your career.

The point is this: Whatever you need more of in your life, you need to plant in faith. Here are the first two…

Everything starts as a seed.

Every idea, every dream, every achievement, every nation.

In a life of faith we must understand that everything starts as a seed, something that holds the promise of what can be.

BUT NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL THE SEED IS PLANTED

John 12:24 (NIV) 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat (a seed) falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Seeds are meant to be planted. Seeds are meant to be given away.

Planting and sowing is an act of faith.

When I plant the seed I believe that something great is going to happen because I plant this seed. Something great will happen because I’m going to give away what I’ve got. I’m going to give it away and I believe it’s going to produce some fruit.

Planting seeds is also risky. Because you can’t see what’s happening under the dirt. You can’t go out to your garden and every day dig it up and see if it’s growing.

Mark 4:26-27 (ETRV) 26 Then Jesus said, "God's kingdom is like a man who plants seed in the ground. 27 The seed begins to grow. It grows night and day. It doesn't matter whether the man is sleeping or awake, the seed still grows. He doesn't know how it happens.

He can’t see it until it sprouts. And that’s the element of faith.

What are we talking about when we’re talking about planting a seed?

A seed is anything valuable that I give away.

When you give away praise there’s value to that.
When you give away advice, good advice, there’s value to that.
When you give away your time there’s value to that.
When you give away your money there’s value to that.
When you give away your experience to help other people there’s value to that.
Words can be seeds that you plant in people’s mind. And they can grow, they do grow and they bear fruit. So you need to choose your words wisely. Especially when you’re talking with people that you love – children, your husband, your wife, your friends. Those are seeds.
When you give your love away, there’s great value to that.

A seed is anything that I give away in order to help somebody else.

What kind of seeds are you planting in your relationships?

Are you planting seeds of trust or are your planting seeds of distrust?

Are you planting seeds of kindness or are you planting seeds of crankiness? And anger and bitterness, meanness?

Are you planting seeds that build up or are you planting seeds that tear down?

WHAT DID YOU HEAR?

What did God say to you as you read today’s Scripture and devotion?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How does this apply to your life?

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Don’t just be a hearer of the Word. Be a doer of the Word.

NOW TALK TO GOD

This is where you turn your thoughts into prayer. It could be a prayer of gratitude or praise. It could be a prayer of confession or a request for God’s help. It’s up to you. Take a minute to write a prayer of response to what God has said to you.

DAY 2

Here are a couple more principles of living a life of faith based on the analogy of sowing and reaping.

WHEN I HAVE A NEED I should plant a seed.

When a farmer looks out on his barren crop, a barren field, and he sees no crops in his field, he doesn’t gripe. He doesn’t complain. He doesn’t even pray. He just starts planting.

The farmer can look at a barren field and go “Oh, God, please make my corn crop grow.”

And God says “Did you plant any seed?”

No. But really make it grow.

“Did you plant any seed?”

No, but make it grow.

It isn’t going to happen. Sometimes you don’t pray, you plant. This is the law of sowing and reaping.

So he just starts planting because no sowing, no harvest.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 (TLB) 6 Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow—perhaps it all will.

You should be planting good seeds all the time with your life. Because you never know where it’s going to grow.

Maybe you feel you are waiting on God for something and you should consider if God is waiting on you to plant so that He can bring the harvest.

The truth is that whatever I need more of I need to give it away.

Whatever I PLANT is what i will reap.

Galatians 6:7 (NIV) 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

This works both ways. It can either work for you or it can work against you.

Here’s some negative examples.

Job 4:8 (NIV) 8 As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
Proverbs 22:8 (NKJV) 8 He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow...
Matthew 7:2 (NCV) 2 You will be judged in the same way that you judge others, and the amount you give to others will be given to you.

Here are some positive examples.

Proverbs 11:18 (NIV) 18 …he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
James 3:18 (NIV) 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

You will reap what you sow with your children, with your spouse, with your business, with your friends.

I cannot sow irresponsibility and reap success.

I cannot sow laziness and reap reward.

I cannot sow stinginess and reap a blessing.

WHAT DID YOU HEAR?

What did God say to you as you read today’s Scripture and devotion?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How does this apply to your life?

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Don’t just be a hearer of the Word. Be a doer of the Word.

NOW TALK TO GOD

DAY 3

I’m not the only sower

You’re not the only planter in the universe. Other people are planting all around you. And, by the way, you are reaping, both good and bad, from those who went before you.

Some of you grew up in families with a history of abuse. And a history of alcohol. And maybe a history of divorce. And you have to decide – the chain breaks now. I can’t control the past, but I’m going to break the chain now.

You are harvesting both good and bad from your past because you’re not the only person sowing. Everything you do has consequences. And by the way, your life is going to affect future generations. So you need to take it very, very seriously.

You determine that the future generations of your family are going to be blessed because you’re going to plant seeds of prayer and love and godliness and generosity and faith and all these other things. And the people who come out of your family tree have a blessing in heritage.

