The above scriptures will form the basis of this wonderful study I am about to undertake with you for the next four months. I have been extensively teaching on the laws of God’s harvest for the last couple of years on a weekly basis at Christ Chapel and I have seen a vast difference in the way God’s Word has impacted the lives of our church members, especially in the area of identifying their harvest and having the joy of reaping it.
One of the key elements I have been led to emphasize on when I teach is that there must be a spiritual mind in every believer that is renewed with God’s Word to enable him understand their calling as well as to know what really belongs to them, belongs to them, and must not be allowed to slip through their hands and be robbed by the devil.
As a believer it is time for a proper change to happen in your thinking right now so the best happens to you and for you and your loved ones right away. Let me explain myself more clearly so you can make the right changes on the basis of God’s Word.
To start off with if you have been faithful as a Sower of good things including God’s Word and good giver of Finances but if you haven’t thought of yourself as a harvester before now, start thinking of yourself that way.
Dare to take a step of faith and renew your mind to the truth of God’s Word. Dare to believe the Lord of the Harvest is calling you—yes, you!—to help Him bring in His end-time crops. He’s speaking to you and saying, Until now, you’ve known Me as the Lord over your seed. You’ve known Me as your bread provider. But I want you to know Me now as Lord and Minister of the harvest.
Please re-read the above scripture from Mark’s Gospel that gives you a clear description of how your harvest ought to be. Jesus described it as “the full corn in the ear.” Have you seen a corncob? That is the question I put forward to the church last Sunday [10/4/2016] during our Sunday Worship Services. Most had seen one, but to enhance their understanding, one of my church members gave me one to hold up and teach on before the day was through.
If you haven’t seen one in the light of what Jesus said, I encourage you to just get one and rip off the covering skin on it. In fact, a corncob is the part of the ear on which the kernels of maize grow. “The full corn in the ear” talks of a “full, and abundant harvest” in comparison to a harvest that is “partial and lacking blessing.”
God’s heart is grieved. It is bothering God that you are not reaping. Some are disillusioned and angry with God. “How much more can I give?” You think you are waiting on God. You
think reaping is automatic. You think once you put the money in, it’s all up to Him.
Most good believers just sit back and relax and think it’s all going to just come on them. That is ignorance and confusion which often arises from a mind unrenewed with God’s Word. Don’t forget that the entrance of God’s Word illuminates a mind that is confused and removes all wrong thinking.[Psa.119: 105, 130 / Prov.4: 18 - 20]
Therefore, right now I challenge you to hear the word of the Lord and make up your mind and say, “I am not just a good giver. I am a good reaper. I am going to get real good at reaping my God-given Harvest this year.”
Let me read to you from the Message Version of Psalm 107:36, 37. “[He] brought in the hungry and settled them there; they moved in—what a great place to live! They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards, they reaped a bountiful harvest.”
Note: THEY sowed—THEY planted—THEY reaped. How refreshing God’s Word is indeed to the soul wearied with just sowing all the time!
Coming back to our primary scripture from Mark 4:26-29— I want you to see how Jesus finally highlights the fact that reaping is our Responsibility – yours and mine. The Message version of vs.29 reads: “When the grain is fully formed, he reaps—harvest time!”
As you read verse 29 carefully your questions are answered one by one. For example – Question 1. Who did the sowing? The man. Question 2. Who did the growing? God. And finally the all important Question 3. Who reaped the harvest? The man.
Jesus compared the kingdom of God with the planting of seed and reaping the harvest. It’s a simple concept. One all of us understand. Why, then, aren’t all of us in the church producing
bumper crops every season? Because sadly many in the church are sitting around waiting for God to do all the work.
It’s time for you to understand that the harvest doesn’t jump from the field to the barn.You, yes, you have to go get it. Let me again read to you from Ecclesiastes 11:4 drawing from two versions of the same text.
1. AMPLIFIED BIBLE: “He who observes the wind [and waits for all conditions to be favorable] will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.”
2. NEW LIVING TRANSLATION: “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they
never harvest.” To put it in a nutshell, reaping your harvest requires faith. People who continually look at negative conditions no matter who they are or how long they have been a believer in the church will soon succumb to doubt and fear and end up becoming discouraged. This results in failing to
sow and reap.
Do you feel like quitting? Are you wearied by constant giving or sowing? Are you getting tired of waiting and waiting for a harvest that does not seem to materialize. I have a word of the Lord for you and it is found in this Scripture - “So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit.” [Gal. 6:9 (MSG)]
