Promise for Today - Seasons In His Time

Let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Galatians 6:9 (NLT)

The Bible tells us that there are seasons in life. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (NIV).

The fact that life is made up of seasons means that life also includes times of waiting. Between the “then” and the “now” (or the “now” and the “what’s coming next”), there is always a delay. This irritates most people. It can be frustrating to make a deposit, investment, or plan and not have it instantly come to fruition.

But fruit ripens slowly. Would you rather eat a vine-ripened tomato or one that has been picked green and ripened later in storage? There’s no comparison between a vine-ripened tomato, which was allowed to grow slowly, and a tomato that was picked prematurely. If you pick too soon, you miss the flavor.

In money management, you always reap in a different season than you sow. And, by the way, not all fruit ripens at the same time. When you grow peaches, they’re not all ripe at once. They come in little by little; you pick a few a day. When you start planting and following God’s money management principles, you’re not going to see all the results tomorrow. It’s going to come in over time. You’re going to have to wait to reap in a different season.

But while you’re waiting, God is working. When you’re waiting for the fulfillment of the efforts or money or energy that you’ve put into something, you may think nothing’s happening. But, oh, it’s happening! While that seed is hidden in the ground, it is slowly germinating. And when that seed bursts with God’s blessing on it, it will continue growing and growing. One day a little shoot will stick up out of the ground, and then you will see that it’s working.

But until then, you need to trust that God is working, even when you can’t see the fruit of your labor.

Plants take time to grow. There’s no such thing as instant maturity. No farmer goes out, plants the seed in the ground, comes back an hour later, digs it up, and expects it to have grown. You’ve just got to let it be, and let God grow it in his time.

Talk It Over

What have you been waiting on God to bring to fruition in your life?

How have you grown spiritually as a result of having to wait for that harvest? What has God taught you as you’ve been waiting on him?

Why do you think God makes you wait to reap what you sow?

- by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

       Lord, we know You are good, and Your timing is perfect. Even when we cannot see the full picture, we trust that You are working all things together for our good. Help us to let go of our own timetable and to wait with patience, knowing that You are never late and that Your plans are good. If impatience begins to stir in our hearts, remind us that You are faithful and that Your provision will come at the right time. Give us the strength to remain steadfast, even when progress seems slow, and to trust that Your protection may be keeping us from something that is not right for us.
      Teach us to be patient like the farmer who waits for the harvest, knowing that in due season, blessings will come. Renew our strength and courage so that we do not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we will reap when we don't give up.
     We come before You with a heart full of hope and trust, surrendering our plans, desires, and unanswered prayers into Your hands. Thank You for the peace You give, and for the hope that fuels our patience. Help us to be grateful for what we have now while trusting in what You are preparing for us. Keep our hearts from comparing our season with others, for each of us walks our own path. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen    

Stick with It

But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there's a harvest.

Luke 8:15 The Message

In the parable of the sower, the seed is sown everywhere. Everyone has the opportunity to reap a harvest from the seed given to them. In The Message Bible, Luke 8:11-14, Jesus explains, The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won't believe and be saved. The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn't go very deep. It's only another fad, and the moment there's trouble it's gone. And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.

And then today's text, But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there's a harvest.

Okay, let's think about one more thing. Our lives without Christ. Most of us were one hard, dry life - and useless - until the Living Water (Jesus) was added to it. Then slowly, but surely, we began to grow. He plants us where He wants us, where we're gonna get the most growth, the right temperature, the right light, the best environment. Sometimes, there's cultivating, pruning, and fertilizer - none of which is fun, but all are necessary for growth. If we seize the Word and hold on - No Matter What - and stick with it, there will be a harvest.

Let's stick with it.

Prayer:

Father,
             We don't always understand the process of growing, but we know that You are in control. You are the Creator of life and the Author and Finisher of our faith. You are the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and the End. Your Word assures us that You've got it covered and we choose to trust You. Help us to stick with it. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Changing the Harvest

Make no mistake about it, God will never be mocked! For what you plant will always be the very thing you harvest. The harvest you reap reveals the seed that was planted. If you plant the corrupt seeds of self-life into this natural realm, you can expect to experience a harvest of corruption. If you plant the good seeds of Spirit-life you will reap the beautiful fruits that grow from the everlasting life of the Spirit.
Galatians 6:7-8 The Passion Translation

I didn't write this devotion, Pastor Alan Neel did (of Life Community Church, La Porte, TX). I added the prayer at the end.

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If we don’t like what we are reaping, we should change what we are planting. It’s a good quote, but entirely impossible without God’s assistance.

