Happy New Year!!

The first message of the year that the Holy Spirit gave me is called “incubate your seed”. I believe that many of you have a seed in the ground and the Holy Spirit wants you to protect it. What is the seed? It’s a word / a promise from God concerning something – it could be your family, business, marriage, finances, career, ministry, or anything. God does speak to us about everything and anything.

But having a word from God is only the beginning. The Bible tells us in Matthew 13 that there is a sower that sows the seed but not all of them fall on good ground – some fall on dry ground, some fall on rocky places, some are eaten by the birds, some grow but don’t have the root and then wither, and some are sabotaged by the concerns of life. So there is a possibility of your seed not growing and bearing the fruits God intended it to if the seed does not fall on good ground and is not well taken care of. Your heart is the ground – when you hear a word from God in any way – He could speak to you in your spirit, He can speak to you through His Word, He could speak to you through preaching or when you have a conversation with someone, in whatever way God speaks to you – it is your responsibility to grab that word by faith and hold on to it until it produces the fruit.

Some time ago I shared how God spoke to me in the still small voice about joining the worship team. I don’t know why I feel like sharing a little bit of it again – maybe it is to stir your faith. The voice was so small that I could have easily missed it. I was wondering if it was God and then the Holy Spirit began to speak to me in a different way – matching the colours of my outfit with the praise and worship team – for 3 Sundays I would match their colours and that’s how I knew that God really wanted me to join the team. Sometimes, God does that to me when He wants me to walk with someone. So I did grab the word and held to it until I walked in it. It wasn’t a smooth journey but God made it happen. You can read the whole story here. 

So once you receive the word from God you need to maintain it. Let me share how.

1. Be careful who you share it with

I know that you are excited about the promise God has given you but don’t be quick to share it with everyone even if the word involves the people. You need to remember that at this point it’s only a seed and they may not see it or be ready to receive what you are telling them. I sometimes wonder what Jospeh’s life would look like if he didn’t share his dreams with his brothers. Surely, he needed to get to Egypt but maybe he could get there a different way than being sold by his jealous brothers. Not sharing your word may save you from unnecessary attacks and strife.

When God gives you a word it usually doesn’t look probable with your current reality so people may not see how it’s going to happen or believe what you are telling them. They may downplay what you are saying which may affect your faith. They can kill your seed before it even springs out. Not everyone is genuinely for you and wants to see you win. Don’t expose something that should be hidden. A seed is in the ground for a reason. Let it grow and become rooted in peace.

2. Have faith for it

For a seed to grow and manifest you need to have faith for it. If God gave you a seed He also gave you faith for it. I have learned that you have to protect your faith though. If you are surrounded by people without faith you can lose faith yourself hence it’s important that you have the right people in your life to maintain your faith, especially when it looks like the opposite of what God said. That’s when you need people who will ignite your faith and speak life into you and not criticise and downplay what you believe God for. 

Your faith can also increase – through hearing/reading the word of God, through Holy Spirit-inspired preachings and testimonies of others who have gone before you through the same things. There is nothing under the sun that someone else didn’t go through before you. Find people who are already on the other side. Their victory stories will inspire you to keep going.

3. Feed your seed

Think I touched on it a little bit but you need to feed your seed. In the same way as in the natural the seed needs water, nourishment and sun so does your seed need the word of God, the presence of God and faith. You need to water it daily with the fresh presence of the Holy Spirit – that’s when He speaks to you and gives you instructions concerning your seed. You then need to obey God’s instructions to see the fulfilment of God’s promise in your life. You need to feed it with the word of God so you have faith for it and are strengthened in the Lord. You also need to be strong in prayer to have everything that you need to birth the fruits. Your power comes from prayer.

4. Check your environment

You need to have the right environment for the seed to grow. All seeds need specific soil for it to grow so you need to check your soil. The seed will not grow in chaos, a negative, judgemental and critical environment, it will not grow in an environment that is concerned with the worries of life or an environment without faith. Check who you allow in your life, whom you listen to, or what you watch –  is it for your edification or are you drained and out of energy after it, did it help you grow or you didn’t take anything out of it. You need to be very intentional if you want to see growth. Surrender yourself with things that will grow you and your faith.

Sometimes, God will separate you and set you apart to make sure that your seed grows. I know that no one likes to be separated but sometimes this is the price that needs to be paid to make sure that you produce God’s purpose. If God is removing certain people from your life it is because He is creating an environment for you to grow. I know that it may not be easy but allow God to do what He wants to do. Usually, when He removes people from your life it is because He makes room for the right ones.

