Seed Time & Harvest

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God has ordered all creation to live after the law of sowing and reaping

Key Scripture: Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

In the beginning God set the laws of life in motion.

One of these laws is the law of ‘after it’s kind’

Genesis 1 KJV

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

God’s pattern of creation is

‘Seed in itself bearing fruit after it’s kind’

This is true with both man and animal, plants and trees, fish and sea creatures.

God created all living things to increase and reproduce by the seed sowing principles of His Kingdom.

After the flood, God restated His commitment to this law of life.

Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

So far tonight we see this law of life confirmed by three separate and very credible witnesses.

1. The creation story

2. The New World story

3. The New Testament Kingdom Principles

Let’s look at a familiar story in the Bible which confirms this law in a practical, yet miraculous way.

1 Kings 17 NKJV

1 ¶ And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word."

2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

3 "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.

4 "And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there."

5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.

6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.

7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

8 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink."

11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."

12 So she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.

14 "For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’"

15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.

16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.

One can imagine that this was quite a stretch for this woman to sow in her time of famine. In her desperate need, God made a way for her when He first created the world.

God’s law of sowing and reaping demanded that she participate in her miracle.

God demands that we participate in our miracle.

When God needs someone to be blessed, He often finds someone who needs a blessing to bless them.

This perpetuates the miracle and keeps the blessings flowing.

From the life sustaining body heat shared in the desperate cold of an artic winter to the forgiveness we give after we have been terribly wronged ---

We get when we give.

Just like this woman in Elijah’s day,

We have what we need to sow a seed.

For as long as the earth remains, this law of life will not cease.

Do you or someone you know need a blessing or a miracle from God?

Sow! Despite what we may think: We have seed for our need.

Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before

The Upward Call

Gtcotr/ss111906

Key Scriptures: Philippians 3 NKJV

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Christianity is a journey that begins when we say yes to Jesus.

Many people love Jesus but feel that their past somehow excludes them from being used in His service.

We will be going to the book of Luke in a moment, Chapter 5.

In 63BC, a Roman military commander and political leader named Pompey, allied with Gaius Julius Caesar, laid siege to the Temple Mount and conquered the city of Jerusalem thus expanding the Roman Empire to the East. For the next four centuries Rome ruled Israel.

It became the practice of Rome to appoint the Jewish High Priest from among those religious leaders who collaborated with the Roman government. It was also a part of the occupation strategy to hire Jews who were sympathetic to the Roman rule for key positions throughout Israel.

One of the most important and powerful positions in the land was that of a tax collector. At certain established sites of commerce and trade, customs receipt houses were set up and operated by Jews who were often unscrupulous in their practice of assessing taxes.

The common Jew held great contempt for the tax gathers and viewed them as traitors to both their country and their God. The King James New Testament term, Publican, refers to the person who ‘farmed’ the taxes from the Jews and then paid the Roman government a certain percentage of what was collected. These Publicans hired tax collectors from the local population so as to not be tricked or deceived by the local inhabitants.

These often corrupt tax gathers were the most hated of all. They were considered to be sinners of the worst sort.

It was about the year 26AD or thereabouts, when Jesus began His public ministry. In Luke 4 we see Jesus preaching in His home church in Nazareth. After being dragged out and almost thrown off a cliff, Jesus departs for the Sea of Galilee. Luke 5 introduces Peter and James and John and tells about the healing of multitudes that came to Jesus.

Continuing in Luke 5 Jesus is teaching in a filled house in Capernaum when a few men tear a hole in the roof so they can get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. Jesus heals the man and astonishes all who witness. The people of the city are shocked at His doctrine.

Luke 5: 26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!" (NKJV)

They were shocked alright, but not as shocked as they were about to be. Look at what Jesus does next!

Luke 5 KKJV

27 ¶ After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me."

28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.

29 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.

30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"

31 Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

32 "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

This Levi is none other than Matthew, Apostle of the Lamb, and writer of the first book of the New Testament.

What must it have felt like for Jesus to walk by and, knowing who and what Matthew was, to nonetheless look beyond his sinful past and offer him a God-filled future.

Jesus called Matthew to become a disciple.

Jesus is calling some of you today.

What can you expect if you answer the call?

What happens after you say yes to Jesus?

