When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, He blessed them and commanded them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Gen. 1:28).
The same blessing was repeated when Noah came forth from the ark. God told him, “Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein” (Gen. 9:7).
Then God gave Noah the key to His abundance and multiplication when He tied man’s life to the seed principle. He said, “While the earth remains there will be seedtime and harvest” (see Gen. 8:22).
The seed principle touches every area of your life:
• It is the core of God’s system.
• It ties you to the Lord.
• It links you with the Source of life – God Himself!
In the parable of the sower, Jesus gives us five ways that people can plant their seed to God (see Mark 4:2-8). See if any category sounds familiar. As a general rule, Evelyn and I always check to see if our seed is current. We continuously check ourselves to make sure God’s plan is always fully in effect in living our lives for the Lord.
The Five Ways
1) You don’t plant your seed at all. You keep your seed. When Noah came forth from the ark after the Flood, the earth was completely stripped. Yet God told him that there would always be seedtime and harvest in the earth. It looked hopeless. But God said, “Noah, you can plant a seed.”
Friend, however hopeless things may look for you right now, God gave us a formula of how to plant our seed for a harvest. One thing is certain – if you keep your seed and don’t plant it, there will be no harvest! God has taught me that a neglected or rejected opportunity to sow my seed is a lost opportunity to receive.
2) You can plant by the “wayside.” The Lord said that the birds come and eat this kind of seed, meaning the devil comes and steals it away.
God is saying that you must have purpose in your seed-planting. You must choose your soil wisely. You must sow your seed where God’s work is really being done. That’s where the good soil is.
3) You can plant on “stony ground.” In other words, you can plant your seed where the soil is shallow. It will come up, but it won’t last. The Lord said that when the sun gets hot, it burns up this kind of seed. If you plant where it’s too easy, you won’t have much of a harvest.
4) You can plant your seed “among the thorns” or weeds. As the seed begins to grow, thorns will grow up and choke the life out of it.
That means if you’re planting for the wrong reasons – to be well thought of or to be rich and powerful for yourself only – it will destroy your seed.
5) You can plant in “good soil.” Know where your seed is going. When you plant into the work of the Lord, believe God that it will be used for the salvation of souls and the healing of broken lives so the kingdom of God will increase. Then it can produce a plentiful harvest – 30, 60, or a 100-fold return! (see Matt. 13:8).
I Don’t Have Anything to Give!
Some people think they don’t have anything to give to the Lord. But everybody has something they can give.
I once told a man who was facing bankruptcy that if he would give out of his need and aim his seed toward his need, I felt God would deliver him from his financial strain.
“But, Mr. Roberts, I don’t have anything to give!” he exclaimed.
“Everybody has something to give,” I said. “Think about it. Seed must be sown. If all you sow are your good intentions, how can God multiply them into a harvest that you can reap?”
As he thought about it, he discovered there was something of value that he could give to God. And when he gave it, a miraculous change took place in his business and in his spiritual life as well!
If you’re wondering what kind of seed you should give, let me ask you a question: What is your need?
Remember, Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it shall be given.” That means what you give – whether good or bad – will be measured back to you. Whatever you give, make it something you feel in the depths of your being, something that represents the real you. A seed of faith is anything that you give out of your heart.
Each of us has his or her own God-given gifts that we can give (see Rom. 12:6). We have:
• Ideas.
• Imagination, which leads to concepts.
• The insight to recognize worth in others.
• Appreciation, kindness, and interest.
• Understanding and encouragement.
Remember, Jesus emphasized the value of giving the little things:
• A grain of corn
• A cup of cold water
• One talent
• The lost coin
• A kindness done “to the least of these”
• Five loaves and two fishes
You Can Plant in Many Ways
If you emphasize the size of the seed, you’re forgetting God’s ways. How tiny are some of the seeds that He planted – like a little Babe in a manger – but how powerful and dynamic the results! Giving includes money, but it is far more than money.
Every time you love, you plant a seed. Every time you give a word of encouragement, you plant a seed. Every time you pray for someone, you plant a seed. Every time you have a good thought toward someone, you plant a seed.
Have you heard this poem? I believe it sums up the Seed-Faith way of life.
till you ring it,
A song is not a song
till you sing it,
Love in your heart
is not put there to stay,
Love is not love
till you give it away.
Seed-Faith living means that you do what Jesus did:
– You love first.
– You give first.
– You forgive first.
– You apologize first.
– You pray for others first.
– You smile first.
– You go the second mile first.
– You take the first step.
