SEED 3 Bible Verses

Here is the Scripture for the week. You have been given 10 passages per week. Follow the Five P's of Hearing God Through the Bible.

Philippians 2:5-9
Matthew 20:25-28
Joshua 1:7-8
Matthew 8:5-10
1 Peter 2:18-20
Matthew 26:38-39
John 19:10-11
1 Peter 2:13-17
Hebrews 13:17
2 Kings 5:9-14

Extra SEEDS
God has the ultimate authority.
Proverbs 21:1
Job 23:13
Job 42:2
Psalm 135:6
Isaiah 14:27
Isaiah 45:9
1 Corinthians 11:3
Daniel 2:21

Husband and wives
Ephesians 5:22,25,28,33
Colossians 3:18-19
1 Peter 3:7
Ephesians 5:25-29

Children and parents
Joshua 24:15
Ephesians 6:4
Genesis 18:19
Ephesians 6:2-3
Deuteronomy 5:16
John 5:19
Ephesians 5:21
Ephesians 1:22-23
1 Corinthians 16:15-16

Jesus’ example
John 13:4-15

SEED 3 ~ Control

"[Jesus] did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage." Philippians 2:6

Fully Surrendered
Two thousand pounds.

That’s how much he weighs. He’s a well-kept, massive
animal with a gorgeous coat that glistens like soft sequins when touched by the sunlight. Accented by a long, jet-black mane, he draws the admiration of many. Every step reveals sinewy muscle that flexes with each move of his chestnut-colored body. The biggest of all the horses in the stable, he is indeed a sight to behold.

When he comes out into the open arena, it’s common to hear someone catch his or her breath. He’s immense, tall, and wide. His name is Goliath.

When my brother Anthony first laid eyes on him, he had to have him. A horse lover since he was a youngster, Anthony could only stare at this colossal creature and hope that he’d be able to take him home. After a bit of negotiation, he found that he could.

And he did.

When his prized animal stepped out of the trailer onto the new grounds that he’d now call home, my brother led him directly to the round pen. It’s a small patch of bare ground about 60 feet in diameter outlined by a three-board wooden fence. Compared to the wide, open spaces where the horses run loose, it’s tiny. It has to be because this pen is for training.

As beautiful as this horse was, he’d be useless, not to mention dangerous, unless he knew, understood, and complied with the pecking order in his new environment. In fact, his gargantuan size made this even more important. He could easily muscle his way out of any circumstance he wanted to (it’s clear when you’re standing next to him who has the upper hand), so a sense of compliance and a willingness to yield to his trainer was paramount.

I watched while Anthony trained. He stood in the center of the pen as the horse circled him, running around and around the edges of the ring. Finally, Anthony yelled “Whoa! Whoa!” The gallop slowed to a canter, then to a trot, and finally a walk. When cued, Goliath stopped abruptly, and Anthony worked to get him to turn his attention to the center of the ring and walk directly to his outstretched hand. He didn’t get it at first . . . or second or third.

For one full hour I stood on the outside of the round pen with my foot perched up on one of the wooden slats, elbows out, chin in my hand, resting on the top one, as they rhythmically went through this routine.

“It’s critical,” Anthony yelled over to me. “If we don’t get this right, neither one of use will enjoy each other’s company. If he doesn’t learn to corral his strength, then he’ll be too dangerous to ride. Learning to yield is paramount.”

Corralling our strength.
This exercise wasn’t about stripping him of power but about teaching him to control it and yield to legitimate authority.

Yielding to authority.

These are hard notions to comprehend. Our human nature seems to demand the opposite. We yearn to use every bit of our potential whenever and however we choose.

We’ve grown to feel that this is our right: to assert
ourselves at our own bidding. “Why else would we have been given the strength and potential that we have?” we reason to ourselves. And yet the One with all power in the palm of His hand seemed to live differently:

Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being (see Phil. 2:6-7).

Can you imagine how much Jesus “weighed” - with all that influence, power, authority, majesty, honor, wisdom, and heavenly supremacy at His disposal? Yet the most powerful man of all gave up the right to utilize and flaunt that authority. He chose rather to submit to the will of His Father and to demonstrate His care to those He loved. He chose not to take full opportunity of the power that was rightfully His nor to override the authority of His Father’s will. He did so in order that He might display to us a principle He knew full well would be a difficult yet necessary code for us to live by.

If He could willingly choose to submit to the will of His Father, which He knew would even include the most gruesome of all deaths, shouldn’t we?

