If you are a sower, there are harvests coming your way. If you fail to perceive them, you will fail to honour them, and just like Jesus walking on the water, your harvest will go right past you unless you do some harvesting.
Sometimes a harvest comes from another person and you reject the person because you don’t appreciate that person much. Sometimes your harvest comes as an idea or plan, and you are too tired, too plugged into the world, too noisy to perceive it as your harvest from God.
Sometimes your harvest, like the natural world, needs you to work hard to bring it in, and you don’t want that, you want it to fall out of the sky and smack you on the head.
I would say failing to perceive a harvest is a problem that nearly all Christians have. Sometimes a harvest comes as a readjustment, as a correction, even a rebuke is a harvest, as it brings you into freedom and life. Many Christians would miss a harvest that came like that.
Also many miss harvests due to ingratitude for small things. Just waking up in the morning is a harvest, many people did not wake up this morning. Just having breakfast to eat, just being where you are with who you are with. I have been places where there is no food to eat, where children are dying of hunger. Your dinner is a harvest, thank God for it.
You are complaining about traffic, rather praise God you have a car. You are not impressed by your church, but praise God you can freely meet together and worship without persecution. When was the last time you thanked God for a roof over your head.
There are millions of unsaved people in the world, without any faith, any comforter, any hope – but you have Jesus. That is a harvest.
The more you perceive harvests, the more they will just gravitate towards you. If you have sown the seed, the harvest is already real – pray for the ability to perceive. One of the greatest harvests in my life is that I have always had access to people who believe in me and believe in my dream – that is a true harvest, once I spotted it, that harvest just grew more and more the more I thanked God for it.
Some of you – listen carefully, miracles are walking past you – learn to perceive a harvest, ask God for help here – stop doing what you are doing long enough to say thank you to God for what you have now. Glorious things are moving towards you – slow down and find out what!
You know harvests have changed my life and the lives of many that I know, to the point it just stuns me when I hear those Christians who preach against sowing and reaping. You know the kind of Christians who think offering time is painful not glorious. You know the kind of people who can watch a 3 hour sci-fi film, but you take a 25 minute offering they get annoyed and agitated. What is wrong with that – they have no idea of the power of a harvest.
We have Christians happy to pay hundreds of pounds to hear a billionaire singer whose philosophy of life is in line with the antichrist, and yet if a preacher drives a nice car or has a new suit, they are in pain! They can pay hundreds of pounds for a piece of steak, but putting £20 in the offering in the name of the one who saved them, the only name that can save anyone – that brings them discomfort! It’s a lack of perception of seedtime and harvest.
Listen to me – God Himself has hardwired seedtime and harvest into the entire universe to get you out of your mess, to get you into a new season – and you are whining about it, and laughing about it.
I’ve heard people tell me “I love my new church, my new pastor never talks about money”. I would never go to a church that did not talk about money. I use money every day of my life. I need supernatural supply every day of my life. The last person I would ever want as a pastor is someone who is ignorant of and does not talk about one of the greatest needs in my life. No, I want a pastor who talks about money. I want a pastor who knows how to help me sow and help me reap. I do not want a pastor who has no idea what a harvest looks like. I want a pastor who is a tither, who gives above his tithe, who is generous, and who knows how to prosper.
You miss your harvest, you miss everything. Learn to be quiet enough to recognize your harvest, and give thanks for every one you spot. Thank God for your health, your eyes, your legs, your mind, your favour – your house, your car, your sofa, your shower, your bed. Gratitude causes our eyes to open to future harvests, ingratitude causes blindness.
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