Centered, Day 3 By Jason Brown, from the book Centered: Trading Your Plans for a Life That Matters Ever since First Fruits Farm began, anyone with any financial sense would look at our plans—plans we believe come straight from God—and then look at our bank accounts and say, “This doesn’t add up. How do you expect to [fill in the blank] with what you have?” My wife and I look at each other and say, “By God’s grace.” Our resources may be paltry, but we’re tied to a kingdom with un­limited wealth and to a generous Father. That doesn’t mean we squander what we have. We need to be good stewards of our resources. And yet those resources, no matter how well we manage them, seem never enough to do what God has asked us to do. But you know what? Everything we feel He’s asked us to do, and everything for which we’ve gone to Him in prayer, has come to pass. Everything. When we needed two roosters, I offered up a simple prayer: “God, please help me find a couple of good roosters. Amen.” Not long after, on a trip into town, we found two roosters wandering along the side of the road. We’ve seen plenty of wildlife on our way to and from town: dogs, cats, raccoons, deer, even snakes. But never, ever, had I seen a stray rooster, much less two. “God blesses you in some strange ways,” a friend said of those roosters. “You shouldn’t be surprised, seeing miracle after miracle.” Set foot on First Fruits Farm and you set foot on a miracle. Every rock, tree, and ripple of water, every squirrel and fish and bird, is a testament to God’s holy power. The nature around us is a declaration of God’s design. The fact that my family is able to enjoy that miracle—to walk through the fields, to gather chicken eggs, to pick fruit, to fish in the lake—is a witness of God’s generosity. We’re God’s children. And like any good fa­ther, our heavenly Father wants the best for us. He wants to shower us with love and blessings that fit in His greater pur­pose. What evidence in your circumstances are proof of God’s generosity in your life? How might those blessings reveal God’s purposes for you? “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9‭-‬11 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

Centered, Day 2 By Jason Brown, from the book Centered: Trading Your Plans for a Life That Matters My wife and I needed a greenhouse to start seedlings in winter and, in the long run, save some of what little money we had. Greenhouses are expensive. The kind of greenhouse I needed started at $20,000. We had only $2,000 to spend. I couldn’t even buy a dilapidated, used greenhouse for that much. Imagine my shock when the athletic director at a nearby middle school gave me a greenhouse that sat unused in his backyard. His wife wanted it gone. This greenhouse, built by a previous owner, was a state-of-the-art commercial-grade $100,000 structure—a combination of everything I needed, everything I wanted, and some things I’d never dreamed of. Think about it: If my fortune had been left intact, I would’ve just bought a cheaper greenhouse. Jesus and Peter were in Capernaum one day when Peter discovered they needed to pay a tax. Jesus asked Peter how much the tax was, and then commanded Peter to go down to the sea and cast his line out. “Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel,” Jesus said. “Take that and give it to [the tax collectors] for me and for yourself.” This is almost a throwaway little miracle. Jesus seems so nonchalant about it, like finding money in a fish’s mouth happened every day. But if you look at it from Peter’s perspective, the miracle is mind-blow­ing. He had been a fisherman all his life. He’d probably caught thousands upon thousands of fish in his career—maybe mil­lions. I bet he’d never found money in a fish’s mouth before. But there it is, just like Jesus told him. If Peter were rich, would that miracle have taken place? Wouldn’t he just have taken a shekel right out of his own bank account? If Peter’s pockets were heavy with coins, would he ever have had a chance to be amazed? But Peter didn’t have a shekel. He needed a miracle. He needed God to help him out, because he had no other choice. After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” Matt. 17:24‭-‬27 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! Luke 12:22‭-‬28 Dear God, I need a “greenhouse miracle” right now. I am dependent on You for everything, because I have no other choice, and because I trust you to meet my every need. Please meet this need in Your perfect way.

Come Closer God has an outside voice, and He’s not afraid to use it. But when God wants to be heard, when what He has to say is too important to miss, He often speaks in a whisper just above the absolute threshold of hearing. My dictionary defines whisper as “speaking very softly using one’s breath without one’s vocal cords.” The use of breath instead of vocal cords is significant. Isn’t that how God created Adam? He whispered into the dust and named it Adam. Adam was once a whisper. So were you. So was everything else. Whispering is typically employed for the sake of secrecy. No form of communication is more intimate. So why does God so often speak in whispers? When someone speaks in a whisper, you have to get very close to hear. In fact, you have to put your ear near the person’s mouth. We lean toward a whisper, and that’s what God wants. The goal of hearing the heavenly Father’s voice isn’t just hearing His voice; it’s intimacy with Him. He speaks in a whisper because He wants to be as close to us as is divinely possible! He loves us, likes us, that much. When our children were young, I’d sometimes speak in a whisper so they would inch closer to me. That’s when I’d grab them and hug them. God plays the same trick on us. We want to hear what He has to say, but He wants us to know how much He loves us. Aren’t you grateful for a gentle God? The Almighty could intimidate us with His outside voice, but He woos us with a whisper. And His whisper is the very breath of life. There’s an old adage that those who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music. That is certainly true of those who walk to the beat of God’s drum. When you take your cues from the Holy Spirit, you’ll do some things that will make people think you’re crazy. So be it. Obey the whisper and see what God does. Because nothing has the potential to change your life like the whisper of God. Nothing will determine your destiny more than your ability to hear His still small voice. That’s how God-sized dreams are birthed. That’s how miracles happen. When was the last time you invited the Holy Spirit to speak to you? Are you actively inviting God to speak to you?

DAY 5: Act on God’s Direction Step into the realm of miracles available even today by developing faith for the anointing. Make a conscious effort to press for that anointing. Faith must be targeted. Use your faith to tap into the anointing. Start to believe for miracles in your personal life. Believe and pray for uncommon levels of anointing and the power of God. Look and listen for revelation and illumination in your inner man. Open your spiritual eyes and ears. When you see the invisible, you can do the impossible! Vision empowers the miraculous realm in your life. David marched to the front lines of battle completely unafraid of Goliath, the giant in the land. What was it that empowered the crazy boldness of this young warrior? He had revelation about who his God was! His revelation empowered action. Many are sidelined by fear. We must act on the dreams, visions, and leading that God has given us. Notebooks filled with insight, words, and dreams will become binders of untapped potential if we do not have the bravery to act on the vision. There is no life in lazy faith! Fear paralyzes and sidelines God-sized dreams. Faith stirs the human spirit to act!