Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It’s the second day of Spring and everything is coming to life around the farm, and I’m giving Thanks to the God of all Creation for Blessing me with another view of the Spring from the Front Porch. I LOVE watching the Touch of the Master’s Hand and I love to see what He’s up to each day especially this time of the year. It’s incredible to see how fast the trees bud out overnight, and I can almost hear them saying “Finally!” as it gets closer to the time they’re fully matured for the season. Unfortunately, this morning the temperature was just above freezing with a windchill factor of 26 degrees and it’s not unusual for us to get a snowfall in April. As I considered the joy of seeing new life in the Spring and how easily it could be snuffed out by freezing temperatures, it reminded me of the Journey of Faith. Many people come to Life when they’re first Introduced to Jesus Christ, and they’re the most Beautiful Buds you could ever imagine when they do. But just like a surprise Spring snowfall, the Enemy can come along to “freeze” all their fresh Growth and they can go from Budding Beauty to dead again faster than you can say “Amen”. Isn’t it just like the Living God to use a simple tree bud to inspire a Message for the world today?

God is the Creator of all Life, a Master Gardener, and the Author and Perfector of my Faith. Jesus has a lot to say about seeds to help us understand what takes place when we sow the seeds of the Gospel. In the parable of the sower of the seeds, Jesus taught us all about Beautiful Buds and what happens to the seeds (the Gospel of Jesus Christ) is never about the “quality” of the seeds, but about the Condition of the Heart when they’re planted. Some seeds get planted on a path and, although they hear the Word (Gospel), they don’t understand it, so the devil snatches the seeds away. Bye-bye Beautiful Buds! Some get planted on rocky ground and although they’re happy at first, as soon as hardships come they quickly blow away. Bye-bye Beautiful Buds! Then there are others who are planted in the thorns. Although they hear the Word they get choked out by the thorns and never bear fruit because of it. Bye-bye, Beautiful Buds! It makes me sad to think about all the seeds (Gospel) that have been sown and how few have actually taken root and have grown into Beautiful Buds all because of the condition of the Heart when the seeds of faith were “planted” in the first place. This is Key to our Journey of Faith – we do our Part to Plant the seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ but we have no control over the Condition of the Heart. That Part is between the seed and the Sower.

It takes just the right conditions for a seed to take root or for a tree to bud. It takes lots of water and plenty of sunshine. It takes nutrients it gets from the soil AND it takes the Touch of the Master’s Hand. Without any of these things (long term), not only will a plant not grow or a tree not bud, but it will begin to die altogether. It takes just the right conditions and the Touch of the Master’s Hand for the seed of Faith to bud BUT it also takes just the Right Conditions for Faith to Grow into Maturity too. The Bible tells us that our Adversary does nothing but prowl around on the earth looking for Seeds to Devour. He’s a liar. He’s a thief. He robs, kills, and destroys. He masquerades as something beautiful. His entire Agenda is to kill the seeds of Faith – especially before the seeds are firmly rooted. As surely as prolonged cold temperatures could cause the Beautiful Buds on the trees at the farm to fall to the ground, the Seeds of Faith can easily be destroyed if the soil isn’t just right. This is the Key to Maturing in our Faith in all conditions and it’s the Key to Protecting the Seeds of Faith every step of the way. After all, a Thief can’t steal what he doesn’t have access to!

I’m a Professional Seed Planter so I do my Part to warn others about all those seeds that have fallen to the ground and are potentially lost “forever” when all they ever needed was the Right Heart and the Touch of the Master’s Hand. It’s my Job (and yours) to plant the seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ but we can’t force them to Grow. As surely as we don’t plant seeds in the garden with a “love ’em and leave ’em” attitude, we should always be prepared to help Nurture all those seeds of Faith that have the potential to grow into Beautiful Buds. If God could take a wretch like me and Nurture me into a Beautiful Bud in the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ…there’s hope for anybody with the Heart to Receive.

How about you?