In the previous chapter I discussed the seeds that Jesus sows into our hearts.  This chapter is about the seeds that God enables us to sow.  There is a law that is as dependable as gravity regarding sowing and reaping.  God set up everything on this earth, not just agriculture, to work on the seed harvest principle.

Genesis 8:22:
“22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.””

Galatians 6:7-10 Amplified Bible:
7 Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.
8 For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
9 And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.
10 So then, as occasion and opportunity open up to us, let us do good morally] to all people [not only being useful or profitable to them, but also doing what is for their spiritual good and advantage]. Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith [those who belong to God's family with you, the believers].

Every act you do and every word you speak is a seed, good or bad. God is merciful to even allow us to harvest the bad fruit from the bad seed.  Why?  Because for unbelievers it can bring them to the end of their self-sufficiency.  For believers it brings a form of judgment in during our earthly life that will cause us to wake up and get ready for heaven.

Eternal returns:
Proverbs 14:14 NIV:
“14 The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good man rewarded for his.”

When one invests funds into an interest earning bank account, or into a real estate or stock market investment, and also holds it for a long period of time, the return is often very large.  Compounding interest, or in other words, interest that is added to the investment also gathers interest, is very powerful.  If you were to invest in the stock of Ford motor company when it first started, just a few dollars would be worth millions today!
When we sow seeds we are making an eternal investment that will never stop producing either negative or positive returns.  Faithfulness will reap eternal rewards because God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.  Faithlessness will reap eternal negative consequences.  We need to see our actions as eternal investments.  You may not see the returns immediately, but the profit and losses have eternity to work out.
Exponential returns.

The returns we receive on the seeds we sow are not only eternal, but they increase at an amazing rate.  You could compare this rate to the process of fruit seeds in the natural.  Lets say you have a vine with 1,000 grapes and each grape has 2 seeds inside of it.  Each seed then could produce two more grapevines, say, each vine having 1,000 grapes.  Therefore those 1,000 grapes could produce 2,000 more vines.  If you multiply 2,000 vines by 1,000 grapes per vine the result is 2,000,000 (million) grapes.

That is just repeating the process one time!  Think of what the number would be after ten times!  Amos prophesied about this kind of exponential increase in the later day Kingdom of God.

Amos 9:13:
“13 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.”

This is true for spiritual good seeds as well as bad spiritual seeds.  I can remember some financial giving circumstances I participated in, above my tithes, from which amazing supernatural rewards have come in for ten to thirty years, and are still coming in.  I can also recall other types of giving, like giving opportunities to disabled people, giving mercy instead of judgment, giving understanding, giving love, giving to the care of the elderly, etc.  While I know that I cannot possibly imagine some of the fruit I have received back, my wife and I often recognize it when it comes in, usually unmerited.

God is merciful to even allow us to harvest the bad fruit from the bad seed.  Why?  Because for unbelievers it can bring them to the end of their self sufficiency.  For believers it brings a form of judgment in during our earthly life that will cause us to wake up and get ready for heaven.

Different types of seed that we sow.
Remember first, that you are sowing seeds all day long every day, whether you know it or not!  Some people wonder why things always go so bad for them.  My answer is tempered with God's sovereignty for your life, and knowing that all of us will go through afflictions whether we are the cause of them or not.  But in order to not experience unnecessary afflictions, be sure to check your life hour by hour to see what crop you are planting.

Individuals have their own idea as to which seeds are large and which are small.  To some lying is a big sin, to others a little lie is not so bad.  God reminds us to be careful what we sow.  If we sow a lie we will not reap the truth.

If we will listen to Him, He will show us our bad seeds.  As we stop sowing what we see as large bad seeds, God will begin to show us the smaller bad seeds, and we can work on eliminating them as well. From the very small mustard seed grows a large tree.  In God’s sight all bad seeds need to be eliminated from our lives.  The bad seeds that we sow will bring a "crop of thorns" to choke the good seed as in Mark 4:18-19.

Here is a partial list of the most common seeds, both good and bad that we should be aware of.

Truth.
In my opinion, this is number one!  If you bear false witness, or in any way hide the truth from yourself, from God and from others, you will suffer.  Satan works in darkness, and he will make sure to take advantage of the darkness you have created.  You will not know the truth if you don't sow the truth.  You will not be able to see Jesus, who is the Truth.  His Word, the Truth, will become dull and boring.  You will have no discernment of others and even evil spirits.  What happens ultimately is you will believe a lie and not even know it, and that without any way of escape!
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11
“9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,”

Forgiveness.
Forgiveness is an often spoken about issue by Christians.  Some do not totally understand it; and others forget its very important eternal ramifications.  To forgive means to "cut away and remove." It is killing something.  We are to "cut away" the sin, remove it and allow it to go where it belongs, onto Jesus.  

