Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
Galatians 6:7-8 NLT
You reap what you sow. You harvest what you plant. Plant corn, harvest corn. Plant wheat, harvest wheat. Plant in your carnal nature, reap more carnality. Plant in your spiritual nature, reap spiritual fruit.
Plant the seed of faith, the Gospel, reap a spiritual harvest of souls for the Kingdom. Plant worldly wisdom, waste your time.
I left the ways of this world behind because I found something better. I found Jesus. The Lord is my Shepherd. He leads me to green pastures and still waters. He satisfies and comforts my soul.
The more I press into doing things God’s way, the more I reap the real and tangible benefits of pleasing God. Do you want peace of mind? Do you want joy unexplainable? Do you want to feel the reassurance of God’s undying love everyday deep in your heart and soul?
Then rest from worldly ways. Quit striving and surrender to the gentle leading of God’s Spirit. There is peace in the Kingdom of God. His love rules and reigns in our hearts. We enjoy continuous and uninterrupted fellowship and communion with our heavenly Father. It’s invisible but it’s real.
It takes faith to enter the Kingdom. It takes faith to abide in the Kingdom. All you have to do is believe. Exercise your faith and your faith will grow. Do nothing and your faith will atrophy.
Quiet your hearts and seek God’s will, and He will reveal His plans to you. God does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets. I believe every believer can prophesy, when they are listening to what God is saying through the Holy Spirit.
Don’t add to God’s words. Don’t try to interpret them according to your own human reasoning. Let God speak for Himself. I’m just a messenger. I’m just a witness.
We are not trying to gather people to ourselves. We are trying to gather people to God. We don’t want to make followers of ourselves. We want to make followers of Jesus. We’re not trying to spread a religious way of living. We’re trying to encourage people to live by faith and to follow God.
What God is doing is a radical departure from what we’ve commonly believed to be Christianity. Going to events and meetings and then living like the world is not being a Christian. Following Jesus is.
You reap what you sow. Plant erroneous teachings, reap error. Take stock of your fields. Survey the landscape. Has what you’ve been doing reaped a harvest of faithful and committed believers who do God’s will in the Spirit of God’s love? Is the fruit of the Spirit increasingly evident in the lives of the people you fellowship with? If not, you need to ask yourself why not.
My friends and I have discovered that if you pursue God’s way of doing things, you get God’s results. We pray for healing and people get healed. We cast out demons and people get delivered from decades of torment and oppression.
The secret is, and it’s no secret, ask God what He’s going to do and ask Him how He wants you to partner with Him in what He’s doing. It takes faith. It takes humility. It takes obedience. Those three ingredients will yield fruitful ministry. We’re responsible for our obedience, our walk with God. God is responsible for the results, everything else. Let God lead and you will find rest for your souls. There is freedom in surrender.
A friend of mine called me yesterday to intercede for him while he went to go do some deliverance ministry for a friend of his. He called me later to report that he got delivered of something as well during the prayer session. He wanted me to ask the Lord what it was. I prayed and told him what the Lord revealed to me. It was confirmation. Then, I got delivered of the very same thing while we were talking on the phone.
What did all three of us get delivered from by the mighty hand of God? A defiant and rebellious spirit. As we sought to be led by the Holy Spirit, to only move in obedience to His leading, we got cleaned up in our hearts even further. The joy and the peace of the Lord cascaded in waves over us. Talk about a good time!
I believe that what happened to us is a sign of what God wants to do in His Church. He wants to deliver His people from having defiant and rebellious spirits. But it can only happen if they want it and allow it.
Lawlessness is increasing in the world. That cannot be stopped. Lawlessness is increasing in the Church, that can be arrested. We have the power to choose. We have the opportunity to repent. Quit trying to please God in your own strength in your own wisdom. That’s foolishness and disobedience. Surrender to the will of God. Obey Him in the moment.
Do not be deceived. God will not be mocked. You reap what you sow. Reap love by sowing love. Reap joy by sowing joy. Reap peace by sowing peace. Reap hope by sowing hope. Reap healing by sowing healing. Reap deliverance by sowing deliverance. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Do you want to be set free from a defiant and rebellious spirit? It’s easy. Simply pray. God will deliver you.
Father in Heaven, forgive me for being self-willed and disobedient to Your Spirit. You created me to be Your child who loves You and obeys You. I’m sorry for where I’ve gone astray. I renounce rebellion. I repent of defying authority, both in Heaven and on Earth. I repent for disobeying Your law to love You more than anything else. I repent of not loving my neighbors like You command me to. Forgive me for being a reckless fool. I submit to You now, holy Lord God in Heaven. Deliver me of all unrighteousness. Cast all wickedness out from my mind, heart, soul and body this instant. Fill me with the Holy Spirit I pray in Jesus’ Name. Never let me yield to the temptation to go my own way again. I choose to follow You this day. Lead me and guide me I pray. Amen.
Let me know if that worked for you.
Lord, lead us by Your Spirit. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear what Your Spirit is doing and saying to Your Church. Give us humble hearts of obedience to do Your will, everyday, all-day. In the mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Galatians 5:1 NLT