" The laws of sowing and reaping."
One thing that anyone who follows the news and the pre election build up will be in absolutely no doubt of is the importance of the issue of the economy.

I predict that the economic challenges that we will face in the next year to eighteen months will go far beyond anything that we can imagine. Most things are going to receed into the background in comparison to this, and really I am convinced that we have only heard the early warning shots of what is set to happen in the economy of this and several other European nations in the near future.

In my prayers for the election of a new prime minister I am praying along two primary tracks; first that whoever is elected will be sypatheticially and favourably disposed towards Christians and Christianity.

I pray this in order that the basic platform of freedoms that we have enjoyed to preach the gospel may be maintained and not further reduced. I am quite convinced that the church in great Britain is not where we are supposed to be, we are behind.

Thus I am praying that whoever is elected may be kindly disposed towards Christians in order that God in his great Mercy may give us time.

We need time to see some key leaders that God is raising up within the body of Christ come into their spheres and positions of influence and to begin to make known the manifold wisdom of God and Grace of God to our society at large.

We need time to see the churches that are called to be an influence in the major cities of this country grow into churches that when they pray and when they speak unitedly the world will take note.

And we need time to see the harvesters of this coming move of God brought up to the level of readiness and maturity, so that when God begins to reap the great harvest in these coming days they are ready to labour to bring the harvest in.

That is my first prayer for the coming general election and the second is for the man whom God appoints to be one who has the strenght of character to make the crucial decisions that will need to be made in order to lead this country through the most difficult economic times that we have possibly seen in over seventy years.

Rick joiner is a man of God that I admire and respect highly and recently I listened to a talk that he gave where he outlined his insights for the coming economic situation. Because of the position of leadership that God has given him he is in the fortunate position of relating to many individuals in field of economics who are well placed in terms of their knowledge and understanding to know the early warning signs.

Many of these individuals are saying that we have a window of possibly a year to eighteen months until the full unravelling of this economic crisis kicks in.

The unveiling of how sick the economy really is in the United States as well as many other European countries and in Japan is already beginning however the full revelation of just how serious the situation is has not yet come to the fore.

When the wheels begin to come off the economy in many of these countries seemingly simultaneously the immediate effect will be fear, panic and then inevitably anger as people turn their ire upon their governments and blame them for all the woes( when in reality this mountain of unsustainable debt has been growing for over three decades.)

There will also be great despair, and that is where the church is called to arise and to be the beacon of hope and point people to God in the darkest hour.

People who say that the economy is showing early signs of recovery and that we have turned a corner are simply not telling the truth. For whatever reason whether it be a misplaced optimism or a desire to conceal the full truth for the sake of popular gain one thing is certain things are going to get darker before they get better.

In that respect Mervin Kings reported comment about the enormity of the task of the next incoming government and that it would probably reduce them to a one term in office government because of the unpopularity of the measures that it would need to take was a more accurate prediction then will be heard upon the lips of many politicians these days.

I have said the above to say this, if that was the whole picture then it would indeed be bleak, however I believe that in the midst of this coming economic storm the Lord has called the body of Christ to so learn to walk with Him that we prosper and excel in the abundant Grace of God ,learning how to trust God to make us those who always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance unto every good work.

The church is not bound to the world in either its source of provision or in its liberty to give, however I do believe that at this time and this moment we need to diligently disentangle ourselves from the worlds way of thinking and to let what the scripture says with regard to sowing and reaping both inspire and govern our thinking as never before.

There is a powerful principle that runs through out the scriptures which is in reality one of the governing principles of the kingdom of God, and that is seedtime and harvest, or sowing and reaping.

We as the people of God really need to have more than a tacit agreement that it is a biblical truth, we must release our faith in this principle and reconize that our lives are governed by it.

The first mention in the bible of this truth is found in Genesis 8 22 where God is making a covenant with Noah and with his sons and with his descendants, verse 22 says

"As long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest, And cold and heat, And winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease".

Some people would say "ah yes but this is talking about the Lords covenant with the earth, with nature to order it and to regulate it"

This is obviously true however there is also a transcending principle in this which governs not only all of nature but all of life as well. Seed time and harvest.

Paul in Galatians Cht p6 demonstrates that this principle applies to all of life when he makes the emphatic statement "Do not be deceived God is not mocked. Whatsoever a mans sows that shall he reap. He who sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life.

