The Principle of Sowing and Reaping

By Pastor Ken Foreman

Text: Galatians 6:7-10

Basically, the law of sowing and reaping is reciprocation. See Romans 15:27; I Corinthians 9:11; II Corinthians 8:14; and Galatians 6:6. It was instituted in Creation - "whose seed is in itself." Proverbs 11:18 tells us sowing "righteousness" means "a sure reward." Galatians 6:8 says, "sow to the flesh - reap corruption." The world says, "What goes around comes around" and talks about "yin and yang." Fruit bears witness to the kind of seed sown.

There is another law involved in sowing and reaping - seed reproduces itself abundantly. A single kernal of corn yields a plant on which there may be three or four ears of corn. Each ear may contain hundreds of kernals - a thousand-fold return on the initial planting. What kind of harvest you reap depends upon the kind of seed you sow.

Sowing to the flesh uses bad seed and brings a crop of far-reaching corruption. This list speaks for itself; adultery, fornication, lust, rape, abuse, gossip, false accusations, envy, jealousy, selfishness, greed, pride, impatience, covetousness, theft, disobedience, rebellion, anger, wrath, hatred, revenge, murder, violence, sedition, treachery, and betrayal.

Sowing to the Spirit also brings forth a crop. The fruit resulting from good seed being sown is far-reaching - and affects many other lives for good. Here's a starter list; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, meekness, kindness, gentleness, faith, temperance, mercy, forgiveness, prayer, Bible reading and study, repentance, giving, hope, a holy lifestyle, fellowship with the believers, witnessing, peace-making, godly wisdom, contentment and grace sufficient for every need. Note that the purpose of fruit is to enhance the prospect of the seed!

Hosea 10:12 declares that if we sow in righteousness, we will reap mercy. Proverbs 18:24 says, if you want friends, you must show yourself friendly. According to I Corinthians 3:4, in "due season - God gives the increase." Wishing and hoping won't do. Planting is our part - life and growth is God's part!

Turnips con't come up all by themselves. Someone has to be a seed planter! See Psalm 126:5. Taking care of the seed includes...

• Preparing the Soil - "Break up the fallow ground."
• Watering the Soil - "Sow in tears, reap in joy."
• Weeding the Soil - Plucking out the weeds that would choke the good seed.

It takes time! Be patient! (See James 5:7.) "Due season" is when God says so.

Sow what you want to reap! - in quantity, (II Corinthians 9:6) and in quality (Matthew 13:24, 37-38).

You Get Out What You Put In

By Rob Brown

Genesis 1:11 - "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."

Fruits by their nature, reproduce themselves. God ordained it so. The apple tree produces apples. The fig tree produces figs. The oak tree produces acorns. The tree is known by it's fruit. What kind of fruit are you producing?

Good seed produces good fruit and the fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, patience, faith, goodness, meekness, and temperance; against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23) We can only produce what's already inside us. One sows, one waters, but God gives the increase. What kind of fruit do you embody?

Evil seed produces the things God hates. (See Proverbs 6:16-19.) The seventh is an abomination; "sowing discord among brethren." Luke 19:22-26 reveals that wasting "seed" means eternal loss.

Broadcast the seed! Sow it everywhere, anytime, anyplace; make the effort! Mustard seed is the tiniest of seeds, yet, when planted, it grows into a "tree" in which the birds can roost.

Editor's Note: Rob is a vital part of our youth leadership team. Aftter his graduation from college, he is employed as a teacher in an elemntary charter school in Dearborn Heights. This message was both - timely and a blessing to the church.

Understanding Sowing and Reaping

By Berris Flemmings

John 12:32 - "If I be lifted up... I will draw all men unto Me."
Ecclesiastes 3:2 - "...a time to plant [sow] and a time to pluck up [reap]..."
II Corinthians 5:17 - "...in Christ,... a new creature... old things pass away,... all things become new."

Sin separates us from God. Yet, as the song says, "Everybody ought to know Who Jesus is." He died for all. He so loved that He gave.

The sower went forth to sow - on various types of soil (all types). We, too, are to spread the Word... sow the seed! Not picking and choosing, but broadcasting the seed wherever and whenever. It's God Who gives the increase. He alone can give life to the seed.

• Ezekiel's boneyard looked hopeless - but God knew the potential.
• Saul was a persecutor - an unlikely convert, yet he became God's man for his time.
• A caterpiller is lowly and wormlike - but it is transformed into a butterfly.

The Word (seed) is alive - applied it changes, transforms. The wise man build his house upon the Rock. The foolish man builds on sand. Rain and winds come to all - only that which is built on a sure foundation survives.

On Athen's Mar's Hill, Paul said, "Him declare I unto you." The world doesn't know Jesus. They're not looking for more of the same they see every day. You need to be different, like God intends, so He can make an impact on your world through you. What to sow...

• The Word - the Word is the seed!
• Love - "...perfect love casteth out all fear."
• Hope - He's our hope!
• Joy - Rejoice in your Salvation - Your joy shows!
• Peace - He is our peace.
• Patience - Wait for the seed to sprout.
• Kindness - We're living epistles, "...known and read of all men."

It is important to note that suffering works in us - to His glory.

The farmer sows - and then he waits... He also waters, cultivates, fertilizes, and weeds - and then he waits some more. In due season, he reaps... if he faints not!

