Empowered: Seed

By Pat Munsamy

EMPOWERED

If you want to know who you are in Christ and why you are empowered? Read this book. What are you empowered to do? Jesus was the seed of the woman. You are the seed of Jesus Christ because every born-again believer was born out of Him. He died to give you new life. One seed gave rise to hundreds and thousands of more seeds. If we truly love the Seed of the woman, then we will enthusiastically and willingly obey His mandate. Did Christ delegate His authority to just a few? Is this mandate given to every believer? Did He create every human being upon this earth? Does He love every human being and want them to come to the knowledge of Christ? Read this book. It will not only motivate, increase your faith, help you to live out Jesus Christ, make you faithful but also help you live a prosperous and a victorious life. This book will show how you are living below your expectation. There is a miracle in every seed! You are empowered to sow that seed.
THE SEED IS THE WORD. Life! What is life? Life is encapsulated in a seed. The seed is the Word. Words, Words, Words! Powerful words! This must find an abiding place in the heart of the would be believers. The Holy Spirit hovers over the man. The Spirit and the Word work together. The Spirit helps to break up the fallow ground of the heart, causing furrows. The Word brings conviction which engenders repentance. The hearing ear causes the word to be embedded in the furrows of the heart. The rain of the Spirit helps the seed in the heart to germinate. The angelic host, sing hallelujah! A child is born into the Kingdom of God. What a joyous moment! Birthing always brings with it great rejoicing and joy unspeakable. Why did Jesus take those thirty nine stripes on His back? His flesh on His back was torn causing bleeding and gaping furrows. The seeds that fell into these furrows birthed the first fruits of His ministry. The Seed of the woman, who was scourged, broken and bruised did not go through this agony and pain in vain. His death on the cross birthed hundreds and millions of souls. Being born out of Jesus Christ is real life! Abundant life! Eternal life!
THE SEED FAITH Faith! What is faith? Oh faithless and perverse generation Everyone has a measure of faith. How does this measure of faith translate to faith that moves mountains. Faith is seed. The seed is the Word. Faith grows as the Word is heard. Faith flourishes and matures to bear fruit. How does this happen? The increase comes by hearing and hearing again the Word. Whether one is hearing the Word from the lips of others or listening to ones own voice or meditating on the Word or reading silently, the inner ear is listening to the Word. As this word enters the heart it becomes the Rhema Word. Living out the Word helps faith to grow. For without faith it is impossible to please God ( Hebrews 11 : 6 ) Obedience flows out of our faith in God. The Spirit of the Word has the dunamis power to increase our spiritual faith. Faith is like the electrifying power as we surrender in homage to our Creator God. Abraham is a very good example of such a faith He obeyed God without question. No wonder that he is referred to as the Friend of God. He walked with God and he sensitized his ear to hearing from God. God is not asking for big faith but faith the size of a seed. If your faith is a seed it will germinate and grow. When faith matures it will bear fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty fold and others hundred fold. So faith is a fruit that God loves in everyone of us. If you have faith as a mustard seed you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17: 18 20
THE SEED ANOINTINGou set apart and sanctified? Do you need protection and strength? Do you need empowerment to be defensive and offensive? You need to be empowered by the Spirit of God. He will fill you with His pow

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Sep 8, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453506363

Book preview

Acknowledgements

All Honour and Glory to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Thanks to

My husband Alick Munsamy, Senior Pastor of Peniel Fellowship, who supported and encouraged me throughout my planning and preparation of this manuscript.

Pearl Karen Subban, my firstborn, now living and teaching in Melbourne, Australia, who edited and compiled the book together.

Eugene Munsamy, my second born and only son, who sat up with me when I worked late into the night and gave me moral support to complete the book.

Desiree Viola Reddy, my youngest daughter, who worked tirelessly and sacrificially to have the handwritten manuscript typed. I want to applaud her for the hard work she accomplished.

Jordan Mansal Subban, my lovely eleven-year-old granddaughter, who typed the final chapters of the book.

Ryan Sheridan Subban, my sixteen-year-old firstborn grandson, for encouraging me to complete this book.

My five-year-old granddaughter, Alexandria Bridgette Munsamy, for her love and devotion while I sat to write this book.

