Message from Pastor Sims
The Power of Seed and Influence
It is very important that we conclude that the Power of Seed & Influence is strongly linked to seedtime and harvest according to Genesis 8:22:
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
We must understand that every person in the world is operating or acting under some kind of influence. Whatever you are doing in life, whether good or bad, you are operating under some type of influence that was produced or created by some event, word, or person in your life. Everyone is impacted in some way by seed & influence whether they realize it or not. For example, TV commercials are no more than seed & influence. Advertisers are hoping and expecting the commercials to plant images in your mind that will eventually influence you to buy the products they're trying to sell. As adults, most of our decisions and actions are influenced by what seeds (words or events) were passed on to us by our parents. These seeds that were sown in our lives acted as navigators that influenced our lives whether negatively or positively.
As you read this book, it is my mission to reveal to you one of the enemy's most potent tools. In these last days, the enemy's tools will be deception and influence. God, however, has given you the power to overcome these weapons. "For greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). One of your greatest weapons is your power of profession. Jesus declared,
If you say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in your heart, it should obey you (Mark 11:22)
You have the power to change your conditions, circumstances, and situations, if you can muster up enough courage to speak it in faith. This book will challenge you to realize whether or not you're living under the right influences. It will serve as a tool that will help you reach that mark of the high calling of God which is in Christ Jesus. That mark is whatever God has called you to. There are many born-again believers who are still living under influences of yesteryear. Things that people have said about us or have done to us in the past are still influencing our behavior and the way we think today. It is my endeavor to demonstrate to you that there are some influences that are not naturally or spiritually healthy, and these influences must be dealt with if you expect to achieve your maximum potentials. We need to understand that when seeds are planted in our minds, they go through a decomposition process which enables them to produce good or bad influences in our lives. When we entertain bad thoughts, we are allowing seeds to decompose in our spirit.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, it bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren (James 1:15,16).
The power of seed and influence is not to be taken lightly. They produce powerful internal messages that can alter one's behavior and the way one thinks as an individual. This is why most people who have been abused subsequently become abusers, that is, if the seed of abuse is not addressed appropriately. The same applies to those who have molested, and so on. People experiencing certain situation or conditions, (such as abuse) just didn't end up in that state over night. It progressively happens over a period of time. Look at what Jesus said:
And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day; and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come ( Mark 4:26-29).
Lucifer himself utilized the power of seed and influence to lure a third of the heavenly host in his revolt against God. He did not just approach all the angels one day and say, "Let's dethrone God". He tested the ground first and then began to plant seeds where the ground was susceptible and conducive to the kind of seeds he was sowing.
Many of us have received prophetic words regarding what God was going to do for us, do through us, and do to us. Please understand that those words are seeds, and without the right and appropriate conditions, your germination phase of the process could be delayed or remain dormant. In this book, you will examine yourselves and begin to seek God regarding what you must do to germinate those dormant seeds in your lives.
It is imperative to have practical and relevant tools that we can use to enhance our walk and relationship with God. I pray that you can utilize some of the principles in this book to propel you toward your true destiny. Many great ones have fallen short because of negative seeds and negative influences. Many have missed out on great opportunities and did not understand why. I have been challenged by God to write this book as a tool to help God's people walk in the fulness of life that God has called us to - that fullness is called purpose and destiny.
During the writing of this book, I felt that God was sharing a word with me and an experience similar to that of Jeremiah:
Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant (Jeremiah 1:9,10).
