1. THE SEED IN YOU

2. Matthew 13:18
Jesus likened the word of God to a seed, and God is the farmer.

3. ROADSIDE--- By the wayside ROCKY --- stony ground ROUGH -- thorns and thistles RECEIVABLE-- fertile

4. None of us were born fertile and receptive.

5. How did you receive the seed of the
word of God?
Praying mother.
You heard the gospel.
Read the Bible.
Christian movie.
Christian television.

6. A seed, or many seeds fell on you, and one of them took root
A seed, or many seeds fell on you, and one of them took root. When that happened, you were born again.

7. 1Peter 1:23
You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
ESV

8. Jesus said (paraphrase)
“Nicodemus, up until now the word you have been trying to understand has been an outside word. Until it becomes an inside word you won’t understand it, and you won’t be born again.”

9. Jesus said, (continued paraphrase)
“The word has to be planted in your heart where it abides and takes root. That is what I mean by born again. It will help you see and enter the kingdom.”

10. When the angel approached Mary with the promise of the Messiah, she said, “Be it unto me.”

11. God wants the seed of the word of God to take root and produce a harvest of Christ likeness in each one of us. It won’t happen unless we agree and give permission like Mary, “Be it unto me.”

12. The seed is not a religious experience, but the planting of the new man. The old is gone, the new has come. Adam got it wrong, Jesus got it right. Our old history was Adam, our new history is Christ.

13. When you read the scriptures… don’t just mouth the words, plant them in your heart.

14. Here is a seed. Can you see it. It’s pretty small
Here is a seed. Can you see it? It’s pretty small. Looks powerless…doesn’t have much going for it, unless it is planted. But did you know there’s a crop in this seed? The farmer knows this.

15. Buried or planted
The seed doesn’t seem to have much potential when it is planted in the dirt. It’s as if the dirt is saying, “You’ll never come up. I outweigh you a hundred times. You’re too small. What can you do?”

16. What is pressing down on the seed that God has sown in you
What is pressing down on the seed that God has sown in you? Perhaps your heart was fertile at one time, but you didn’t keep it that way.
It’s God’s seed, but your soil.

17. I made a list of things that cover the seed ….
Worries, distractions, selfishness, personal agenda, close-mindedness, carelessness, ignorance, discouragement, unrepentant, self-sufficiency, short-sightedness, inadequate, limited thinking, graceless, unthankfulness, critical, hopeless, jealousy, lack, doubt, fear, disinterested, shall, vague, guilt, shame, strife, stress, indecision, stubbornness.

18. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. ESV

19. 1 John 2:24-25
24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us — eternal life. ESV

20. Nothing can stop the seed from it’s purpose, or it’s destiny
Nothing can stop the seed from it’s purpose, or it’s destiny. The seed in you makes you a part of the new humanity. It was sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory.

21. God’s seed in you will grow up into a tree of life. How
God’s seed in you will grow up into a tree of life. How? Because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Full redemption brings us back to eat again at the Tree of Life, which is eternal life.

22. The seed that causes us to be born again has a purpose…
The seed that causes us to be born again has a purpose….that is to grow up to be as anointed, and righteous, and holy as Jesus.