Bloom Where You Are Planted

PRAY

Heavenly Father,

open our eyes so we can see Your truth.

Open our ears so w can hear Your voice.

Open our mind so we can understand Your Word.

And open our heart so we may receive all that You want me to receive. AMEN

Have you ever noticed that when you plant something in the ground it grows where you planted it?

Once a seed is planted in good soil you water it and allow it to be nurtured by the sun that seed begins to grow. It grows out from the ground and it is cared for by continued water and nurturing from the sun and other things.

Eventually that seed that grows into the plant it was meant to be.

Whenever you take a seed and plant it in the ground, given the correct conditions it will grow.

It is an amazing truth of God's plan for everything and here is the cool part; we are the same.

We are meant to grow where God plants us.

Why is it that so many Christians fail to flourish in life?

Life, with all of its ups and downs does not have to keep us down spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

The Word of God clearly tell us the way we can flourish both now on the earth and in the future in heaven in Psalm 92:13.

“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.”

John Bevere writes in his book, “Honor’s Reward, “When we are planted in the local church we will flourish in life, both now and at the judgment seat of Christ.”

Now let’s take a look at that Scripture again. What does it say?

Those who attend the house of the Lord?

Those who visit the house of the Lord?

No, those who are planted in the house of the Lord.

Anyone can just visit a church and not be planted there.

Anyone can just attend a church and not be planted there.

Being planted means that you are laying down your life to serve God.

Being planted in a church means that you tithe to that church, you serve at that church, you help others in the church, you listen to the spiritual leaders of the church.

Being planted in a church means you value the church, the pastors, the leaders, and each other just as a plant values the ground, the oxygen, the sun, and the water.

It means faithfulness and loyalty to God and to His church.

To be faithful to something means to be steadfast in affection and allegiance. To be loyal to something implies a firm resistance to any temptation to desert or betray that thing you are loyal to.

In Proverbs 28:20 it says, “A faithful man will abound in blessings.”

Loyalty and faithfulness imply a steady unwavering course in love and allegiance coupled with a firm and deep conviction to support that thing. It is a steadfastness in God and the church that always results in God’s blessings in the lives of those who practice this.

And why are we being loyal and faithful? Because God loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us and thus rescue us from the punishment of sin.

He rescued us and gave us the Holy Spirit and gave us the church. The church is not a social meeting place rather it is a place for you to go so you can grow and build the kingdom of God.

And God in His infinite wisdom plants us in His church. That means if God planted you here, you are going to want to be loyal and faithful to God and for the reasons He has planted you here.

If you are planted here then you need to bloom where you are planted.

When you plant a seed, if it has all the right ingredients, it is going to grow and bloom.

I do not think anyone attends PFC on a regular basis.

Debbie and I and our family are here for a reason.

Pastor Joe and Megan are not here by accident.

And none of you are here by accident either…

I believe God has planted us all here and I also believe that if God has planted us here, then we need to bloom where we are planted.

Debbie and I have planted a few gardens before in our life together and we understand that there are times when seeds that are planted become disturbed.

When a seed becomes disturbed it fails to grow correctly.

Seeds can be disturbed by the wind, by birds coming and eating the seed, the rain can wash the seed away, the sun can burn the seed up.

But if the seed is properly put in the ground and is properly cared for then it is going to grow and it is going to bloom.