January 20th, 2024
Dear Friend,
Good morning! Thank you for being a part of this journey to freedom with me. Digging up and connecting evidence of truth is my passion, but sharing it with you makes it worth it.
I am so excited to share this particular lesson with you. Where I started is not where God led me. This message is straight from His heart because it changed mine.
We have already taken two steps in our journey into 2024.
Step One – Returning Home
Step Two – Redeemed for Restoration
It is time for Step Three – Join the Resistance!
We are now a part of God’s family, and this is a family on a mission. It is time to drive your stake into the ground and join the rebellion of LOVE.
What is Love?
Genesis 1 gives us a visible image of love. God desired (so loved) the world that He willed the universe into existence.
LOVE = LIFE
For the universe and all life in it to exist, God (The Living One) gave His life (Living DNA).
No life could exist without that first unit of life, “planted like a seed” into the ground. Jesus confirmed this truth.
John 12:24 – “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”
A single grain (seed) produces much grain (seeds). That law is a promise.
We will gather a bouquet of promises as we go.
NOTE: From here on, keep your eye on the seed.
LIFE (LOVE) = MORE LIFE (LOVE)
Every seed also always produces after its kind. Orange seeds grow oranges and can adapt to develop different types of oranges, not apples.
Genesis 1:11 – “Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit with seed according to its kind, on the earth”; and it was so.”
LIFE (LOVE) NEEDS GOOD
God created three kinds of plants (Genesis 1), which all multiply.
How do we know which seed is good?
- Grass – is good food for all animals (Genesis 1:30).
- Plants scattering seeds (weeds) and
- Trees with fruit containing seeds are good food for humans (Genesis 1:29).
One thing is clear. It is always a choice.
Genesis 4 states that thorns and thistles grew out of the ground after the Fall.
Studies on the origin of thorns show a mutation that influenced some plants to adapt “fruit-bearing parts” into protective weapons against predation.
This is evidence of God’s mercy in creating a choice.
First, look at the thorns. They pierce.
1 Timothy 6:10 – “For the love of money is the root of all evil; and while some have coveted after it, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
The root meaning of “love of money” is to let money be your closest friend or imagine yourself as a god. We’ll explore that another time.
Now, let’s look at the thistles. They heal.
LIFE (LIFE) ALWAYS PROTECTS, HEALS, AND SUPPORTS MORE LIFE
This is God’s LOVE. He always “makes a way of escape” by giving us a choice. Two options.
Remember the grasshoppers and butterflies?
Seed-scattering plants are divided into two families: While thorns pierce and cause diseases like arthritis, thistles are edible, highly nutritious, and medicinal.
1 Timothy 6:10 is not against gaining wealth. It is speaking against the belief that any wealth (knowledge, power, or possessions) can ever replace LOVE. Turning back to God always results in healing and restoration.
Psalm 32:10 – “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.”
The word “evil” in the original language means to starve. Love feeds, nurtures, and heals.
LOVE PURPOSEFULLY MULTIPLIES LIFE
God’s first commandment to Adam and Eve (together) was to do both – be fruitful (fruit that contains and protects seeds) and multiply.
Genesis 1:28 – “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…”
The purpose of this command to fill the earth was not to “subdue each other” but to subdue that which does not promote life.
It was a purposeful command to claim your ground for good things to grow. That’s Gardening 101.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
The same God who commanded life to exist in the beginning now commands us to love.
He knows something we don’t yet understand.
John 15:12 – “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
And God didn’t just command us to love. He showed us how.
LOVE ACTS LIKE LOVE
Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God doesn’t love us because we deserve it. He loves us because He created us for LOVE.
God created you to desire or willfully choose His love so that you would live.
Love creates and sustains life!
Inside the brain is a tiny area responsible for willpower. Studies show this area may also be responsible for long life and the will to live.
And that’s not all.
In the Garden of Eden, God promised Eve that her Seed would crush the Serpent one day.
This is God’s justice. Love seeks justice.
And here’s why:
LOVE IS GOD
Love (God) is patient. Love (God) is kind. Love (God) does not boast.
Love (God) is not proud.
The humility of LOVE is the source of its power.
Philippians 2:8-9 – “And being found in human form, He (Jesus – The Seed) humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name (LORD) that is above every name…”
LOVE (GOD) IS GOOD
We want to be exalted. We want to be the head and not the tail. We want good things.
God has shown us exactly what He wants.
Micah 6:8 – “He has shown you, O Man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to seek justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
God demonstrated all three in the justice of The Seed, the mercy of the Crown of Thorns, and the humiliation of the Cross so that we could find grace.
LOVE IS GRACE
When you humbly obey God’s command to love, you join God in resisting pride since the Garden of Eden.
Jesus resisted the same Tempter who deceived Eve. He chose God’s known will over His own immediate needs.
Grace in time of need.
James 4:6-8 – “But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore, submit to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.”
We need grace to obey – to turn from the pride of unbelief to where the provision is – faith.
I like the Living Bible translation of Hebrews 11:1.
Hebrews 11:1-2 – “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.”
Every self-help guide will tell you to “believe in yourself.”
Believing works like a seed.
LOVE IS FAITH
Through generations of adaptations, God gave us an all-powerful seed. It is so tiny in your hand, but it obeys all the laws of LOVE.
“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…” Finish that statement.
Mountains!
“You will move mountains.”
A mustard seed is tiny. The plant is easy to grow and produces seeds in as few as 60 days. The green leaves are edible, the flowers are pretty, and seeds that mature on the plant will self-sow. That’s built-in self-help.
Tree roots break stone foundations. Faith so soft can penetrate and crack cemented beliefs.
One tree can become a forest over generations to come.
And the harvest from one humble mustard seed?
SEEDING FAITH IN LOVE
We can “believe” in many things. God’s purpose for faith is to restore all His children and prodigals. Both are heirs.
Every choice to seek God’s way and will is planting a seed of faith for the harvest we are all a part of.
It was never about just me or you. We wouldn’t want a world like that.
Start anywhere. It may be a whispered prayer, “Show me Your way.”
The “way of escape” isn’t a detour around the situation. It brings you through it to the other side, but stronger.
It may be one tiny step – going for a walk, sharing a meal, talking to a friend, reading something positive and uplifting, drinking a glass of water – inside the depression.
It may be a big step—listening to hear rather than responding, forgiving an enemy, setting boundaries, standing against the crowd—inside the fear or anger.
Maybe you don’t have words, but you do have a choice. Always.
Love designed it that way for you.
JOIN GOD’S RESISTANCE
The power of believing that GOD LOVES YOU is the first step. Submit your heart to opportunities to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly like Him. This is walking with God just as God once walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden.
I Peter 5:10 – “And the God of all grace, the One having called you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus— you having suffered a little— will Himself restore, support, strengthen, establish you.”
Our Father wants to restore us Himself. He is jealous for that connection and relationship because He alone is good.
He wants to establish us on the land that is rightfully yours. Take the stake from His hand and drive it deep into the heart of fear and pride.
God desires our freedom. His will is how we get there. Heaven is what it looks like when His will is done.
Luke 11:2 – “And He (Jesus) said unto them, “When ye pray, say, “Our Father who lives in heaven, holy be Your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.
It’s time.
Let’s claim the land together.
Believing God,
Monisha