When you do these things, you initiate a new direction in your life. You seed to God your source for a miracle! And He will always do His part.
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Granville Oral Roberts was one of the most famous and influential Christian leaders of the twentieth century.
Born January 24, 1918, in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, the fifth and youngest child of Rev. Ellis Melvin and Claudius Priscilla Roberts, Oral Roberts grew up to become world renowned as a healing evangelist, author, educator, and television personality.
His ministry began with his own miracle healing of tuberculosis at the age of 17. As his older brother drove him to a revival meeting to be prayed for, God spoke to him and said, “Son, I am going to heal you, and you are to take My healing power to your generation. You are to build Me a university based on My authority and on the Holy Spirit.” Roberts was miraculously healed that night of both tuberculosis and lifelong stuttering. His call from God and supernatural healing marked the beginning of a miracle ministry.
In 1947 Roberts established the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In obedience to God’s call on his life, he conducted miracle healing crusades across America and around the world in a great “tent cathedral.” Each night, thousands who were sick and dying came for healing prayer and to hear his dynamic message that God is a good God.
In a time when many equated poverty with spirituality, and sickness with God’s discipline and punishment, Roberts taught that God is good and wants His people to be healthy and prosperous, as he discovered in God’s Word. Through the years, he conducted more than 300 healing crusades in more than 35 countries on six continents. It’s estimated that Roberts personally laid hands on more than two million people for healing prayer.
In 1955 Roberts revolutionized evangelism by bringing television cameras into his live healing crusade services and providing a “front-row seat for miracles” for millions of viewers. Coining phrases such as God is a good God, something good is going to happen to you, release your faith, and expect a miracle, he soon helped people everywhere find a better understanding of God’s goodness and His desire to make them whole.
In 1958 Roberts established the Abundant Life Prayer Group to address the around-the-clock needs of those suffering and requesting prayer. On call 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, caring prayer partners now receive as many as 3,000 calls a day. In the more than 50 years of their existence, they have received more than 23 million phone calls—many from people reporting miracle answers to their prayers.
In 1963 Roberts founded Oral Roberts University, a 500-acre campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma, based on God’s mandate—“Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is dim, where My voice is heard small, and My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their work will exceed yours, and in this I am well pleased.” He served as President of ORU until 1993.
A leader in the Charismatic movement of the 1960s and ’70s, Roberts’ in-depth study of the Holy Spirit led to a new revelation of the power that resides in every born-again believer.
In 1981, Roberts took a bold step of faith in building the City of Faith Medical and Research Center to merge the healing streams of medicine and prayer as God had revealed it to him. In the years it operated, it made a tremendous impact upon people’s understanding that God heals through both prayer and medicine, as well as emphasizing the importance of treating the whole person—body, mind, and spirit.
Roberts wrote more than 130 books, several personal commentaries on the Bible, and other inspirational material. One of his most substantive works is a 74-CD set titled Oral Roberts Reading the New Testament with His Personal Commentary that includes his life’s teachings on God’s Word. Perhaps best known is his book The Miracle of Seed Faith, which revolutionized the lives of millions of people who learned how to get their needs met through God’s eternal plan of giving and receiving.
In remembering his father, son Richard said, “He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Oral Roberts was not only my earthly father; he was also my spiritual father and mentor. He was the greatest man of God I’ve ever known. An innovator and a modern-day apostle of the healing ministry, he was one of the first men of his generation to build a worldwide ministry, an accredited university, and a medical and research center. He had a passion to bring healing to the sick. He came along when many in Christendom did not believe in God’s power and goodness, yet his name became synonymous with miracles.
“The Bible teaches that when a Christian dies, he or she is instantly transferred into the presence of God. My father has run his race and finished his course. Now he is in heaven, and we as Christians have the Bible promise that someday we will be reunited. My heart is sad, but my faith in God is soaring, knowing that the man I so dearly loved is now with Jesus.”
Roberts often said he could never have done all that he did without having his darling wife Evelyn by his side. For more than 66 years, they were a partnership for the Lord in taking the message of God’s saving, healing, delivering power to the world for more than six decades.
Oral Roberts was preceded in death by his wife Evelyn; a daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca Ann and Marshall Nash; a son, Ronald David Roberts; a grandson, Richard Oral Roberts; his mother and father; two sisters, Velma Roberts and Jewel Faust; and two brothers, Elmer and Vaden Roberts. He is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Lindsay Roberts; a daughter and son-in-law, Roberta and Ronald Potts, all of Tulsa; 12 grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.