Our sinful nature is plagued with addiction! It doesn’t have to be drugs, alcohol, or some sexual addiction, it can be ANYTHING that satisfies our flesh. Only by continually asking God for help, and yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit can we overcome our flesh. It’s a battle where victories are won one day at a time! MAKE THAT DAY TODAY! 

CHANGE THE SEED AND CHANGE THE HARVEST!

Prayer:

Father,

           Help us to rip up the bad seed that has been sown in our lives - to weed out the tares in our fields of life. We want to sow pure seeds of Your love so that hate is choked out. We want to plant seeds of Your peace in the midst of the storms of this life. Bring Your peace, Father, In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Harvest Time

But the wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form and it always bears the beautiful harvest of righteousness!

James 3:17-18a TPT

I love this time of year. I love the slightly cooler weather, the colors of the season, getting ready for Thanksgiving (November in the US). When I was a child, I loved witnessing the harvest times of the neighboring fields. I loved watching the big combines working row after row. When you knew what had been planted, the harvest was never a surprise. 

I think it's why God chose sowing and reaping as the primary analogy in life. If we're planting seeds, it won't be long before something comes up. Is it recognizable as the crop we want to harvest? If not, we need to pluck it out by the root and make sure our seed is right before planting it again. Check the season of life that we're in. It's almost harvest time. Will we reap the beautiful harvest of righteousness? 

Prayer:

Father,

          We pray according to Your Word in Isaiah 26:12, Lord Yahweh, You will establish peace and prosperity for us, for all we have accomplished is the result of what You work through us. Help us continue to sow Your wisdom, Your peace, Your love. We want to reap the beautiful harvest of righteousness. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Doing it Right

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
Galatians 6:7-8 NLT

The story goes that there was once a Christian farmer who vowed to do everything right so he would get a bumper crop. He tilled the ground and prepared the soil. The rows were laid out perfectly straight. He provided water for irrigation to combat the heat and drought conditions. He went to church. He prayed. He fasted. He BELIEVED for that bumper crop. And even though he did all those right things, it didn't happen. Why? Because he never planted the seed...

What is it that we're waiting for God to produce? We're praying. We're fasting. We're believing... Have we sown the seed? Let's ask God what we should be planting...  

Prayer:

Father,

           Open our eyes of understanding to give what we need in order to reap the harvest that YOU desire in our lives. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Friends' Favorites - Hit the Dirt

This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.
Luke 8:11-15 NLT

It is my humble opinion that all of us have walked through each stage represented in this passage of Scripture. I believe that is why reading and hearing the Word of God was never intended to be a one-time event. Scripture tells us, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). The more we hear it, the more our faith grows. The more our faith grows, the more we hear it and begin to embrace the truth of it. The more we embrace the truth of it, the more our hardened hearts our broken up. The rocks get broken down to a size that we can toss away. The soil gets loosened with the washing by the water of the Word and the roots of the thorns of this life can be more easily plucked out of our lives.

Hosea tells us to plant the good seeds of righteousness, and we will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of our hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord... When we do, we will have the good soil in our hearts so that when God's Word comes to us, we will cling to it, and it will produce a harvest in our lives. So... hit the dirt! Plow it up, according to His Word.

Prayer:

Father,
           We want to be the good soil - the honest, good-hearted people who hear Your Word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. Help us to embrace Your Truth over the facts of our lives. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Friends' Favorite - Going to Seed

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.

Galatians 6:7 NLT

As I stood in my backyard, I realized it's time to get the seed planted. Whatever made it through last year's winter, did not make it through this year's. I have lots of seed and a good variety of them. I have the potential for buckets of flowers and vegetables. I have lots of starter containers. What I need is good soil and lots of light to get them started. Without good soil and light, it won't matter how much seed I have - there will not be a harvest to share.

2nd Corinthians 9:10-11a in the NIV, reads, Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion... 

God supplies our seed AND gives the increase to enlarge the harvest of our righteousness so that we can be generous... Have we prepared the soil of our hearts? Have we availed ourselves of the light of His Word? Have we watered from the River of Life? Are we generous with what God has given us?

It's time to seed. Are we ready?

Prayer:

Father,

        Help us to dig up the fallowed ground of our lives to prepare for the righteousness You want to cultivate and harvest in us so that we can be generous to others. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

It's the Law

Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
1st Corinthians 3:8 NKJV

Sometimes, my designated time with the Lord is a battle of just trying to stay focused. The enemy of my soul likes to try to discourage me in that.

