Matthew 9:35-38 NLT
https://youtu.be/yzKighUf4UY?si=m48Ez_ib2n_R1Tqb
From that one short scene I began hearing the heart of Jesus as He was making this journey personal & individual.
This scene gives us just a glimpse into the price that was paid to reach people who are lost. People who are broken, hurting, deceived & wondering.
But Jesus, in His tremendous love & compassion for souls was willing to go thru whatever He had to so that one soul could be rescued.
2 Peter 3:9 TPT This means that, contrary to man’s perspective, the Lord is not late with His promise to return, as some measure lateness. But rather, His “delay” simply reveals His loving patience toward you, because He does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance.
The urgency in His heart here shows that He is expecting His church to carry out the mission He paid the price for.
I. His Harvest to Be Worked…
Psalm 126:6 TPT They may weep as they go out carrying their seed to sow, but they will return with joyful laughter & shouting with gladness as they bring back armloads of blessing & a harvest overflowing!
The reference that we see here from the bible was from people & not machines working in the fields for the preparation & the harvesting.
His plan that was laid out involved actual people being involved in the planting & in the harvesting.
Hosea 10:12 TPT Sow seeds of righteousness for yourselves, & you will reap a harvest of God’s unending love. Break up the hard, fallow ground of your heart. For it is time to seek Yahweh ’s favor until He comes to pour out righteousness on you like falling rain.
It is clear to see that God intends for us to stay focused on His harvest. This is what truly matters to Him.
So before the reaping can take place, there must be a time of working & sowing.
Leviticus 26:3-5 MSG If you live by My decrees & obediently keep My commandments, I will send the rains in their seasons, the ground will yield its crops & the trees of the field their fruit. You will thresh until the grape harvest & the grape harvest will continue until planting time; you’ll have more than enough to eat & will live safe & secure in your land.
The church has to maintain working in the necessary things that it takes for harvest to reap what God’s heart is.
II. Sowing for the Harvest…
The harvest doesn’t just happen because we seen it happen somewhere else & thought that would be a good idea.
If you move to a farming community just before harvest time & see all the beautiful crops that are about to be gathered, the idea could arise, I think that is what I want to do too.
But what really needs to happen is waiting to see the process it took to get to that beautiful crop.
Galatians 6:7 NKJV Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
The bible has a lot of information on sowing crops & reaping crops.
Isaiah 28:24-26 TPT Does a farmer plow continually at planting time & never plant a crop? Does he continually break open the clods of the ground & never sow his seed? Once he has leveled its surface, does he not sow dill & cumin, planting his wheat in rows, his barley in its proper place, & his rye in a patch? Yes, his God has instructed him & taught him the right way of farming the land.
God is all about the strategic planning & executing the plan to reap a great harvest.
• There must be a time of plowing…
• Must be a time of fertilizing to nourish field…
• Then the time of sowing…
• All before harvest comes…but harvest will come.
Holy Spirit leads & directs all this when we have a listening ear partnered with an obedient heart.
Parable of the farmer scattering seed…
Matthew 13:3-23 NLT READ!
Here is where the Holy Spirit clarifies some things that will help us being fruitful about God’s harvest.
A lot of seeds have been scattered; but some didn’t produce the results that were desired.
We are not going to focus on some of the negatives we could in this story, but what can we gather that will help us.
• The farmer scattered on his field…this is where he is supposed to be planting.
• Not everywhere was able to produce the desired result in his field. Same will happen spiritually as well.
• It didn’t stop the farmer from continuing to plant.
III. Gonna Get Me One…
See to be fruitful & effective as a farmer or a harvester in God’s kingdom, you must be willing to endure the challenges to get to the harvest.
2 Peter 3:9 TPT This means that, contrary to man’s perspective, the Lord is not late with His promise to return, as some measure lateness. But rather, His “delay” simply reveals His loving patience toward you, because He does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance.
God has planted His church (laborers in His field) & expecting that even though He will see disappointment, He will stay focused on the harvest to come.
In the parable we read, the farmer sowed a lot of seed, but only one of the sections produced.
But in that one section it produced bumper crops!
As we step out & participate as workers in the field, we will have seeds that don’t produce like we hoped.
Our focus shouldn’t stay on what didn’t produce, but rather the part that did.
Matthew 13:23 NLT The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear & understand God’s word & produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!
Are you seeing that it isn’t as much about what doesn’t happen as it is about what does happen.
Winning one soul for Jesus can turn into hundreds before He returns.
That’s why one of our foundation statements at Destiny is “We win the Mississippi Gulf Coast one heart at a time”.
If you can focus on the “One”, you are well on the way to seeing your part of the harvest gathered & multiplied for God’s glory.
Remember, everyone has times that are discouraging & seems like nothing is happening…but God is still working even when I don’t see it…
Galatians 6:9 TPT And don’t allow yourselves to be weary in planting good seeds, for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you’ve planted is coming!
How many are with me this morning.
I am not going to allow the seed that falls on soil that doesn’t produce fruit to slow me down in focusing on where my seeds are sprouting & beginning to look like fruit is coming.
I know that if I keep sowing, I will reap a harvest from it.
James 5:7-8 TPT Meanwhile, brothers & sisters, we must be patient & filled with expectation as we wait for the appearing of the Lord. Think about the farmer who has to patiently wait for the earth’s harvest as it ripens because of the early & latter rains. So you also, keep your hopes high & be patient, for the presence of the Lord is drawing closer.
