“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and a great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.”
Genesis 26:12-14
Where did Isaac sow his seed? In a land that was experiencing famine. When did he sow his seed? During a time when nobody was reaping a harvest. In fact, he sowed his seed during a time when many of God’s people were fleeing to Egypt due to the economic hardships that were in the land. But, as others were fleeing to Egypt, God speaks to Isaac and tells him not to follow the crowd and go to Egypt but to remain in the land that he was in, a land that was in the midst of famine.
God then speaks to Isaac and tells him, “If you will obey me and remain in the place you are in, then I will bless you greater than you have ever been blessed.” God said “I will bless you in the land you are in, a land that is in the midst of famine.”
I’m sure Isaac didn’t understand what God was telling him. In the natural it didn’t make any sense. How could God bless him in the midst of famine? How could God bless him in a time that no one was being blessed? Even though it seemed impossible-God did exactly what he said and blessed Isaac greater than he had ever been blessed.
If Isaac would have disobeyed God and did what was popular and left for Egypt, he would have never have been blessed to the degree that God blessed him. There is a great blessing in obedience!
“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:”
Isaiah 1:19
It is amazing how many of God’s people disobey what God tells them. And then they wonder why they find themselves in all kinds of problems and troubles. If you want to be blessed you need to learn to walk in obedience. Isaac obeyed God and God blessed him right in the place where he was. God wants to do the same for you! He wants to bless you greater than you have ever been blessed and He can do it right where you are. You don’t have to go to another state, city, or neighborhood. He can do it in the place you are now in! Not only can He bless you at the place you are, He can bless you in the midst of a suffering economy.
God told Isaac, don’t follow the crowd, don’t do what everybody else is doing, I want you to remain in the land you are in, a land in the midst of famine. God said if you obey me:
“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;”
Genesis 26:3
Isaac obeyed the voice of God and remained in the land of the Philistines. But, then Isaac did something that made no sense in the natural-
“Then Isaac sowed in that land…”
Genesis 26:12
He sowed in a land where nobody was sowing due to the famine! I’m sure people laughed at Isaac as they watched him sow in a land that in the natural could not produce a harvest.
Why would Isaac sow in a land that nobody else was sowing in? He sowed because God promised to bless him. God promised to bless him regardless of the hard times that were in the land. Isaac sowed because he had a promise. That’s why you need to sow, even if others are not sowing. That’s why you need to sow, regardless of the condition of the economy, regardless of the financial crisis that you may find yourself in. You have a promise that if you sow a seed you will reap a harvest.
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
Genesis 8:22
People in the world will not understand you when you sow during difficult times. Even a lot of church people won’t understand you. In fact, most people will think you are crazy! The reason most people will not understand you or even may think you are crazy is because they don’t understand the principle of giving and receiving.
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
Luke 6:38
Many of God’s people pray, fast, read their Bible and even talk in tongues, but they can’t pay their bills.
The reason they can’t pay their bills is because they have never learned the principle of sowing and reaping.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”
Hosea 4:6
Most people blame the devil if they can’t pay their bills. But most times the devil has absolutely nothing to do with it. Usually it is bad financial decisions that they have made, or the fact that they have not learned to sow their tithes and offerings.
“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.”
Malachi 3:8
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Malachi 3:10
If you disobey the word of God and withhold your tithes, or do not work the principle of sowing-you will never be blessed to the degree that you could be blessed.
You have to walk in obedience and sow your seed even in difficult times. Don’t quit sowing your seed because of hard times. Don’t quit sowing your seed because of the conditions of the world.
“He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.”
Ecclesiastes 11:4
“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.”
Ecclesiastes 11:6
During the hard times you need to sow more than ever so you can change the situation that you are in. Your seed can literally change your future.
The condition of this world and the financial crisis you may be in does not change the word of God. If you sow you will reap a harvest. You won’t reap a harvest because you are a member of a church, or read your Bible, or even pray. You reap a harvest because you are a sower!
