Plentiful Rain

Harvest Time

Our text today is from the book of Psalms. Psalms is filled with lots of passages of praise and worship unto the Lord about what He has done. Reading from Psalms helps us get in touch with how we feel down deep on the inside.

You should know that those feelings, those emotions you have are very important to your relationship with the Lord.

I have found that the people of God are often very emotional, and they can even become very sentimental about what God is doing in their lives. In fact, God’s people really seem to enjoy remembering all those good times of blessings.

There are some things (that you have experienced) you will never forget. Those blessings of yesterday will always have a special place in the hearts of God’s people.

No doubt but what we enjoy times of HARVEST in our lives. We don’t enjoy those times of struggles, trial and tribulations, but we will always remember HARVEST TIME. That’s what I call it…you know…those days when we suddenly come out of a period of time that was extremely difficult for us.

Question:

Have you ever noticed the best of times seem to always come right after (what you thought was) the worst of times?

The Word of God does such a great job of describing what or how we feel. In times of HARVEST (in your life) you may be so overjoyed with what is going on that you find it hard to describe your joy and happiness.

You may say something like, “I am at a loss for words!”

That’s okay, because My God is never “at a loss for words”.

Especially when it comes to experiencing HARVEST TIME.

Opening – Psalms 68:9 thru 10 NLT

Let us thank the Lord for how He has blessed us in recent weeks. I can assure you God is not through with any of us. He has many more blessings planned for us. But we must commit to God to never go back to how we used to live.

We must go forward, and we must press ahead for a continuation of His outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

For just a moment, let us reflect what has happened with this recent move of God.

1. For many of you, the devil has been defeated in your life.

2. The battle has been won and you have the sweet taste of victory.

3. God has delivered you from those things that have plagued you for a long time, such as, all kinds of sin, guilt, condemnation, and (even) depression.

Perhaps you have not realized it yet, but many of you are experiencing HARVEST TIME. Your accuser, Satan himself is doing everything he can to keep you from realizing this. He continues to lie to you and tell you that you are no good, and what you have experienced is only temporary.

But I am here to declare to you that God is sending you, and this church, a “bountiful harvest”.

In our text – King David is rejoicing with himself and others about something that had happened hundreds of years before his time. In these verses, David is rejoicing what God did when He delivered the children of Israel out of the bondage of Pharoah, and the land of Egypt.

David needed some encouraging words for his own life, just like many of you need for your life.

We should be confident in knowing that God is in the business to restore and lift up His people when they have just come out of a time of frustration and difficulty. My friend, God has not forgotten you…not a single one of you…ever!

Transition:

Now then, there is another story (I want to talk to you about) that illustrates for us what is going on in our lives and the life of this church. Many of you can probably quote this Bible story in your sleep. You’ve heard it before, but it should be a story that means a lot to you.

It’s the story of Elijah at Mt. Carmel.

You remember - Elijah had just had a great victory over the false god of Baal. Elijah was so relieved that God had come through for him when he so needed Him to. This was HARVEST TIME and a huge victory for all of God’s people.

But Elijah knew that what God had done was only the beginning. God had something else that He wanted to take place in Elijah’s life. There was more needing to be done.

Reference - Text: I Kings 18:38 thru 44

Elijah had won the victory but he needed to make sure that the prophets of Baal would never again bring confusion and havoc to the children of Israel. Elijah commanded that the source of sin be destroyed, once and for all! “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!”