Editor's Note: Bro. Berris is a pillar in the church. He team teaches in the Adult Sunday School class, ushers, and serves as a valuable asset to the Kingdom. Thank God for saints litke Bro. Berris! 

Overwhelmed...

By Donna Franklin

[Dedicated to my pastor's lovely wife, Sis. Pamela Erwin, who understands overwhelmed hearts.]

"From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." (Psalm 61:2)

According to my dictionary, to be overwhelmed is to be engulfed; to be submerged as whatever overwhelms you surges over you, overcomes you completely, overpowers you. No wonder the Psalmist said he would cry out to the Lord when his heart was overwhelmed.

Sometimes circumstances seem to "pile on" - that's just what happened to Job, and I am sure his heart was overwhelmed. The book of Job records his crying out to God, needing deliverance and longing to understand why his suffering came and why it was so severe.

There are other times in the Bible when God's people found themselves absolutely overwhelmed, but it wasn't always a negative. Think about what happened in the upper room when the Holy Ghost fell and the disciples were engulfed, overcome, overpowered. And note that they didn't stop crying out to the Lord!

Regardless of our circumstances, Jesus is totally in control. We can cast our cares upon Him, and we can be content in whatever state we're in. So... perhaps I can write a new psalm about being positively overwhelmed:

"From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee; When my heart is overwhelmed..."
Let it be overwhelmed with love for You.
Let it be overwhelmed with thanksgiving for my salvation.
Let it be overwhelmed with peace and joy because Your Spirit lives in me.
Let it be overwhelmed with wonder at all Your mighty works.
Let it be overwhelmed with amazement when I consider Calvary.
Let it be overwhelmed with faith and trust in my Rock.
Let it be overwhelmed with humility to have been chosen as one of God's people.
Let it be overwhelmed with laughter when I realize all Your promises are for me, too.
Let it be overwhelmed with awe because I've received the revelation of WHO You are.
Let it be overwhelmed with worship in Spirit and in Truth,

Author's Note: This psalm is a gift to anyone who enjoys it. Feel free to re-write it or add to it.

Editor's Note: Sis. Donna Franklin lives in Ada, Oklahoma and attends the Paoli United Pentecostal Church, (Paoli, Oklahoma,) Pastor Terry Erwin.

Life

By Charles R. Grisham

Life to many is a cruel thing,
In their hearts no joy bells ring,
No smile, no love for fellow men,
All alone, as though in a den.

The birds, the flowers are unnoticed by they,
All of creation is right in their way,
To offer assistance to these saddened souls
Often is worthless and makes them your foe.

But there are others who wear a big smile,
A beaming face and a happy profile,
Enjoying life and all that surrounds,
The secret to joy they surely have found.

In order to get the best from your life,
Give it your all and live for the right,
Keep on smiling from ear to ear,
And joy and love will ever be near.

[Written 1/20/1952 - crg]

Terminal Thinking

By Marjorie Kinnee
Editorial

Text: Psalm 39:4-8

One cannot sit under the teaching of Charles R. Grisham for 25 plus years without absorbing many impactful truths. One was his Three Touch Points for every day... (paraphrased)

1. Touch God,
2. Touch others,
3. Touch something that will outlive you.

This philosophy led him into a writing ministry which affected the lives and ministries of multiplied thousands. And, like the ripples on a pond, his impartations continue on and on as his endeavors are being replicated in those to whom he ministered. They, in turn, pass what they've learned into the hearts and lives of those under their sphere of influence. Now that is a legacy!

True terminal thinking is not a box canyon. Psalm 39:4-5 reveals it's proper scope.

• Make me to know my end
• And the measure of my days,
• That I may know how frail I am.
• Every man at his best state is but a vapor.

Understanding the following will underline the importance of the above...

• Our earthly work is vain.
• In reality, we heap up wealth we cannot keep;
• We have no idea who is getting it.

Here's a couple of examples. 1.) You hold stock in a mutual fund, but the mutual fund managers invest your dollars into ventures they think will be profitable. These ventures may or may not fit with your priorities and principles, but you trust the fund manager/s to do right by your investment. Hedge funds and various cloaking manuevers make it possible and even probable that you have no idea who is actually getting your money. 2.) In an inheritance devoted to family members, you have no guarantee that they will actually use it for the purpose/s you intend. While they would be foolish to squander your money; once you're dead, there is no real way to find out whether your inheritors have kept to your wishes. An heir who is determined to bypass your guidelines has only to wait long enough for those who are managing your estate to go on to other things. Then they can do as they will without further impediments.

When it comes to spiritual things, it is all the more critical to understand that your seventy "promised" years are really not all that long. What you've invested your life into needs to count for far more than a mutual fund or an inheritance of tangible and/or monetary assets. Often, individuals  become involved with philanthropic activities thinking they do "lasting and permanent good." However, eternal values cannot be bound up in dollars and cents.

In verses 7 and 8, the Psalmist says...

• My hope is in God.
• He alone can keep me from a life of spiritual rebellion and disaster.

Bro. Grisham's Touch Points have eternity's values in view. Taking into consideration the brevity of life and the need for making our days here on earth matter for the Kingdom's sake, makes for better choices and a more valuable impact on and in our world.