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You know, I'm excited for all that God has in store for us in 2026. Um, it's just gonna be an exciting year. I can feel it in my spirit. This is gonna be the year where a lot of you step into breakthroughs, where a lot of you lay hold of those promises that God has for you, those promises that you have been carrying in your heart over the years. This is the year to lay hold. You know, if you walk into my office, you will see that I have around my office uh scriptures. You'll find scriptures on posters, you'll find scriptures on cups, little plaques, all these little scriptures all over the place. You'll find a poster with all the I am confessions. And I I love having scriptures around me because they are reminders to me of God's promises and God's faithfulness. Because we as pastors also need reminders. Don't think that the pastors are always living in this cloud, that we do not have moments of doubts or struggles or challenges. We too go through the same struggles that you go through. The same devil that is working against you that wants you to forget the faithfulness of God for your life, the same devil that wants you to forget his word and his promises for your life, God's word and God's promises for your life, is the same devil that is getting double pay working on our lives. So, even as pastors, we too need to fight the good fight of faith. And I'm sure many of you too have scriptures in your homes. I've been to some of your homes. You've got pictures on the wall, you too have little plaques, you've got that that scripture, those those refrigerator magnets that you have on your on your fridge. You know the one from 1st Peter that says, be sober, be vigilant. And every time you go to your fridge, you're like, amen, and you open and you reach for that beer. But if these promises stay on walls and on magnets and on mugs and are not embedded in our hearts, they're nothing less than decoration. God's promises are not meant to be decorations in the home or in the life of a believer, they are meant to be realities that the believer lives in, lives in, and lives out in their lives. These scriptures are not just for us to behold, they are there for us to lay hold. God gives it to us so that we can lay hold of the promises that He has for us. Every time you encounter the word of God for your life, you are being exposed to the potential of the reality of that word being manifested in your life. So today I want to look at how the scriptures tell us to treat these scriptures. How do we handle God's word, the seed of God's word that is released to us to us? How do we handle the promises of God for our lives? A few things we we must know as we approach scriptures. The first thing you'll notice is when you read some scriptures, scriptures, scriptures, some scriptures, you will notice that they are in past tense. As you go through these scriptures, you'll see that many of them are written in past tense. And when you come across these promises, it's not telling you about what God can do for you, it is revealing to you what God has already done for you. Some of the scriptures are found here. I'm gonna read out a couple. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3. It says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. Dundee. Past tense has blessed us. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 24. He himself bore our sins in his own body on that tree that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Second Peter chapter 1, verse 3. As his divine power has given us past tense, all things that pertain to life and godliness, to the knowledge of him who has called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. Done. Dundee. What is that one offering? The offering is that finished work of Jesus at that cross more than 2,000 years ago, and it says, by that one offering, he forever made perfect. Who those who are being made perfect. I just love this scripture. There's just so much in that short statement. You have forever been, you have been made for you have been forever made perfect. That means your status before God right now is perfect. Who has forever been made perfect? Those who are being made perfect. So you have two status: forever perfect and being made perfect. How awesome is that! So we struggle sometimes with certain things. We are going through life, we are facing challenges. Sometimes we fail, we fall, and then we we we we we start to condemn ourselves, we start to judge ourselves, but and but we we kind of think like God, I'm I'm I'm in a bad place, I'm a failure. Hey, no, you're already perfect before God, but you're also work in progress. We can be bold at the same time. In fact, the scripture says we are bold at the same time. God is working in your heart, amen. That's why he gives you the Holy Spirit. There is your position before God, and there's the condition that God is working with you throughout. Amen. Galatians, Christ has redeemed us, done from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, that the blessings of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. He's already done it all. So the blessings of Abraham is yours, that it might come upon your life, that it might come upon my life. So when we approach the scriptures, we do not look to God and say, God, please do this for me, God please heal me, God please bless me, God please redeem, redeem me. Since it's already been paid for, since the it's already