Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. (John 12:24-26)
To follow Jesus is to come into a life of fruitfulness, but it is fruit developed in a different way than the world’s definition of fruitfulness. To follow Jesus is to follow him into death. You have always been my “seed” that I intend to sow into the world, but just as a kernel of wheat must give up the life within itself in order to produce many kernels, so must you deny yourself. Understand that this principal of death is not punishment nor is it some method to earn my favor. It is simply the way that fruitfulness works in my kingdom. The problem with many of my children is not that they need more life and prosperity to be fruitful, but that they need less. This is another important element of discipleship that will be part of the new wineskin of my church. I will create a Christian counterculture that rejects religion, and who will choose instead to become the seeds that I will sow into the nations. People must understand that there is a price to becoming seeds.
— December 1, 2020