The Mystery Harvest.
Deuteronomy 16:15-17AMP
People have been celebrating harvest from the beginning of history. In 1578 The Pilgrims, a group of English settlers, held a thanksgiving feast to celebrate their first harvest in the New World.
Going farther back, God spoke to Moses in Exodus to set in motion 3 major harvest celebrations.
In Judaism, there are three major harvest festivals: pa?säKH (Passover), Shavuot, (Weeks/Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles/Booths).
Each of these festivals has its own unique customs and traditions that are followed.
But then there are the Mystery Harvests and the celebrations of the Mystery Harvests.
The Mystery Harvest?
Deuteronomy 16:15-17MSG Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful. 16-17 All your men must appear before God, your God, three times each year at the place he designates: at the Feast-of-Unraised-Bread (Passover), at the Feast-of-Weeks, and at the Feast-of-Booths. No one is to show up in the Presence of God empty-handed; each man must bring as much as he can manage, giving generously in response to the blessings of God, your God.
Imagine a People celebrating a harvest that never took place, a harvest they never reaped or sowed.
Imagine a celebration of a non-existent harvest.
And imagine a people persisting in celebrating these non-existent harvest year after year for centuries.
This is one of the strangest phenomena of history- The Mystery Harvest
Who would do that? The Jewish people, God commanded them to celebrate the harvest of the promised land.
However in A.D. 70 the land of Israel was destroyed, and the Jewish people were scattered to the ends of the earth.
There were no more harvest, no more grain, or fruits to be gathered.
Say, Harvest.
Jesus spoke some powerful words about harvest, John 4:35-38AMP Do you not say, ‘It is still four months until the harvest comes?’ Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields and see, they are white for harvest. Already the reaper is receiving his wages and he is gathering fruit for eternal life; so that he who plants and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true, ‘One [person] sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap [a crop] for which you have not worked. Others have worked and you have been privileged to reap the results of their work.”
Jesus is stating a matter of fact, See the harvest. By faith, speak and proclaim the harvest, Don’t wait. Look into the fields, dream. Notice, the ripeness, The reaper and the sower gather fruit for eternal life. Still others, worked and, you shall/will reap.
I am convinced that asking little or nothing in Jesus’ name is a reproach to him. Year after year, many Christians settle for less and less. PH
However Doing God’s will starts a snowball effect it is a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger and larger.
WHAT IS GOD SAYING TO US
THROUGH THE ASBURY REVIVAL?
What is happening in Kentucky right now needs to spread nationwide.
By J. Lee Grady-editor of charisma magazine.
There was nothing unusual about the 10 am chapel service held at Asbury University on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Guest speaker Zach Meerkreebs shared a message from Romans 12, about demonstrating God’s love, and the last thing he said in his closing prayer was, “Revive us by Your love.”
Whoever was videotaping the service stopped recording. Eyewitnesses say students began going to the altar to confess their sins after the sermon. Then, students who left the 1,500-seat Hughes Auditorium came back in to worship. The praise team kept singing. More students arrived. By the evening it became obvious that something out of the ordinary was happening.
Continuous prayer, worship and testimonies marked the next few days. There were no famous speakers and no celebrity worship bands. There’s nothing fancy about the building itself—it has outdated wooden seats and stained-glass windows. Yet so many people began to flock to the Asbury campus, located in Wilmore, Kentucky, that the school had to open two additional overflow auditoriums.
By Saturday, students from 21 campuses had visited the meetings because they hope to take the revival spirit back to their schools. One group of students from Mount Vernon Nazarene University arrived in a bus at midnight to attend the meetings. Later in the weekend, a pastor who visited Asbury said the carpet near the stage in Hughes Auditorium was literally damp from tears.
What is God saying to us through this unusual movement? So far the Holy Spirit has stressed three things to me: (Lee Grady)
1. The Lord is calling His church back to humility and brokenness. Ministers are sharing God’s Word, but true revival is never about men, flashy sermons, smoke machines or special lighting. When God’s presence is in the room, all we can do is bow and lift our hands. It becomes irreverent to exalt a man when Jesus is the focus. We don’t need to fabricate the Holy Spirit’s anointing when He is in the room.
2. Something huge is about to take place on college campuses. For years intercessors have prayed for this troubled generation to encounter Jesus Christ.