My daughter- in- law Mary Munsamy for her assistance , support and prayers.

My sons –in –law Ben Subban and Lionel Reddy for their support and prayers during the writing of my book.

My family and friends for egging me on to write this book.

.

My very special thanks to Peniel family who prayed for me during my writing this book.

image before foreword.jpg

Foreword

The church is the most wonderful creation of the Lord. It is His masterpiece. The church epitomizes His image on earth. The Lord is totally and completely dependent on His church to accomplish His mission and dream upon earth. If His Bride is not ready and without spot or wrinkle then it is our duty to help to get the Bride ready.

The church is also called the Body of Christ. There must be harmony and unity in His Body to complete the work of salvation. Members throughout the earth are fully engaged in achieving the task of unifying the church to carry out its mandate of winning souls for the Kingdom of God. While the majority of His children are engaged in this supernatural feat of bringing conversion in the hearts of men and women, there is a minority who are unconcerned for the deaths that are occurring all around us. It is sad that while we have the remedy for sin, there are not enough labourers to administer the antidote.

Our prayer is that the church would awake from its lethargy and come to the forefront and be recruited for action. How often we hear sermons upon sermons for the church to rise from the place of mediocrity to a place of excellence. How can the Lord’s work come to a place of excellence when we lag in the shadows, expecting someone else to do the work?

This book is written to stimulate, encourage, goad and motivate believers from all walks of life to break all barriers and obstacles and come forth. The chapters of this book emphasize that a tiny seed has the ability to produce a harvest. Life throws at us many curving balls and we are to be undeterred by these wicked devices of the enemy and rise to the occasion to forge ahead until the desired maturity and harvest is attained.

While there is a tremendous amount of stimuli to urge and hasten our steps towards spiritual growth, there is the hard-hitting Word which does not spare the child. The church is in a time zone when casual seems to be the norm. The Word is soft pedalled to keep the flock for gain. No thought has been spared by the writer to bring to attention the church of Jesus Christ, that casual and ‘business as usual’ attitudes are not enough for growth and maturity. As small and insignificant as the seed, maybe it has an innate potential to burst forth and produce a bountiful harvest, which in turn will please the Farmer of our souls.

The writer has spent long hours and untold privations to arrive at this excellent work to encourage Christians to come out from the dark and stand tall in His army. She has relied heavily on scripture and it is my prayer that scripture would interpret scripture. It is written in simple everyday language for the newest believer to benefit from the wealth of a teacher’s heart. She had always had this passion for soul-winning and making disciples of new believers. Her desire is to empower others to go out and preach the Gospel. Hence she is the teacher of the Adult Bible Class.

With a teacher’s degree she approaches her subject matter methodically and in an erudite manner. I sincerely recommend that you read with your heart to know the spirit of the lesson.

The Lord bless Pat on this lifetime achievement. I am proud to know that you beat me to the draw. May this be the beginning of other achievements.

Alick Munsamy

Prologue

We cannot conceive of matter being formed of nothing, since things require a seed to start from . . . Therefore there is not anything which returns to nothing, but all things return dissolved into their elements

—William Shakespeare

My spirit was bursting with anointing as I put pen to paper. The Lord filled me and inspired me, urging me to write. The anointing gave me the ability and knowledge to write. It was God who was motivating me to write so as to empower and influence the saved of the Lord, to preach and teach the Word to others. The Lord is looking for His children to obey His mandate. Time is far spent. It is expedient that we go out now. It is urgent that we do not waste any more time . . .

Everything starts with a seed. The seed may be small but its potential is mind-boggling. God loves small beginnings. As long as we are committed to the small beginnings, God will lead us to our destiny. We must not give up on our dreams. God is waiting for us to start. It is not how we start, but how we finish that matters to the Lord.

Everything we give to the Lord is our seeds. Our abilities, our time, our energies, our intellect and our money are our seeds we sow into the kingdom of God. The turnover we will get from these will be startling and incredible. The Lord will give it back to us more than a hundredfold.

In other words from sowing seeds comes prosperity in all areas of our lives. There will be prosperity in abundance materially, financially, spiritually and intellectually, and we will enjoy good health and longevity of life. This comes as a result of the principle of sowing and reaping. What we sow we will reap. When we sow love we will reap love. When we sow hatred we will reap hatred. When we give money we will reap more money.

