One Small Seed Newsletter – Edition #261, January 2023
To my friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, I send Greetings:
Since it is a new year I have decided to approach it with a new perspective on One Small Seed. I have been teaching since 1980 and the joy I have in doing that work has compelled me to put a little extra meat with my inspirations. I do this because I care about each soul that is introduced to this world and goes to bed every night without a morsel of the manna from God’s Word and also to those who have a full cup. I’ll start with a scripture from 1 Chronicles 28:9, and give some explanation:
And thou, Solomon, my Son,
Know thou the God of thy Father and serve him
with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for
the Lord searches all hearts and understands all
the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him
he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him,
he will cast thee off forever.
David was speaking to his Son Solomon, who was one of the world’s wisest men in a natural setting. So, when he said “Know”, Solomon began to learn and came up with statements like: In all of your getting, get knowledge; in all of your getting, get understanding; in all of your getting, get wisdom. Knowing is the key to faith, which opens all the doors to the wealth of God’s resources and having your knowledge bank be full with: facts, principles, truths, history, experiences, commandments of God, statutes, and the knowledge of the attributes of God, which is called theology. Then begin a working personal relationship with him through the power of His Holy Spirit.
“Serve Him”: We serve him by submitting to faith and obedience. We serve him through the power of the new nature he has planted in our heart. We serve him by caring for all the things of his creation. We serve him by showing respect and honor to him. We serve him by coming boldly before him with our thanksgiving and supplications. We serve him by using our gifts, talents, time and resources in the service to others.
“With a perfect heart”: A heart that is mature and no longer childish, full of youthful desires, and no longer seeking to satisfy or gratify with physical pleasures. A heart that is righteous: prioritizing according to divine principles, ordering the affairs of life so there is peace and harmony. Placing value according to the value due. Rendering judgment rationally and reasonably, without bias prejudice, equally and unconditionally. With bowels of mercies, true expressions of emotions, sensitive to needs, firm to discipline, meek in disposition, gentle to the innocent, stern to disobedience, angry with sin and abuse, longsuffering with ignorance, rewarding to potential, encouraging to effort and self sacrificing to God’s Will.
“Willing Mind”: The will of mind means: crucifying the instincts and selfish wants of our instincts. Changing our focus from a natural service to a divine service, that is, making his will our focus. Making him the foundation: Our creator, our savior, our master, our leader, our teacher, our healer, our help and our rock. Make him our reason, for in him we live, we move and have our being. Whatsoever we do, we do unto the Lord.
“Searches all hearts”: He weighs every thought. He is the creator so he isn’t altered by cause and effect or wild imagination, because he knows the heart. He goes to the root or the source and he sees clearly because he knows us better than we know ourselves. He gives room to justify or explain and he knows whether we are a victim of tribulation.
“He understands”: He knows the reasons for the whip and he sees the scars, the pain, the frustrations. But he is longsuffering, gentle, patient, and forgiving. He’s willing to give the benefit of the doubt.
“Imaginations of the thoughts”: The reasons we stray, we are weak, we are proud, we envy, we strive for more and we aren’t always honest. He created us with the ability to imagine, so we could invest and we could survive in this world, which is a jungle, He is the truth and he knows the truth.
“If we- He will”: 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”.
Romans 10:9 “That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus (Jesus as Lord), and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead (among the dead), thou shall be saved.”
Happy New Year and God bless.
Your friend in Christ,
Rodney Robert