It may not mean a job change as it did in Matthew’s life, but it will certainly mean a life change.

Here is what you can expect if you want to be a follower of Christ.

1. A Calling

* Called to follow

Matthew 16:24 ¶ Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

2. An Equipping

* Equipped to lead – it’s basic discipleship

Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (NIV)

3. A Sending

* Sent to serve

Matthew 20:26 … but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.

Matthew 25 NKJV

34 "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 ‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;

36 ‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. …

Christians are simply:

Called to follow

Equipped to lead

Sent to serve

Without regard to our past, Jesus wants to use each one of us.

He has a special place just for you. His plan includes you.

Won’t you answer the upward call. Say yes to Christianity. Jesus is calling. Let Him know you will follow Him today.

Lord, Teach Us To Pray

Lord, Teach Us To Pray

Series: Part 5

Daily Quiet Time

Gtcotr/ws110106

Tonight we continue our series on Prayer. I will be reading mainly from the New King James Version as we explore the biblical pattern of having a Daily Quiet Time.

The first commandment given through Moses to the Children of Israel was:

Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.” (NKJV)

God wants to be number one in the lives of His children.

Perhaps one way of putting God number one in our lives is putting Him number one in our day.

Lets begin with a familiar passage out of Psalms 5. Here David is fittingly writing a ‘morning psalm’. He has just finished the fourth Psalm, an evident ‘evening psalm’, wherein he is happy and content, concluding it with:

Psalms 4

6 ¶ There are many who say, "Who will show us any good?" LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.

7 You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.

8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

He now rises the next morning and his first thoughts are on God, His goodness and mercy, and calls upon Him once again.

Psalms 5

1 Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my meditation.

2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray.

3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.

There is something special and powerful about going to sleep with thoughts of God’s peace and rising to seek God early in your day.

Throughout the bible we see great men and women of God with this pattern of life. Rising early to have a personal quiet time with the Lord.

Abraham did it:

Genesis 19:27 ¶ And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

Jacob did it:

Genesis 28:18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.

What was Jacob doing? He was communing with God, ministering to Him, making sure that he connected with God as he rose early in the morning.

This is where Jacob made his covenant prayer of tithing.

Genesis 28

19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,

21 "so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God.

22 "And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."

Moses continued the pattern by rising early to build an altar to God in Exodus 24:4

Exodus 24:4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

The bible says Gideon rose early in the morning to squeeze the fleece and find the answer to his prayer.

Judges 6:38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

God called Job a righteous man, perhaps one of the reasons why Job was right with God was because he had a habit of rising early in the morning to seek God for himself and his family.

Job 1:5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did regularly.

Scripture gives us insight into Jesus prayer habits.

Mark 1:35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Jesus also showed us that He likes to meet with us early in the morning, even when He was on earth.

Luke 21:38 Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.

He still wants us to come to hear Him in our early mornings.

David, a man after God’s own heart, said it this way:

Psalms 63:1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You …

God wants to be Number One in our lives.

Perhaps one way of putting God number one in our lives is putting Him number one in our day.

Let’s look at three practical things we can do to help us put God number one in our day.

1. Pay Attention To Bedtime

* Not just to get a good night’s sleep, which is important in itself, but also to mentally prepare for our night time meditations.

* Dr Cho said that success in getting up early to seek God begins the night before by going to bed on time.

* Settle your thoughts on God as you drift off to sleep.

* Prepare yourself for early morning success

2. Get A Plan For The Morning

* Think about it: What time would you have to get up to spend 30 minutes with God? Set your clock.

* Have a place in mind that you are going to spend this time.

* Begin with prayer

* Read the bible alone with God

* Ask Him questions for your day … He will answer you in Time

* This is also a great time to work on scripture memorization. Choose one scripture and write it down and refer to it several times during that day.

* Perhaps you will find it useful to keep a prayer journal with requests, scriptural support and answers.

3. Make A Commitment

* Start with one day

* Then do a week

* Then commit to a month.

* If you fail, get up and try it again.

When we make an appointment with God for our morning time, He will be there with something special just for you. Treat it like the appointment it is. An appointment with God.

God wants to be Number One in our lives.

Perhaps putting God number one in our lives begins with putting Him number one in our day.

Develop A Daily Quiet Time!

* It will become one of the most enjoyable and looked forward to time in your life.