However if we dream of a great new venture of crop farming, it will only remain a dream. The seeds are in your hands and have not been sown into the soil. Your dream must be put into action and plans. The plans must become our goals, which will take us to our destiny.

When we give to the poor we are lending to the Lord. The dividends will be earth shattering. The Lord will give it back to us pressed down and overflowing.

Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The Lord will bless him in the bed of his illness; you will sustain him on his sick bed.

(Ps. 41:1-3)

A thought is a seed. That thought can bring a harvest. Our dreams or our contemplations on a new venture are our seeds. A good seed will bring forth a good harvest. However, if the thought is evil it will lead to wickedness. A war can start with a thought. That seed can be premeditated and planned, giving rise to great devastations. The Lord wants to sow good seeds in us. As long as we have the mind of Christ, we can entertain and follow righteous thoughts that can bring about an enriching and prosperous harvest.

I have a small strip of land about a metre wide in my backyard. It goes all along the precast wall that separates our house from my neighbours. The rest of the land around the house is tiled for easy maintenance. My husband, Alick, and I have worked all our adult lives and have no time to care for gardens as such.

In November 2008, my sister-in-law, Dawn who is blessed with green fingers brought two double-bean seeds and sowed them in the small strip of land. I laughed when she told me what she did. This bean is a very special type of bean plant. It grows as a climbing plant around a tendril. The bean is commonly referred to as ‘double-bean’ I had forgotten about that. At the end of December and early January we normally go out on a short holiday to escape the hectic cycle our lives have taken. It had rained heavily while we were away.

When we returned I checked this bean plant. Lo and behold I saw two new seedlings grown among the weeds. They were forming tendrils. They needed support sticks or branches to creep on to. Within a few weeks this plant grew like a bush, covering two metres of the wall. Having had a lot of rain, this plant grew very lush. Alick was not too happy that this plant grew wild with dense foliage. My normal experience with the ‘double-bean’ plant was that the pods used to be eaten by worms. So if I get a good crop, I would consider myself fortunate. These kinds of beans are very expensive in the market and are a delicacy. My husband suggested that we pull down the plant because it was going into the neighbour’s yard. There were flowers but no fruit. One day I picked up some of the branches and a pleasant sight awaited me. There were literally hundred of pods hanging under the thick foliage. I felt some of the pods and it seemed they were not mature to reap. I was very thrilled at the crop. About a week later, I went again and discovered that a few pods seemed to be ready. With excitement I called Alick to help me. We cut a basket full. What an exciting and thrilling experience this was. Not all the pods were ready at the same time. They matured at various times. I proudly shared these with others. Almost every week I was getting a basket full.

I learnt a few lessons from my bean plants. Firstly, it seemed like it had only leaves and no fruit. It reminded me of the fig tree in the Bible. Jesus saw that the fig tree was full of leaves and no fruit. Usually if the fig tree is full of foliage, there must be fruit. But there was no fruit. Jesus cursed the tree because it had no fruit. Jesus taught us a big lesson. If we are not fruitful in our lives, then we will face the plight of the fig tree. Therefore we must be fruitful and not pretend like the fig tree. Fortunately for my bean tree it had much fruit.

Secondly, two seeds sown into the ground brought such a harvest. If we go out in groups of two and preach the Gospel, what would the harvest be? Jesus sent out the seventy in this manner.

Thirdly, the beans in the pods matured at different times, just as all born-again Christians do not spiritually mature at the same time. Spiritual maturity is progressive and on—going. It does not stop at a certain time.

Fourthly, the beans were shared with others. The seed is the Word of God. It must be shared with others. As they ‘eat’ the seed to live, spiritual growth will take place. My bean plant still produces much fruit.

Fifthly, the growth of the bean plant and the harvest engendered much joy and excitement in us. When it produced fruit the joy was overwhelming. We go out, preach and teach the Word. When we see the young believers grow and become fruitful, it excites and brings great joy not only to us but also to the Lord.

Sixthly, as the plant began to grow, it needed support to creep and climb. Young believers need that kind of support and encouragement to grow to maturity.

