Nurturing Seeds of Faith Photo Credit Ingrid Miranda M. Flickr

Nurturing Seeds of Faith 

Sitting in church today led to an exciting revelation for me.  The teaching through Bob Wheeler, in a nut shell, was about unbelief vs faith and not giving up on the seed.  We went to Mark 4 where seed is described in four different soils.  We read Isaiah 55:11 where God says His Word will not return to Him void.  Then we heard about Abraham and Sarah, Mary the mother of Jesus and Elizabeth and Zachariah.

Mary Receives the Word and Goes to See Elizabeth

The point was brought out that Mary received the Word of God spoken to her and her confession of faith was, “be it done unto me according to thy word.” Luke 1:34-38   After receiving that Word into her life, Mary immediately went to see Elizabeth.

This is What God Spoke to My Spirit

Here’s where the revelation came to me:  Elizabeth was already pregnant 6 months with John the Baptist when Mary came to stay with her for three months.  Zachariah had been through his own response to the Word that the angel Gabriel brought from the throne of God  Luke 1:18.  Zachariah was a priest in the temple.  He and his wife, Elizabeth had been childless and were well into their years.  Zachariah heard Gabriel tell him he and his wife would have a child and should call him John.  Gabriel brought a very long involved Word from the throne of God.  Luke 1: 13-17 and Luke 1:19-20.  Zachariah doubted it was possible, spoke out his unbelief and was struck dumb until after the child was born.  At baby John’s circumcision ceremony, it was asked of Zachariah, “What will you call him?”  At this point Zachariah wrote on a tablet  in faith for the first time since being silenced…”We will call him John” …according to the Word that was given to him.  He then was able to speak and began speaking out what his son would do according to what Gabriel told him. Jump to Mary coming to visit Elizabeth during her own first three months and Elizabeth’s last three months.  Luke 1:26.  Think about this:  God preordained that Elizabeth would be pregnant before Mary.

Elizabeth Nurtured Mary’s Seed Planted by Faith

Elizabeth was mentoring Mary for that first three months she was vulnerable.  Mary was in close proximity to Elizabeth’s encouragement, love and nurturing, and the spoken Word of God, as her own child (baby Jesus) was growing in her womb.  Sure there’s the natural side where Mary is around another pregnant woman and she can see for herself all the physical changes and emotions that would soon be happening to her.  Elizabeth was there to show Mary the faithfulness and love of God beginning with the Word given Elizabeth by the Spirit of God over the growing child within Mary:

“Blessed and favored of God above all other women are you!  And blessed  is the Fruit of your womb!  And how have I deserved that this honor should be granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Blessed is she (Mary) who believed that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her from the Lord”

even before Mary told her what had happened to her.   Luke 1:41-45 Mary was in an atmosphere of safety with Elizabeth, being constantly bathed in the Word of God.   When we have a Word from God….a promise we have found in the Word of God, and are standing in faith for it to come to pass, being in the company of like-minded believers is  safety while being constantly bathed in the Word of God. Whatever you have encountered in the Word of God and brought into your life through planting seed by faith,  you will need the support of many ‘Elizabeths’.  You will need the encouragement and teaching in the setting of a body of believers who will be a corporate ‘Elizabeth’ for you.  Elizabeth reminded Mary daily by sight, word, action, and interaction that the promise sown in Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit would soon come to pass.

Sometimes a “Mary”…Sometimes an “Elizabeth”

That’s our calling as believers in the Body of Christ.  ‘Elizabeths’ are there to nurture “the seed, then the blade, the ear and then the  full corn in the ear” in each “Mary” in our churches.  We are there to become pregnant with the promises of God, show the ‘Marys’ how the seed grows and brings forth fruit in due season.  We will also find ourselves in need of “Elizabeths”  as individuals and even a whole body of believers.  The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit in each of us.  Let that love lead us to our “Elizabeths”  And let that love flow through us to all the “Marys” we will encounter!

It was a great day in church today!