Jesus has forgiven us.  If we have a difficult time forgiving others, then we need to practice "faith forgiveness," not by excusing the sin that they perpetrated against us, but by seeing that sin going on to Jesus.  Also we need to see that Jesus has absorbed the sin that others have perpetrated against us.  That horrible rejection by our father, mother, wife, pastor, or anybody, that binds us and refuses our freedom, has been absorbed by Jesus.  He "bore" our sin.  He was there when you were a little child and were abused.  When you see that rejection and abuse having gone into Jesus, then you can be free.  Then you can stop medicating your inner wounds by addictions.

If you do not take seriously your duty to forgive others, you will never be free!

Matthew 6:12,14-15:
“12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.”
“14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Matthew 9:2:
“2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.””

I believe that the forgiveness by Jesus in the story of the paralytic was referring to the sins perpetrated against the paralytic by others, perhaps even his family.  I cannot prove this, but it is my opinion.

Forgive-again?
by Jon Walker
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV)

Just because someone sins again, doesn't mean you can revoke, in a sense, the forgiveness you've already given. Forgiveness is a choice, so you don't take it back so much as you choose to be offended again.
Peter struggled with this dilemma and thought he was being generous, under Jewish law, when he suggested to Jesus that he should forgive someone up to seven times.

But Jesus emphasized the unlimited generosity of forgiveness by expanding beyond the limits of Peter's capacity to forgive; not seven times, said Jesus, but seventy-seven times.

God's forgiveness is ever-expanding; we can't run beyond its borders; we can't bankrupt the account. In God's refrigerator of grace, the container filled with forgiveness never goes stale and always has a current freshness date.

I'd hate to think my conversion to Christianity is dependent upon being perfect after my conversion instead of being dependent upon God's infinite, indestructible, and immovable grace. If it is dependent upon my perfection, then I fell from the race long ago.

And perhaps you did, too?

There's always a flip side to our conflicts with other people. When we're hesitant to give grace, we forget that we, too, need grace.

Jesus says we will be judged by the standard by which we judge. Is it seven? Seventy-seven? Or, unlimited?

Didn't Jesus say it only had to be seventy-seven? Yes, but he didn't say you couldn't go higher, and he wasn't speaking about his own unlimited capacity to forgive. If each of us only had seventy-seven forgiveness tickets per person per lifetime, then I ran out many, many, many years ago. Thank God that he is faithful to forgive and actively seeking to restore each of us into the family of God.

This devotional is excerpted from Growing with Purpose, available at Saddleback resources. Copyright 2010 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

Righteousness.
TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria Osteen
"…he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward"
(Proverbs 11:18, NIV)

Did you know God's kingdom operates on a system of sowing and reaping? Have you heard the saying, "What goes around, comes around?" That's really a spiritual principle. What you sow, you will reap. But I love what it says in today's verse that when we sow righteousness, we'll reap a sure reward.

Sowing righteousness simply means doing the right thing in the sight of God. It's obeying the Word no matter what the circumstances may look like. It means showing kindness even when it's undeserved. It's walking in love and keeping the peace when you really want to say something different. When you sow righteousness, you'll reap a sure reward. That's because God Himself is going to pay you back. He is the One who will multiply you when you honor Him.

Today, keep doing the right thing even if the wrong thing is happening. Sow righteousness. Stay in faith; keep believing because He who promised is faithful. There's a sure reward in store for you!

Financial.
Tithing.
As I studied in depth what the Scriptures say about tithing, giving the first tenth of your increase to God, I noticed a very simple conclusion.  That is that currency of the world is under a curse because it belongs to the Prince of this World, Satan.  However if you tithe, you are cleansing the 90% that is left.  The 90% becomes blessed and your financial life is no longer under the lordship of Satan.

Malachi 3:10:
“10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

My opinion about the windows of heaven is that we should not expect money to drop out of the windows of heaven, but rather God's personal Word to us, His rhema, His seed.  When His seed hits our heart, then the blessings will come!

Proverbs 3:9, 10:
“9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits [tithe] of all your increase;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.”

Giving.
Luke 6:38:
“38 “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.””

The law of giving does not only apply to money, it applies to everything that is within your power to give.

Moths and Rust.
Matthew 6:19-21:
“19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

When I was a new Christian God spoke this Scripture to me very strong.  I saw that anything here on earth that I could invest in was corrupt.  I thought, "Why should I put my funds into a bankrupt bank?  I am going to invest in Heaven's bank!"  I found out that Heaven's bank pays a great return on investment.  I had a very wealthy homebuilder who I had known before I was saved ask me, "Larry, what investment do you like right now in this economy?"  I answered, "I invest in the Kingdom of God, it pays the best return than anything else I know."  He never asked for my advice again.

Bigger Barns, covetousness.
Luke 12:15-34:
“15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17 “And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18 “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about

Bags, Barrel, Baskets, Barns
Choose how you want to see your financial life.
Bags with holes.
Haggai 1:6:
“6 “You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.””

