Planting Seeds Of Faith Quotes

Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.

A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He cultivates the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, and then the natural forces of the earth take over and up comes the grain...This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines - they are a way of sowing to the Spirit... By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done.

I prayed that our growth would be as strong and determined as the seeds of coconut palms, boldly reaching skyward toward the sun diligently boring deeper into the earth to secure a firm foundation for the beautiful, durable, fruit-bearing trees they would become. For me, Mhonda was the place to continue the growth of the still young but strong roots of my tree planted in Kifungilo. This was my life now, the life I’d prayed for, the life that would provide me with an education and would open doors. I wanted this life very much. I told my wavering spirit to bear with me because, just like the coconut palm, I would sway and bend and bruise, but I would survive. I would have to become the tree in the African saying: ‘The tree that bends with the wind does not break.

What are you planting today to harvest tomorrow?

Don't be discouraged if people don't see your vision, your harvest. All they see from their perspective is that you're watering a whole lot of dirt. They don't SEE what seeds you've been planting with blood, sweat, tears and lack of sleep. Make sure you don't abandon or neglect it because "they" don't see it. You have to KNOW and believe for yourself. They don't see the roots and what's budding under the dirt. But it's okay, because it's NOT meant for them to see it. While you wait, MASTER it. You continue to do YOUR work and have unwavering faith! Remember why you started planting in the first place. Your harvest WILL come!

Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed. The first copper you save is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow. The sooner you plant that seed the sooner shall the tree grow. And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with consistent savings, the sooner may you bask in contentment beneath its shade.

Some of us will plant the seed and never see the plant.

Blessed are you who sow. Every seed you so plant, will grow into bountiful crops for great harvest.

Though people are laughing at the dirt surrounding you, they are missing to see the seeds also planted, growing silently within.

As we plant in tears, we shall harvest with joy.

Don't let your inner demons Take the best of your creeds. If God gives you lemons, You must plant the seeds. Do not be so self-absorbed That you can't see the tree. If you succumb to what's morbid You bury your chance to be free.

Inside that tiny seed, lives the roots, branches, bark, trunk, leaves, twigs and apple fruit of that apple tree. You can’t see, feel, hear, taste or smell any of that yet; nevertheless, it is all inside that seed. The moment the seed is in your hand— all of that is in your hand, too, from the root to the bark to the fruit! All you have to do is to push the seed into the soil. And what makes anyone plant any apple seed? It is the belief that in the seed, there is the tree. So, believe. To have a seed, is to have everything.

This is God's universe and he is the master gardener of all. If we were to eliminate all colors in his garden, then what would be a rainbow with only one color? Or a garden with only one kind of flower? Why would the Creator create a vast assortment of plants, ethnicities, and animals, if only one beast or seed is to dominate all of existence?

When mental issues start to form seeds in our minds the only thing that grows is weeds from all of the dead plants that failed to bloom.

Christians have been beaten, whipped, starved, humiliated, mutilated, tortured, hung, burned at the stake, crucified, and fed to lions; yet two thousand years after a man called Jesus of Nazareth walked the streets of Jerusalem, 1,734 million people alive on this earth today call themselves by the ever-dividing, ever-uniting word: Christian. God is still scattering the seeds a few righteous renegades planted in a city called Antioch. Had they only known what they were starting.

Generosity is an act of love.

Praying for healing with the faith-destroying words, "if it be Thy will,' is not planting the "seed"; it is destroying the seed.

Fill. The third phase of dominion is to “fill” or “replenish” the earth. Bearing fruit, refining our gift, and mastering the use of our resources create demand and lead naturally to wider “distribution.” To “fill the earth” means to expand our gift, our influence, our resources, just as a growing business would by continually improving its product, opening new outlets, and hiring more employees. Another way to look at it is to think once again of an apple tree. A single apple seed grows into an apple tree, which then produces apples, each of which contains seeds for producing more trees. Planting those seeds soon turns a single apple tree into a whole orchard. This expansion to “fill the earth” is a joint effort between the Lord and us. Our part is to be faithful with the resources He has given. He is the one who brings the expansion. The more faithful we are with our stewardship, the more resources God will entrust to us. That is a biblical principle.

Know that you're here for a reason. The dreams that stir within you are there to be achieved. Those dreams are seeds that have been planted inside you, that you're responsible for watering with action and fertilizing with faith until they manifest; and manifest they must as long as you quit quitting. Never give up.

I write to tell stories of the transformation I know is possible. I know because I've lived it—once full of fear and striving, knowing nothing of grace. God taught me how to love without borders, and my life was never the same. Those seeds planted years ago have transformed into what I daily pray is a sheltering place for others to grow.

You are planting seeds now and one day when you least expect those flowers will bloom. Trust the process.

Though I don't believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there and I am prepared to expect wonders.

Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been I have great faith in a seed

Faith...needs to be matched with action. Belief is not just brain cells in motion. It demands a response. Do we do what we believe? If we believe in a seed, we plant it.