done, since it's already in the past tense, when we come to God for these things, we don't come and beg him as a servant, begging a master for crumbs of bread. We come as a son, as a daughter, knowing that we already have these things. We come not to ask, we come to redeem the promises of God based on what he has accomplished for us at the cross. Amen. Come on, give Jesus a clap of prayer. Now, the reason I share this is because many times as Christians we pray and ask God for things that He has already provided for in His Word for you. Things that are already yours. Imagine you're going out for dinner as parents, or as a parent, you're going out, you're going out to spend some time out, you've got plans, so you've got kids at home, you've got a child at home, so you prepare their dinner. Done, you make them a nice dinner, you woke up early, you went to the market, you bought the stuff, you prepared a just a lovely dinner, and you put it in the fridge. You close the door and you left a note. Dinner, your dinner is in the fridge. Then while you are enjoying your dinner, your time out from the kids, you get a call from your son. Ma, Dad, where's my dinner? Dad, mom, I'm hungry. Can I have uh food? Can you send me food? Can you call Grab and send some food? Listen, I'm not insinuating anything or accusing any of my sons of this. Can you send me food? Can you please send me food? I'm really, really hungry. Imagine how you feel. You say, hey, get off the phone, go and read the note that I left you, and then you'll know that there is food that has already been prepared for you in the fridge. All you have to do is get your butt off the couch, walk to the fridge, open the door, take it, put it in a microwave, and you will be filled. That's not even scripture. I don't know why y'all are clapping, but clap anyway. The promises are already yours. Sitting in the fridge of heaven, waiting for you to get off the phone with God, get off the comforts of your spiritual couch, walk to the fridge and get it for yourself, waiting for you to lay hold of those things that He has already made available for you. God is not sitting in heaven deciding if he wants to bless you based on how impressive your prayer life is, based on how long you are fasting this year. God already decided to bless you when he sent Jesus to the cross more than 2,000 years ago and paid the price for every blessing that you will need, everything for life and for godliness, the prize for your blessing, the prize for your healing, the prize for your freedom, the prize for your forgiveness, the front, the price for your I dele said the price, the prize for your adoption into the family of God. It is already yours. We need to move from begging and pleading to laying hold. Amen. So look for the promises of God that are past tense and stop asking God to do things that He's already done for you. Step into a position to lay hold. Amen. Another thing about the promises of God is these promises, many of them are your are not a reward for you, they are an inheritance. The good news is that when Jesus went to the cross, he didn't just get us saved, he made us heirs. Today you are an heir. An heir is someone who has an inheritance. Galatians chapter 4, verse 4 says it like this. But when the right time came, God sent his son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us, who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent his spirit into the spirit of his son into our hearts, prompting us to call out Abba Father. Now you are no longer a slave, but you are God's own child. That's good news. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Romans 8:17, in case you're not convinced. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God's glory. Still not convinced. Galatians chapter 3, verse 29. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So when you understand this, you'll understand that a big part of you laying hold is you knowing your position as a child of God, as an heir. When you see yourself that way, the way God sees you, you move from prayers of pleading and begging to prayers of thanksgiving. You go before God with a heart filled with gratitude. The position you pray from is more important than the petitions that you are praying for. There are things in the Bible for you that are not gifts or favors that you need to ask or beg God for. But rather, you need to step into your position as a son, as a daughter, step into your position of an heir, that position of an heir, and claim it by faith. It is about positioning. The position we take in prayer makes a difference. We all know the story of the prodigal son. Of course, the highlight of the story is the young the younger son's sin and the father's uh accepting him and forgiving him after that. While the younger son can be known for his sin, I want you to consider another thing that he can be known for. You've got to consider his confidence. Imagine he went to the father and he and he says this, give me my inheritance now. Of course, we cringe at the disrespect, but we also notice something like I used to always question why did the father say okay? Why did the father say yes? The father didn't argue. I mean, if my son came to me and said, Give me my inheritance now, that would have been the laying on of hands, ministry. The father does not say no because the son was not asking for a gift, he was demanding for his inheritance. He understood and knew his legal position, and I and I believe that it