Barrels to feed your family.
2 Kings 4:1-7:
“1 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”
2 So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels [barrels] from everywhere, from all your neighbors--empty vessels; do not gather just a few.
4 “And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”
5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out.
6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased.
7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.””

Baskets to feed the community.
John 6:5-13
“5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”
6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,
9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”
13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.”

Barns to feed the nations.
Genesis 41:46-49:
“46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
47 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly.
48 So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them.
49 Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.”

Meditate upon this Scripture.  Paul wanted the Philippians blessed.
Philippians 4:15-19 (Amplified Bible):
15 And you Philippians yourselves well know that in the early days of the Gospel ministry, when I left Macedonia, no church (assembly) entered into partnership with me and opened up [a debit and credit] account in giving and receiving except you only.
16 For even in Thessalonica you sent [me contributions] for my needs, not only once but a second time.
17 Not that I seek or am eager for [your] gift, but I do seek and am eager for the fruit which increases to your credit [the harvest of blessing that is accumulating to your account].
18 But I have [your full payment] and more; I have everything I need and am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent me. [They are the] fragrant odor of an offering and sacrifice which God welcomes and in which He delights.
19And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

John Wesley said, "The real value of a thing is the price it will bring in eternity."

Judgment.
Matthew 7:1-5:
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.
2 “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
3 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
5 “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

My good friend Michael Vincent says that when you judge someone else, it is like throwing a tennis ball and having it bounce back to hit you like a heavy bowling ball.  Judging is a complicated subject and there is not room here to cover it all. Judging means giving the final decree that cannot be overturned. It is just best to stay away from judging another person.

Mercy.
Matthew 5:7:
“7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.”

Psalms 18:25:
“25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;”

Proverbs 11:17:
“17 The merciful man does good for his own soul, But he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.”

Stealing.
Proverbs 6:30, 31:
“30 People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.
31 Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.”

Exodus 22:1:
“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.

Psalm 79:12:
And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom Their reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.

Proverbs 6:31:
Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.

Murder.
Genesis 4:15:
"And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him."

Matthew 5:21
“21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’”


Honor your mother and father.
Deuteronomy 5:16:
“16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”

Proverbs 20:20:
“20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.”

My good friend Michael Vincent, who the Lord is mightily using in the inner healing and restoration from addictions ministry, confirms that dishonoring your parents carries a serious and sure curse.  He said that he has never known a drug addict that has honored their mother and father, and that he has never known one who is not a drug addict that did not honor their mother and father.  Even if you need to give "unconditional honor" in spite of sin and bad behavior from your parents, practice honor!

Love.
Mark 12:31:
“31 “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

Love, in the context of its Biblical meaning, is not an emotion or a feeling.  Love is an action verb!  Agape love is the God kind of love that craves good for other people in an unselfish way.  Only the God inside of you can love in this manner.  Your job is to deny your old nature, your "flesh" nature, and allow God to love others through you.  As you do that, more love will be poured out on you.

What happens if you have sown bad seeds?
The Old Testament, for the most part, is sort of black and white.  You sowed a bad seed?  Look out; you are going to reap real painful judgment!  But thank God for His wonderful grace and mercy through what Jesus did for us.

So often as I have been holding a promise of God in my heart, a seed that He has sown, I have found myself with either an attitude or an action that should have allowed Satan to steal the seed from my heart.  However as God convicted me, I repented, really repented, and it is as if I had never sinned.  The seed stayed in the ground and eventually bore good fruit.  It is all because of forgiveness.  What is forgiveness?

1 John 1:8-10:
“8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Forgive in Greek means:
Strong's definition:  863 afiemi aphiemi {af-ee'-ay-mee} to leave, forgive, forsake, to send away, to bid going away or depart.

There is also a root word behind aphiemi, called apo, or apoginomai (575).  This means to die.  To die does not mean to cease to exist, but rather means to separate.  When our body dies, it separates from our spirit and soul.  It is like a surgeon cutting away a cancer, there is a "death," to the cancer. This word apoginomai is actually used several times in the New Testament as "die."

John 18:14:
“14 Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die [apo] for the people.”

1 Peter 2:24:
“24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died [apo] to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.”

Now lets make a personal application.
First, to confess means more that just to "say."  It includes saying, but its real meaning is to agree with, then say.  Therefore if we are to confess our sins as in 1 John 1:9, that first means that we must agree with the Word, with Jesus, that what we did was really a serious transgression against the Lord, and possible against a  human. Remember, God will deliver us from our inner enemies, not from our inner friends.  We must hate our sin.  That is the key that gives Jesus the opportunity to do His work.

Next, when we do that, Jesus goes to work and does "surgery" on us.  He forgives our sin, or in other words, removes it like a surgeon.  Where does He put it?  He takes it onto Himself!  The result is that sin no longer has any affect on us.  Even if the Lord would allow us to encounter some of the consequences, those consequences would work to our benefit and to His, as they would turn into a blessing and a "friend."  1 John 1:9 says that when Jesus removes our sin, that we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.  Cleansed means to be made pure.