These seeds are pressed out and planted when man loses himself in a wild, mad state of joy, consciously feeling and claiming himself to be that which he formerly desired to be.

A garden is a cultivated piece of ground, a specially prepared field, where seeds of the gardener's own choice are planted and cultivated. Gethsemane is such a garden, the place in consciousness where the mystic goes with his properly defined objectives. This garden is entered when man takes his attention from the world round about him and places it on his objectives.

We who bore the mark, felt no anxiety about the shape the future was to take. All of these faiths and teachings seemed to us already dead and useless. The only duty and destiny we acknowledged was that each one of us should become so completely himself, so utterly faithful to the active seed which nature planted within him, that in living out its growth he could be surprised by nothing unknown to come.

We are all made from the same seeds. It makes sense to say that compassion, love sunshine, water and nourishing seeds will grow into healthy, happy, fulfilled plants. You don’t have to like a certain kind of bread or be a bread maker to have faith. God invented more than brand of toasters to spread the seeds of faith. Those who become self-righteous bread makers shall have self-righteous toaster consciousness. If our belief system excludes us from sharing bread with those who do not believe the exact same manner as we do, that’s when its time to re-evaluate our belief system.

One of the greatest acts of faith is to believe that the few years we live on this earth are like a little seed planted in a very rich soil. For this seed to bear fruit, it must die. We often see or feel only the dying, but the harvest will be abundant even when we ourselves are not the harvesters.

If the goal was to heal, move on, this was not the way to proceed. Healing needed privacy, needed patience, needed nurturing. Healing required planting seeds in the soft, dark underground. Reporters arrived like shovels tearing into the earth, scooping seeds out, bare-skinned, back onto the surface. I was left on my knees in the dirt digging holes, placing the broken shells down deep, patting the soil with my hands. But there would always be more shovels, more disruptions, looming court dates. The more it happened, the less energy I had to keep digging; a deadening faith that something would grow.

Science discovered long ago that carbon is a source of life. The ashes of my faith have prepared the ground for the planting of seeds that have produced new forms of truth, morality and meaning on my own terms, not according to the dogma laid down by religious ruffians or a vengeful God. If, as believers claim, the word "gospel" means good news, then the good news for me is that there is no gospel, other than what I can define for myself, by observation and conscience. As a journalist and free-thinking human being, I have come not to favor and fear religion, but to face and fight it as an impediment to civilized advancement.

A seed needs planting in order to grow. It needs patience. If the seed was cast from the hand of God, he will surely sprout it, in his time, in his way. If it came from good human intentions, consider it no waste. It was a mortal's vocalized belief that you have something to offer, and while that person may prove mistaken about the precise form, that faith can act as fertilizer to the soil.

We dared the impossible, did the undoable, bore the unbearable, not merely once but over and over again. I don't believe in fate or inevitable destinies, as I keep telling folks. But I do believe in a certain kind of inevitability. When you plant a potato, you get a potato. When you plant a rose, you get a rose. There is a pattern already in the seed, and it will unfold according to its nature.

Those who are waiting are waiting very actively. They know that what they are waiting for is growing from the ground on which they are standing. . . . That’s the secret. The secret of waiting is the faith that the seed has been planted, that something has begun. Active waiting means to be present fully to the moment in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it. . . . Waiting, then, is not passive.

When this belief is so firmly established that you feel confident of results, your desire will embody itself. How it will be done, no man knows. I, your desire, have ways ye know not of; my ways are past finding out. Your desire can be likened to a seed, and seeds contain within themselves both the power and the plan of self-expression. Your consciousness is the soil. These seeds are successfully planted only if, after you have claimed yourself to be and to have that which you desire, you confidently await results without an anxious thought.

encourage you to pray this out loud right now: Father, my focus has been on the outside. I’ve been trying to stop all of these actions and clean myself up in order for You to love me. But now I see that it’s not this way at all. It’s just a matter of receiving Your love. Father, I want to know You. I desire to receive a spiritual revelation of Your love. Your Word says that the Holy Spirit will teach me all things, lead me into all truth, and bring all things to my remembrance that Jesus has spoken to me. Right now, I believe that You are revealing Yourself to me through the Holy Spirit. By faith, I receive Your unconditional love. Father, I ask You to break these feelings of guilt, shame, confusion, and condemnation that a works mentality has produced on the inside of me. Thank You for showing me Your supernatural love. Right now, I believe that a seed is being planted in me that will grow. As I meditate on these truths from Your Word, they are going to become a deeper conviction, a deeper revelation of Your unconditional love for me. I thank You that it’s Your love that will cause me to start living right. It’s Your love that will break these bondages in my life. I receive Your love. Thank You, Jesus!

