The Strategy of Cultivation
John 15:1-8
I. INTRODUCTION
Job 14:7 KJV – “For there is the hope of a tree if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.”*
Genesis 2:7 KJV – “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
Cultivate defined: prepare and use (land) for crops or gardening. To till, dig, plow, work and prepare
to prepare or prepare and use for the raising of crops; also: to loosen or break up the soil about (growing plants).
II. EVERYBODY WILL GO THROUGH A SEASON IN THE VALLEY
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison”.
Nelson Mandela
A. You Are Not The Only One In The Valley
Hebrews 4:15a NKJV – “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.”
B. God has a strategy in the ugly places because those were the fields in which He decided to cultivate us.
III. THE ENEMY WANTS TO PUT YOU ON DISPLAY, BUT GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR DELIVERANCE
A. How You See It Is Based On What You Know
a. What if all you’ve suffered in your life was necessary to cultivate your greatness within?
b. We fight against God’s sovereignty because we dislike where His process has placed us. Where the Lord found you, and where He decides to plant you can be quite different
c. God is adamantly invested in developing us into something we would never be without His direct intervention.
“God will put you in situations where you absolutely must have a miracle. The reason He does that is that He wants you to know with all certainty that it is Him working in your life. So don’t be alarmed if the Spirit leads you into situations that are impossible without a miracle from God.”
-Stormie Omartian
B. You Must Be Willing To Yield To His Sovereign Will
a. The seed doesn’t understand the vine that it is becoming. Everything that occurs in its life appears to be happenstance because all it can see is the muck mire that it’s trying to escape. It is when we are vines that we look back at what we use to be and notice that what appeared to be accidents, incidents, and coincidences converged to produce what we are and the fruit that hangs on our branches.
b. The Master doesn’t require that we see and understand the blueprints He holds in His Hands. He only requests that we Trust Him as He works as we stumble through the process.
IV. GOD WILL SEND HIS WORD INTO YOUR SITUATION
A. You Can Only Be Changed By What You Receive
John 10:10 KJV – “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.”
1. We can choose to move along with God, allowing Him to navigate and take us into unforeseen areas of unexpected growth or we can become frustrated and throw tantrums like toddlers insisting our way and the attitude of entitlement and victimhood.
2. If we repeatedly reject His divine intentions and revolt against His methods, we will force Him to resort to even more drastic measures to develop us.
In what ways have God had to resort to even more drastic measures to develop you?
B. The Word Shifts Your Focus From Right Now To Not Yet
1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV – “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
We waste valuable time and energy any time we think we know better than God even when we can’t make sense of the circumstances in which we feel buried. Especially when we cannot see anything but darkness and can only smell the stench of decay. During these moments we must trust:
Something is growing.
Something is being birthed in the invisible realities we likely cannot see.
How do I know that:
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
An Unplanted seed is nothing more than constrained potential
What if the dark places in your life are essential to the cultivation of your purpose?
John 12:24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
C. When You Do What He Says, He Will Do What He Promised
“God never made a promise that was too good to be true.”
-Dwight L. Moody
V. THINGS ARE ABOUT TO COME BACK TOGETHER
VI. THIS IS THE SEASON TO STAND AND COME OUT
A. Stand Up
B. Step Out
C. Sound Off