was already signed under his name, so he knew he had a right as uh simply because of his position in the family, simply because of his blood, he had a right to that cash, to that money, because of his position in the family. In that same way, today, simply because of the blood, you and I have a right to the blessings of God. You and I have an inheritance, the blood of Jesus that speaks for us. So the younger son knew what was rightfully his, simply because of who he was. He knew what he had access to, but he did not discern timing. He didn't trust the father for the right time. He wanted the provision of the father without the process of the father. Knowing your inheritance or the promises of God for you, knowing what you have access to is important, but learning to trust God's timing is crucial to you seeing the promises come to pass in your life. Because a right thing released at the wrong time is not going to be good for you. And that's what we see happen to this youngest son. You know, many times we can be like that younger son. I want it now, I want it fast. God, I prayed 10 minutes ago, I still didn't see the answer, and now I'm getting frustrated. God, you're not answering my prayers. God does not respond the way we expect him to respond in such a short period of time. So when we don't see it, we get angry, we get impatient with God, we lose faith, we let go. We are that microwave generation that we want things instant. Instant noodles, instant gratification. You turn on the computer, you want instant Wi-Fi. If there's a slight delay, you're immediately getting nervous and what's going on. Wi-Fi connection is gone. Why is it so slow? I'm old enough to remember where you turn on the computer and you wait. How many of you remember that? Look, kids, fossils, fossils. No, no, I fall in that category. But nowadays you just you turn on and you're immediately connected. And we are so used to that. We want things fast, we want things now, and sometimes we carry that impatience in our relationship with God. You know the thing about microwave food is this you go to the freezer, you take out yesterday's curry, you go put it in a microwave, you close, you shut the door, you click sensory heat. So this microwave is supposed to sense how long this curry needs to be heated for. So you wait, sometimes it's a minute, sometimes it's a minute and a half, two minutes, and then you hear the sound peep, beep, beep, it's ready. You open the microwave door and it's hot. It feels ready, it smells ready, it looks ready, you take it out, you take your rice, you take a you take your spoon, you dig in, you put it on the rice, you take a spoon, you put it in your mouth, and it's you just got cold as ice. Ice particles on your tongue. It looked ready, it felt ready, but on the inside it wasn't really ready. And many of us as Christians, we can be like that. You look ready, you feel ready, but God knows on the inside you've not yet warmed up to the power, to the reality, to the truth of God. So we can be microwave Christians, but God is an oven God. He takes his time. Everything that I say is not scripture, you're clever. But anyway, that's not in the Bible, uh God is an oven God. Clarence chapter 3, verse 2. And the thing about ovens, right? You take a chicken, cooked chicken, huh? Don't put your live chicken in the oven. Take a chicken, roast, you wanna you put it in? You leave it in the oven for a certain number of times, for a certain period of time. You open the oven, it smells good, looks good. But if you want to know it's really cooked, you take the thermometer with a long spike. Some of you have seen this at your doctor's office. You take the thermometer and you stab it into the chicken. Because though it may be hot on the outside, it may look ready on the outside, you will only know the temperature of the inside when the thermometer goes in and say, ah, it's still not cooked, it's not hot enough on the inside. The inside does not reflect the outside. And sometimes, like I said, God is an own god. The only way he knows if you're ready is on the inside is if he needs to pull you sometimes. Sometimes that's fine. Only then, when you go through things like that, that's when you know that we can inside of you. Are you really as hot as you display on the outside? So God allows the time, God allows certain things to pierce you, not so that you will suffer, but so that you will develop as a believer, so that you'll not just be a good times Christian, so that you will know that, so that he can see, and you will see. Where you really are in your walk with God. You see, God isn't interested in a quick miracle that blesses you but leaves your character frozen. Like I said, He's an oven God, He's building heat from the inside so that when the promise manifests, you can actually have the maturity to handle it. Galatians chapter 6, verse 9 says it like this: Let us not grow weary while doing good. For in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Do not grow weary in doing good because there is a due season for your life. There is a due season for the promises that you've been believing for. There is a due season for the miracles that you've been praying and asking and standing on God's word for. There is a right time. Do not look at delay as rejection from God. Amen. So that's the youngest son. He understood position, but he didn't understand timing. He wanted the father's provision, but he didn't trust the father's process. But at the same