The Dos and Don’ts of Seeds

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Seeds beget harvests only when they are planted. Bread begets waste. When seeds are not planted for any reason whatsoever ranging from greed, laziness, selfishness, disobedience and rebellion; seeds dry, rot and are wasted. They do not benefit anyone. They are wasted and God hates waste.

Seeds are divinely designed to be planted and not eaten or wasted on account of laziness. Please see Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 verses 1 to 6, Genesis Chapters 9 verse 22; 26 verses 12 to 14 and John Chapter 12 verse 24. Therefore, plant seeds when they should be planted and most importantly on the right soils.

Always separate seeds from bread. Every wise farmer does that. Please see Psalm 126 verses 5 to 6. Isaac planted in tears in Gerar. Why and how, you might ask? There was a famine in the land – a consequence of drought, unproductive soils yet God commanded Isaac to plant his precious seeds in that land. No wise farmer plants his seeds in a land or ground where there is drought, the ground id unproductive or has low yield. Yet, Isaac did because God commanded him to do so. The result of his obedience was overwhelming abundant harvests that made him richer than the indigenes of Gerar.

Do not despise the size of your seed as every seed has potential for greatness. Besides, the productivity of the seed does not depend on the size. A seed no matter how small always produces abundant harvest when planted. The mustard seed though small; grew into a large tree that not only accommodated the birds of the air but also produced mustards and seeds for the benefit of humanity. Please see Luke Chapter 13 verse 19. It is said that great things and achievements start with small beginnings. Please see Job Chapters 8 verse 7; 42 verse 12. The Bible also cautions against despising the day of small beginnings. Please see Zechariah Chapter 4 verses 6 to 10.

Quit Begging Bread

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

God gives bread and you can ask God directly. Please see Psalm 111 verses 4 to 6, 107 verses 8 to 9, 31 to 37, 105 verses 40 to 42, 104 verses 10 to 15, 81 verses 13 to 16. Why then should you subject yourself to the servitude of men and in the process sin against God because of bread when in reality God is the One Who gives bread?

Secondly, man does not live by bread alone. Please see Deuteronomy Chapter 8 verse 3, Matthew Chapter 4 verse 4, and Luke Chapter 4 verse 4. Therefore, do not allow hunger and the quest for food make you sin against God no matter how severe it is. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you; you should be able to exercise self control over hunger and the quest for food. Please see Galatians Chapter 5 verses 22 to 23.

It was hunger and the quest for food that made the unnamed foolish woman of 2^nd Kings Chapter 6 verses 25 to 30 give her son to be eaten up. She did not consider the consequences of cannibalism how much more that of eating up her son and sinning against God by despising the blessing of God to her, disobeying God and committing murder. It was only after the woman who deceived her refused to give up her son that the foolish woman realized the consequences of what she had done – ingratitude to God for the gift of a child, despising that gift, disobeying God to commit the other sins of murder and cannibalism. Perhaps, she also realized the consequences of the loss of her child.

Always Negotiate Tomorrow

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Always negotiate the future. Tomorrow is the future. The future is where you are headed which is why the future should always be the focus of your negotiations. The past is gone and should not be part of the negotiations. Joseph negotiated the future in his negotiations with Pharaoh. Daniel negotiated the future.

Negotiating Skills – Worth and Value

Esau and Rachel had no negotiating skills which explain why they always negotiated bread and not divine destinies. Their lack of self-control over bread deprived them of the ability to negotiate from a position of power. No matter how famished Esau was, he should have exercised self-control when he realized what Jacob aimed for – a birthright in exchange for a pot of stew – that was enough wake up call to stall negotiations. But Esau in addition to lacking self-control had absolutely no idea of who he was – the first born; and therefore did not know his worth and value as well as that of the birthright. He therefore traded what was of divine value and worth for temporary satisfaction. He repeated the same absolute lack of value and worth in his second negotiations with Jacob. Rather than refuse the gifts as well as insist on providing protection and security for Jacob (these actions would have given Esau an edge over Jacob as they would have kept Jacob in his place, in fear of Esau and never daring to be first born), Esau capitulated to Jacob’s superior argument and became indebted to Jacob. If only Esau knew his worth and value, that Jacob was afraid of him and his men and that Jacob’s life depended on his generosity. But Esau had no idea of who he was and his worth and his value. This infers that any negotiator worth his or her salt should know his or her value and worth or the value and worth of what s/he holds as bargaining chips. That sense of value and worth will be a constant reminder not to trade in value and worth for temporary relief or satisfaction. Also, a seasoned or skilled negotiator should always exercise self control so as not to get carried away by the temporary relief that may appear to be the solution in the heat of negotiations but is indeed no solution as Esau learnt after trading in his birthright for a pot of stew and as Rachel probably learnt after trading in her husband and her right of intimacy with him that night for mandrakes.

Command Respect and Authority

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

God made man to rule. As a priest, you serve but as a king you rule. Please see Genesis Chapter 1 verse 28. One of the most instruments a king needs to rule is the ability to make decrees to rule (Proverbs Chapter 8 verse 15). Decrees on the other hand are made with words (Ecclesiastes Chapter 8 verse 4). The word power means the ability to produce and effect results. The moment a king’s word loses the effect; the king loses his throne. If a king’s word cannot move his subjects, he has lost his throne.

God created you to rule. As a child of God, when you speak, something must happen. Where the word of a king is there is power (Ecclesiastes Chapter 8 verse 4). This power is the ability to affect people to get the outcomes you want from them.  For your words to make things happen, you must be flexible in His hands. You should be like the clay in the potter’s hands. Please see Matthew Chapter 4 verses 19 to 25. How flexible are you in His hands? The only person that has the power to make you is the person you follow. True discipleship in Christ Jesus confers ownership and ruler ship of resources as one is divinely aligned with the king of kings, Lord of lords and the true owner and Ruler of all resources. When you progress to true discipleship in Christ, everything becomes yours and everything is added to you. That is why the process of becoming a true disciple is much more important and critical than seeking for bread. Multitudes followed Jesus for the bread but the disciples followed Him for a change because that change was necessary. Following just for bread does not empower you to rule. Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God because if you are genuinely following Him, things will follow you.

The Church should be stronger than what she is presently if only believers follow Him for who He is and not things. The Church should learn to fish and own the pond rather than asking for fish. Believers should be taught both how to fish and how to own the ponds so their fishing enterprises are sustainable. That way, they will have the mind of Christ through discipleship and ultimately always supersede the devil by introducing the mind of Christ and not fighting him.

For instance, the lion roared against Samson to stop him but Samson killed the lion. Beloved, you are also divinely capacitated to roar back at any lion that roars against you by decreeing the judgment of God against such lions.  You will tear the lions with your decrees in Jesus mighty name. You have entered the season in your life when every word you speak must produce an effect so that you can rule effectively in the midst of your enemies.

Every time Jesus Christ spoke, all of creation obeyed. Jesus spoke what had to come to pass in spite of all contradictory evidences. Please see Luke Chapter 5 verses 1 to 10, John Chapter 21 verses 5 to 11, Isaiah Chapter 55 verses 8 to 13. You can command respect and authority if you have great divine communication skills. Speak as God speaks and you command respect and authority. Speak where God wants you to speak and speak what God wants you to speak. There is a way to issue commands and they are immediately carried out. There is a way to ask questions and you get answers. There is a way to make requests and get the requests approved and granted.