What if every dream you ever dreamt was a part of a dream that you're living? To my Smiling Soul, If there is one thing I have learnt over Time that stands solid and can pass the test of Time in every Universe then that is the Strength of our Soul when we live through the Smile of our Heart. It doesn't matter, how much time goes by, how many detours or losses fell on your path, as long as you stand your ground, as long as you don't let regret or failure to get the better of you, you win, you walk with slow but steady steps knowing there is someone watching over you, holding onto integrity and grace. You remember to bury your pain, your loss, your sorrow and plant a seed of Love instead with a Hope that someday, Somewhere in some corner of this Universe you will find your due, something that only He alone can give you, something that is yours, entirely yours. Until then, keep reminding the world that a Unicorn doesn't need to be a lion or a wolf in the wilderness of Life. - your Smiling Dream To every Dreamer, keep weaving that halo of dream for you never know where you might end up in the Smile of Time, because Life knows exactly the Dream that Life weaves around us. Love & Light, always - Debatrayee

I read books and researches on psychiatry and psychology for twenty years, and I’m called crazy by people that learn about mental health from talk shows. I have read thousands of books about life, but I’m called arrogant by people that don’t even have time to finish their novels. I have visited over thirty countries, but I am called ignorant by people that base their conclusions on their own culture. I can make money from companies I founded, but I am called lucky by those who don’t understand how their is salary made. I published nearly three hundred books, resuming knowledge that could fill an entire library, and I’m insulted the most by those who base all their knowledge on one book alone. Indeed, arguing with the ignorant is like planting seeds on rocks; You need plenty of faith and patience, and even these qualities are never enough for them. But what else should one expect from the ignorant except ignorance?

The sooner you plant that seed the sooner shall the tree grow. And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with consistent savings, the sooner may you bask in contentment beneath it's shade

James was standing on the ground he and Hoke had packed hard with their foot traffic--arms crossed, admiring the work of their labor--when the idea seeded and planted in his mind.

As Christians, sometimes our contributions can be overlooked.like planting seeds, humility, and compassion.

We live in an age when doubt is part of our collective spiritual condition more than in times past. But honest questioning and lack of surety are not the same as active unbelief so often warned against in scripture. As a necessary part of living on this side of the veil, doubt is neither good nor bad necessarily. While it sends some careening, for many others is sparks deeper spiritual yearnings and more mature reflection on the complexities of mortality. Doubt can therefore operate as faith's partner as much as its enemy, depending on our response to it. The quest to eradicate all doubt becomes counterproductive to God's cal for us to live by faith in a mortal existence where uncertainty is so often the norm. Once we recognize with Nephi that it is not wrong to not know all things (1 Nephi 11:17) and we acknowledge that testimonies come in different shapes and sizes, we are prepared to embrace both those within our faith and those beyond with love rather than judgement. Comprehending that faith is a process, a journey, a spectrum–choose your own metaphor–we realize that neither faith nor doubt are all-or-nothing propositions. People can (and most people do) hold both faith and doubt in their minds and hearts simultaneously. The call to belief is not a decree to deny our doubts. It is rather to "give place for a portion" of God's light—whatever portion we have received, in whatever form–to be planted and then grow within us. Desire is enough; "a particle of faith" is sufficient. God's plea is simple and direct: do not cast out the seed of faith, whatever yours looks like, by your unbelief.

HEALING POINTS IN REVIEW • Remind yourself frequently that the healing power is in your subconscious mind. • Know that faith is like a seed planted in the ground; it grows after its kind. Plant the idea (seed) in your mind, water and fertilize it with expectancy, and it will become manifest. • The idea you have for a book, new invention, or play is real in your mind. This is why you can believe you have it now. Believe in the reality of your idea, plan, or invention, and as you do, it will become manifest. • In praying for another, know that your silent inner knowing of wholeness, beauty, and perfection can change the negative patterns of the other’s subconscious mind and bring about wonderful results. • The miraculous healings you hear about at various shrines are due to imagination and blind faith that act on the subconscious mind, releasing the healing power. • All disease originates in the mind. Nothing appears on the body unless there is a mental pattern corresponding to it. • The symptoms of almost any disease can be induced in you by hypnotic suggestion. This shows you the power of your thought. • There is only one process of healing and that is faith. There is only one healing power; namely, your subconscious mind. • Whether the object of your faith is real or false, you will get results. Your subconscious mind responds to the thought in your mind. Look upon faith as a thought in your mind, and that will suffice.

As a parent, you have to master the art of planting seeds in your children. The Answers can't always be handed to them in life, but if you are consistently planting the seeds of integrity, faith, continual learning, respect, and love they will always have a chance to figure it out.

faith becomes the acceptance of our power as a directive force in creation. It is this unified perspective that allows us to move forward in life, trusting that through our prayers we have planted the seeds of new possibilities. Our faith allows us to rest assured that our prayers are accomplished. In this knowledge, our prayers become expressions of thanks, giving life to our choices as they blossom in our world.