You can’t produce fruits if you are not yielded to the Source of the seed – God. You need to be totally dependent on Him to bring the fruits because He is the Author of it and only He can make it happen. Jesus said that He is the Branch and we are the vine and without Him, we can do nothing. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, you will not be able to accomplish what God told you. God usually gives you a promise that makes you totally dependent on Him because you know that He will have to make it happen.

5. Don’t speak negatively about it

There is power of life and death in your tongue and so you need to be careful what you speak out because you will bear the fruits of your words. If you speak negatively about God’s promise whether in frustration or doubt, you hinder God from doing what He first intended. If you don’t have anything positive to say about it, keep your mouth shut and let God do His part. Don’t curse it with your words and kill God’s word on your life.

6. Prepare for it

Sometimes, God tells you well in advance what He wants to do in your life so you can prepare for it. Sometimes, you can figure out yourself what you need to do to prepare – if it’s singing – train your voice, if it’s preaching – be the student of God’s word and other Christian books, if it’s business – learn about finances, marketing and selling etc. Whatever it is that God has placed upon your heart it is your responsibility to learn about it and work on it. Discipline yourself. Your gift will open doors for you before kings only when you are excellent at your profession and to get there you need to work on it. It won’t come for free and without any work or price. You need to put in the work.

And sometimes, God will give you specific instructions to prepare so listen to the instructions even if it doesn’t make sense. I remember one Sunday morning I was to lead worship and my throat was tight – I usually warm up my voice so I did it that morning, but I still felt like I was not ready for it, so I wanted to warm up a bit more but the Holy Spirit told me to pray instead. I was hesitant to obey because I was like Lord if I don’t do it I won’t be able to sing well and the Holy Spirit was like just pray. I prayed and I could sing perfectly that Sunday – He taught me to rely on Him alone not what we think we need to do to succeed. So just obey even if doesn’t make sense.

7. Expect warfare

We think that just because God told us that something will happen, it will come easily. Well, if God told us He should just make it happen right? I understand the mentality and even sometimes walk in it and God makes things happen for me without any issues – like leading worship – when God told me that He would make me a worship leader, I told God that if He wants to make it happen He can but I am not praying about it and not getting involved, He needs to make it happen and He just did it for me. I promise I didn’t do a thing – other than follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

But that’s not always the case. I remember a few years ago God gave me a promise and I was like great – I don’t need to do anything, God will make it happen in due time. But instead, I was severely attacked by the enemy. I would get crazy dreams about how the enemy would not allow it to happen, and I was like what is it about the promise that the enemy doesn’t want it to happen so badly? To be honest, I didn’t expect the warfare at all. It was the first time that the enemy so openly attacked me and I was so upset with God – I was like I didn’t ask for it, you gave me the word and now I need to suffer for it, why do I have to go through this etc. But God used it to teach me about warfare. So if you are not expecting warfare, expect it. The enemy won’t always easily allow things to happen – sometimes they will stand in the way, sending obstacles, distractions and bondages to keep you from walking in what God has for you.

8. Wait for it

Lastly, wait for it. I know it’s hard. No one wants to wait but God uses waiting to perfect your faith and to kill your flesh. Abraham needed to wait a long time before His promise manifested. But He produced Ishmael in between because He didn’t want to wait. And who knows maybe he delayed his promise because he didn’t want to wait. So the Lord not only needed to cleanse him from the mess that He created but He also needed to finish the work He started in him. When we mess up, God cleanses us but we still have to start from the point where we were before we messed up. There is no escape from the process so don’t delay it, let God do whatever He needs to do in you and at the right time God will give you your promise. Abraham waited 25 years for his promise, Joseph waited 13 years, Moses waited 40 years and Jesus waited 30 years – don’t be discouraged when you need to wait. Trust God even when it takes a long time that He has not forgotten and will do what He said He would. 

Receiving a word from God is only a beginning, now you have work to do until you see it grow like a tree and bring you the desired fruits. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed but once it grows it’s like an oak tree. So your seed should grow big. It is a process and a journey so embrace yourself and enjoy the journey. Incubate your seed and don’t let it die. Remember that it can be lost in the worries of life and can be destroyed if it has no roots and it is your job to make sure that it has all the nourishment it needs. Keep your faith and you will see your word come to pass.