A lot of this thought was worked out from a message by Creflo Dollar. Thank you Pastor Dollar.
SEED, TIME & HARVEST
Genesis 8:22 NIV
"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat, summer and winter,
day and night will never cease."
Everything in Life starts with a Seed!
1. SEED…
In the beginning God said that as long as the earth remains there will be Seedtime & Harvest.
Paul pointed out clearly the Law of sowing & reaping in Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others--ignoring God!- harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8 MSG
Jesus Himself constantly compared faith with a seed being planted to get a result. In Matthew 17:20 He said, "You didn’t have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.
From time to time we will face mountains of need:
• Spiritual problems
• Sickness
• Family problems
• Fear
• Financial problems
• And many more…
But in the scriptures above the Lord tells us what to do to get the mountain MOVED out of our lives----Plant a seed of Faith!!!!
Each act of Faith is a seed planted, & it will be multiplied back to you many times, according to God’s Word!
The next important thing with the Seed is to “AIM YOUR SEED AGAINST THE NEED”!
How do we aim our seed against the need?
1. Identify the purpose of the seed-sowing. Why are we sowing our seed.
2. Ask God about the thing we’re believing for. Is it according to His Word?
3. Say it out loud. Speaking our word of faith is so important!
4. Aim our faith, applying the Word of God directly to our situation---identifying the need & aiming our faith directly toward it.
5. Look to God as our Source & not to men.
Mark 11:23-24 NLT “I assure you that you can say to this mountain, May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.”
Aiming your seed at a specific need can help you release your faith for that need to be met by God, your Source.
I truly believe that when sowing your seed becomes a way of life for you, IT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
2. Time…
But what about the growing TIME for our seed?
So many times we pray & pray, it seems as if nothing is happening. After a while it’s easy to get weary & perhaps feel frustrated.
How many of us have seen a farmer bringing in the harvest from their fields?
The farmer doesn’t buy a field that is ready with a harvest. The farmer’s harvest begins when he plants the seed in the ground many months before. But his work doesn’t stop when he gets the seed in the ground. He has to
• Cultivate it.
• Work over it.
• Water it.
• Dig around it.
• Give it all around attention to make it produce so he can go out & gather in the harvest HE IS EXPECTING!
How do I work the seed that has been planted?
• By cultivating your relationship with Jesus Christ.
• By looking to Him continually as your Source.
• By putting Him first in everything you do.
• By knowing His Word & confessing by faith that your needs are being met.
• By living in a state of expectancy to receive because you are continually planting your seed to God, your Source.
In between the seed-planting & the harvesting a divine process had been going on. GOD HAD BEEN GROWING THE SEED!
The important thing to notice about farmers is that they have to be willing to wait for the seed to come into full growth!
They had to have faith in what they had planted & believe it would produce the harvest it was aimed at!
Four things you can do during the growing time;
1. Have a regular time of Bible Study, studying it with faith in God’s Word.
2. Remember that the victory in your harvest comes through your faith.
Confess with your mouth: “God I have given You my tithes & offerings as seeds of faith. You are growing my seed. You are changing my seedtime into harvesttime. You are rebuking the devourer for my sake.”
3. Pray & keep on praying!
Jude 20 MSG “But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves
up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit,”
4. Keep you life moving toward God.
That is how you make it through the growing season, REFUSE TO GIVE UP UNTIL YOU RECEIVE YOUR HARVEST!
3. HARVEST…
So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 NLT
See God has a reward system. A plan for success! Look at this next scripture…
Mark 10:29-30 KJV “And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,
30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.”
Many times we think that our only reward is in Heaven, but God has a 100-fold return for us right here on earth!
I want to help you see that God wants us to have the material resources we need in this life & abundance to sow seeds into His kingdom. (III John 2)
Jesus said in John 10:10b … I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Since God created the 100-fold blessing in our behalf, then I want the 100-fold return, & I want all of you to have it too!
The world, including some church folks, may try to talk you out of it by some bad tradition or bad teaching they’ve had, but the questions to ask are:
• What does God’s Word say?
• What does God intend for us?
The Word says He intended to bless us 100-fold! That settles it for me!
On the other hand, what does satan intend? His whole intention, his whole purpose is to steal, kill, & destroy… (see John 10:10)
It is time to thank God & use your faith to rebuke satan, the one the bible calls the devourer, which means seed-eater!
Let’s say this together: Satan, you loose my 100-fold blessing! Lord, I thank You that as I sow my seed, my harvest of blessing is being released right now. And by faith I will not let it pass me by, but I will receive it, in Jesus’ mighty name! Amen.
My advice is that you don’t let anyone or anything cause you to give up on this confession.
