SIEVING THE SEEDS IN MY HEART!

I like to journal and not just in my Scripture Journal or Bible but in one I like to call a freeing journal or as some would call it a “brain/feels dump” journal. Sometimes it entails releasing all the emotions I feel, other times it means telling myself hard truths that I cannot seem to deal with verbally (I find that I am most truthful when I write in my journal. “How can I lie and leave evidence?” this is how I reason). On one occasion as I took to expressing myself, I received a great revelation which is the inspiration behind this blog post.

I had a lot to write and release when I grabbed my pen and journal and yet when God impressed the truths I am about to share, I ended it right then and there. I wouldn’t let the enemy have his way by making me fuss on it and replay it over in my head and further go on and mark a permanent reminder in my journal. All I did after was praise God for how He moulds me and I just said thank you.

This is how it started :

“I like to come here not only when there is trouble or when the devil invites himself but even when I conquer. Today the seed of bitterness was thrown into the ground of my fertile heart.. but it was the kind of seed my heart knows how to reject and so it was sent back and my heart is re-watering the seeds of love that it may keep growing.” Excerpt from my journal entry

Each day I yield to the Holy Sprit to work in me, I keep making my heart fertile and sometimes as this good soil keeps staying taking shape, the enemy tries to throw his seeds to the fertile ground of my heart and often, it will not come as direct and evil because he is crafty and it may come in form of  justifiable reasons.

The Parable of the sower (Matthew 13) is probably one of the most preached parables and we can almost recite it from start to finish. We know the types of places the seeds fell on that are often likened to the ground of our hearts: the wayside, the stony side, among the thorns and the good ground and with the place each seed fell, there was a result. This parable has always come with the invitation to make our hearts fertile ground so we may be able to receive the word of God. Yet though the goal is to soften our hearts, it does not mean making it accessible to just any seed.

God is the sower and just like there are false teachers in the midst of true worshippers, there will be false sowers who take up the position of leading us to receive their seeds. For instance, the enemy who is crafty and who makes his appeal in cunning ways: how he attacks our identity, how he causes us to look down on ourselves and even question God and then there comes people as well who sometimes throw remarks at us that either trigger emotions of bitterness or anger.

DOES YOUR HEART KNOW THE SEEDS TO REJECT?

So what does it take to guard our hearts? What does it take to make sure that these seeds of bitterness and the likes do not even find room? Can we fill our hearts with good seeds such that even those bad seeds have no room ? If the worst happens, can we be alert to know how to uproot them?

All I know for certain is it takes awareness, you cannot throw away the bad without knowing what the good looks like. Every day, I strive to show up and read His word. I try to be intentional with spending time with Him because only then can I know. We have been given free will and yet because of God’s love, He has sent along a helper: The Holy Spirit who brings the power and revelation that makes it possible to discern the good seeds and the bad seeds.

Just like a farmer/gardener uses a garden sieve to get rid of stones and weeds to make sure what goes into the soil is finer, so must we sieve the seeds that we allow to take root in our heart.

GARDENER OF MY SOUL

I know God in so many ways that He has revealed Himself and yet having Him as the gardener of my soul remains personal and timeless for me. Isaiah 58:11 is my prayer that I be like a well-watered garden. A garden that will flourish and bring forth good fruit. A garden that will make my Gardener proud of His work.

Gardening is not something I can boldly say I have actively engaged in but my knowledge of it  (based on observation and learning) leads me to be able to highlight traits that a gardener possesses and the activities he engages in before he plants the seed.  The farmer prepares his ground, opening it up, he goes ahead to soften the ground in preparation for the seed so as to make it absorbent, and in all these the traits of patience and perseverance cannot go unmentioned.

God as my gardener, can only work in me when I am connected to Him through salvation and pursuit of continuous fellowship. He then tills the soil of my heart through His word. He keeps the ground of my heart soft through His gentle rebuke as He invites me to repentance and leads me to the way that pleases me and as a result, my heart becomes absorbent to the truth of His teaching. I may not feel it but even in the daily, unseen moments, I know God is tending my soul and making me whole.

When a seed is planted, a harvest is expected

You have the responsibility to ward off ” seed predators” that want to destroy the good seeds as they grow. The quality of the harvest is not only based on the seed planting but how you nurture it. Harvest can take weeks, months, or years but it is only in watching over these seeds and watering them can you look forward to a bountiful harvest.

Resolve to water your soul as you stay in God’s word and you will be more equipped to uproot these seeds that are not pleasing to God. Let the evidence of the Holy Spirit be seen as you produce fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control (Galatians 5:22)

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A Prayer: Be the Gardener of my Soul 

Spirit of the Living God, be the Gardener of my soul. For so long I have been waiting, silent and still experiencing a winter of the soul. But now, in the name of Jesus Christ, I dare to ask: Clear away the dead growth of the past, break up the hard clods of custom and routine. Stir in the rich compost of vision and challenge. Bury deep in my soul the implanted Word. Cultivate and water and tend my heart, Until new life buds and opens and flowers. Amen.

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You are light and you are so loved. Stay anchored and keep His light shining through