Doing it God's Way!

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and 

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: 

and it shall be to the LORD for a name, 

for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 55:13

What a wonderful promise given to us! But it does not come without the proper cultivation of God's words and obedience to His will in our life. We are at our best when we keep in mind what God told Zerubbabel:

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.   Zechariah 4:6

As vessels or instruments, we yield ourselves to God.  The work that He has for us to do is completed through and by Him.  It is not accomplished through: 

¨     Self-effort:

The vision God desires to give cannot be brought forth by self-effort. The only way it will come is by eliminating things which prevent spiritual harvest and applying God-given strategies for harvest.

You cannot bring forth spiritual harvest by self-effort. Observe the results of self-effort in the following verse:  

In the day shalt THOU make THY plant to grow, and in the morning shalt THOU make THY seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. Isaiah 17:11

Hosea spoke of poor harvest resulting from self-effort. Israel had trusted in their own way and their mighty men.

Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.   Hosea 10:13

As long as you depend on your ways, methods, or your "mighty men" you will fail to see spiritual harvest. You must do God's work in God's way; otherwise it is a 

¨     Cursed reproductive processees:

One of the results of the fall of man into sin was that God cursed the reproductive process of the natural world. Women bring forth children in sorrow. The ground brings forth thorns and thistles and it takes much work to make it produce fruit. 

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.   Genesis 3:16-19 

These curses on the reproductive system were the result of sin.

In the spiritual world when you are living in sin there is a curse on the spiritual reproductive process of your life. It is only by salvation from sin through the blood of Jesus Christ that the curse will be lifted. You cannot claim the blessings of spiritual harvest as long as you are living under the curse of sin.

¨     Circumstances of life:

The circumstances of life can prevent spiritual harvest:  

The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.   Proverbs 20:4

He that observeth the wind shall not sow: and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. Ecclesiastes 11:4

In the natural world, if the farmer waited for perfect conditions he would never sow or reap. Regardless of the wind, the clouds, or the cold, the farmer works his field.

In the spiritual world if you wait for perfect circumstances to enter the harvest fields you will never go. The circumstances of life. . . your problems, your financial situation, your lack of education. . . must all be ignored as you place them in the care of God for Him to work out even as you continue to work for Him.

¨     Un-directed effort:

You can spend all your life busily doing good works and never do the work of God. This is un-directed spiritual effort:  

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.  Hosea 8:7

There are many good works and worthy causes in life. People will misuse your talents and abilities for these causes if you permit them to do so.  But in order to bring forth a spiritual harvest good works are not enough. Jesus said:   

My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.    John 4:34

The key to spiritual harvest is not busily doing good works but it is doing the work of God. Your spiritual effort must be directed towards His divine purpose or it will be like seed sown in the wind which is carried away and gives no yield.

¨     Pests and disease:

In the natural world there are pests and diseases which attack plants and destroy the harvest. Pests are things which attack the plants from the outside such as bugs, grasshoppers, weeds. Disease attacks plants from the inside, destroying the root and growth systems.

Believers also face pests and disease in the spirit world. Satan attacks from without through circumstances and temptations of life and from within through the mind which affects the will and emotions.

Farmers find it necessary to prune their fruit vines. They cut off the growth that has come from within the vine which saps its life. They do this to make the vine more fruitful.

This is also necessary in the life of believers. There are things that come from within that prevent us from being fruitful 

There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.   Mark 7:15 

God prunes these things to increase our fruitfulness. John 15 tells of this process.

The real problem with spiritual pests and disease is actually not the circumstances or the thought processes in the mind. The problem is with the spiritual powers behind these:  

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Ephesians 6:12

In the natural world, plants are sometimes treated with chemicals to kill the pests and cure the diseases. In the spiritual world, the armor of God protects the spiritual harvest of your life:
   

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.   Ephesians 6:13-17

¨     Improper harvesting:

Improper harvesting ruins the crop:  

Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?  When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?  For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.  For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.  Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.  Isaiah 28:24-28

It is stated this way in the amplified version of the bible:

Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continue to plow and harrow his ground after it is smooth?  When he has leveled its surface, does he not cast broad the seed of dill or fennel, and scatter cummin [a seasoning], and put the wheat in rows, and barley in its intended place, and spelt [an inferior kind of wheat] as the border?  And he trains each of them correctly, for his God instructs him correctly and teaches him.  For the dill is not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument, nor is a cart wheel rolled over the cummin; but the dill is beat off with a staff and the cummin with a rod by hand.  Does one crush bread grain? No, he does not grind it continuously, but when he has driven his cart wheel and his horses over it, he scatters it-tossing it up to the wind-without having crushed it.   Isaiah 28:24-28, Amp

There are proper methods for preparing the ground and for planting the seed in the natural world.

When you are harvesting the lives of men and women for the Kingdom of God, some will come easily to the knowledge of the Lord. Others will take more effort to harvest.

Improper harvesting ruins the crop. Too much force bruises the tender plants. Too little effort fails to bring forth other crops. The same God who gives wisdom for reaping the natural harvest provides wisdom to harvest spiritual crops.

Biblical Studies

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