WHAT ARE YOU GROWING? GUIDED GROWTH...
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Text:
2 Corinthians 9:6 (KJV) But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he
which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
2 Corinthians 9:6 (NLT) Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop.
But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.
GOD HAS A PLAN --- A MUSTARD SEED PLAN... YOU MAY BE LITTLE BUT GROW...
Do not consider how small we are...
DREAM OF GOD'S GROWTH PLAN...
Luke 13:19 (KJV) It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and
it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
GROW:
to develop to maturity, advance, increase in size and the amount of intensity,
to flourish, to ripe...
John 4:35 (KJV) Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto
you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
MATURITY:
Date at which something is due or expected...
Careful consideration and plans to attain peak of growth and development.
GOOD HEALTHY GROWTH AND MATURITY COME ABOUT BY A WILLFUL CHOICE,
TEAMED WITH A DESIRE TO DISCIPLINE SELF TO GROW...
1 Corinthians 9:27 (KJV) But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
ARE WE HUNGRY? DO WE DESIRE TO GROW?
WILL WE STAY IN PERPETUAL BABYHOOD?
1 Peter 2:2 (KJV) As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
1 Peter 2:2 (NLT) Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into
a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment,
GOD'S DESIGN IS TO PROGRESS, GROW AND DEVELOP...
2 Peter 3:18 (KJV) But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
HAVE WE EVER CONSIDERED GROWTH ALWAYS GROWS TOWARD THE LIGHT...
GROWTH IS A PRODUCT OF CHANGE...
METAMORPHOUS...
COMPLETE?
INCOMPLETE...
EGG
LARVA---CATERPILLAR
PUPA--- COCOON
ADULT--- BUTTERFLY...
Good healthy growth is planted and on purpose.
Let us say: I WANT AN APPLE!
So let us grab and apple seed, and go out and plant it...
Let us go out tomorrow and pick an apple and eat it? ????
EVER CONSIDER A LIFE THAT WAS FOCUSED ON GROWTH AND FRUIT?
THERE WAS A MAN NAMED JOHN CHAPMAN.
In 1774 Elizabeth Simonds and Nathaniel Chapman
HE LIVED FROM 9/26/1774 TO 3/18/1845...
He was born in Leominister, Massachusetts...
John died at the age of 70 in FORT WAYNE, INDIANA...
JOHN CHAPMAN MADE A DIFFERENCE IN HIS LIFE...
It is written that John Chapman one summer attended an open air revival service near
Mansfield, Ohio.
The preacher was long winded and was preaching about JOHN THE BAPTIST making
sacrifices, not living in extravagance, being a PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN...
It is reported that JOHN CHAPMAN, went up to the preacher and placed his bare
foot on the stump and said: HERE I AM, HERE IS YOUR PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN.
JOHN TRAVELED PENNSYLVANIA, WEST VIRGINIA, OHIO, INDIANA, ILLINOIS, AND
ONTARIO, CANADA. John gladly preached the message of Jesus as he traveled.
He touched many people, especially the NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS...
JOHNNY WORE A TIN POT ON HIS HEAD AS A CAP OR HAT...
AND THE TIN UTENSIL BECAME A TRADE MARK FOR JOHNNY...
JOHN STUDIED UNDER A MR. CRAWFORD --- ABOUT TREES...
HE LOVED APPLE TREES --- HIS JOURNEY IS ABOUT TWO THINGS...
MISSIONS AND PLANTING APPLE TREES...
John planted ORCHARDS where ever he traveled and preached the Gospel...
NO ONE KNOWS JOHN CHAPMAN UNTIL YOU HEAR HIM BY HIS NICK NAME:
JOHNNY APPLESEED... was a preacher of GROWTH and he preached and sowed
apple seeds and showed people how to prune and grow healthy fruit trees.
Galatians 6:6 (KJV) Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in
all good things. 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season
we shall reap, if we faint not.
Galatians 6:6 (MSG) Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that
you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things
that you have and experience. 7 Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants,
he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—
8 harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response
to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
9 So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop
if we don't give up, or quit.
GROWTH OFTEN COMES DISGUISED AS PROBLEMS, TRIALS, TROUBLES...
WHY COULD NOT MOSES HAVE SEEN THE BURNING BUSH OF GOD WHILE LIVING
IN THE PALACE OF PHAROAH?
Sometimes lessons require hard testing...
THE BACK SIDE OF THE DESERT
THE CRUCIBLE
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SUFFERING
THE STRUGGLE MAY BRING THE OPPORTUNITY---
THE TEST, THE PROMOTION...
CONSIDER WHAT KILLS OR HINDERS GROWTH?
It had been a beautiful fall day when the north winds started to blow.
The next morning the girl woke up and it was snowing.
As the young girl was walking home from her grandmother's house, she saw a huge rattle snake
next to the path.
The rattle snake told the girl, This storm has caught me off guard and not prepared. I am
dying. I will freeze to death. PLEASE ALLOW ME TO CRAWL UNDER YOU WARM COAT
AND TAKE ME HOME WITH YOU, I WILL QUIETLY LAY BY THE FIRE PLACE.
The young girl replied: I KNOW YOUR KIND. I KNOW YOU ARE POISONOUS AND YOU
CAN KILL PEOPLE WITH ONE BITE.
The big rattle snake said: YES, WE SNAKES ARE TALKED ABOUT IN A NEGATIVE
LIGHT. SEE HOW NICE I AM? I AM A GOOD RATTLE SNAKE.
So the girl opened her coat and the cold snake climbed in and warmed himself until
they got to her house.
She laid him near the fire place. He crawled over next to the wood pile and went to sleep.
A few hours later, the young girl was getting a split log to place in the fire.
The snake was startled and he grabbed the girls hand and bit her.
As she lay dying, she kept saying; YOU PROMISED ME YOU WAS A GOOD SNAKE.
YOU PROMISED ME...
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