Seventhly, the seeds were set into the strength of solid ground. Similarly when the spiritual seeds fall into our hearts, it is strengthened by the Spirit of God as it is embedded and the Spirit of God assists the seed to become.

This now takes me to my personal testimony of how I got saved.

The Lord loved me so much that He did not allow me to slip out of His hands. He sought me out and brought me back to Him.

It was mid-June 1962 and I was preparing for my Mid-Year Examinations. I was at the Springfield College of Education, training to be a teacher. My mother, who was widowed a year before, decided to do the most revolutionary thing in her life. She decided to take us to a Christian Tent Campaign, which was held in the neighbourhood. We were staunch Hindus at the time. I was really puzzled by her actions; I did not want to go with her but she coerced me into going. My mother, brother, my sister and her husband, the mother-in-law and the children made up a large party on this cold wintry evening. The dry cold winter breeze caused my teeth to chatter. My feet inside my shoes felt cold and frozen. I could not imagine, for the life of me, why we would walk to a large tent, pitched on a vacant ground on Lakhimpur Road in Merebank, on this freezing wintry evening.

This took my mind to Chicken Licken and all the fairy folk that followed her to the king because she thought that the sky was falling. They never got to see the king because the sly and crafty Mr Fox deliberately misdirected them to his den. Sadly they became his meal. Will something like this happen to this party of ten? The crafty devil could not deceive us or misguide us. I did not, for a moment, comprehend that it was the most far-reaching and momentous journey of our lives. It seems that God Himself was leading us to show us our purpose and destiny in life.

As we neared the huge tent, the music got louder. I could almost hear the pounding of my heart and I felt as though I am going to faint. The bright lights dazzled before my eyes. I cannot remember much of what was preached that night, but I remember Pastor Zeeman who preached. Another pastor, Stephen Govender, who was destined to become my teacher and role model, made the altar call. Everyone around me went to the front in response to the call. The young man, Alick Munsamy, who accompanied me to the college, also went forward. This confused me further. He looked like an intelligent young man. Why would he want to do this as well? To add insult to injury I also saw his widowed mum and sisters in the front as well. I thought that all these people were bewitched. ‘I will never do that!’ I thought. My entire family went with the hundreds that went forward. I sat at the end of that row, motionless. My mother did not even turn around and look in my direction. I was livid with anger that welled up inside me. I was filled with rebellion. Generally I was an obedient daughter to my mother. But I was now very angry with her. Did she go forward to indicate that she wants to become a Christian? Perspiration ran down by face and back. I thought of my dad. He was a Hindu and my mother did not even honour him. I know that my parents loved each other very much. How could she do this now?

The service came to end and we walked back home. What further aggravated me was that my mother, who used to always dote on me, did not even realize that I was so angry about what she had done. Instead she was weeping with joy and so was my sister. My sister, who had suffered severe pains in her chest for a long time, was healed that night. Her joy had doubled because she was spiritually and physically healed. My brother, Dennis, who later became a pastor, was singing his praises to Jesus. ‘I thank you, Lord! I praise you, Lord!’ I felt alone and unwanted. Being the youngest in the family I was spoilt by everyone. I got my way with everyone in the family. Everyone was completely oblivious of my presence. They were so overwhelmed by their experience that they could only talk about that. The next morning I packed some of my essential clothing and left home, telling my mum that if she continues to go her way I will never return home again. I informed her that I was going to live with my uncle, my dad’s older brother. He was a devout Hindu and a disciplinarian. He was the head of the family. He loved me dearly as if I was his very own child. The feeling was mutual. His word was law and everyone must obey or he will ostracize you from the family. He was held in high esteem both by the family and the community.

When I arrived at my uncle’s place, which was my home since by birth, he was delighted to have me. My paternal uncle lived at 12 Ulster Road in Rossburgh in Durban. This place held a lot of loving and cherished memories to me. Those were the days of joint family systems. My paternal grandmother had both her sons living with her even after they were married. It was a huge family living in a huge house. The unity and love that prevailed was amazing. I was reared in a loving and disciplined home. My mum moved house after my father’s death to live with my married sister. This was in Warangal Road in Merebank, a suburb of Durban.

