As social and international problems worsen year by year, many people are losing faith in their leaders and even in God to ever bring about real and lasting solutions, and cynicism and egocentricity are becoming the norm. This is happening just as Jesus said it would in the time preceding His return: "Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12).

A time of greater darkness needs greater light; a time of greater testing needs greater strength. God promises, "As your days, so shall your strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25). As our need for spiritual power becomes greater, so God provides that power.

Jesus gave us some extraordinary promises regarding that, which we can claim specifically for the situations we face today: "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven" (Matthew 16:19). "Whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven" (Matthew 18:18). "According to your faith let it be to you" (Matthew 9:29).

What exactly are those "keys of the Kingdom"? A key unlocks a door; it gains us entrance to or possession of something otherwise unattainable. The keys Jesus spoke of represent the spiritual power that can be ours through faith—power that has always been available to believers who claimed the many promises in God's Word in their times of need, but which is now even greater to meet today's greater challenges.

Believers around the world are discovering the power of these keys.

 

Life is in the Seed

 

By Curtis Peter Van Gorder

Planting seeds and watching them grow can be a wonderful, gratifying experience. Of course, planting a few seeds in a flower pot and farming are two different things. I once thought farming would be easy and attempted to plant corn in an abandoned field that my family owned. I rented a tiller and dug up the ground, bought some seed corn and planted it, and hauled water to help the seeds germinate, but I had planted too late in the year and frost killed the shoots when they were still tender. Next I tried to grow spinach, but the bugs had a feast and I got their leftovers. After those experiences I was thankful that I didn't have to make my living by farming. They did, however, give me a greater appreciation for farmers. I will never again take a single ear of corn or leaf of spinach for granted!

A seed is the beginning of something much bigger. The seed of the globe turnip, for example, is less than 1 mm (one-twentieth of an inch) in diameter, but within a few months it can grow into a mature turnip that weighs 27 million times its original weight. If conditions are right, it will increase its own weight by 1500% in one minute.

You might think that it would take a large seed to produce a large plant. Not so. The giant redwood tree, the largest tree in the world, grows from a seed only 1.6 mm (1/16 of an inch) long. Nor is a large seed required for beauty. One of the most stunning flowers, the orchid, comes from one of the tiniest seeds and grows solely on moisture and nutrients it draws from the air, no soil required. A million orchid seeds weigh 29 grams (about 1 ounce).

It takes the proper conditions for seeds to germinate and the plant to grow and mature, but if conditions aren't right, some seeds are able to wait it out. Beneath thick ice, in a frozen lemming burrow, scientists found seeds of the arctic tundra lupine which they calculated to be 5,000 years old. The seeds germinated in 48 hours when put in warm, fertile soil.

So if you feel inconsequential, too small, too young, or too old, take heart! Perhaps there is latent greatness in you, just waiting to be brought to life by the power of God. Let the warm sunshine of His love and the water of His Word work their miracle.

Curtis Peter Van Gorder is a member of the Family International in the Middle East.