Every man and every women
Every married couple and every single
Every employee and every boss
Every child and every parent
Every citizen and every government authority
Every congregant and every shepherd

No power worth flaunting and no authority worth usurping will give any of us the amount of satisfaction and enjoyment that comes from aligning with the divine design established by God before the foundation of the world. “It’s critical,” the Spirit whispers underneath the rebellious protests of the ever-changing cultural tide, “learning to yield is paramount.”

Into the round pen of God’s Word we go. Sure it seems a bit narrow compared to the wide, open spaces our culture stretches out before us to roam in. Yet the One who purchased us stands in the center. He calls men and women, young and old alike. No matter our power or strength or position, we can only experience freedom in His presence.

See His arm outstretched.

Hear His voice saying, “Come.”

He’ll teach us to have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had (Phil. 2:5-7) so we might reap the full enjoyment and benefit of lives well ordered and fully surrendered.

Discussion Questions:
Background Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:1-3

1. What feelings do the words submission and control conjure up for you?
2. What are some areas where you feel a compulsion to control when you are supposed to yield?
3. The need to control is often rooted in fear. What fears cause you to desire control?
4. Why do we so often fight being under the control or authority of someone?
5. In what relationships do you need to relax and let someone else lead?
6. What may happen (good or bad) if you let someone else lead? What may happen (good or bad) if you refuse to let someone else lead?
7. How do you need to relinquish control of your relationship to God so He can steer instead of you?

Answer a few of the questions by posting a comment

SEED 2 Bible Verses

Here is the Scripture for the week. You have been given 10 passages per week. Follow the Five P's of Hearing God Through the Bible.

Exodus 4:10-13
2 Corinthians 3:4-6
Isaiah 50:4-5
Judges 6:14-16
1 Kings 17:8-16
2 Peter 1:2-3
Psalm 84:11-12
Matthew 14:15-20
Philippians 4:19
Haggai 2:3-5,9

Extra SEEDS
Jeremiah 1:9
Matthew 10:19
Mark 13:11
Luke 12:12
Job 12:13
Proverbs 2:6
1 Kings 4:29
Philippians 2:13-14
Psalm 84:11
2 Chronicles 13:14-18

SEED 2 ~ Enough

"And the LORD said to Gideon, 'I will deliver you with the 300.'"
Judges 7:7

The 300
In the mid-fifth century before Christ a tiny Greek army led by King Leonidas and 300Spartan warriors fought an invading Persian army estimated between 80,000 and 290,000men. In a slender canyon at the battle of Thermopylae the Greeks held the huge Persian force at bay for seven days until they were betrayed by a Greek traitor.

Centuries later the idea of so few soldiers holding their own against a vast, military kingdom captured the attention of Hollywood. The result was a multi-million dollar visual extravaganza that had moviegoers glued to the screen.

We’re captivated when someone does the seemingly impossible. We love it when the underdog comes out on top. When we learn of their stories, we somehow take on a bit of their strength and own some of their courage. We grid ourselves in their armor, take up their bow, and suddenly feel that a bit of their victory has become our own.

King Leonidas wasn’t the first leader of 300. The other 300 were the originals. Hollywood hasn’t come knocking for their story. Maybe we have a bit more trouble visualizing it, but the account is brilliantly recorded in the Book of Judges.

Gideon, the commander-in-chief, led a vast army of Israelites. Their ranks initially numbered more than 30,000 and were chomping at the bit to slay the Midianites. Then God dwindled Gideon’s army down—not once, but twice.

God didn’t pare the army down by a small amount. This reduction in force numbered in the thousands. First God cut the army from more than thirty thousand to ten thousand. Then from ten thousand the army dropped to just a few hundred—three to
be exact.

Imagine how Gideon’s eyes widened with surprise. Picture the beads of sweat forming on his brow. Hear his loud heartbeat quicken and pound in his chest. Imagine his nerves teetering on the emotional edge. Envision the barrage of questions swimming around in his head. Yet Gideon went to war with these remaining 300 because in the end, these forces were like no other grouping of soldiers.

This was God’s 300.

With this small yet divinely ordained group, Gideon forged ahead and claimed a victory. Who know so much could be accomplished with so little?

Are you running on empty?
Are you tired? Have your circumstances diminished your resources? Are you looking at what remains and wondering how you have any chance of doing so much with so little? Hear the words of our Lord to you, valiant warrior: “I will deliver you with the 300.”

Your 300 seem so few, don’t they? What you have seems so little, especially when you face such obstacles and must climb mountainous circumstances.

Here’s the secret: You’re better off with God’s 300 than your own 30,000 because His deliverance is only guaranteed to come through His supply. Bigger isn’t always better. More is vastly overrated. Believe it or not, you have exactly what you need in time, gifts, talents, provision, and spiritual resources. In fact, He has graciously “granted to [you] everything pertaining to life and godliness”
(2 Peter 1:3)

Everything.

