What seeds are you planting?

I will often feed my dogs apples, and for a long time I would give my lab the entire apple, and let her eat the entire thing.  I never thought twice about the core, or the seeds of the apple, I just gave it to her and allowed her to enjoy her treat.

Not that long ago I read that apple seeds can be poisonous to dogs, and I thought about all the times I had given my dog apples, including the seeds.  I was immediately grateful for reading this article, and have not given her a whole apple since that time.

When I read the information I changed my mind and my behavior, because the information enlightened me on a subject I was ignorant too.  I never once thought about the seeds being toxic for my beloved pet, but now I know.

This situation can also be like the seeds you plant every day with your words. When you speak words that are positive and full of God’s word, and plan for your life, you are planting seeds with an expectation of a positive harvest.  You are putting the words of God into the world and allowing Him to prepare you for your time of reaping.

When we do the opposite we can also expect the same to come back to us.  When we plant the seeds of negativity and defeat, we should not be surprised when we find ourselves receiving negativity and defeat.

I know for me personally, it is very hard for me to speak positive words and have positive thoughts.  I was raised and conditioned to see and speak negatively about my life, decisions and surroundings.  I was in an environment the was stagnate, and growth seemed impossible.

It takes effort, and some days a lot of effort, to be positive and to have positive thoughts.  I can feel and speak that way for other people more naturally then I can when it comes to myself.  I am also finding I am not alone in this problem.

Matthew 12:33 tells us what happens when we speak positively or negatively in our minds, hearts or with our mouths.

Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound (healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its fruit rotten (diseased and bad); for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit.

So here is the correlation, when we speak negative words, we have negative thoughts, live with a negative or stagnate heart, and then we produce negative fruit.   Your fruit will blossom from the tree that it is attached to.   When you are spiritually attached to negativity, darkness and God is void in your life, your fruit is going to be rotten and mimic the life that you are leading. 

When you are living a life of darkness, you will see darkness around you.  Your fruit or lack there of, will usually come in the form of darkness, negative thinking, a lack of change, lack of goodness in your life, lack of blessings and favor. 

You will probably live in an atmosphere where there is lack in every area of your life.  Your heart might be hardened to the environment you live in and to your sins.  You are more than likely disconnected from God and any spiritual outlets around you.    All of these things make for a very dark and unproductive life. This all makes life unappealing and distasteful.

When you are connected to the vine, to the tree, to the source and your words, actions, heart and spirit are all in line, you will see this represented in your life.  You will see brightness in your life and that is called hope.  You will have an outlook that will match your spirit.  You will know that All things are possible through Christ Jesus, because they are.

The fruit of the person who is connected spiritually will be abundant.  They will see the ease of life and have rest.  Their minds, spirits and hearts will be given rest, because they place their hopes in the Lord, not themselves, or their circumstances.

Please know, that I am not saying, that when you are connected spiritually to God you won’t experience hard days or sadness, because that is not true, you will experience these things, just like everyone else, but your outlook will be different.  You won’t feel defeated because you know that you are rooted and grounded in the one who produces good fruit, Jesus.

Jesus is our tree, He is our source.  He brings us favor, grace, mercy, love and blessings.  When you speak of the positive things in your life, you are speaking of Jesus.  You are calling for blessings and favor to come into your life, because you are calling on Jesus. 

We see in this verse that to be connected to a sound tree that is healthy and good, i.e., Jesus, you will produce good and healthy fruit.  When you are connected to a rotten tree, i.e. satan, you will produce diseased and bad fruit. 

I ask you which one would you desire?

If you were an onlooker and saw two people, one who was receiving good fruit and weathered the storms in their life with ease, and flexibility, and the other was receiving bad fruit, when their storms hit, they crumbled to the ground, whether the storm was a mild one or a severe one.  You saw the struggle of the bad fruit and saw the negativity that was around them.  Which life would you want to mimic?

I am sure, or at least hope, that you all chose the good fruit!  We want the life of abundance and we want to live a happy, joyful life, knowing why and how you are being blessed. 

To know your source, Jesus, is asking your environment to change.  It’s like being blessed with an inheritance you never knew you had coming to you. 

Jesus is the source of your good fruit.  The fruit that will cause people to look and then start asking you how and why you are so blessed.  The good fruit of Jesus in your life brings other people to want what you have, which brings glory and honor to God.

Jesus is telling us to choose which side we are going to be on.  Are we going to choose to produce bad fruit and live a life independently from Him and His love?  Or are you going to choose Him and receive the life of good fruit that will cause people to want what you have.

We don’t get to be luke warm.  We don’t get to live a life of luke warm faith, trust or dependency.  We have to choose one or the other.  Jesus will only let you straddle the fence for so long, before He makes you pick a side.

The decision seems clear to me, good thoughts, good words and a relationship with Jesus, brings good fruit!    

Just like when I didn’t know that apple seeds could potentially harm my dog, when I found out I made the changes needed to keep her safe.  Now, that you know what you sow you will reap, will you also make the changes necessary in your life to live the life of love, safety and abundance?