If Isaac had not sowed, he would have never reaped. I can hear people asking him, “Why are you sowing all that seed? Don’t you know we are in the midst of a famine? The land is dry and parched; nobody is sowing because it is impossible to reap a harvest due to the conditions of the ground!”
In spite of what the people may have said. In spite of the famine and the fact that in the natural is was impossible to reap a harvest—Isaac sowed his seed!
There is something about the seed that you sow during hard times, during the midst of difficult times that means more to God than the seed that is sown in the good times. The seed you sow in hard times is like the praise you give in hard times. - It gets the attention of God and releases a special blessing!
Isaac sowed in the midst of a famine. He sowed during a time when nobody else would even think of sowing. In the natural what Isaac did looked foolish. But notice what happened after he sowed his seed.
“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.”
Genesis 26:12
Isaac didn’t receive thirty-fold, sixty-fold, or even ninety-fold, he received a hundred-fold on the seed that he sowed. And remember he reaped it in the middle of a famine!
God wants to bless His people in the midst of hard times. God wants His people to have “more than enough,” while people in the world may “not have enough.” Remember one of the names of God in the Hebrew is El Shaddai which means the “All-Breasted One” or “the God of more than enough!”
As we approach the coming of the Lord everything is going to be shaken!
“And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.”
Hebrews 12:27
Our economy is already being shaken! Unemployment is high; the value of the dollar is lower than it has been in fifteen years. The stock market is up and down. People in the world are hurting and many are fearful! But we as God’s people don’t have to be afraid.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7
While many in the world are living in fear, we as God’s people should be living by faith.
“…The just shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:11
In days to come as the economy continues to be shaken, many in the world will experience financial hardships unlike anything they have ever known. Many will not be able to afford to keep the house they now live in, or keep the car they now drive. So what will they do? Many of them will come to God’s people and offer their houses or cars to them for a fraction of its value. God is going to literally transfer houses, lands, cars, and businesses from the hands of the sinner and place them into the hands of the righteous.
“…and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.”
Proverbs 13:22
God is about to give His people-houses that they didn’t build and vineyards (businesses) that they didn’t plant. A sinner somewhere may be building your new home right now. Somebody may be purchasing your next car this very day. A new business may be opening that in the next few days you are going to own. Don’t get angry over the prosperity of sinners-God is going to transfer the wealth of the world into our hands before the coming of the Lord.
In these last days God wants to “bless His people greater than they have ever been blessed!” In the midst of difficult times God wants His people to:
“…prosper and be in health, even as our souls prosper.”
3 John 1:2
But, let’s face the truth-not everyone that loves God is blessed today and not every Christian will be blessed in the future, even though it is God’s will to bless them. You can’t be blessed unless you are a sower. As I have already stated-you are not necessarily blessed because you pray, fast, read your Bible or even talk in tongues. You can only expect to be blessed if you become a sower. If you want a harvest you must first plant a seed!
Personally I wasn’t raised in a church that taught the principle of sowing and reaping. Once I did hear about sowing and reaping it changed my life! Most of the material things that I have today are a result of the seed that I have sowed over the years.
Some people might think I am blessed because I am a man of God. I’m not blessed because I am a man of God-I am blessed because I am a sower. How many preachers do you know that can’t even pay their bills? How many preachers do you know that are not blessed? Many bankers won’t even loan money to a preacher. I’m not blessed because I am a preacher - I am blessed because I am a sower!
You don’t have to be a preacher to be blessed. Neither do you have to be from a rich family, or inherit a relative’s estate or even have a good paying job. You simply need to learn the principle of sowing and reaping. You have to become a sower!
Isaac would never have received a harvest if he hadn’t first planted his seed.
“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.”
Genesis 26:12
It is important to remember that he sowed his seed during famine. During a time that no one else was sowing. And notice what happened! He received a hundred-fold return on the seed that he sowed. When did he receive a hundred-fold? He received it the same year that he sowed. He didn’t wait until the famine was over. He didn’t wait until things got better. He received it during famine and he received it the same year.
