The Harvest of Rest As I read Hebrews 4, I see that Paul says, “We who have faith are entering the ‘rest’.” On the 7th day we also see that God ‘rested’ as is also spoken of in this chapter. Now at that, I would like to speak of the ‘rest’ and the ‘harvest’ of the ‘rest’. In Joshua 1:13, “Remember the command that Moses gave to you, ‘The Lord will give you ‘rest’ and give you this land.’” Also we see here the Lord’s Blessing over everything they have and own. But I would like to bring up the point in Verse 15, “You must help them until the Lord gives a ‘rest’ like yours to your fellow Israelites and they too have taken possession of the land the Lord God has given them.” At this point and time, we cannot plant until we first take possession of our land and SALVATION from our Lord and Savior is a land like no other. After this now we can ‘plant’ by helping others take ‘possession’ of salvation as well. Now at this, being a witness to salvation is our ‘seed’. How special is that knowing that we have planted in others. How about going in this direction: Can we now rest knowing we have helped someone take possession of their land and they can now plant as well? Have we sown a seed in them and then helped it grow, that they can have a plentiful harvest for themselves? Can we enter into the harvest’s ‘rest’ together? We also have a choice of what or even how we sow, because something like the seed of obedience is a seed that is planted, and when it grows tall and strong, will sustain itself once it takes root…Get the picture? Psalm 119:16, “I will ‘delight’ in your statutes: I will not forget what you have said.” So now, the seed of obedience is sown, and we ‘delight’ in keeping His Word. Amen… How awesome is that?! Let’s keep it going here, if we plant a ‘seed’ of what is written then the Word is what will be brought forth. Can God’s Word be brought forth if it is not first planted in us, or even as we are called to plant in others? “The people without understanding will come to ruin.” Hosea 4:14 attests to this, but this whole chapter seems to be about what happens when we sow into synthetic soil. How about another perspective of ‘planting’ our seed: Here, as in our Church, we have to sow a seed on our own land that will produce for us, so we can have a good harvest. By this I mean, if we carry a guest into our Church to speak, and this particular person asks us to ‘sow’ a ‘seed’, is he asking us to take from the ‘seed’ that should be sown into and is meant to grow in our fields? If so what happens when it comes time to harvest? There will be no food at our table if we keep giving the seed to outside farmers, who generally use it for their own ministry, or worse, their own personal gain. I hope this is reaching out to someone right now as I speak this word… I would like to take the time to mark another harvest as well. As I was pondering a Word that the Lord had put into my heart, I thought about what to do with a particular seed that was a responsibility of mine. Then it came to mind that If I sow this ‘seed’ the way God had put it in my heart, then the harvest would be large enough to then turn around and plant on 2 different fields. WOW! We also have to remember this: Whoever does not plant will not have a harvest and will have no time to rest. They will always be busy because they will be constantly moving, hunting and gathering, and a lot of times will end up fighting for temporary possession of ‘something’ or ‘someplace’. Some of the greatest harvests come from the smallest of seed. Praise for instance is a seed that can grow and flourish. Plant a seed of Worship and Prayer in your belly, and we will find ourselves becoming that which is planted. Yes, we can become Praise, and we can become Worship, and we become that which we pray for as well. Through all of this we harvest ‘rest’. Other times we are not so fortunate. What I mean is have you ever had a day where you couldn’t find the ‘seed’ you needed to plant? At this, we need to return to our original field, where we first planted and harvested, the field where we the Word of God was ‘sown’ into our hearts. Now we can gather what we need to lay a new seed for a fresh harvest. Gathering things like Philippians 2:3 or Romans 12:1-3, and even chapter 3 verse 23, and back to Philippians 4:4. Yup, all good seeds ready to be planted at a moment’s notice. And while some can be harvested almost immediately, in others, patience is grown in us because there is a longer growing season. It’s like the difference between green beans and apples, and as in apples, when it is harvest time, we can pluck the fruit right off the tree, and then sit under the shade of its branches and rest while we eat of the fruit. Amen? Anyone? Hello? God Bless…. I hope this message and this particular ‘seed’ is not being cast into the wilderness where it may grow, but will wither and die because no one is there to harvest it… HMMM… Back to the ‘seed’: The seed of repentance can lead to a huge harvest and a fresh planting because God Himself will give you the authority to plant from His Supply, His Stores. 2 Corinthians 8:9 Paul writes, “Jesus became poor for our sakes, so that we would become rich through his poverty.” His poverty, our seed to be planted in the hopes that one day we will be part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Sorry it’s all ‘part’, I mean the better ‘parts’. You know, the Glory, the eternal life, constant worship, the better parts… His poverty is also the seed we plant to bring forth the Kingdom, and introduce it to others. Matthew 17:20, “Faith the size of a mustard seed,” But this seed that is sown can bring forth the largest of harvests through Faith, through Hope. Now I would like to say: Why do we always have to squabble over ‘the seed’? Do we not really get what this is all about? Sow our pathetic material seed in the hopes of gaining riches here? Go for it, I implore you. What is it to gain what? For what? To lose what? Yup, this is for real now… This is about ‘rest’ and harvesting the Kingdom of Heaven right here on earth. Let’s go back to Noah in Genesis 8:21-22, Now this is after the flood and all things were restored, The Lord spoke and said, paraphrased, “As long as the earth exists, seed time and harvest time will not cease.”Plus He removed the curse on the fertile land! So how have we botched up our plantings and our harvests? Disobedience maybe? God said, “Be a witness!” But we still don’t plant this seed into fertile land. How can God harvest what has never been planted, a sowing of a seed that is our responsibility. Does anyone know what happens when we are vigilant? In obedience? Which includes being a good witness? Even Jesus spoke, “You will testify too about Me,” John 18:37. He also sent Paul to be a powerful witness to plant seeds of faith, righteousness, forgiveness and awareness. When Jesus spoke to him and said, “GET UP! STAND ON YOUR FEET!” How come we do not listen to this same command today? 1 Peter 5:8, “Be clear headed. Keep alert!” Why? Because satan wants to uproot your seed, to look for someone “To devour”. So let’s start planting Isaiah51:16, “I will put my Words in your mouth and I have covered you in the shadow of My hand, that I may ‘plant’ the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth and say, ‘Thou art My People.” Then let’s water the seed with John 7:37, “All who are thirsty let them come unto me and drink.” And in verse 38, “Rivers of ‘Living Waters’ shall flow out from His belly.” Now, we can harvest going back to where I started, Hebrews 4:10, “The one who ‘entered’ into God’s ‘rest’ also ‘rested’ from his works, as God rested from His own.” Now we know this speaks of Jesus, but if he is in us, well Don’t you think we also are entitled to a little ‘rest’ as we ‘rest in Him? GOD BLESS THE HEARERS AND THE DOERS THE SOWERS AND THE HARVESTERS!!! AMEN
Posted on: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 03:42:37 +0000
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