You Reap what you Sow

 God is a generous giver. He gave His only son to suffer a painful death on the cross. 

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Lk 6:38 NIV

God longed to win back the billions of men, women and children who had turned their backs on him and forgotten or rejected His love and goodness.

God began the creation of the world by giving. He gave us life and a beautiful world to live in. Tragically, one by one, we turned away from out maker and imagined we could do better by ourselves. Look at the mess we have made of the world.

God is a giver, so He began His rescue plan by giving again.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

God wanted to get back his lost children, so He gave. He gave his only son in order to receive many sons and daughters.

This is the law of sowing and reaping. If you want to reap a harvest, you must begin by sowing seed. 

If your sons or daughters turn away from you, you will not win them back by taking away their inheritance or disowning them. Keep giving them your love, your kindness, your prayers on their behalf. Tragically, not all children come back, but many do. If you want to harvest love, sow seeds of love.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Lk 6:38 NIV

If you need the mercy, be merciful.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Mt 5:7 NIV

If you need healing, pray for others who need healing. I have done this for many years and I have seen wonderful answers to prayer.

If you have financial needs, don't stop giving. Some prominent preachers have misused this principle with aggressive fund-raising. They never stop preaching about money. This is very sad.

God does want to meet your needs, but money must not be the centre of your attention.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Mt 6:33 NIV

Never forget that God is good. He is a giver. He wants to bless you.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. Jas 1:17 NIV

Sometimes you might give and receive a miracle of provision almost instantly. I once gave 20 Euros to a church. A friend in the church did not know about this but he gave me 200 Euros the same night. I was on a mission trip for God and I needed help.

But God is not an automatic teller machine. We often have to wait days, weeks or years for our harvest to appear.

Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days. Ecclesiastes 11:1 NASB95

God wants to bless you and reward you for your loving service, but we will not see God’s greatest blessing until we see Jesus in the next life.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Mt 6:19–21 NIV

God has not Forgotten You

 Are you at the end of yourself? Has God forgotten you?

In the Old Testament, the Jews were desperate. They had gone wrong. They still believed in God to some extent, but they had not taken God seriously.

God had commanded:

“You shall have no other gods before me. Ex 20:3 NIV

God had strictly forbidden the worship of idols.

But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame. Is 42:17 NIV

Apostate kings in Jerusalem had worshipped idols since Solomon's time, and the people copied the sins of their neighbours.

Many believed in the god Baal and the goddess Asherah, Baal's supposed wife. This religion was all about sex and fertility. The priestesses of Asherah were prostitutes. The men worshipped the goddess by visiting these prostitutes.

This also happened in God's temple. This was supposed to make the land fertile so that they would have a good harvest.

It's a bit different here today. Sex is worshipped, but not fertility.
Exactly the opposite. We want to have very few children, and there are no longer enough young people in Western Europe.

The Jews in the Old Testament cruelly slaughtered their children in order to gain the favour of the pagan god Moloch.

Abortion is sometimes needed to save the life of the mother but millions of unborn babies are killed for all kinds of reasons.

God's prophets had warned again and again, but most people did not want to take the warnings seriously.

The people had surrendered to the rule of the cruel false gods. Finally, they had to reap what they had sown.

At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it … 2 Kings 24:10 NIV

Nebuchadnezzar's army conquered God's people and Jerusalem was occupied.

The Jews were deported en masse to Babylon, where many were enslaved.

But what does this ancient history have to do with us? Does slavery exist today?

You can find drug dealers everywhere. If you have an addiction, you are enslaved. Many young women end up in prostitution to buy drugs.

There are boys on the street who spend the night with gays to avoid freezing on the street.

When people are exposed to such terrible alternatives, we can speak of slavery without exaggeration.

How can God allow such suffering? God has given us free will as human beings. We can suffer because of our own flawed choices, or often because of the evil choices of others.

One of the young Jews who was taken away by Nebuchadnezzar was Daniel. He was very intelligent and of noble birth. Even as a teenager, he was enslaved and castrated.

But God loved Daniel and all the deported Jews. In the prophetic book of Isaiah, we see God's heart for the suffering Jews.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Is 49:14–15 NIV

Daniel was determined to remain faithful to God in his miserable circumstances.

God sees your heart and His heart beats for you, as it did for Daniel. Daniel became the administrator of the government under Nebuchadnezzar and one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament.

Are you in a mess where you can't see a way out?

God has not forgotten you. He loves his suffering daughters and sons, just as he loved Daniel.

God's love never gives up.