Recently, I heard God speak two words to my spirit “Instant Wealth.” God then began to speak to me concerning how the Body of Christ was going into a season where He would take the wealth of the sinner and transfer it into their hands and He would do it suddenly.
All throughout the word of God you find where God instantly transfers the wealth of the world into the hands of His children. More than once you find where God’s people went from poverty to prosperity in one day’s time!
This is what is going to happen in the last days. People are going to become wealthy in one day. People will wake up one morning in poverty but by the time they go to bed; they will be living in prosperity. How is it going to happen?
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”
Isaiah 55:8
God is going to move in ways you cannot even imagine. Recently, I heard God speak to me three words. I never knew those three words would change so many people’s lives financially. Those three words were “Unusual Financial Increase.” After God spoke the words to me “unusual financial increase” He then began to speak to me how in the last days He was going to bless His people financially.
Then God said to me, “and I am going to bless them in unusual ways.” When I spoke the prophetic word that God gave me at our International Headquarters Christ for the World in Fort Smith, Arkansas and also at other churches, all kinds of unusual things begin to happen for God’s people in the financial realm.
People began to get unexpected checks in the mail, even from the government. One lady had her employer buy her a car, while another lady who owned a business had one of her customers purchase her a car. One dear grandmother who was raising three of her grandchildren went to see her doctor, and her doctor handed her some money. Doctors are not supposed to give money to their patients! Patients are supposed to give money to their doctors.
Several people received letters from their banks or mortgage companies informing them that either their payments had decreased or the amount of their principal had decreased. One of the most unusual things that happened was people began to have money show up in their checking accounts and to this day they don’t know where it came from!
Within thirty days of the time I first spoke the words that God gave me on “unusual financial increase” God’s people received close to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of unusual financial miracles and debt cancellation, and that is just what we know of.
All throughout the word of God you find where God blessed His people financially in unusual ways. Like money showing up in a mouth of a fish, or filling a house full of empty vessels with oil from one small container, or making a container of oil and a pot of meal to never go empty throughout the entire time that famine was in the land.
Personally, I have had God bless me many times financially in unusual ways. Like having my enemies sow into my ministry, or money showing up in my billfold, or money multiplying in my hand after it was handed to me. Our ministry has also been blessed many times in unusual ways.
Such as having a man I met in prison sow one of the largest offerings ever given to our ministry. Another example is a woman I met that looked like a poor bag lady; she remembered our ministry in her estate along with several other ministries. Her estate was worth 1.6 million dollars! One time we received a call from a prisoner, who was the owner of the largest card company. He heard us minister and in return we received over twenty five thousand dollars worth of greeting cards!
Look at the unusual way that God blessed Isaac. He blessed him by causing the seed that he sowed to bring forth a hundred-fold during the time when nobody was reaping a harvest due to the horrible famine that was in the land.
Look at the children of Israel when they walked out of Egypt. For four hundred years they had been slaves in Egypt. But before they ever went into Egypt God told Abraham:
“And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety
that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; “And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”
Genesis 15:13-14
Just as God told Abraham that the children of Israel would go into slavery for four hundred years, He also declared that He would bless them with a great substance. If you fast forward four hundred years, we see God speaking to Moses on the back side of the desert. God tells him he has been called to “deliver His people that are in bondage.” Then God tells Moses how he is going to do it:
“And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty.”
Exodus 3:20-21
God told Moses that He would give the children of Israel favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Whatever the Egyptians owned, if the children of Israel asked for it, they would give it to them.
“But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.”
Exodus 3:22
The children of Israel didn’t get blessed after they got delivered. God caused them to be blessed while they were still in Egypt. He blessed them in the middle of their affliction, and when they walked out of their affliction they walked out with great wealth.
“He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.”
Psalms 105:37
God literally gave the children of Israel “Instant Wealth.” How did it happen? God gave the children of Israel favor in the sight of their enemies, the Egyptians. And this is what is going to happen in up coming days. God is going to give His children favor, not just favor, but great favor in the sight of this world!
“Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come”
Psalms 102:13
We are entering into the set time or the “appointed time” that God is going to favor His people!
Favor can take you places that you can’t go on your own. Favor will open doors that shouldn’t even be opened for you. Favor will cause you to obtain material things that in the natural you could never have. Favor will cause people that don’t even like you to bless you. Favor will even cause your enemies to bow at your feet!
God gave the children of Israel favor in the sight of the Egyptians and overnight “transferred the wealth of the world into their hands.” God literally gave the children of Israel “Instant Wealth” and He will do it again!
Another place where God gave His children instant wealth is found in 2 Chronicles 20. Here the children of Israel were surrounded by their enemies. Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel, proclaimed a fast and he along with the people begin to seek the face of God. In response to their prayers and fasting, God sent them a prophet who had a message from God for them:
“And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.”
2 Chronicles 20:15
Jehoshaphat sent singers to go before the army and as they went they sang, “Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.”(2 Chronicles 20:21. But as the singers began to sing and give praise to the Lord a miracle happened:
“And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.”
2 Chronicles 20:22-23
But notice what then happened.
“And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.”
2 Chronicles 20:25
Once again God gave the children of Israel “Instant Wealth.” This time He gave them so much wealth that it was “more than they could carry.” How would you like to have so much wealth, that you could not carry it all? That is exactly what God did for Jehoshaphat and the children of God. If he did it for them He can do it for you!
God also gave instant wealth to David after he slew Goliath. Overnight David went from the fields to the palace, from poverty to prosperity. David experienced “Instant Wealth.”
One of my favorite examples in the Bible is the story of Joseph. He is another person who God gave “Instant Wealth” to. After being delivered out of the pit, he ends up in the prison. After being in prison for several years he interprets the kings dream and immediately moves from the prison into the palace and experienced “Instant Wealth!”
Back to the story of Isaac:
“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold…”
Genesis 26:12
Remember, he received a hundredfold on his seed during the midst of hard times. But the hundredfold was not the end of his blessings, it was only the beginning. After the Bible says he received a hundredfold on his seed it then says, “The Lord blessed him.”
“…and the Lord blessed him.”
Genesis 26:12
After the Bible says the Lord blessed him then the bible says that he became “great” and then he becomes “very great.”
“And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:”
Genesis 26:13
This is not the end of it for the Bible then declares that he had “great possessions”:
“For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and a great store of servants…”
Genesis 26:14
Notice the Bible says - He reaped a hundredfold from the seed he sowed, was blessed, became great, became very great and had great possessions of flocks, herds and servants. And remember, he experienced all these blessings during a time that others were suffering.
There is one more thing that is important that you notice-after he reaped a hundredfold, was blessed, became great, became very great and had great possessions of flocks, herds and servants, the Bible says:
“…and the Philistines envied him.”
Genesis 26:14
“The Philistines envied him.” In days to come, as we enter into the fullness of our blessings, many in the world will become jealous and begin to envy us. Even people you thought were your friends and in some cases your own family members, will have a problem with what God is doing in your life.
Not only will people in the world, and your so-called friends and family members have a problem with all the blessings that God’s going to give you. There will also be those who you go to church with, people that call themselves your brothers and sisters who will have a problem with your blessings. Why? Because they have not grasped the principle of sowing and reaping. And they are not experiencing any type of blessings personally. But seeing God’s faithfulness toward you, they become envious of the blessings that you are receiving.
You can be blessed greater than you have ever been blessed even in the midst of hard times. It is a fact that God’s will is that you prosper.
“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
3 John 2
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Matthew 6:33
Not only does God want you to prosper, He tells you how to prosper:
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
Luke 6:38
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”
2 Corinthians 9:6
If you want a harvest you have to sow a seed! Remember you don’t reap a harvest just because you pray, fast, read your Bible, or even talk in tongues. To reap a harvest you have to become a sower-you must sow a seed!