time, we do not want to end up like the elder son, whose story is actually just as tragic. He had the same inheritance, yet he says this to the father. All these years I've slaved for you. And never once refused to do a single thing that you told me to. And in all that time, you never gave me even one young goat for a mutton parrot with my friends. Angry with the father. And everything I have is yours. Son's view, you never gave me. Father's perspective, hey, it's all yours, right? Why are you waiting for me to give you things that are already yours? That you already have as your inheritance, that you have the legal right and legal access to. He was working hard to please the father, waiting for the father to give him what was already his. He lived in lack, not because the father withheld from him, but because he didn't know what he already had, simply because of his position as a son. You see, the younger son needed to learn the father's heart. The older son needed to learn the father's will. Who are you in this story? Maybe some of you can identify with the younger son. Like I said, you're you're impatient. I want to tell you, trust the father's process. God is faithful to his promises. He is not a man that he should lie. He will do what he promised you he will do. If you have a promise from God, if you have a word from God, release in your heart, you know, God, you have given me this promise, it will come to pass. If you've not seen it yet, do not lose heart, do not grow weary in doing good because there is a due season coming for your life. But maybe some of us can identify with an elder brother. We don't want to be the people who one day stand before God and say, God, you never gave me. If I had this, if you answered my prayer and gave me that, my life would have been so different. I would have served you more, I would have given 100% for you. My life would have been different. We don't want to one day stand before God with all his complaints, and God says, Hey, what are you talking about? All I have is yours. You already had those things, those spiritual blessings that you were waiting for, that healing, that breakthrough. Why were you waiting for me to give you those things that I already made available for you and have given you access to? Those things that you are already in a legal position to lay hold of. You know, sometimes it's not about telling God what you need, it's about telling yourself and your circumstances what you have. It's not about telling God who you want to be, it is about believing and declaring who you are in Christ Jesus. We need to embrace our identity in Christ. That is the doorway through which we enter into the fullness of all that God has for us. Amen. So another thing about the word of God that we need to understand is the Bible describes the promise of God as a seed. Luke chapter 8, verse 11 says it like this. Now, the parable is this the seed is the word of God. The seed is the word of God. These and many scriptures in the Bible talk about the promises of God, the word of God for us, as a seed, not a tree, not an orchard, but a seed. And it's really interesting. In the 1960s, they were excavating this site in Israel, this place called Masada, which was an old fortress built by King Herod the Great. And as they were excavating this site, they found seeds. Seven or more seeds, just like some seeds that were in the ground. And this seed belonged to a particular type of date plant that has been extinct at that point. So they found his seeds and they kept it in the lab or wherever. Didn't bother about it. But in the early 2000s, around 2005, the scientist decided, he requested, she actually requested for the seed. She said she wanted to try to revive the seed and revive this dead plant. So they created the right environment for the seed. They they nourished the seed slowly and gently. And before you know it, the seed started to sprout. And when the seed started to sprout, they were all shocked because this is a 2,000-year-old seed. And that seed sprouted and they decided to name this particular plant or tree Mathusalah for obvious reasons. Some of you know Mathusala is the oldest man in the Bible. They named it Matusselah. Today, that date palm tree is a massive tree in Israel. You can actually go online and look at it. From a 2,000-year-old seed. And since then, and after that, from that batch, they sprouted another seven seeds, and now they've actually revived a plant, a particular date plant that has been extinct for more than 2,000 years. Imagine that. The passing of time did not change the potential of the seed, didn't rob the seed of its inherent potential and life. There was life in the seed. It just needed to be exposed to the right circumstances for that life to spring forth. There is life in the seed, and the word of God is described as a seed. The seed that has the power and the capacity to produce. Regardless of how much of time has passed, maybe that promise is dried and old in your heart right now. You've not visited it, you just left it to dry. I want to tell you that there is life in that promise. All it needs is the right atmosphere, the right environment. So if God has said He's gonna meet all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus, the seed of that word will produce for you. If the word says that you and your household will be saved, maybe you're not seeing it in the natural right now. So you've allowed that promise to dry. I want you to go back and