Happy Saturday friends, it’s been too long! Thanks for clicking on my internet home! I get most of my traffic from IG, so thank you for all the love and support you have been showing there. Your comments and DMs are so kind and even hilarious. It’s so appreciated. I’m hopping back into blogging full force today so let’s get into it. Today we’re talking about one of the most beneficial processes that I believe we can go through as Believers: Being planted, dying, and blooming. As much as we like things to happen instantly in the faith, it doesn’t work that way. Spiritual maturity develops in stages over time. But in the end, if we trust the process and make the sacrifice, we get the most significant benefit. So let’s do this.
John 12:24 says – “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.”
John 12:24 AMPC
Planted. You are a single grain with the potential to produce an entire wheat field. Salvation, receiving Jesus, maximizes our potential in all areas, but a process makes that potential a reality. You must first be planted. So understand, you are not yet a wheat field but a grain that needs to be planted. Being planted simply means that you have submitted your life to Jesus + submerged, buried, and covered in an environment conducive to your death and growth. This is why most churches urge new believers to become church members or join small groups. Often, new believers join churches but fall short of doing the work themselves or cultivating relationships that assist in that work. Even seasoned believers struggle with this! I use the term “POP” to explain how I personally became planted ( this acronym is not in any order of importance). Being planted happens on a personal level, organizational level, and people level. To be fully planted, we must be responsible for maintaining our personal relationship with the Lord. We must see the value in honoring Him with our daily lives and knowing Him personally. We should always be committed to a church that teaches sound doctrine, especially if you are a new believer. Lastly, your people matter. Who do you spend the most time with? Who speaks into your life the most? Are they cultivating or stifling your growth. Your personal relationship with God, church, and the people in your life can be the fertilizer that helps you grow or the weeds that choke you out. This is why it’s necessary to understand your role in John 12:24 (the grain) to assess your needs appropriately. Let me clear we all must be planted, or the growth process is impossible.
Dying. Are you planted? Good, if so, you’re at the point that most of us jump to right away without realizing it’s a death, or we make excuses and avoid it because we don’t want to die. Dying to the flesh. This simply means you set aside your sinful desires and selfish ambitions to live like Christ as submission to the Lord. I want to first preface this if you are not going to be planted (Salvation + POP), there’s no need to put yourself through the misery of dying. Your flesh is a system that is rigged against you until you put it on to Jesus. This is why people who try to “get right” before coming to church or accepting Jesus have a tough time. We are meant to be planted in Christ before we get our flesh under control. Dying to the flesh can feel like a personal attack on your life, and that’s because it is. We live in a world that caters to our senses; now Jesus comes along and says exist in me who caters to the spirit. The problem is your senses and your spirit now want 2 completely different things. Being planted in a relationship with God, a good church, and relationships that point you to Christ will be your reminder and encouragement that death is necessary to growth. It is a slow and daily process, but it is essential to the goal.
Blooming. In case the concept of a single grain is confusing, the Bible also uses the term seed. I personally love cooking with lemon. I use it on kinds of pasta, chicken dishes, veggies – almost anything. If I had a backyard, I’d definitely plant a lemon tree. Simply take the seeds from the lemon, pot them in the appropriate potting mix, water regularly and watch them grow. Once the tree matures, I would be able to grab lemons for cooking. If I dug up the roots of the tree, I probably wouldn’t find the seeds. I would find roots. The seeds are gone; they died to allow what was in them to become a greater form of themselves. This is what happens when you die to your flesh. Your flesh dies so that the Holy Spirit residing in you can produce his likeness in greater form.
When you received Jesus, you received the Holy Spirit. You became a seed carrying His likeness. You became planted, yielded to death to produce the likeness of God. It took me a while to drive us to the point, but here we are. I want us to assess who we are and where we are in the process of being planted, dying, and blooming. You may be blooming in one area and planted in another. That’s ok. Continue to be planted, and yield to the will of the Lord. Your fruit will come in time. Be encouraged in the Lord. We are closer to a greater version of ourselves and an even greater reward in Heaven if we trust the process.
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