Monday, April 11, 2011

Ahava Love Letter - "Seeds Within"

Ahava Love Letter

Seeds Within

" …His seed abides in him…” (1 John 3:9 NASB)

Dear family of friends,

Did you know that ancient seeds discovered in the past few years, which were found from centuries ago, still grow? Amazing isn't it? To know that what is seemingly “lifeless”, being over 2000 years old (some as far as back as 4000 years) later sprouted. (At the bottom of this letter are two further short articles describing these amazing occurrences.)

Do you ever wonder if the spiritual seeds planted in you, some maybe from as far back as 10, 20, even 30 years ago, will ever sprout too? That that seed, coming to you as a spiritual move of Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit), maybe when you were a young whipper snapper, will yet grow and bear fruit?

As a kid growing up, surrounded by acres and acres of corn fields, row after row near the towns in Iowa, I really never gave it much thought of the annual progress that farmers went through. But each fall, they would disc the fields of the leftover harvest, to turn over the crop remains back into the soil. Then after the winter snows came, followed by the warming of the sun, they would begin to plant the corn, beans or even sunflower seeds in the rich, “black as black can be” loam dirt.

When you hold a small kernel of corn seed in your hand, it looks and feels like just a hard, yellow shell, with a little knob at the end. And yet it contains within the very life to grow over eight feet tall, bearing many more ears, of hundreds of more seeds.

Sometimes when I ponder on this, one of the ways we can learn of the Lord God of Israel Whom we serve, He gives me thoughts of encouragement, that what He put within me will yet come to pass. In His time.

To think what a seed goes through when it is buried in that dark, black, out-of-sight tomb in the ground. It seemingly “dies”, as the dirt itself, then the spring rain, work on it. Then further penetration of the surrounding forces crack that hard seed, permitting the life form within to wrestle its green way up through the blackness to reach the yellow sun.

Those spiritual seeds within us, planted by the Lord Himself, buried as if dead, will come up. We have been given that hope. External and internal pressures, difficulties that may daily come our way, are forcing those spiritual seed shells to break. He is causing His people to be raised up, along with Him, to perform the work that those seeds, once mature, are meant to bring about.

This will bring further advancement for us. As we face the tribulations and the daily trials that certainly can wear us down at times, I believe that He is still using these actions to produce a harvest that the world has yet to behold. And the timing will be perfect, and so needed.

My prayer is that your seeds will continue to germinate. Allow the pressures all around to bring about the needed force to cause His gifts within to come forth, and touch the lives of those around us. We all need each others’ fruit, and the resulting harvest that He promised to reveal.

So be encouraged, and have a good “seed-pressured” day.

Ahava to my family of friends,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. Our 2^nd annual “Ahava Adventures” service trip to Israel is set, with flights, hotels, and ground transportation in place. On the date of Oct. 29, 2011, only ten will depart from Charlotte (or join us in Philadelphia) to spend six days/nights in Jerusalem and two days/nights on the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias (only $2495 for the entire trip!) Our Israeli friends will meet us there, as we further connect with the believers in The Land.

This isn’t your “basic tour” time. We go where not many can, or would go, for we want to be more adventurous, more supportive, and experience even more what Israel’s people and land is about in this day and age. We do see spiritually and historically important locations, but our primary focus is to bless the ones living the day to day life there. Curious enough to find out further? Contact info is below.

Can’t go yourself? Please consider sponsoring a friend, family member, or person in your church, especially of “the next generation” age group. Trust the Lord to highly impact their lives for life, to impart to them a heart for His people that will never leave them, and give them an adventure they will never forget. (Heh, it is tax-deductable for you too. In part or full, it doesn’t matter.)

Love For His People, Inc. truly appreciates your generous support. Please consider donating now on-line by clicking here http://www.loveforhispeople.com/ for our website’s “Giving Opportunities” tab, or by sending checks to the address below. Todah rabah! (Hebrew - Thank you very much.)

E-mail: ahavaloveletters@gmail.com

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Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858. Tax deductible contributions sent by mail or given on-line will receive an e-receipt for each donation, for you to print out. (Saves the ministry on postage!)

Ahava Love Letter #22 Date: April 12, in the year of our Lord 2011

ANCIENT SEEDS COME FORTH

Judean Date Palm (From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia)

The Judean date palm is a cultivar of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera).
Prized for its beauty, shade, and medicinal properties, the cultivar was thought to have become extinct sometime around AD 150. However, in 2005, a preserved 2,000-year-old seed sprouted. It is the oldest known human-assisted germination of a seed. The palm, named Methuselah (not to be confused with Methuselah, a bristlecone pine tree), is about 1.5 m (5 ft) tall as of June 2008.

4,000-Year-Old Lentil Seed Successfully Germinates

Biblical Archaeology Review
December 23, 2009
"An ancient lentil seed dating back 4,000 years that was discovered during an archaeological excavation has successfully germinated. The Middle Bronze Age site in the western Turkish province of Kütahya provided researchers with a number of seeds from the excavation—several of which were still viable. Scientists are hoping the plant that grows from the ancient seed will produce its own seeds, which would then allow researchers to compare the ancient organic lentil seeds with their modern, genetically modified counterparts.
The seeds were discovered within a structure that archaeologists believe was an ancient silo constructed for grain storage. The discovery of such an ancient live seed is extraordinary and seems to be a result of fire damage to the container the seeds were stored in, which created an environment capable of preserving the seeds for millennia."