Grow or Die - A Prophetic Word for 2026
Grow or Die: Embracing God's Call to Radical Growth
There's a profound tension in the Christian life between comfort and growth, between preservation and transformation. As we stand at the threshold of a new year, we face a choice that will define not just the next twelve months, but potentially the trajectory of our spiritual lives for years to come.
The message is both startling and hopeful: grow or die.
This isn't meant to discourage, but to awaken us to reality. We live in a moment of unprecedented change. History moves in cycles, and we find ourselves at one of those pivotal 80-year turning points where everything shifts—technology, culture, politics, and the very fabric of society. Artificial intelligence is reshaping our world. Wars are erupting globally. The ground beneath our feet is moving, whether we acknowledge it or not.
In such times, the church faces a critical decision: Will we adapt and grow into what God is calling us to become, or will we cling to comfort and fade into irrelevance?
The Parable of the Fig Tree
Jesus told a parable that speaks directly to this moment. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and for three years he came looking for fruit but found none. Frustrated, he told the gardener to cut it down—why should it waste the soil?
But the gardener pleaded for one more year. "Leave it alone," he said. "Let me dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. If not, then cut it down."
Jesus wasn't talking about horticulture. He was speaking to the nation of Israel, calling them to repentance before judgment fell. Within a generation of this teaching, Israel would cease to exist as a nation for nearly 2,000 years because they couldn't hear God's prophetic word in their moment.
The same principle applies to us today. God is extending grace—one more season of extraordinary blessing and opportunity. He's loosening the soil around our roots. He's pouring in fertilizer. He's creating optimal conditions for growth.
The question is: Will we respond?
The Fruit of Repentance
The fruit God looks for isn't religious activity or organizational success. It's the fruit of repentance—a complete rethinking of our lives, a turning of our faces back toward Him.
Repentance means taking honest stock of where we've drifted, where we've become comfortable, where we've allowed fear to paralyze us or self-preservation to keep us from investing in God's kingdom. It means hearing His voice and actually responding with obedience.
This isn't about guilt or shame. It's about alignment. It's about getting back into sync with what God is doing in the world right now, in this moment, in this season.
Three Enemies of Growth
Comfort is the first enemy. We all love comfort—warm slippers, familiar routines, predictable patterns. There's nothing inherently wrong with comfort, but when we invest our lives in maintaining comfort rather than pursuing growth, we atrophy. We become the fig tree that looks healthy but bears no fruit.
Fear is the second enemy. Fear whispers that change is dangerous, that stepping out is risky, that it's better to hold on to what we have than to reach for what God is offering. Fear keeps us paralyzed when God is calling us to move.
Self-preservation is the third enemy. When God pours blessing into our lives—whether financial, relational, or spiritual—we face a choice: Is this bread for the eater or seed for the sower? Is this meant to make me more comfortable, or is this meant to be invested in the kingdom?
The Choice Before Us
Deuteronomy 30 presents the choice with crystal clarity: "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction... I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life."
The word of God isn't far away or difficult to understand. It's right here, right in front of us. The choice is actually simple: Do we want life and blessing, or death and curse?
God's desire is obvious. He wants us to choose life. He wants us to flourish. He wants us to bear fruit. And He's making it easier than ever to say yes.
A Season of Grace
Here's the good news embedded in this challenging word: God is extending extraordinary grace right now. Like the gardener in Jesus' parable, He's creating optimal conditions for growth. He's loosening the hard-packed soil. He's adding nutrients. He's giving us room to stretch our roots and reach toward the sun.
This means opportunities will appear. Doors will open. Resources will become available. Relationships will form. People will show up. The question isn't whether God will provide what we need to grow—He will. The question is whether we'll recognize it and respond to it.
The Scriptures tell us that God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. When blessing shows up, it shouldn't make us complacent. It should make us ask, "Lord, how do You want me to use this for Your kingdom? What's the new mission we're going on together?"
Running the Race
Hebrews 12 calls us to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus."
This is active language. Running. Throwing off. Fixing our eyes. This isn't passive Christianity. This is engaged, intentional, forward-moving faith.
The race God has marked out for each of us is unique, but the principle is universal: We must keep moving forward. We must keep growing. We must keep responding to His voice and His leading.
The Invitation
This isn't a word of condemnation. It's a word of invitation. God is inviting us into partnership with Him in a way we've never experienced before. He's preparing to do something new, something powerful, something that will impact not just our individual lives but entire communities and regions.
But we must choose to participate. We must choose growth over comfort. We must choose faith over fear. We must choose kingdom investment over self-preservation.
The gardener is digging around the roots. The fertilizer is being applied. The season of grace is here.
Will we bear fruit?