I expect what is happening among students at Asbury to break out at UC Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard, the largest state universities, the smaller liberal arts colleges and even community colleges. And this revival will be student-led.
3. Every church needs to break stale traditions that quench the Holy Spirit. This is not a time to stay in the box of dry religion. If you are worried that young people might jump, dance or shout during praise and worship, or that the carpet in your church parlor might be dirtied by new converts who smell like marijuana, or that your 60-minute service might last three hours…
Prayer- Lord, let what is happening at Asbury erupt in every church in the United States. Make us desperate for Your presence. Let our carpet be wet with tears of repentance. Open our hearts, and make us flexible, so we won’t stand in Your way when You bring true revival.
(This article will appear in Lee Grady’s “Fire in My Bones” column in Charisma on Feb. 15, 2023. fireinmybones.com.)
Again, Lord, let there be a snowball effect!
Going back to the mystery harvest. All- though the Jews had no more harvest, they kept celebrating them anyway.
What’s do you need to be celebrating?
Jesus say’s, the harvest is white... the harvest is ripe. As you reap...As you gather...As you sow... Remember this, someone sowed, gathered and reaped, and that brought forth your new life.
Israel/These devoted Jews, celebrated non-existent barley harvest, they gave thanks for non-existent fruit, harvest, and they rejoiced over non-existent vines, overflowing with non-existent grapes.
Most theologian agree that this is a prophesy of Israels rewards for celebrating,
Jeremiah 31:2-6MSG This is the way God put it: “They found grace out in the desert, these people who survived the killing. Israel, out looking for a place to rest, met God out looking for them!” God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love! And so now I’ll start over with you and build you up again, dear virgin Israel. You’ll resume your singing, grabbing tambourines and joining the dance. You’ll go back to your old work of planting vineyards on the Samaritan hillsides, And sit back and enjoy the fruit—oh, how you’ll enjoy those harvests!?The time’s coming when watchmen will call out from the hilltops of Ephraim: ‘On your feet! Let’s go to Zion, go to meet our God!’”
So Israel celebrated, danced, sung, and worshiped knowing.... by faith…God will come through. P.H
It is crucial that you learn this secret of the kingdom.
The apostles Paul writes about the Kingdom of God/ the Mystery Harvest.
Romans 14:17NIV For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit.
* Your Righteousness- Is solely Jesus. Jesus became for us...our righteousness.
* Your Peace/Your Shalom Confidence, assurance, rest, this peace crowns you.
* Your Joy in the Holy Spirit- It’s all about authority and power, the Holy Spirit leads to good things!
So remember this, The children of this world rejoice after seeing their blessings.
However, the children of the kingdom, the children of the mystery harvest do the opposite. -They celebrate before the blessings.
Children of His Kingdom believe, see, and speak before any manifestation.
Don’t wait to see your blessings in order to rejoice. Rejoice… And you will see your blessings.
Don’t wait for the gift to come in order to give Thanks. Give thanks… And the gift will come.
Don’t wait until your circumstances are right in order to celebrate. Celebrate anyway… And they will be right.
Don’t wait for the victory to be won in order to become victorious. Become victorious… And the victory will be won.
Learn the secret to Israel’s mystery harvest. Celebrate the blessings you don’t yet see. Celebrate the harvest you don’t have… And you will have a harvest to celebrate.
Live today in the way of the kingdom. Before you see the blessing, rejoice and give thanks for it. Celebrate your mystery harvest.
Mark 11:22-24NLT Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
Jesus holds nothing back when it comes to believing, he’s all about the mystery harvest.
Have faith in God.
Truth is speaking, Jesus stated, I’ll tell you the truth...
Say to this mountain... Tell the mountain what to do...
Really believe. Really believe it will happen.
Have no doubt in your heart.
If you pray for anything, you will receive it.
So Here’s the Secrets to the Kingdom:
Celebrate the harvest... There isn’t a greater day or time to celebrate.
Give God your best... The biggest regret comes by holding back.
Hold nothing back... If you celebrate others, God will celebrate you.
Rejoice in the Holy Spirit... Honest and forth- right-confessions change everything.
Have the tendency to follow a dreamer, or you be one.
Psalm 126:5-6NIV Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.
Benediction. The sheaves spoken about here are arm loads of blessings!