revisit that promise and nourish it with faith again because the seed will produce, the promise will come to pass. If the word of the Lord says that you will be the head and not the tail, let me tell you the promise of God's word will come to pass for your life. The seed of God's word will germinate, will produce, provided that we surround it with the right condition as we carry it in our hearts. So Jesus talks about the condition on where the seed lands. He talks about the farmer sowing the seed and how the seed falls on different ground. You all know the story, but I'm just gonna read it for you. Mark chapter 4, verse 3 to 9. Jesus shares this parable. Listen to this. Behold, the sower went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road. The birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell on good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. So the disciples ask him to explain this. So Jesus explains. So in this case, the seed is sown sown by the farmer, but uh not all the seed fulfill its potential, and the reason why it doesn't fulfill its potential is not because of the seed, it's because of the ground that receives that receives the seed. The surface that the seeds fall into is talking about the condition of the hearts of the people who receive the word of God. The difference between a harvest and a wasteland isn't in the in the quality of the seed, it's in the quality of the soil. So Jesus goes on to explain this parable to his disciples in Mark 4, verse 13. First, he scolds them a bit. Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? And he goes on. The sower sows the word, and these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. So he's comparing the seed to the word. When they hear Satan comes immediately, takes away the word that is sown in their hearts. So the seed falls on the road, no soil, no soil. Soil, let's liken it to faith. There is zero faith in the word, so the word is immediately snatched up. It says Satan immediately snatches it away from them. So sometimes we can come, we can hear the word, but we're like, ah, yeah, no lah, that's not me. No Allah, that will never happen. This flesh all talk nonsense lay that's the birds flying, coming to land to take the seed that has that has just been scattered on your life. Listen, I cannot stop the birds from from flying over my head, but I can stop them from landing. Every time you receive a promise of God for your life, you will have these birds that come. Jesus calls, Jesus says actually this is Satan, Satan's strategy. It comes. Birds of doubt. They try to steal the promise that you just received. So you can feel like on fire for God on a on a Sunday morning after after listening to the sermon and worshiping and whatnot. But the moment you step out there by lunchtime, let go. It's not gonna happen, it's not gonna come to pass. We must have faith. We cannot allow the enemy to steal God's word for our life. If we want to see the power of the word manifest in our lives, amen. Hebrews chapter 11 says, Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is the soil, it is substance in your life, it is the soil that the word of God germinates in. Amen. Moving on in Mark chapter 4, verse 5, he further explains, other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil. So had soil, a little bit of faith. But and immediately it sprang up. But because it had no depth of soil, it withered away, right? So it did have soil, but it was shallow soil, shallow, shallow faith. And Jesus explains it in a similar way. These are the ones whom the seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they heard the word, immediately received it with joy. Praise the Lord, hallelujah! But because they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary, then when affliction and persecution arise because of the word, immediately they fall away. You know, a lot of us, a lot of Christians can be that way. We receive the word with gladness, but because we only have a shallow faith, uh, we are good times Christian, uh, faith that can only sustain us when things are going well. So the moment we face some trial, some persecution, we start to doubt, we start to blame God, and the Bible says they fall away. These are the microwave Christians, hot on the outside, excited, but when things hit the fan, they fall away. Note it says when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. Note it doesn't say when persecution and affliction comes, the word falls away. The word loses its power, the word moves. It says, They fall away. So the word does not shift in the midst of your persecution, in the midst of your trial, in the midst of your affliction. We can shift away from the word. And another thing to note it says, When affliction or persecution arises because of the word, because of the seed, because the enemy does not want to see the word of God manifest in your life, fulfilled in your life. So the it's what's what's happening? He's not attacking you, he's attacking the seed, he's attacking the word. Affliction comes because of the word, the word of God for your life will always be attacked. It is not you who are coming under attack, it is the word of God that you are holding on to for your circumstances, for your future. The word of God will always be tested. When Adam and Eve received God's word, the first thing the devil comes to them and says, Did God really say? What was he doing? He was attacking the word of God. When Jesus heard