Break the Cycle – Part 8
- You will find that the Bible teaches in principles and precepts:
Principle: a fundamental truth that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
Precept: a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.
(Isaiah 28:9-10 NKJV) “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? (10) For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”
Just implementing principles in your life will not always generate the results that we desire.
- We need a plan or strategy that is specifically designed FOR US.
Plan: a method of acting, doing, proceeding, developed in advance.
(Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Strategy: a plan, method, or series of maneuvers for obtaining a specific goal or result.
(Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) For I know the strategies I have for you,” declares the LORD, “strategies to prosper you and not to harm you, strategies to give you hope and a future.
- Very often, God will not use the same strategy when facing the same problem.
(2 Samuel 5:17-25 NKJV) Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. (18) The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. (19) So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.” (20) So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. (21) And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away. (22) Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. (23) Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. (24) And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” (25) And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.
Last week we covered some reasons that people are not reaping a harvest:
- Some people do not reap a harvest because they have not sown.
- Some people do not reap because they quit and give up before they harvest.
- Some people don’t reap because they think thar reaping is automatic.
- Another reason that some people do not reap their harvest is that they have forgotten that they have sown.
One reason for this is that we see it as a loss and not as an investment.
Don’t get legalistic with this but you should keep a record of what and where you have given just as you would with natural investments.
We should give these things the same attention that we would natural investments.
Reaping the Harvest
- The first step to reaping your harvest is to rightly discern your harvest.
(John 4:35 NLT) You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.
Jesus was speaking to the disciples about THE harvest, but He needed to correct their thinking. They were thinking that the harvest would be in four months, but He said the harvest is ready now.
You need to discern:
- When your harvest is.
- Where your harvest is.
- How much your harvest is
A spiritual harvest is not discerned in the natural by looking at natural circumstances.
You will be able to tell by the witness of the Holy Spirit in your spirit. Learn to pay attention to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your spirit.
(1 John 2:20 NKJV) But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
You might not be able to explain it but you have a knowing in your spirit.
- A key indicator that harvest time is near is joy in your spirit.
(Psalms 126:5-6 KJV) They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. (6) He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
This man does not weep because he sees it as a loss. He weeps because the land had been abandoned for so long and it is agonizing work to sow in this soil.
(Isaiah 9:3 NIV) You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.
- You sow in joy, you wait in joy, and you reap in joy.
In John’s Gospel Jesus said many time, My hour is not yet come. But then in Chapter 12, Jesus said the hour has come that the Son of man should be glorified.
If you do not know that the hour is now, then it isn’t.
But as you spend time with the Lord, and walk with Him in prayer and His Word, you will begin to have a knowing in your spirit that the time has come for your harvest. Example of the harvest of souls – the time is now! We need to be reaping big harvests of money so that we can win people to Jesus!