I’ve watched the Lord press seeds into the sometimes resistant soil of my heart that I might grow out of myself and become more like Him. Sometimes he does the planting alone in the night, when it’s just Him and me. But usually God uses others to plant and water the hope that I can do exceedingly more through Christ than I ever dreamed.

My God, this is staggering, Woah! Immense. This epiphany quivers me as I write. How powerful, nonpareil, & superordinary is your Word. The BEATITUDES for instance, is a saintly archetype of direct investment, --seed planting & a sure-way harvest. May I liken it a bit to a spiritual trading --one in which, to get this-- you do this. Simple, practical & yet so effective. The only ingredient required for this is aBsOluTe OBEDIENCE. Meanwhile, all of humanity-- everyone actively, passively, knowingly or otherwise is a trader at this heavenly market of life. --©Bright Heaven's

BEATITUDES My God, this is staggering, Woah! Immense. This epiphany quivers me as I write. How powerful, nonpareil, & superordinary is your Word. The BEATITUDES for instance, is a saintly archetype of direct investment, --seed planting & a sure-way harvest. May I liken it a bit to a spiritual trading --one in which, to get this-- you do this. Simple, practical & yet so effective. The only ingredient required for this is aBsOluTe OBEDIENCE. Meanwhile, all of humanity-- everyone actively, passively, knowingly or otherwise is a trader at this heavenly market of life. --©Bright Heaven's

If you plant certain types of seeds in the ground, you have faith they will grow after their kind. This is the way of seeds, and trusting the laws of growth and agriculture, you know that the seeds will come forth after their kind. Faith as mentioned in the Bible is a way of thinking, an attitude of mind, an inner certitude, knowing that the idea you fully accept in your conscious mind will be embodied in your subconscious mind and made manifest. Faith is, in a sense, accepting as true what your reason and senses deny, i.e., a shutting out of the little, rational, analytical, conscious mind and embracing an attitude of complete reliance on the inner power of your subconscious mind.

A LESSON FROM THE PLANTS notice how the plants never hurry always taking their time just like the Creator did when He made them in the many seasons of rising and falling back to seed they don’t worry about missing their moment in the sun for they trust and abide content to stay planted or catch the wind to new ground

To believe in the golden seeds of God that the angels have scattered and continue to offer an open heart are the first things we must do with our lives. And the next is to go through these gray days as announcing messengers ourselves. So much courage needs strengthening; so much despair needs comforting; so much hardship needs a gentle hand and an illuminating interpretation; so much loneliness cries out for a liberating word; so much loss and pain seek a spiritual meaning. God’s messengers know about the blessing that the Lord God has planted, even within these historic times. To wait in faith, for the fruitfulness of the silent earth and for the abundance of the coming harvest, means to understand the world—even this world—in Advent. To wait in faith—no longer because we trust the earth or the stars or our temperament and good courage—but only because we have perceived God’s messages and know about His announcing angels, and even have encountered one.

I am calling this season, The Parable of The Wheat and The Tares

Every seed planted, will yield bountiful harvest.

Be faithful to plant. Release the growing to God. Open up clenched fists and let the seeds drop into the ground, let them burrow down deep and do their secret work in the dark. Sacred shaping happens in the waiting.

God’s timing determines the fruit of the harvest.

17But the wisdom from above is always pure,o filled with peace, considerate and teachable.p It is filled with loveq and never displays prejudice or hypocrisyr in any form 18and it always bears the beautiful harvest of righteousness! Good seeds of wisdom’s fruit will be planted with peaceful acts by those who cherish making peace.

today, as she sat in her room following prayer, she reflected on how their numbers had grown in a way they could not have if they had all remained in Jerusalem. This time Abigail allowed herself to give silent voice to her deepest questions. Was this why, Lord? Was Stephen the seed that, when planted in the ground, bore fruit? Did you use his death to scatter us for your purposes?

Any seed that is planted by God bears fruit even before it touches the ground.

Your dream seed will never grow unless you take action: prepare the ground, protect it, nurture it and allow it flourish. Until a seed is planted it can never fulfill its purpose. Before Jesus could change the course of our lives, he first was planted in Mary’s virgin womb. And the word cannot change your circumstances until you plant it in your heart and believe it by faith. Find the Word (seed) that pertains to your circumstances and sow those Words in your heart. Trust God. Believe Him. And know as long as the earth remains so shall seed time and harvest time.  The more you sow, the more you’ll grow.

Your life will get better if you truly believe it will. First ...You must plant that seed of faith and then sprinkle it with patience because anything good in life takes time. But if you don't give up you will see changes. It's all up to you!

True faith is when you see the harvest before you plant the seed.