the confession of the Father over his life at his baptism, this is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. The first thing the devil says to him in the wilderness, if you really are the Son of God, everything that God says on you, the devil will try to steal and twist and twist it out of your arm and your heart. You know that, you know, when when you're sick and you receive a word for healing, you go home and you get a little bit worse. That's the enemy. Don't let go of the word, don't let go of the promise in those seasons of your life. You know, when you get a word for financial breakthrough, you go home, you check the mailbox, and there's a warning letter from the bank, or some kind of a message comes on your phone, and you say, I just got the word for breakthrough. Why am I facing this? Why is this happening? I cannot be like just not true, it's just wrong. Like I shouldn't even be believing these things. Listen, hold on to the word because the word of God will always be attacked. Tribulation and persecution arise because of the word. Listen, God's word for your life makes the enemy uncomfortable, and we need to be aware the enemy is working overtime in your life because God has released his word, his promises over your life. Amen. And he's going to bless you, he is going to take you to new levels, he is going to grow you, he's going to use you to advance the kingdom, and you need to hold on to the seed through tribulation, through persecution, through the testing. Hold on to it. That is faith, amen. We need to have faith that we're trusting, stand on, and keep believing. Faith that perseveres, perseveres. The Bible tells us to imitate those who through faith and perseverance. Faith, it's easy. You hear the word, you're built with faith, you're immediately filled with faith, you're feeling good. Perseverance is about consistency in that faith. Staying in faith regardless of what it looks like in the natural, you have anchored your reality on the promise of God's word for your life. It doesn't look that way, but it will come to pass. Why? Because God's word has said so. God is not a man that he should lie. It doesn't feel that way, but I'm still going to believe because I know God's word will come to pass in my life. Amen. Some of us need to start believing again. Some of us need to pick up that word again and water it with faith. Some of us need to step into the things of God again, take steps of faith, and pursue the kingdom of God, the call of God, the promises of God for our lives. Amen. Your current financial struggle doesn't take away from the fact that the word of God has promised that he will meet all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Your current medical report doesn't take away from the promise of God's word that says he will heal you, that by his stripes you will heal. Your current family dynamics doesn't take away from the reality that he has promised you that you and your household will be saved, that your children will be mighty in the land, they will be taught by the Lord. Great will be their peace. Amen. And then he goes on to say, talk about the ones that are sown among the thorns. These are the ones who hear the word and the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. These are people who receive the word, they have the word, but the word is not their principal reality, it's just a means to an end. It's just one of those things in your life that you put your trust in. They mix it with principles of the world. In fact, this suggests that to this person, God is an option, not a priority. It's not about seeking first the kingdom of God. It says because they received the word, but then the cares of the world. This distraction comes in. That means they have cares for things in the world. They have desires for other things. Oh, the deceitfulness of riches. These things pull them away from the word that God has released in their life. God only deserves one position in your life, that is number one. Everything we do in our life needs to be built around the reality of God's word, our relationship with God. Everything flows from that place. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things, all these things, he will deal with it. All these blessings are a byproduct of you seeking first the kingdom of God, putting God first in your life, trusting his word, living by his dictates and his principles. Everything else flows from that place. It's not one foot in God, one foot in the world. It's all or nothing God. I remember sharing this with you some time ago, where I was speaking to someone and I asked him to list down their priorities. What in terms of numbering, what would be number one, what would be number two? Of course, everybody when they're speaking to the pastor, God is number one, number two, family, number three, career. So they give me a list, and I tell them this listen, God should not be on your list. And they say, What do you mean? God should not be a number on your list. God is the paper that you write your list on. Amen. Thank you, Zion. Come on, give Jesus a clap of my family in Christ, my career in Christ, my ministry in Christ. God is not a number on your list, he's the paper you write your list on. Amen. Finally, he says this. He talks about the wonder sown on the good ground. These are those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit. Some thirty fold, sixty, some a hundredfold. So these are the people who the conditions of