God has given you everything you need to prosper. He has given you a seed:
“Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)”
2 Corinthians 9:10
Once you sow the seed, He multiplies it, and He increases it! The Lord has already provided the seed-all you need to do is sow it! I have learned that anything that you possess can be a seed and once it is sown it will produce you a harvest. Most people have money to sow, but even those few people that may not have any money; they can find something that can be sown. A car, boat, jewelry, land, etc, anything you possess can become a seed.
Over the years I have had all kinds of unusual things sowed into our ministry. The most unusual was given to me when I was in a tent revival in Jasper, Arkansas. A man felt led to sow an eight hundred pound bull into our ministry. I’ll be honest. I didn’t need a bull. The truth is, even though I didn’t need a bull, he needed to give it. I only had one problem, what do you do with an eight hundred pound bull? I came up with an answer, we had it butchered and fed hundreds of people!
I have had watches, diamond rings, ink pens, motorcycles, boats, cars, land, and much more sown into our ministry. Even if a person has no money they still have a seed.
Everybody has something they can give to God - “God gives seed to the sower.”
Recently one of my spiritual daughters handed me a ring during the offering. The ring was worth quite a large amount of money and it was a sacrifice for her to sow it.
What I didn’t know was that her and her husband’s business was in a critical time, they were several months behind on their payments. Within days after sowing her ring into our ministry the bank called and wanted to talk to them. When they met with their banker, he erased all their back payments and cut their payments in half. The seed that she sowed, which was an unusual seed to many, and also it was a sacrifice for her to sow, changed their entire situation and saved a business from possible bankruptcy!
But again, it is impossible to reap a harvest without first sowing a seed. There is something about the seed you sow in hard times. The seed that is a sacrifice releases an overflow of blessings!
In 1 Kings Chapter 17, you will find the story of a widow woman who gave the prophet Elijah a sacrificial offering. She sowed a seed into the ministry of Elijah during the worst time of her life. She sowed her last cake. Her and her son was going to eat this last cake and then die. But when Elijah asked for it, she obeyed and gave it to him. In return the scripture states:
“And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. “
1 Kings 17:16
The seed that she sowed in the worst time of her life, in a time that she was literally facing death, along with her son, changed the entire situation and caused her and her son to go into supernatural provision!
Sometime ago, I was in Monterey in Old Mexico having a minister’s conference. Pastor Abel walked up to me after one of the meetings and handed me three hundred pesos, which is equal to thirty dollars. That doesn’t seem like a big offering to most people but to Pastor Abel, giving three hundred pesos was a sacrifice. When Pastor Abel sowed his seed, he didn’t have a car of his own. He drove a borrowed car from a relative, a car that had no back seat and he had to put water in it every time he drove it somewhere.
As soon as he placed his seed into my hand, God gave me a desire to buy Pastor Abel his own car. A few weeks later he attended our annual camp meeting in Fort Smith, Arkansas. When he arrived in Fort Smith he came on a bus, but when he left he had his own 1998 custom van. The seed he sowed of three hundred pesos produced him a harvest which was a 1998 custom van. That’s a pretty good harvest on a small seed, but it was a sacrificial seed!
You have to sow to reap! A seed of nothing guarantees a harvest of nothing. Once you sow your seed regardless of what the seed is, you can expect a harvest. The seed you sow in difficult times will touch the heart of God in a very special way, and will produce you an overflowing harvest!
The seed Isaac sowed in the midst of famine produced for him an abundant harvest. The seed you sow in hard times will do the same for you. Regardless of the difficult times we may be in or the financial hardships you may be personally experiencing—God has given you everything you need to change your future. He has given you seed!
“Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)”
2 Corinthians 9:10
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”
2 Corinthians 9:6
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
Genesis 8:22