We must plant the seed of desire, water it with sincere faith. If you think you are beaten you are. If you dare not, you don't. If you want to win, but think you can't, it is almost sure you won't." 14

A spirit, who has not been refreshed by the union with Christ, will continue in it’s death condition. Jesus Christ is the only one who may reconcile men with God by refreshing their spirit. It is in the spirit, where the bridge between God and men is established. This does not happen at the level of the soul, which lacks of death or life (as the spirit does) by itself. It is just an instrument to keep us in touch with the material and animal world. Men were created to be a governing SPIRIT. That is its vital essence and that is the only place where they can receive salvation. Salvation and new birth are not achieved via an intellectual mechanics, but it is a matter of the spirit. The spirit must be engendered by the Spirit of God. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12 - 13 It is not the will of the flesh that produces this engenderment, but God awards it. He brings the precious seed of life and plants it in our spirit. This happens when with a sincere and repentent heart we give Him all that we are. Then, we are baptized. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Acts 2:38 and 41 In the New Testament, the consummation of the faith people had believed was immediately confirmed by the baptism. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved… Mark 16:16 a It is in the baptism where the union of our spirit with God’s Holy Spirit takes place, and a new spiritual creature is engendered and starts growing in God’s resemblance. God’s life in us is in the resurrection. All the power Jesus Christ arose with from death is now what dwells in our spirit.

the complete fulfilment of the meaning of Christ’s presence on earth. He planted the seeds and it is up to us to cultivate and gather the harvest, or else it will wither. “So from this day, we must decide not only our fate but our faith. Do we wish to be bureaucrats and remain behind these walls? To sit here and debate the finer points of theology while the sick are untended,

Life on Earth indeed can seem but one hard-earned lesson after another, with moments of grace and beauty in between to keep people sane, and hopeful. While some die peacefully at the natural end of a long, well-lived life, even they still haven't completed everything they meant to, or lived without regret. And some of us thought we'd have more time to things right. I tell myself that at least we planted some seeds- ideas of love, and faith, and loyalty- that are starting to show signs of growth. Time will tell.

God is alive and faithful to make something beautiful out of us...God won't abandon us...He's going to replenish it all. He's carrying us in his arms, no matter how bruised or broken we feel. He's planting beautiful seed for our journey - seed that's thriving even among the barren months.

Bloom where you’re planted. Don’t make excuses. Don’t go through life thinking, I’ve got a disadvantage. I’ve got too many obstacles. I’m the wrong nationality. I come from the wrong family. I don’t have the connections. I could never get out of this environment. You may not see how you will rise above, but God sees. He already has a way. Your destiny is not determined by how you were raised, or by your circumstances, or by how many odds are against you; your destiny is determined by the Creator of the universe. And if you take what God has given you and make the most of it, like Chi Chi did, God will open doors. He will give you good breaks, and He will place the right people across your path. Get rid of your excuses. Quit waiting for things to change. Sow a seed and be happy right now. When you’re in difficult times, remember: Either God is doing a work in you or He’s using you to do a work in someone else. As long as you’re in faith, where you are is where you’re supposed to be. Quit fighting to go somewhere else. Be the best you can be right where you are. If you make this decision to bloom where you’re planted, you pass the test. God promises He will pour out His blessings and favor. You’ll not only live happy, but also God will take you places you’ve never even dreamed of.

Thoreau could speculate that even a slight shift in natural processes—a little colder winter, a little higher flood—might put an end to humanity, so dependent are we on a wild nature that gives us no guarantees. Hence he emphasized living "deliberately"; that is, living so as to perceive and weigh the moral consequence of our choices. "Civil Disobedience" insists that the choices we make create our environment, both political and natural—all the choices, even the least and most seemingly trivial. The sum of those choices is weighed on the scales of the planet itself, a planet that is, like Walden Pond, sensitive and alive, quick to measure the least change and register it in sound and form. To Thoreau this was cause for tremendous optimism: as the village expanded and the old trees fell, he planted new ones and reveled in the young forest. If the English settlers had wiped out many of New England's animals—beaver, wolf, bear and cougar, moose and deer, wild turkey—still there was much remaining, enough to assure him the wild was everywhere, ready to reseed and reclaim what it had lost. His last, unfinished works, Wild Fruits and The Dispersion of Seeds, emphasize how the smallest of seeds, let loose on the winds or carried by the least of beings, could transform the world. All humans need to do is learn to work with instead of against the vital currents of life. The Books Thoreau didn't live to finish are about building a community of life, and he died in the faith his words, like seeds, would take root and grow. Exactly insofar as we, today, share his belief in the future of life and act on it, will he continue to speak to us.

The never-ending stream-of-consciousness stories planted the seed or God or faith or my dysfunctional family of loving parents.

You reap what you sow. Plant the right seeds.