Let us not become weary in well doing for in due season we will reap a reward if we do not faint and lose heart. "

Do not be deceived God is not mocked whatever a man sows that shall he also reap.

So it is evident that we can become deceived by not reconizing that everything we are sowing will come back in some form of harvest in our lives.
Many people choose to see this principle in a fearful light, however the exact opposite should be true.

This biblical principle is in reality a wonderful thing because every good seed which we have sown and continue to sow will return to us in the form of a good harvest.

It is not arbituary. We something think that it is, but that is only because we have not renewed our minds sufficiently to the word of God to be totally persuaded of Gods justice and righteousness contained within this law.

This explains why some christians also seem to grow so much more rapidly then others, when we look at their lives we will always discover that the law of sowing and reaping is at work. Here is a man who was saved out of drug addiction , abuse and a raft of other problems and yet when he came to Christ he was filled with the Spirit and had a hunger for Gods word.
Maybe he did not understand two pages together but he listens to faith building and faith inspiring messages and his heart hunger begins to grow.

Every day he is staying with the word of God, and as he consistently does so, so his thought life begins to radically change. He is getting his mind renewed.
He is learning to be able to receive from God, healing when he gets sick, peace when he becomes fearful, courage when he becomes timid.

Now he is beginning to be in a position to help others to find the life transforming power of Gods word, and to encourage others to be able to receive from God for themselves.Why is he so fruitful?
Because he is sowing the Word of God into his life consistently and combining it with faith.

We think that Gods dealings with us are arbitrary but they are not. They are based upon the laws of sowing and reaping.

Overarching this law of giving and of receiving is the truth that God is a God of rewards who loves to reward us with good things.
This is the antithesis of religion which says that all we have comes from Gods Mercy and we can never do anything to deserve it.
It is certainly true that all the good that we ever receive from the Lord and every manifestation of His Grace and of His goodness we could never earn.
We are unworthy of it from the standpoint of human merit.
But sowing and reaping is not about earning something from God, it is rather about reaping the fruit of our obedience and faith.
Thus we will reap what we sow and if we cultivate and sow good seed good things will come forth in our lives in due season.
Bringing this back into the financial realm My daughter who is just eight years old decided last year that she was going to tithe every financial gift that she would receive.
I encouraged her that she would receive more from God if she freely gave.
I want her early on in her life to grasp the truth of giving and receiving, that as she obeys, God will provide her with more.

Some may object that our giving should not be coloured by the desire to gain more but purely by the desire to give freely as an act of love.
Certainly as my daughter grows into greater maturity I would look for the motive of Christs compassion to also grows in her, but for now I see nothing prohibitive about teaching her that God delights to give back to her as she gives to him.

Evidently neither did Jesus when he said "Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure pressed down and shaken together shall men pour into your bosom. For with the measure that you give it shall be given to you."
This principle of having faith in a seed that you sow, a seed that will always grow is fundemental to the way that the entire kingdom of God operates.

When we were born again we received a seed from God, the imperishable seed of Gods word which he sowed into our hearts and germinated by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit. From that comes forth a whole new life from God.


Similarly when God desired to raise up a family of sons and daughters for himself and a bride for his son he first gave the seed of his only Son to fall into the ground and die but in raising him from the dead he raised us up together with him( john 12 24 & Isaiah 53 10)
Some Christians give in obedience to the word of God, however they rarely if ever actually release their faith deliberately and on purpose in that good seed bearing good fruit.
In other words they have no expectation of a harvest coming to them from the seed that they have sown,and when good does come back to them they never join the dots.
Behind this principle of sowing and of reaping is the reality that God is our ultimate and only source. He may use and employ many channels to bless and to provide for us but God is our only source.

This is going to be such an important principle I believe for us to grasp and to live our lives by in the days that lie ahead.

We may lose a job but that job was not our source and therefore God can give us a new and better one.We may lose support from one source but no human being, no person and no human institution is our source, only God is. He may close one channel and open another but if our faith is in him then that faith can never fail. For that faith will never be disappointed.


One of the most powerful examples in the scripture of this principle of having faith in a seed or seed faith is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 v 6 where Paul talks about the grace given to the Macedonian church. "But this I say He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity , for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things my have an abundance for every good work.

Now may he that provides seed for the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the harvest of your righteousness, while you are enriched in every way for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God."