What kind of legacy are you leaving from your sowing?

Are you leaving a legacy of generosity or stinginess?

Are you leaving a legacy of faith or doubt or fear?

WHAT DID YOU HEAR?

What did God say to you as you read today’s Scripture and devotion?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How does this apply to your life?

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Don’t just be a hearer of the Word. Be a doer of the Word.

NOW TALK TO GOD

DAY 4

I always reap in a different season than i sow.

Plants take time to grow. There’s no instant maturity. So you don’t plant today and this afternoon get the fruit. There’s always a delay.

That’s true when you plant anything in life.

There’s no such thing as instant success.

There’s instant fame but no instant success.

It takes time to gather wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 (NLT) 1 For everything there is a season,a time for every activity under heaven.2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.

Fruit ripens gradually.

And it doesn’t all ripen at the same time.

You need to understand: When you plant a seed you don’t get the harvest immediately. There’s always a delay.

SO I MUST BE patient and not give up

As you’re waiting on the seed you planted, don’t become impatient. Be patient and don’t give up, because you reap in a season that’s different than you sowed in.

Galatians 6:7-9 (NIV) 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

We have to be patient.

WHAT DID YOU HEAR?

What did God say to you as you read today’s Scripture and devotion?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How does this apply to your life?

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Don’t just be a hearer of the Word. Be a doer of the Word.

NOW TALK TO GOD

DAY 5

I always reap more than i sow.

One grain of corn will give me back a thousand seeds. You always reap more than you sow.

And again this will work for you or against you. It depends on what kind of seed you’re planting.

If you plant gossip you’re going to get a lot more gossip about you.

If you plant criticism, you’re going to get a lot more criticism about you.

There is an exponential potential in every seed.

I’ll always reap more than I sow.

I increase my harvest by planting more seed.

I know it seems obvious but it needs to be said.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (ETRV) 6 Remember this: The one who plants few seeds will have a small harvest. But the one who plants a lot will have a big harvest. 7 Each one of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give. You should not give if it makes you unhappy or if you feel forced to give. God loves those who are happy to give.

What that verse says is this: You get to choose how big the harvest is in your life.

You get to choose how much God blesses your life. Don’t blame anybody else.

You plant a fewerseeds you will have a smaller harvest.

You plant a lot and you will have bigger harvest.

That is the Word of God. That is the law of the universe and it applies in every single area of your life.

The law of generosity works for anybody who follows it. It works for non-believers. Just like gravity works for believers and non believers. It’s just the law of the universe.

WHAT DID YOU HEAR?

What did God say to you as you read today’s Scripture and devotion?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How does this apply to your life?

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Don’t just be a hearer of the Word. Be a doer of the Word.

NOW TALK TO GOD

DAY 6

THE MORE SEED I PLANT the more God will give me.

God is looking for givers to bless. He doesn’t look for stingy people to bless. He looks for givers to bless.

He looks down and goes, Is anybody on earth like me who wants to be generous?

Who wants to be unselfish?

Who wants to think of other people?

Is there anybody who trusts me?

He’s always looking for people to use. And he blesses people who are generous.

2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (ETRV) 10 God is the one who gives seed to those who plant, and he gives bread for food. And God will give you spiritual seed and make that seed grow. He will produce a great harvest from your goodness. 11 God will make you rich in every way so that you can always give freely…

BTW this verse is speaking specifically about money.

I PLANT BY FAITH, not by my feelings.

When the farmer gets up in the morning he doesn’t always feel good about going to work on his farm? Sometimes it’s just hard work. If a farmer only worked his crops when he felt like it, not much would get done. He doesn’t want to get up early. He doesn’t want to go harvest and plant and weed and do all those things. He does what he doesn’t feel like doing. He’s planting when he doesn’t feel like it.

You don’t go by your feelings. You go by your faith.

Sometimes God’s going to call you to make a sacrifice and if you say, “I don’t feel like it,” you will miss the blessing that God wants to do in using you.

WHAT DID YOU HEAR?

What did God say to you as you read today’s Scripture and devotion?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How does this apply to your life?

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Don’t just be a hearer of the Word. Be a doer of the Word.

NOW TALK TO GOD

DAY 7

The best time to plant is now.

Don’t wait for a better time. The sooner the better. You don’t say, “When I retire I’m going to get serious about God.” No! Then you’ll be worthless. You won’t have any energy to do anything.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 (ETRV) 4 But there are some things that you cannot be sure of. You must take a chance. If you wait for perfect weather, you will never plant your seeds. If you are afraid that every cloud will bring rain, you will never harvest your crops.

Perfection paralyzes potential. One of these days is none of these days.

WHAT DID YOU HEAR?

What did God say to you as you read today’s Scripture and devotion?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How does this apply to your life?

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Don’t just be a hearer of the Word. Be a doer of the Word.

NOW TALK TO GOD