"You call yourself a Christian, you can't even stay focused."
"How many times are you going to read that before you get it? Why bother?"
"If you really loved God, you wouldn't have these issues."

I have learned to stop and redirect my thoughts.

"Father, I am Your child. I am here to pay attention to YOUR Word. Help me."
"Father, As many times as it takes."
"Father, I know You really love me. Teach me how to really love You. I want to love You more."

We know that what we harvest depends on what seeds were planted. We know about bad seed, no seed, etc. What I feel I re-learned this morning is that the crops may be different - bumper, buffer, cover - but there will ALWAYS be a harvest time. Even if I sit in my quiet time and only plant ONE good seed. That seed will produce. And if I do the same thing the next day, that is another good seed that will produce. God shall supply all our needs. You get the picture.

In 2nd Corinthians 9:10-11, we read, Now he [God] who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Galatians 6:9 NKJV, And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. There are no instant harvests, but it's the law of sowing and reaping. Rest assured, the harvest WILL come.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for all the answers that You provide in it. Thank You for loving us and multiplying Yourself to us in so many ways! We know Your seeds are always good and will always produce. We pray for a bumper crop, Father, in Jesus' Name. Amen

Watering Seeds

Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 126:5-6 NKJV

I've read this Scripture countless times. I've sung the songs related to it  ♪♫ Bringing in the sheaves! ♫ Bringing in the sheaves!♪♫  I've held on to the promise of reaping in joy so many times... But for some reason, I thought the tears were what was being sown. I never made the connection that the tears were watering the seed I was sowing while I was weeping. 

Even so, I guarantee you that without a doubt, I have come rejoicing again and again, bringing in the sheaves! It may have been sheaves of paper in the place of wheat, but God has never let me return empty-handed. He has always provided the harvest.

Prayer:

Father,

           Thank You for tears to wash my eyes so that I could see Your goodness and the plan You have for me. Thank You for getting the most use out of everything that touches our lives, including the tears that water the seed. Provide the harvest, Father, we pray in Jesus' Name. Amen

Come Harvest Time

Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was someone like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe.” So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested.
Revelation 14:14-16

There are so many references in Scripture to planting and growing, sowing and reaping. I think I've mentioned before one of Jim Mackey's best quotes regarding that - People sow bad seed all week long and then come to church on Sunday and pray for crop failure. And yes, that will get a laugh, but in all reality, it's not funny because the Truth remains that what we sow, we will reap.

What will your harvest be? What choices have you made in choosing your seed? You do realize that the seed choice for harvest is yours, yes? What will you sow? Love? Faith? Mercy? Doubt? Anger? Selfishness? So many choices...so little time...

Seeds for Weed?
Seeds for Need?
Seeds for Greed?
Or Seeds for Feed?

And remember, within one seed is the potential for a plantation. Can you cultivate and nourish what you've already sown or is it time to dig up and replant? Hosea 10:12 reads, I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’

There is some time left, not a lot, but enough, if you start now. You want to be ready, come Harvest time.

Prayer:

Father,
           You are the Author and Finisher of our faith. Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End. You knew the end from the beginning and made provision for our salvation in spite of our wicked ways. We do not want the harvest described in Hosea 10:13-14 for those who chose not to plant good seed. Open our hearts and minds to heed Your Word, Father. Shine Your light on us so we can see exactly what needs to be dug up and replanted. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Giving the Lead

He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.

Psalm 25:9-10 NLT

I know the saying we're most familiar with is "Taking the Lead." However, God does not do things the same way the world does. 

According to our Promise for Today, He leads us in doing right, teaching us His way, when we give up our rights and put ourselves into submission to Him and to His ways. How can we do that? We must have wisdom from above.

James 3:13-18 NLT tells us that True wisdom comes from God. Read with me, If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. 

I don't know about you, but I sure could use a harvest of righteousness. We harvest the fruit of what we plant. I have to plant the right seeds. I can't plant anger and/or seeds of bitterness and then expect a harvest of righteousness. I want the right crop. In order to do that, I need the right seed, the right field and the right path to follow. The key is to realize that I can only follow when I give up the lead. Psalm 25, verse 8 reads, The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. Have we given Him the lead?

Prayer:

Father,

          According to Your Word in Psalm 25, we pray, Show us the right path, O Lord; point out the road for us to follow. Lead us by Your truth and teach us, for You are the God who saves us. All day long we put our hope in You. Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and unfailing love, which You have shown from long ages past. Do not remember the rebellious sins of our youth. Remember us in the light of Your unfailing love, for You are merciful, O Lord. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen