Archive for August, 2011
PREPARING FOR YOUR HARVEST(Pt. 4)
“He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap”(Ecclesiastes 11:4 NKJV).
SOWING IS AN ACT OF FAITH
Every year at the appointed season the farmer demonstrates the reality of faith. He places seed into ground that has yet to manifest a harvest. If he does not commit the seed to the ground he will see no fruit for his labor. So too for the believer, sowing is an act of faith in anticipation of what will in due season be manifest. The wise Solomon wrote, “In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good”(Eccles 11:6 NKJV). You must plant your seed into the “spiritual soil” in which you anticipate a harvest and then leave the results to God.
Our prayers can be likened to the farmer who confidently goes about sowing with an expectation. This is why some prayers never come to fruition. We are not willing to plant the promises of God into the ground of faith and let God bring forth the answer. Unfortunately, too many people are constantly digging up the seed to see if anything is growing! “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him”(1 John 5:14-15 NKJV).
Our Lord Jesus, in Matthew 25:14-30, commends and rewards the faithful stewards who “invested their talents”. We each are called to make a profitable gain in life. We are called to “Make the most of every opportunity, knowing that the days in which we live are evil”(Ephesians 5:17). Jesus set an example for us and said, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work”(Matthew 9:4 NKJV).
GOD WILL WATCH OVER YOUR HARVEST
The thing that makes our labors worthwhile when nothing is seen is the knowledge that God Himself will watch over our spiritual harvest. “When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing…they said among the nations: ‘The LORD has done great things for them’. Those that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him”(Psalm 126:5-6 NKJV).
“Sow in tears…Reap with Joy”! We want a harvest today. But where are the tears that water our fields? The story is told of one the “recruits” of General William Booth (Founder of the Salvation Army), half-Jewish, half-Gentile by birth. One of his “recruits” sent a letter to him bemoaning the fact that they had tried this program and that program for soul winning. And for all their efforts they “had seen no fruit from their labors” in a certain spiritual work. Booth wrote back “You’ve tried everything else…Try tears”.
GOD HAS ALREADY PLANNED FOR YOUR HARVEST
He who watches over Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers…And He will see that you do not have “crop failure” in the kingdom of God. The apostle Paul gives us strong encouragement in our labors for the Lord.
“He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully…And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written, ‘‘He has dispersed abroad; He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever. Now may He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God”(2 Corinthians 9:6,8-11 NKJV).
“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit from the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand”(James 5:7-8 NKJV).
Copyright(c) 2011, Walter Fletcher Jr., All rights are reserved. This article may be copied free of charge provided that it is not altered in any way from it’s original content. Send any correspondence to:Walterfletcherjr@gmail.com
PREPARING FOR YOUR HARVEST(Pt. 3)
PREPARING FOR YOUR HARVEST (Pt.3)
“Isaac sowed in the land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him”(Genesis 26:12 NKJ).
Every farmer knows when to plant his seed in order to reap a harvest. You must sow a certain seed at the appropriate season or it simply will not come up. For example, unless your seed can endure a harsh cold Winter, you best not plant it until Spring time! Certain other crops must be planted way in advance of Summer if you are hoping to get to the Market in time to sell your Harvest come Fall and so forth. Likewise, this natural principle applies in the spiritual realm.
PLANT ACCORDING TO GOD’S “ALMANAC”
God has an “Almanac” or spiritual calendar for His people in order that a spiritual harvest might come about. Recall the story of Isaac in Genesis Chapter 26. A great famine had taken hold of the land in which he sojourned. Like his father Abraham he sought to go down to Egypt and relieve himself of the desolate condition all around him. But God intercepts him on his way and says, “Stay here and I will bless you. If you’ll plant in the land, I’ll bless you”. In faith and obedience Isaac plants according to the Word of the LORD and reaps a “hundred fold”! This was indeed an unusual harvest in time of famine. God wanted to distinguish His servant in the land of the Philistines, thus ratifying His covenant of blessing that He had made with Abraham. It is such a time that we live in that God wants to distinguish by His blessing through faith and obedience His chosen ones. Do not judge by Man’s calendar what God will do for His own in the realm of business, economics, government or ministry. Learn to listen and follow the promptings of His Word and Spirit. God wants to show His favor in this time of “famine in the land”. Don’t look to Egypt for God’s supply. Look to the Lord your God. You can bloom and prosper where He plants you.
KNOW WHEN IT IS YOUR SEASON TO REAP
As every harvest has its appointed Season, so we must know when our season has come to reap. Take for example the story of Jacob. He left home on the run with the blessing he had tricked his brother Esau out of. He headed South to stay with his uncle Laban, who kept changing the terms of his employment. Jacob’s labors made his uncle a very rich man. Notice, that although Jacob himself had not experienced the blessings in his own life & family, he carried the Covenantal “DNA” of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac.
One day, after Jacob had served uncle Laban for twenty years, God visits him and says, in essence, “It’s time for YOUR harvest”. Through a series of miracles the tide turned in his life and he became a very blessed and prosperous man (Leaving uncle Laban’s employment forever!). At that time Jacob took his family and headed back to Bethel where He had met God twenty years earlier. I believe God is visiting His people in this hour to bring about favorable circumstances so that they can step out of an old season and into the new season. It has nothing to do with our past performance. It has to do with “the blessing of the Lord which makes rich and adds no sorrow”. Favor will take you where you could never go in order for you to do what you never could do saving that the hand of God has turned toward you. It’s your season for your harvest.
PREDICTING YOUR HARVEST
Every harvest has a “trajectory” component built in. By that we mean something that is unmistakably exponential in its development. You don’t reap what you sow…You will reap MORE than what was sown. As in the natural, so it is in the spiritual realm. The trajectory of a harvest cannot be determined by the SIZE of the seed planted. It is the KIND of seed sown in the right soil that reaps the harvest. Jesus said, “Some 30,60, or 100 fold”. But make no mistake. What is sown in the ground will come up different than when it was placed in the ground. (Read John 12:24;1 Co 15:35-49).
We see the principle of trajectory in the life of Barnabas in the Book of Acts (Acts 4:36-37; 9:11-13). He was a faithful disciple in the Church fellowship of Jerusalem, sitting at the Apostle’s feet. But something definitely changed when he responded to some natural needed funds among the family of God. As you read his story you cannot help but realize that something awakened and was activated in his life for the kingdom’s advance.
He sowed natural things, but he reaped spiritual benefits…One moment he is learning the Life of Jesus through the apostles in Jerusalem, and the next moment he is being sent forth to look in on and ultimately become a key lead apostle in Antioch. A true harvest trajectory! It began with his giving into the work of the Lord.
God was watching Barnabas. He was not merely looking at the amount of what was given, but the motive behind the gift. Barnabas was from the Levitical tribe of Israel, and they were not to sell their land. It was their inheritance…But he had his eye on a better inheritance. One “where moths and rust do not corrupt; thieves don’t break in and steal…”(Matthew 6:20,33). With this Paul agrees,” God loves a cheerful giver, and He is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you have all sufficiency at all times, and may abound to every good work. As it is written, ‘He scatters abroad; he gives to the poor; his deeds of justice and goodness will endure forever'”(2 Co 9:7-8). Are you preparing for your harvest?
Copyright(c) 2011, Walter Fletcher Jr., All rights are reserved. This article may be copied free of charge provided that it is not altered in any way from it’s original content. Send any correspondence to:Walterfletcherjr@gmail.com
PREPARING FOR YOUR HARVEST(Pt. 2)
“While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest…shall not cease”(Genesis 8:22 NKJV).
SOWING AND REAPING
From the Beginning, God established as a law that there would be sowing and reaping. He put the seed in the grass, the herb and the tree to produce after it’s kind. What is in the tree is in the seed, and what is in the seed will become the tree. To activate this law there must be a sowing of the seed, whatever kind it may be, if the desired harvest is to be manifest.
THE SEED OF FAITH
Someone asked Smith Wigglesworth, who was recognized for having great faith, “How they could have such great faith to see the type of miracles which he experienced. This was his reply, “First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear”(Mark 4:28). What is the principle? Great faith does not come over night. It is a process of development over time, as is the law of the harvest. This means that among other things, if you want to grow anything from the seed, it must be placed in the right environment.
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
In Luke’s Gospel, chapter 8, Jesus tells “The parable of the sower”. The sower knows that the seed will produce what it is intended to produce (30,60,100-fold) if placed in the right condition. The soil is the proper environment in which the seed can grow.
The prophet Isaiah makes a striking parallel of this fact: “For as the earth brings its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the LORD GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations”(NKJV). If you want a harvest of righteousness in your life you must plant in faith in the right environment. God is our environment. David declares, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forever more”(Ps. 16:11 NKJV).
CULTIVATE YOUR SOIL
We can’t expect the fruit of righteousness to spring forth out of uncultivated soil. Hosea calls God’s people to “Break up the fallow ground” by turning (repentance) or returning to the Lord.
Pursuing God honoring relationships will bring forth a righteous harvest. Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers who lived in a cultural environment much like today where “anything goes”(Except of course the Name of Jesus, prayer and separation from evil!). He wrote, “Don’t be deceived: Bad company corrupts good character”(1 Co 15:33). What was it that made the Early Church in the Book of Acts so attractive? Those who were true followers of Jesus, the Messiah, “Continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching, in fellowship, in meal sharing and in prayer”(Acts 2:42). They didn’t do this once a week but as a daily habit. It takes at least 21 days for a habit or a lifestyle change to take place. When constantly practiced, a habit, as someone observed, “is a stubborn thing”. Show me where anyone constantly spends their time, energy, and money, and I will tell you what that person is becoming.
Jesus gives us the secret to a harvest of righteousness in our life. “Abide in me, and let my words abide in you…Apart from me you can do nothing”(Jn 15:3-4). It’s the time that we spend with Jesus in solitude, prayer, worship and fellowshipping in His Word that really determines our harvest. Nothing else will do.
SOWING FOR HEALING
I end on a practical note. I was recently asked, “How can I sow to reap in the area of health?” I give my basic answer here in hopes that it will be a blessing to others as well.
“I believe that you can sow toward health in three ways: (1) Make sure that there is no ground or cause for any sickness in life. There may be sins, personal or from the past in family lines, that can provide an opening for the enemy to bring sickness into our lives. We must ask God to reveal any areas where that may apply and go before Him, confess them, and repent of them. This closes the door to any “legal” right the enemy may have to torment with sickness or disease.(See Prov. 28:13; 1 Jn. 1:9) (2) We can sow in faith by maintaining a proper diet. What we take into our body (which is the Temple of God) is very important. We see in the scriptures how God gave Israel special instruction in dietary laws to keep them both holy and healthy. (3) Come before God, in faith, “sowing His promises” for healing. “He sent His Word and healed them”(Ps. 107:20a).
Read and claim Psalm 103:1-5; Matthew 8:1-17; 1 Peter 2:24. All of these passages tell us that we serve a God Who DOES want to heal us; He DESIRES to heal us, and He DID heal us on Calvary’s Cross! Healing is part of His Atonement. Just as we reached out for our salvation by faith and have grown both in our understanding, so too, we can reach out in faith for our healing. Peter reminds us that “By His stripes we WERE healed”. Claim this promise without wavering, believing for it’s manifest reality. Delays are not denials. Sometimes the wait makes us stronger in Him before we SEE what we have BELIEVED. Sow in faith; reap with joy!
Copyright(c) 2011, Walter Fletcher Jr., All rights are reserved. This article may be copied free of charge provided that it is not altered in any way from it’s original content. Send any correspondence to:Walterfletcherjr@gmail.com
PREPARING FOR YOUR HARVEST(Pt. 1)
“Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die it abides alone, but if it dies it will bring forth much fruit”(John 12:24 NKJV).
“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit from the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain”(James 5:7 NKJV).
GOD GIVES EVERYTHING IN “SEED” FORM
Someone has called the Book of Genesis “The seedbed of the Bible”, meaning that every major doctrine or teaching in the scriptures finds their origin in the first Book of the Bible. By the same token God lays down in principle form His Law of Harvest: Everything is given in “seed” form. Notice in Genesis chapter one, “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God said that it was good”(Genesis 1:11-12 NKJV).
In God’s creative order He established a law that He would not have to keep creating grass or herbs or trees. He put the “code” upon the grass, the herb and the tree in order that everything would produce after its kind. For example, if you plant a watermelon seed you won’t get a pumpkin. Watermelon seeds don’t yield pumpkins. They have a genetic code on the seed that only produces watermelons and so forth. You will reap a harvest according to the seed which has been sown. If you know what type of harvest you want you must plant the right SEED in order for it to yield an expected harvest. The farmer has an expectation that that which he has sown is what his harvest with look like. So this principle applies to the kingdom of God in spiritual matters.
Did you notice that The LORD God established the Law of the Harvest on the “3rd day” of creation? Hidden in a mystery on the Third day of creation is the mystery hidden, waiting to be revealed of the “Third day” resurrection! In other words, the natural principle would give way to the spiritual, which was to come through Jesus the Messiah.
LIKE THE FARMER
In John’s Gospel, Jesus used the analogy of the farmer to express the mystery of His coming death and resurrection. “Now the Greeks among those who came to worship at the feast…came to Phillip…saying, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’…And Phillip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain”(John 12:20-24 NKJV). What the devil incited men to do in putting Jesus to death was in the Father’s plan. He knew that in Jesus Christ was the very seed of God. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself”(2 Co 5:19a NKJV). Further still, God wanted a greater Harvest! He wanted “MANY sons like unto His Son”(Heb 2:10). God wants us to understand that the Quality of the harvest is just as important as the Size of the harvest. This is why the Lord takes such care in our life, because He is conforming our lives to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. And He will do so with our cooperation (Read Phil.1:6, 2:13).
PATIENT EXPECTATION
Above all, if we are preparing for our harvest it will require faith and endurance. The farmer goes to sleep, resting knowing that what he has sown will come up at the right time. And so it is true for we, His people. It is the Law of the Harvest. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for WHATEVER a man sows, that he will also reap. For he that sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith”(Gal. 6:7-10). What are you planting in your garden? That is what will you reap.
Copyright(c) 2011, Walter Fletcher Jr., All rights are reserved. This article may be copied free of charge provided that it is not altered in any way from it’s original content. Send any correspondence to:Walterfletcherjr@gmail.com
Messenger On The Bridge 