There is no ambiguity in this passage where Paul clearly carries the seed time and harvest principle over into the area of the giving of our money.
He does not say if you sow you are blessed but maybe you will reap in kind and maybe you won't.

On the contrary he is quite emphatic, He who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat will multiply the seed which you have sown.

What you have given to others will be accounted to you for a harvest and God will not only bless what you have given but also increase your very capacity to give.

Notice that the grace is given to those who give not to those who withhold from giving and it is a grace to increase and to multiply their capacity to give.



The heart is so central in this for it is noteworthy that the very church or group of churches that Paul sites as an example of this powerful spirit of generosity were those most impoverished in their personal circumstances.
But this lack did not hold them back from releasing what they could to give to those in need.

History indicates that the same group of churches were brought out of their impoverished circumstances within a few years.

I have no doubt whatsoever in my own mind that part of the Holy Spirits strategy to bring them out of their dire poverty was to empower them first with this extraordinary grace of giving. As they got their minds upon helping to meet others needs so the God of heaven moved to meet their own.They were sowing seeds for the future.

As the coming economic crisis deepens and expands the default response of anyone whose mind has not been renewed by the word of God in the ares of giving and receiving or of God being our only source is going to be one of fear and of wanting to hold on more tightly to what they possess. But Gods wisdom is to sow for a greater harvest.

There is a wonderful example of God blessing and prospering his people during a time of great national crisis in genesis 26

'There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Issac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

Then the Lord appeared to him and said " Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you"

V12 says 'Then Issac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.

Then the man began to prosper and continued prospering until he became very prosperous.'

Going down to Egypt was synonymous with looking to the world and the worlds way as an answer to his need. (Abraham his father had gone down to Egypt in a previous time of national famine and it was a costly mistake)
God was in essence saying to Issac don't leave where you are and where I have placed you.
Stay in the place of great need and faithfully sow, and I your God will bless you .

This is a remarkable testimony of the faithfulness of God, that even in the midst of a national famine Gods hand was upon Issac and in the same year that he sowed he brought forth a hundred fold return.
Hundredfold return to me simply means maxim yield, to suffer no loss no blight no destruction upon what you have sown.

Compare this with the promise of Malachi 3 v10, 11

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that their may be food in my house, And prove me now in this " Says the Lord of hosts,"
If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such a blessing That their will not be room enough to receive it."

"And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field" Says the Lord of hosts;
And all nations will call you blessed, For you shall be a delightful land, " says. the Lord of hosts.

Contrast this with Genesis 26 28 29
' And Abimlech came to Issac with Phichol the commander of his army and said,'

"We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you. "You are now the blessed of the Lord"

"And all the nations shall call you blessed." malaci 3 12

This was the promise for those who honoured God in the tithe and looked to him only as their source.

Abraham had learned this principle from God when he met Melchizedek and Issac in turn passed it down to his son faithfully,

"And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be Gods house, and of all that you give me I will surely give you a tenth of all" Gen 28

Genesis 26 is a powerful reminder that Gods blessing will operate in spite of adverse economic conditions for it is not dependant upon current conditions but only upon the word of God.

In addition the Philistines kept contending with Issac over the wells that his herdsman had dug, but he simply moved on and discovered fresh ones.

Eventually they came to understand that they were coming up against more than simply human ingenuity but rather against a divine blessing that they could not successfully contend against.
The blessing of God was greater than either the famine or their schemes to try to take Issac's wells of water for themselves.

We may well be facing the greatest challenge to our economy that some of us have ever faced within our lifetime however in our own families we can stand and see the exceeding Grace of God and Gods hand of blessing upon us to prosper us in these days.
The purpose of this Grace is only ever in one direction to enable us to more bountifully give.

One minister put it so well in saying "My needs are met by my giving not by my getting"

When we truly come to this settled conviction in our own lives the foundation of all fear has been destroyed, because I live to give and by my giving my own needs are abundantly met.

I believe that in 210 we need to take a courageous stand in the area of our giving, across the board.

We cannot allow fear to spoil our joy in our giving, but like Issac as we sow our seed in the midst of a "famine " that surrounds us we shall surely reap a reward, and our confession to a watching world is that the God of Abraham ,Issac, and Jacob is our only unchangleable source; the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ even our very own heavenly Father is with us to bless us and to keep us and to supply and multiply the seed that we have sown and he will enlarge us in the fruits of our righteousness.