In the heart of the land where the rivers flow free, Stands a nation of folks who are brave as can be. With hands on our hearts, under God's watchful eyes, We're singing this song for the home of the brave. We're taking back our country, it's time to stand tall, With faith as our compass, we'll never fall. From the mountains so grand, to the wide-open sea, Under God's grace, where the brave are still free. We've weathered the storms, faced our trials with grace, Now we're turning the page, we're not stuck in one place. With hope in our eyes and prayers in our hands, We're planting new seeds across this great land. So many have fought, and so many have died, To keep the flame of freedom truly alive. In fields far away, under skies so vast, Their courage reminds us, our liberty lasts. Oh, we're not just a memory, we're alive and we're strong, We're the voices united in a powerful song. With God by our side, we'll forge a new way, For the red, white, and blue, we'll proudly display. We're taking back our country, with courage anew, We'll mend every bridge and paint it with truth. From the golden wheat fields to the cities that gleam, Under God's watch, we're chasing the dream. So let's raise up our voices, let the whole world hear, The USA's heart beats strong and sincere. We're taking back our country, making it better each day, For we are the people, under God, the USA.

Beloved, our tolerance, prohibitions, and enforcements are the silent instructors through which we impart the profound lessons of respect. They are the unseen pedagogues that shape the boundaries of reverence, molding the sacred space in which honor resides. In the permissive expanse of what we allow, we etch the contours of esteem's terrain. Each indulgence scripts the depths to which regard may traverse. Conversely, in the fertile void of our prohibitions, we plant the seeds of deference. What we forbid inscribes the hallowed ground where veneration takes root and flourishes. Yet we chisel the definitive form of respect through the decisive hand of enforcement. Each exercised injunction is a chisel's strike, gradually giving rise to respect's exquisite visage. Thus, the triadic praxis of tolerance, prohibition, and enforcement weaves the intricate tapestry upon which the symphony of regard eternally echoes. Through this debate, we endlessly sculpt the sacred ethos of honor to which we all inescapably bow.

If people are gardens, knowledge should be treated like the seeds that will, eventually, grow. We need to make sure that the seeds we are planting will produce something of the Kingdom when fully grown. And you can’t rush it. Some questions need to be revisited for years before the answer takes. Some answers need to be revisited for years for a good question to take.

Luke 17:5-6, a Lukan paraphrase of Mark 11:22-24, strikes a surprising note of pessimism: "The apostles said to the Lord, `Increase our faith!' And the Lord said, `If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea!" and it would obey you."' The point is surely that, since such a thing is plainly never going to happen, you can see how little faith any one will ever have. It is like the rhetorical question of Luke 18:8, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" The same double bind has caught the father of the deaf-mute epileptic in Mark 9:24, "1 believe; help my unbelief!" (How striking that the single most poignant and insightful New Testament statement about faith is made not by the Messiah or an apostle or prophet, but just by ... some guy!)

These are the days of the war, so rise up warriors of Christ! You, who are children of God, rise up! Take up your sword and fight a good fight! Our hope and our future are in Christ. Let that seed be planted upon your children. Our reward is not of this Earth, because the things of the world are temporary. Our reward is great; our reward is with our Father in heaven. This is the hope that we have in the future. So take a stand, finish strong in faith in Jesus. Put your hope in Jesus, for He holds our future.

As a man thinketh, so is he? The Faith of a mustard seed? I planted those words in my thoughts and still my mind wound up lost between my dreams and reality.

Coe has always claimed he’s not a nationalist, and it’s true—unlike immigrant Abram, who cared most for America, Coe, Oregon-born, cares most for the American Christ, His power spread throughout the world even as the homeland is denied Him in the secular folly of church/state separation. One day, Coe believes—not yet—America (and Old Europe, too, the Germans and French and Italians who drifted from Christ once their prosperity was assured) will wake up and find itself surrounded by a hundred tiny God-led governments: Fiji, a “model for the nations” under a theocratic regime after 2001, a Family organizer boasted to me; and Uganda, made over as an experiment in faith-based initiatives by the Family’s favorite African brother, the dictator Yoweri Museveni; and Mongolia, where Coe traveled in the late 1980s to plant the seeds for that country’s post-communist laissez-faire regime.

Our Mothers Your eyes see hope for tomorrow Your hearts are made of gold that many wish to borrow Your minds sharp enough for others follow Your hands ensure that children grow Your feet go places where some cannot know Your courage makes you stand where strong winds blow Your presence becomes warmth, regardless of the snow Your influence can be felt within a stone’s throw You hold nothing back for whom you protect You speak words with good intent You treat others with so much respect You fight and never retract You pursue a path that keeps your faith intact You fulfil dreams and make a significant impact You pass through tough times while remaining steadfast You conquer battles as you pray and fast You instil discipline that becomes a great shield You serve others until they succeed You give inspiration among those who bleed You understand that you are rearing a rare breed You plant and nurture the right seed You help attract breakthroughs with speed You care for those in need You touch lives, indeed You lead your own to be great every step of the way You play your role very well, even without a pay You smile as if every day is your pay day You exude wisdom and put it on full display You save generations from going astray You run your race just like in a relay You pass the baton with no delay You carry so much worth as you get to be gray Hence, we salute you, our Mothers

The Well-Watered Woman is like a seed planted by God—continually growing by his grace, sustained by his promises.

intellectual process. The starting point for me—as it will be for most of us—was my family. I was very much the beneficiary of strong family values, priorities, and culture. I was born into a wonderful family, and as I grew up, my parents had deep faith. Their example and encouragement were powerful. They planted the seed of faith within me. It was not until I was twenty-four, however, that I

Most of us ask God for an easy life. We even ask for it for our children. But sometimes it takes a little heat to break loose the seeds He’s planted deep inside us. Seeds we probably didn’t even know were there.

Something about Israel was speaking to me, planting a seed of faith that would one day prove more fruitful than anything I’d ever harvest. It was the beginning of my most important journey, one I wouldn’t fully appreciate until I had far more to lose in this life than I had to gain.

Jesus said that our faith is like a tiny seed planted inside us. He helps it grow just like the sun helps the plant grow, until it’s strong and healthy and able to do good things.

This longing to do something important that would matter is just another form of unbelief. Every Christian is always in the middle of the spiritual action, whether being faithful as a mother at home nursing babies, as a single person pursuing their studies, as a missionary, as a worker at the local laundromat, as a CEO, or as a janitor. You are always in the midst of your own most important spiritual work. Your hands are always full of God’s seeds, if you will just plant them.

The literature of apocalypse is scary stuff, the kind of thing that can give religion a bad name, because people so often use it as a means of controlling others, instilling dread by invoking a boogeyman God. ... [Apocalyptic literature] is not a detailed prediction of the future, or an invitation to withdraw from the concerns of this world. It is a wake-up call, one that uses intensely poetic language and imagery to sharpen our awareness of God's presence in and promise for the world. The word "apocalypse" comes from the Greek for "uncovering" or "revealing," which makes it a word about possibilities. And while uncovering something we'd just as soon keep hidden is a frightening prospect, the point of apocalypse is not to frighten us into submission. Although it is often criticized as "pie-in-the-sky" fantasizing, I believe its purpose is to teach us to think about "next-year-country" in a way that sanctifies our lives here and now. "Next-year-country" is a treasured idiom of the western Dakotas, an accurate description of the landscape that farmers and ranchers dwell in - next year rains will come at the right time; next year I won't get hailed out; next year winter won't set in before I have my hay hauled in for winter feeding. I don't know a single person on the land who uses the idea of "next year" as an excuse not to keep on reading the earth, not to look for the signs that mean you've got to get out and do the field work when the time is right. Maybe we're meant to use apocaly[tic literature in the same way: not as an allowance to indulge in an otherworldly fixation but as an injunction to pay closer attention to the world around us. When I am disturbed by the images of apocalypse, I find it helpful to remember the words of a fourth-centry monk about the task of reading scripture as "working the earth of the heart," for it is only in a disturbed, ploughted0up ground that the seeds we plant for grain can grow.

One day, the children these people have ministered to will grow up and look back on how the seeds of faith were planted and nurtured in them.

first copper you save is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow. The sooner you plant that seed the sooner shall the tree grow. And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with consistent savings, the sooner may you bask in contentment beneath its shade.

If the disciples of Christ could doubt not only firsthand accounts of his resurrection but the very fact of his face in front of them, then clearly, doubt has little to do with distance from events. It is in some way the seed of Christianity itself, planted in the very heart of him (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?) who is at once our God and our best selves, and it must be torn terribly, wondrously open in order to flower into living faith.

MY CODE OF ETHICS I. I believe in the Golden Rule as the basis of all human conduct; therefore, I will never do to another person that which I would not be willing for that person to do to me if our positions were reversed. II. I will be honest, even to the slightest detail, in all my transactions with others, not alone because of my desire to be fair with them, but because of my desire to impress the idea of honesty on my own subconscious mind, thereby weaving this essential quality into my own character. III. I will forgive those who are unjust toward me, with no thought as to whether they deserve it or not, because I understand the law through which forgiveness of others strengthens my own character and wipes out the effects of my own transgressions, in my subconscious mind. IV. I will be just, generous and fair with others always, even though I know that these acts will go unnoticed and unrecorded, in the ordinary terms of reward, because I understand and intend to apply the law through the aid of which one's own character is but the sum total of one's own acts and deeds. V. Whatever time I may have to devote to the discovery and exposure of the weaknesses and faults of others I will devote, more profitably, to the discovery and correction of my own. VI. I will slander no person, no matter how much I may believe another person may deserve it, because I wish to plant no destructive suggestions in my own sub-conscious mind. VII. I recognize the power of Thought as being an inlet leading into my brain from the universal ocean of life; therefore, I will set no destructive thoughts afloat upon that ocean lest they pollute the minds of others. VIII. I will conquer the common human tendency toward hatred, and envy, and selfishness, and jealousy, and malice, and pessimism, and doubt, and fear; for I believe these to be the seed from which the world harvests most of its troubles. IX. When my mind is not occupied with thoughts that tend toward the attainment of my definite chief aim in life, I will voluntarily keep it filled with thoughts of courage, and self-confidence, and good- will toward others, and faith, and kindness, and loyalty, and love for truth, and justice, for I believe these to be the seed from which the world reaps its harvest of progressive growth. X. I understand that a mere passive belief in the soundness of the Golden Rule philosophy is of no value whatsoever, either to myself or to others; there- 32- fore, I will actively put into operation this universal rule for good in all my transactions with others. XI. I understand the law through the operation of which my own character is developed from my own acts and thoughts; therefore, I will guard with care all that goes into its development. XII. Realizing that enduring happiness comes only through helping others find it; that no act of kindness is without its reward, even though it may never be directly repaid, I will do my best to assist others when and where the opportunity appears.

Touching our Heart and Life with Love. Planting seeds in many people. This is the Holy Spirit

Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed. The first copper you save is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow. The sooner you plant that seed the sooner shall the tree grow. And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with consistent savings, the sooner may you bask in contentment beneath its shade.

People of faith have an advantage. They understand that there are consequences for disobedience or unbelief. They also know that holding grudges and resentments, or fighting and killing for outdated belief systems, are not just detrimental to one person, but can carry seeds of darkness forward to sprout in future generations. Similarly, seeds of goodness can be planted and can bloom.

When we dig in the soil and plant a seed, we enter into a cycle of restoration that produces wholeness in us. Our bodies are restored by the tilling and the harvesting, our minds are restored by the space such repetitive works opens up within us, the earth is restored by the nutrients provided through the plants, and our spirits are revived as we become better stewards of what we have been given.

Obedience comes through the seeds of discipline, which are planted by faithful mamas who tirelessly tend to them.

In our rush to escape the pain, messiness, and brokenness of our lives, we often miss our opportunities for growth. Mired in the muck of our misguided mindsets, we miss what God may be doing in the midst of this dirty place. With a heave, a strain, a shove, a stretch, and a charge upward, we fight to leave the place we were planted, because surely we believe that God has to have something better for us than where we've come from and where we are. ... "Surely," we say in the midst of God's apparent silence, "He will not abandon me in this place of death!" Right when we've lost all hope, we see something we have never witnessed before. When we resolve within ourselves that maybe, just maybe, where we are is our assigned lot in life, God remains vocally silent, but reminds us of his promise by showing us the light we have never seen. We move toward the light, slowly stepping out in faith despite all the pain, filth, shame, and suffering. Breaking through the dark soil where we were placed, we sprout and rise to continue seeing another world of possibilities. The dirty place became the nurturing soil that enabled us to grow and blossom in ways we would never have experienced sitting in the safety of a greenhouse. To keep a seed from being planted is to condemn that seed to never realize its full potential. It is a fact that seeds are meant to be covered and die. Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24)

Those with tadpole faith are forever grateful and constantly reaching out to others without first being reached. They smile with the genuine purpose of planting seeds of joy, peace, and happiness in the hearts of all others. They understand that the power of one person who genuinely desires to lift up others has the utmost potential to make a gigantic difference, no matter how small or large the reward may be.

26 Mustard Seeds and Mountains The disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that [boy’s] demon?” “You didn’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew 17:19-20 Did you know that an average-sized aspirin bottle holds more than 180,000 mustard seeds? One of those miniscule seeds, when planted in fertile soil, can produce a ten-foot bush within three months! How many times have we faced mountains and felt that our faith was small and insufficient? We might have asked ourselves how God could remove a mountain in light of the fact that our faith is so inadequate. Perhaps we’ve even considered surrendering to the circumstances that stand in our way. When the disciples felt the sting of failure over their inability to heal the boy in today’s reading, Jesus directed them to place their faith—no matter how small—in him rather than in their own abilities. The mustard seed is a reminder to walk to the base of the mountain hand in hand with the all-powerful God. It is a tangible symbol that it is not your strength that will move the mountain; rather, it is the God in whom you place your faith that can move a mountain out of your way. GOD, the mountain of my circumstances seems so large, yet when I look to you as the source of my strength, it becomes insignificant. My faith seems small, yet when I place it in the Creator’s hands, it can produce a greater harvest than I could ever imagine. Lord, take my tiny seed of faith, and multiply it with your strength, wisdom, and guidance. Thank you for assuring my heart that nothing is impossible with you.

I alone cannot ensure a good life for these children, but I am one person planting seeds that may encourage them to take steps in the right direction. As Mama says, I will not know which seeds will take root and flourish, but the sowing itself is an act of faith. In the midst of so much ongoing ugliness, these are the faces of hope.

The harvest is for the appointed time

If we want to instill faith and godliness into our children and grandchildren, we must plant those seeds through our daily actions. We must read the Scripture and have conversations about it. We must talk about what God is doing in our lives. We must pray with our children and over them. We must model for them how we trust the Lord through trials. We must teach them to love their enemies. This is sowing to the Spirit, and it bears good fruit.