So, onward soldier. It’s the 300.

It’s God’s 300.

And it’s enough.

Discussion Questions:
Background Scripture: Psalm 84; Philippians 4

1. How many times a week do you worry about having enough?
2. What has your concern kept you from participating in?
3. What influencers in your life prompt you to feel unsatisfied and to want more than what God provides for you?
4. What is on your wish list with God that He has not chosen to give you right now? Consider this in light of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
5. Read God’s promise in Psalm 84:11. What about your life makes this easy or difficult to believe?
6. Why do you think we are all prone to worry? What practical steps can we take to more effectively obey Matthew 6:25-34?
7. In what ways does God supply all your needs (Phil. 4:19)? How does trust enter into this equation?
8. Paul didn’t say God would supply all of my wants. How do you see the difference between wants and needs?

Answer a few of the questions by posting a comment

SEED 1 Bible Verses

Here is the Scripture for the week. You have been given 10 passages per week. Follow the Five P's of Hearing God Through the Bible.

Matthew 6:1-4
John 7:3-5,8-9
Exodus 1:16-17,20-21
Matthew 23:11-12
Isaiah 49:2-4
John 17:4
Matthew 25:34-40
1 Corinthians 15:58
1 Samuel 16:7
Luke 12:2-3

Extra SEEDS
Matthew 6:5-6,17-18
Galatians 4:11;6:9-10
Colossians 3:17
2 Thessalonians 3:13
Hebrews 6:10; 12:2; 13:16
Job 34:21
Psalms 11:4; 33:13-15; 38:9; 44:21; 139:1-3
Proverbs 5:21; 15:3; 24:12
Isaiah 45:3
Jeremiah 32:19
1 Corinthians 4:5

SEED 1 ~ Forgotten

“Your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
-Matthew 6:4

The Secret Seer
Only 8am and I already felt exhausted. I rolled over on my soft pillow and squinted— by eyes trying to focus on the bright sun-split sky that peeked through the slivers in the shades. Was it morning already?
I groaned and covered my face with a blanket. I felt spent. Energy totally depleted. Felt like I’d gotten in bed only moments ago.

Hmmmmm. I had.

The evening before we’d tucked the boys into their beds at their normal bedtimes. Everyone had fallen asleep soundly. I jumped into bed shortly after in hopes of a full night of rest. But that wouldn’t be. Jude, who was one year old at the time, awoke shortly after midnight. He belted out a scream that could have waked the neighborhood. I raced in to check on him but quickly found that there was nothing wrong. He was just . . .up.

Surely a few moments of rocking would put him at ease and back to sleep.

I rocked. I sang. I swayed. I patted. I purred. I rubbed. I paced.

Those moments turned to half-hours. Half hours turned into full ones, four to be exact. These were hours I didn’t care to visit. You know them, the wee ones—dark, quiet, still, lonely. I paced the floor, trying to keep the others from waking. Those were isolating, lonesome moments. No one patted me on the back for encouragement. No one cheered me on to the finish. No one
observed and applauded my faithful mothering.

Just me and him in the unseen, unnoticed midnight hours. We finally tumbled into bed together at 4am - baby tucked in the crook of my elbow.

Eventually, he dozed . . . eventually.

Unnoticed giving. Giving in secret. Expending extra time, extra energy, extra resources, extra emotional concern—essentially everything with little notice from others. It can all seem so unappreciated sometimes, can’t it? So unnoticed. So undervalued.

Yes, I know. It might have seemed so that forlorn night if God’s Spirit hadn’t had something to say about it.“Priscilla, I’m the Secret Seer,” He whispered just as I began to doze off. “The unnoticed gifts you give are in My full view, and I take pleasure in dispensing reward.”

What’s the secret gift you’ve been giving away?
Maybe you’ve not paced the floor in the wee hours with a wee one lately, but you’ve been giving, haven’t you? That final detail you made certain was finished, the financial gift you slid under the door, the prayer you lifted up for another, the want you sacrificed to meet someone else’s need. You’ve been the unnamed, secret
soldier who’s marched in and left footprints of love on the landscape of someone’s life.

Have you wondered if it’s worth it when you walk away and not one say’s “Thank you”? Have you questioned the energy it required when you come back home feeling a bit spent? Have you wanted to take it back when those invested hours seemed to yield little dividends?

I have good news for you, weary secret giver: There is a Secret Seer. Oh yes, Someone sees, and He is not a mere human whose accolades would dissipate as easily as the curling smoke that appears at the meeting of warm breath with cold air. This one gives grand, vast, and eternal gifts.