The answer to that question will determine everything.
There's a profound tension in the Christian life between comfort and growth, between preservation and transformation. As we stand at the threshold of a new year, we face a choice that will define not just the next twelve months, but potentially the trajectory of our spiritual lives for years to come.
The message is both startling and hopeful: grow or die.
This isn't meant to discourage, but to awaken us to reality. We live in a moment of unprecedented change. History moves in cycles, and we find ourselves at one of those pivotal 80-year turning points where everything shifts—technology, culture, politics, and the very fabric of society. Artificial intelligence is reshaping our world. Wars are erupting globally. The ground beneath our feet is moving, whether we acknowledge it or not.
In such times, the church faces a critical decision: Will we adapt and grow into what God is calling us to become, or will we cling to comfort and fade into irrelevance?
The Parable of the Fig Tree
Jesus told a parable that speaks directly to this moment. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and for three years he came looking for fruit but found none. Frustrated, he told the gardener to cut it down—why should it waste the soil?
But the gardener pleaded for one more year. "Leave it alone," he said. "Let me dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. If not, then cut it down."
Jesus wasn't talking about horticulture. He was speaking to the nation of Israel, calling them to repentance before judgment fell. Within a generation of this teaching, Israel would cease to exist as a nation for nearly 2,000 years because they couldn't hear God's prophetic word in their moment.
The same principle applies to us today. God is extending grace—one more season of extraordinary blessing and opportunity. He's loosening the soil around our roots. He's pouring in fertilizer. He's creating optimal conditions for growth.
The question is: Will we respond?
The Fruit of Repentance
The fruit God looks for isn't religious activity or organizational success. It's the fruit of repentance—a complete rethinking of our lives, a turning of our faces back toward Him.
Repentance means taking honest stock of where we've drifted, where we've become comfortable, where we've allowed fear to paralyze us or self-preservation to keep us from investing in God's kingdom. It means hearing His voice and actually responding with obedience.
This isn't about guilt or shame. It's about alignment. It's about getting back into sync with what God is doing in the world right now, in this moment, in this season.
Three Enemies of Growth
Comfort is the first enemy. We all love comfort—warm slippers, familiar routines, predictable patterns. There's nothing inherently wrong with comfort, but when we invest our lives in maintaining comfort rather than pursuing growth, we atrophy. We become the fig tree that looks healthy but bears no fruit.
Fear is the second enemy. Fear whispers that change is dangerous, that stepping out is risky, that it's better to hold on to what we have than to reach for what God is offering. Fear keeps us paralyzed when God is calling us to move.
Self-preservation is the third enemy. When God pours blessing into our lives—whether financial, relational, or spiritual—we face a choice: Is this bread for the eater or seed for the sower? Is this meant to make me more comfortable, or is this meant to be invested in the kingdom?
The Choice Before Us
Deuteronomy 30 presents the choice with crystal clarity: "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction... I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life."
The word of God isn't far away or difficult to understand. It's right here, right in front of us. The choice is actually simple: Do we want life and blessing, or death and curse?
God's desire is obvious. He wants us to choose life. He wants us to flourish. He wants us to bear fruit. And He's making it easier than ever to say yes.
A Season of Grace
Here's the good news embedded in this challenging word: God is extending extraordinary grace right now. Like the gardener in Jesus' parable, He's creating optimal conditions for growth. He's loosening the hard-packed soil. He's adding nutrients. He's giving us room to stretch our roots and reach toward the sun.
This means opportunities will appear. Doors will open. Resources will become available. Relationships will form. People will show up. The question isn't whether God will provide what we need to grow—He will. The question is whether we'll recognize it and respond to it.
The Scriptures tell us that God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. When blessing shows up, it shouldn't make us complacent. It should make us ask, "Lord, how do You want me to use this for Your kingdom? What's the new mission we're going on together?"
Running the Race
Hebrews 12 calls us to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus."
This is active language. Running. Throwing off. Fixing our eyes. This isn't passive Christianity. This is engaged, intentional, forward-moving faith.
The race God has marked out for each of us is unique, but the principle is universal: We must keep moving forward. We must keep growing. We must keep responding to His voice and His leading.
The Invitation
This isn't a word of condemnation. It's a word of invitation. God is inviting us into partnership with Him in a way we've never experienced before. He's preparing to do something new, something powerful, something that will impact not just our individual lives but entire communities and regions.
But we must choose to participate. We must choose growth over comfort. We must choose faith over fear. We must choose kingdom investment over self-preservation.
The gardener is digging around the roots. The fertilizer is being applied. The season of grace is here.
Will we bear fruit?
The answer to that question will determine everything.
Recent
Archive
2026
Categories
no categories
No Comments