Joe Davis

REACHING  YOUR  POTENTIAL

John 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

I.  The Potential –  “a corn of wheat”   -  The “corn”… kernel… or seed.  Within the seed is the answer to hunger.  One seed can produce hundreds of seeds which will produce hundreds and thousands of plants that will feed a multitude….. or it is just a seed.  An acorn is not just an acorn.  It is a house…. a bridge….. a comfortable pice of furniture… beautiful cabinets….a picture frame around a classic masterpiece…. or it is just an acorn.

The potential is there… but it is only potential.

Myles Munroe, in a book entitled Understanding Your Potential, said this about a believer’s potential:  “The wealthiest spot on this plant is not the oil fields or Kuwait, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia.  Neither is it the gold and diamond mines of South Africa, the uranium mines of the Soviet Union or the silver mines of Africa.  Though it may surprise you, the richest spot of our planet lies just a few blocks from your house.  They rest in your local cemetery or graveyard.  Buried beneath the soil there are dreams that never came to pass, songs, that were never sung, books that were never written, paintings that never filled a canvass, ideas that were never shared, visions that never became reality, inventions that were never designed, plans that never went beyond the drawing board of the mind and purposes that were never fulfilled.  Our graveyards are filled with massive volumes of potential that remained potential.”

The potential for mighty things for God is in you ---  but possibly unrealized in you.  Why?

II.  The Process – “fall into the ground and die” –
The seed is sometimes blown from the stalk or branch by the wind (Spirit) or loosened by a drop of water (Word) or placed by the husbandman’s hand (Jesus).  

However it happens, there is a fall.  This is a situation totally out of the seed’s control.  Providence above knows all about it but it is still a coming down experience for the seed.  

Secondly, there is the ground.  Once growing in the sunlight the seed is now covered in darkness.  It is a hiding place with only one option and one duty to perform.

Thirdly, Our duty is to die.  By earthly wisdom what a hateful, hideous, and hopeless thing to ask of me!  But, if I do not die, I will ONLY ever be a “seed” with potential.  

I can fellowship and talk about what I “wanna be”.  I can listen to my friends tell me what I might be.  I can dream of what I should be…. But I know what I WILL be.  I will only ever be a seed……………..unless I die.

Note – “it abideth alone” – Unless my life produces, my life will always be about me.  That is a lonely life.

III.  The  Product – “it bringeth forth much fruit”
A vision – a plan – action = only a dream.
A vision + a plan – action = a haunting dream (guilt); but
A vision + a plan + action = a spiritually productive life and ministry.

If you never die to your self-life, you will never live the potential of Christ’s life in your life or lifetime.   

John 12:25  “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. “