Take courage, secret soldier. He saw the good deed, the extended hand, the opened heart, the generous act that you thought had gone unnoted and unobserved.

That which you’ve depleted He will return - pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

In fact, it seems that knowing gifts like these are offered to secret givers should not only cause us to rest easy in what we’ve already done but to look for opportunities to do it again and again. Knowing the Secret Seer prompts us to give undercover. To share unnamed. To offer without notice.

Secret servants seem to have a special place in the heart of the Servant Savior.

If you feel unnoticed, unappreciated, and overlooked, just lift up your eyes, and your gaze will fall on the eyes of the Holy One. He is watching every opportunity you’ve grasped, every gift you’ve offered, every undisclosed detail you’ve set straight. He has taken note and promises a reward - one that surpasses mere human attention and applause - the only reward worth receiving anyway.

Discussion Questions:
Background Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 12:4-8

1. What kind of circumstances cause you to feel forgotten?
2. How do you react when you feel overlooked?
3. Where else in Scripture do you see the Lord showing that He cares for the “forgotten”?
4. What are some practical ways God’s care has encouraged you when you feel like a fifth sparrow?
5. Dig more into the context of Luke 12. In what personal ways do verses 20-30 speak to you about worry?
6. In what way have you overlooked someone lately? How can you be careful to cause this person to feel valued going forward?
7. You are valuable, but how do you show other people around you that they are valuable too?

Answer a few of the questions by posting a comment

The Five P's

1. Position Yourself to Hear from God
Engage in solitude and silence, and approach the text with anticipation, expecting God to speak to you.

2. Pore Over the Passage and Paraphrase the Major Points
Don’t just skim the passage. Take your time and meditate on it. Read the passage a few times, emphasizing different words in the verse each time. If a certain word or phrase speaks to you, don’t ignore it. Stop and consider why it is meaningful. This is how the Spirit speaks. He connects Scripture to the details of our lives.

If the passage allows, put yourself in the Scripture and see yourself in the story. If one verse seems to resonate with you, don’t worry about finishing the rest—just stay in the passage, and let the Spirit speak to you. As you meditate on Scripture, consider the context. What takes place both before and after the passage?

After you meditated on the verse(s), use the space given to paraphrase each verse. In just one or two simple sentences, summarize what is happening. These questions might help you to get the most out of each verse selection as you pore over the passage:

*Who are the major participants?
*What are they doing? Saying?
*Where are they going?

3. Pull Out the Spiritual Principles
Close your Bible and look at your paraphrases. For each one spiritualize the major point. What is God teaching? What is He revealing about Himself? Is there a command to be followed? Is there a promise to be regarded? Write them down.

4. Pose the Question
Turn each spiritual principle that you listed above into a personally directed question. Ask yourself questions that will help you come to these conclusions:

*Am I living in a way that coincides with the message of this verse?
*Is anything in my life contradicting this passage?
*What do I need to do to bring my life in line with this verse?

As you sit in God’s presence with these questions, record what you begin to hear the Spirit encouraging you, convicting you, challenging you, or inspiring you to do.

5. Plan Obedience and Pin Down a Date
Determine the steps you can take to immediately begin responding to what God has said to you, and put them into practice immediately. If obedience requires you to do something specific, record a date and time you will follow through. Let someone else know about your plan so you can be held accountable.

Are YOU ready? Let’s Go

Welcome!

So glad you are joining us this summer for our SEEDS Bible study.

Jesus told about a sower who planted a seed that yielded a hundred-fold harvest. The SEED in His story is the Word of GOd. Living and powerful. Capable of producing an astounding harvest in your life.

SEED is a unique Bible study experience for those who long to dive deeply into the Scriptures. Join us as we learn six distinct spiritual principles. As God's spirit shines the searchlight of conviction, comfort, and challenge on the reality of your circumstances, you will hear His voice in an intimate and pracitical way. You'll walk away from this study with a revitalized relationship with the Lord and renewed interest for His Word.

Join us each Wednesday as we will update the study for the week. You will be joining a group of women meeting in at Divine Shepherd in Omaha, NE. We look forward to hearing what you have to share on these studies.

So, you may be asking how you participate on online study?
Similar to a church small group, we'll ask questions about the current lesson. Please post a comment and answer or ask another question. We'll also accept any prayer requests and support you in your study. We learn from one another, so every question and comment is helpful. Please participate in the discussions.

To start us off, let's introduce ourselves.
Please tell us your name, where you are from and what you would like to take away from this summer Bible study?

I look forward to "meeting" you
Blessings on your journey with us this summer
Kami