their heart is right to receive the word. The word goes deep in their heart. They try to hear it. They hold on to it. It says they hear. Because some of us can just stop at hearing it. They don't just hear it, they accept it, and then they bear fruit. The promise that you're holding on to. The word will produce. Sometimes it doesn't produce when we expect it to, the way we expect it to, but it will produce. It didn't happen as Abraham expected it to happen. It didn't happen on Abraham's timing, but there was a process. But God is faithful to his promises. Today you may be believing for something. Maybe you're standing on God's word, but you haven't seen the fulfillment of the word yet. Let me assure you, the seed is already at work on the inside of you. If you know anything about a seed, you'll know that most of the work happens in a space where you don't see it. You put the seed in the ground, you water it, you don't even know what's happening. The pace the seed is growing at. All you can do is water it. Do the occasional bhaja. You see nothing there. But the seed is at work. It is forming, it is taking shape. The shell is starting to crack. Maybe you've been holding on to the promise, but you're seeing nothing yet. Keep watering it with faith. Keep badgering it with faithfulness. Keep declaring it. Let me tell you, the seed is starting to germinate in your life. It's just that you don't see it, but it is starting to thrive in that atmosphere of faith. Amen. You know, this morning I want to be a farmer. Can I be a farmer? I want to scatter 10 seeds over 10 areas of your life. Remember what I said? The seed has got no problem, the seed has the power to produce. It depends on the ground. As I release these words, the promises of God, all of these are based on scripture. As I release this word, I want you to receive it in your heart filled with faith. Can we do that? Put your hand over your heart. Every time I read this word, you say, I receive it in Jesus' name. I scatter the word of God over your lake. I declare that God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory. You will have enough to live, you will have enough to give, and you will have enough to overflow. Receive that seed in Jesus' name. Right now, in the authority of Jesus' name, I speak to every cell in your body, every organ, every bone, and I command it to align with the life of Christ in accordance to the word of God from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. Be whole in Jesus' name. Receive the seed. I scatter the word of God over your worth. You are not a slave to your past, you are an heir of the kingdom, you are a chosen person, a royal person, beloved of God. You will stop begging for crumbs. You belong to the table of the king. Receive that seed in Jesus' name. Now I'm gonna release the word for peace, the seed of peace. I scatter the word over your mental health. God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. I rebuke the spirit of anxiety, and in the name of Jesus, I release the peace of God to guard your heart and mind as you journey through life. Receive it right now in Jesus' name. I scatter the word over your children and your household. I declare that you and your house will be saved. Your offspring will be mighty in the land, the curse stops at your door. Your children will be the blessed of the Lord, they will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace. Receive it right now in Jesus' name. Amen. I release the seed of protection, I scattered the word over your safety. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. The Lord is your shield and your hiding place. He gives his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. Receive it right now, in Jesus' name. Amen. The seed of purpose, I scattered the word over your calling. I declare that the God who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. You are not an accident, you are an assignment from God. Your gifts will open doors for you. You will prosper wherever you are in Jesus' name. Receive the seed. The seed of favor. I scatter the word over your labor. I declare that the favor of the Lord rests upon your work, the work of your hands, doors that were shut will swing open. You will find favor with God and with man. Receive it right now in Jesus' name. I release the seed of restoration. I scattered the word over your lost years. I declare that the Lord will restore the years that the locust has eaten, that the enemy has stolen. What was stolen will be returned to you sevenfold. Your latter days will be greater than your former. Receive it in Jesus' name. I scatter the word over your chains where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. I declare breakthrough from every addiction, every cycle of sin, every stronghold who the Son has set free is free indeed. You are free in Jesus' name. Come on, let's stand as we pray, Father. We thank you, Lord, that the field is sown. We thank you that the seeds have entered the hearts of your people. We declare in the name of Jesus that the birds will not snatch them, that the rocks will not starve them, that the thorns will not choke them. We thank you for a hundredfold harvest that is coming. We declare that this is a season of breakthrough. This is a season of laying hold. This is a season of not just beholding but laying hold of the promises of God. This is a season of seeing the fulfillment and seeing the faithfulness of God all our life. In Jesus' name, we receive Amen.