For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:8.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
How does your garden grow? Are you gathering fruit for eternal life? John 4:36. The beauty, the delightfulness, the fruitfulness of your garden depends upon what seeds you are planting and the diligence in which you cultivate, guard, and keep it.
The Bridegroom: “A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a rock garden locked, a spring sealed up. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, henna with nard plants, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices. You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water, and streams flowing from Lebanon.”
The Bride: “Awake, O north wind, and come, wind of the south; make my garden breathe out fragrance, let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits!” Song of Songs 4:12-16.
A neglected garden becomes overrun with weeds, thorns, and birds eating the fruits and the swallowing up the seeds before they even grow.
It begins with a plan. Any gardener or farmer knows that if you want a fruitful garden you must prepare the soil first and the layout of what you want in which place and then choose the seeds that produce what you want to grow for beauty, fragrance, and crops unto abundant harvest. You must plant the seed that contains the plan for the plant you desire. It is obvious that if a farmer wants wheat he does not plant cotton, and certainly he does not plant weeds, thorns, and bramble bushes.
For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. Luke 6:43-45.
The garden you are cultivating which produces the fruit of your life is your heart.
But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. Luke 8:15.
Each day choose carefully what seeds you are planting. My Son called My Word seed that you plant in your heart and grow.
“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. Luke 8:11-15.
I call it seed as well.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11.
And not only does it produce fruit in your life, it also is the imperishable seed which, when received, plants in your spirit to produce eternal life.
For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23.
Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:21-22.
Whatever thoughts, words, hopes, dreams, fear, filth, offenses, anger, love, gratitude, doubts or faith you are inputting into your heart from your mind each day are what is going to harvest in your life. Be careful which thoughts you allow to plant and grow that come in. There are certain ones you should unearth immediately and cast out of your garden, and there are others that are worthy of your attention. But better yet, don’t let this be a random process on whatever seed a bird flies in that moment, whether negative or positive, like any good farmer or gardener, select the seed you want to grow and determine to plant that, protect it, meditate upon it, speak it, and watch it grow with joyful praise as your garden becomes more and more a place where you and I love to meet for conversation, revelation, impartation, and emancipation from all that would entangle you in sin and destroy the shalom beauty of your inner garden of the heart.
If you will purposely plant the seed each morning and cultivate it all day you will see the harvest come of what was in that seed.
And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26-29.
Whatever seed you are putting in your mind and heart, no matter what it is, if you take that and speak it, then it will grow and, you know not how, but it will form your life because you eat the fruit of your lips and the seeds in that fruit plant more and more of the same kind of trees and plants till it becomes a virtual forest, and at that point it is hard to clear out if it is full of dead wood and producing no fruit.
With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; he will be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power (hand) of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:20-21.
Be careful not just to what you are sowing but where you sow it. If you sow to the flesh you will reap corruption. If you sow to the Spirit you will reap eternal life. Think about that. Look around. You will know by the demeanor, size and fitness of people’s flesh what they are eating and sowing into themselves physically and from the purity and positive faith of their conversation and the light of their continence you will know what they are sowing into themselves spiritually. If you sow to the flesh you will destroy your life. If you sow to the Spirit you will build up and edify your life. Sowing to the flesh is the devil planting weeds in your wheat to spoil your harvest.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another. Galatians 5:16-17.
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:19-26.
The works of the flesh are produced by being detached from you source, like a branch cut off from the vine. The works of the flesh are toil apart from your source, withered and dry. Adam cut himself off from fellowship with Me and his life became one of toil, sweat, thorns and thistles. There had been no thorns or thistles till he planted the lie of the devil in his heart and replaced My imperishable seed with the perishable one.
The fruit of the Spirit is produced attached to your source, there is no toil. When Peter toiled according to the flesh he caught no fish all night, but when Jesus got in the boat and he fished in the Spirit though to the eyes of the flesh there were no fish to catch, he caught so many fish (they chased him down and jumped in his net) that his net was breaking and his boat sinking under the weight of the fish.
When those in the flesh meet hardship they cuss and swear, when those in the spirit meet hardship they command it down under their feet by answering with the truth of My Word. TThhe flesh hides and cries when the going gets rough but those in the spirit sing praise to Me and take down the gates of the enemy.
Those in the flesh get angry in opposition and they yell and fight, those in the Spirit give a calm, gentle answer but never budge off what is right and true. Always giving light in the darkness of the world. Those of the flesh panic and have torment over storms and prophesy harm and disaster, those of the Spirit bind them and prophesy the victory and no harm.
A farmer picks the seed he wants to plant for the harvest he has in view. Then he guards it from the birds, the pests, the blight, the drought, the thorns and weeds, and all things that would harm it. And when it is time for harvest put in the sickle and do not be lazy about it. Gather your harvest (like the Manna). You may be sowing in tears but the only way to reap is with joy. Abide, enter My rest, it will produce much fruit that will endure unto everlasting life.
Where jealousy and strife exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:16-18.
I love you. Start today to plant the seed that will give you a glorious tomorrow for it is forever. Plant it, grow it, protect it, and harvest it.