When my uncle and aunt realized why I came to live with them they were very angry with my mum for the decision she had taken. They were very happy that I came to them. They encouraged me to live with them and they slighted my mum that she became a Christian because she was looking for another husband. My mum was in her early forties with no desire to marry again but to cherish her new-found love of her life, the Lord Jesus Christ, and serve Him as best as she could. Now I consider this to be divine intervention. My family leaving Rossburgh and coming to live with my sister Pushpa and my brother-in-law, Bobby Naidoo was in the perfect will of God. Unfortunately I was not able to comprehend the workings of the Lord. Though my mum did not have any formal education, her surrender to the Lord was sincere and complete. She gave way to her past religious adherences and moved on to serve the Lord as her only Saviour. The Lord became her companion and ‘husband’. She always told me, ‘I wish I could read the Bible like you can’. Despite her illiteracy she became a living epistle to everyone she came into contact with. She will testify about the saving grace of Jesus Christ to all and sundry, even to the stranger in the bus she travelled in. Her boldness to serve God was admirable. She would get up early hours of the morning to pray and intercede for the work at large. She would remember the people that she had witnessed to, so that the seed would grow in their hearts. She would plead before the Lord to save her three younger brothers and their families. She obtained Bibles from Pastor Stephen Govender and Missionary Helen K. Hoss and gave her three brothers. The American missionary, Helen K. Hoss became a good friend and a spiritual mother to me. As my mum held on to the promise of God, it was her crowning glory when she saw the three brothers and their families come to the Lord. Nelson Ragavan was the first to give his heart to the Lord in 1964. This was the most joyous occasion in her life. His zeal and devotion to the Lord was so singular that he established Peniel Wayside Chapel in Bayview in Chatsworth. He together with his wife, Violet Ragavan became pastors to this wonderful church of Jesus Christ. At the age of seventy-four, my dear uncle Nelson went to be with the Lord. We miss his zest and zeal for life in His kingdom work.

Now while I stayed a few days with my paternal uncle, I was not at peace with myself. My mind went back to a talk I heard almost a year earlier by a certain religious leader while I was still in high school. I was always interested in religion and God. I would read books on Hinduism and became steeped in the Hindu faith. It was the first Thursday in July 1962. I went to bed as usual. I lay awake with my eyes closed. I was mulling over the events of the past few days. Little did I realize that my life was going to be incredibly transformed; it was going to be a life-changing experience. My aunt decided to sleep with me that eventful night. It was a large double bed and there was space enough for both of us.

Suddenly there was panic and excitement in the house. I was not asleep so it could not have been a dream. My cousin, whom I always considered as my big brother, was bolting the doors and securing the windows. He was pushing the huge wardrobes against the windows. He did not switch on the lights but was working in darkness. I went to him and enquired about what was happening. With genuine fear and terror in his voice, he said, ‘Go and hide. Jesus has returned!’ As I spoke to him, I saw Jesus through the trellis door. The glowing brightness threw light all around. He was coming down in all His glory. I could see Jesus’ beautiful feet and the flowing white robe. Then I saw His whole person. The whole area outside was lit up by His presence. His face had a wonderful and marvellous glow. The Lord came to rescue me. I was important to Him. Me, a nobody, a runaway and fugitive the Lord wanted and ready to save. What indescribable image this was. His robe was being blown by the gentle breeze. I cannot find words enough to describe the sight I beheld. I said to my cousin, ‘Let me go out, I am saved! I believe in Jesus’. While I struggled with him and he tried in vain to stop me, I sat up in bed. I was shaking and trembling with perspiration running down my face and neck. Everyone was asleep. There I was in such peace and joy within me. There was glowing brightness in the room. I was tempted to rouse my aunt from her sleep and tell her about what happened. I stopped. I did not want anyone or anything to stop me now. I believed in Jesus. That was the only joyous thing that mattered now! I felt different. My whole mindset and outlook changed from that unforgettable night. The urge to tell someone else about what happened was unstoppable. I could not sleep that night. The vivid sight of Jesus filled my mind. There was nothing else on my mind. I did not want anything to erase that extraordinary vision of Christ. He became special to me now. I wanted to shout and tell the world that Jesus is my Lord.

I got up very early the next morning and told my aunt that I wanted to go back home. She tried to persuade me to stay as I had only spent