God Blesses Us to Gather Good Things
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November 26, 2017 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give
what is good to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:11)
It is said that of that which we sow, we will reap its fruit. This is also the justice of God and the spiritual law. There is a difference in sowing and reaping depending on whether it is a human method or God's method. When we take the former method, we will reap, but to a limited extent. On the other hand, with God's methods, we can reap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over by thirty, sixty, and hundredfold. Then, let me explain how to reap abundantly.
1. You must sow with thanks.
Your thankfulness to God proves your faith in God. Some people complain and wonder why God did not give them blessings after they had worked hard and given offerings out of obligation or just because they have titles. Would they be able to bear perfect fruit? Hebrews 11:6 says without faith it is impossible to please God. That is, without faith we cannot please God, and we can prove our faith through thanksgiving from our hearts.
I have never given offerings to God unwillingly or feeling coerced. I have always felt so thankful for the grace of God, so I made all my efforts to give of the utmost in offerings. I sometimes felt sorry for not giving much more. I enjoyed giving to God although I was in financial difficulty when I was a new believer. To date, I have joyfully offered all my time, my money, my family and even my life to God because I love Him. God has joyfully received this kind of aroma from my heart and always blessed me with a good measure, 'pressed down, shaken together and running over'.
I urge you to look back upon whether you lacked thanks to God in your prayer and offerings. Are you struggling just not to be left behind in the spiritual flow, or do you have a broken spirit while in church because your duty is burdensome? This kind of heart cannot please God.
God receives the aroma coming from each one's heart. Thus, although people give the same amount of offering to God respectively, depending on whether they give thankfully or forcibly, the offerings are very different to God.
According to the aroma of each one's heart, the degree they can please God will be different, and it will make differences in answers, outcomes, heavenly dwelling places, glory and rewards in Heaven. Therefore, I hope you will sow the fragrance of thanks that is pleasing to God in every matter.
2. You must wait for the appropriate timing with faith.
It takes some time for seeds to sprout and to bear fruits. What if, a farmer were to dig up the seeds that he sowed just a few days prior? The seeds would die! Also, it takes different periods of time for different seeds to grow and yield crops. In the same manner, some answers from God require a shorter time period, but some other answers require a much longer period of time.
Galatians 6:9 reads, "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." Some people fail to gain good answers because they do not wait for the proper time. So, you should bear in mind that there is an appointed time for everything.
For example, Abraham left his country, relatives, and his father's house at the age of 75 in obedience to God's will. Afterwards, he had to wait for 25 years until he gained the son that God had promised. Jacob had to go through trials while he was working in his uncle's house for 20 years until he could become the forefather of Israel. Moses also underwent refinement in the wilderness for 40 years and then could become a leader of the Exodus.
In the same way, there is an appointed time for the work of God to be achieved. You should not be impatient, irritated, or anxious nor complain with words although the fruit of the seed that you sowed for God does not seem to be borne at a particular moment. All these prove that you do not have enough faith. Because you do not trust God who controls everything, you cannot wait for the appointed moment. Then, you will push ahead with things in a hurried mind with your own thoughts, which leads to an unexpected consequence. After praying, you should wait and believe that God Himself will make the way for you and guide you. But some people just do everything themselves.
Even if nothing works for you, you should follow the way of God if you want everything to prosper. You should have the assurance that God will achieve what He promised to you, and wait for His time. It does not mean that you should just wait but do nothing. But it means that you should do everything in the Holy Spirit's guidance with the faith in God's promise, not on your own initiative.
Let's say you prayed to receive blessing in your business. Then, God will help you prepare your vessel proper for the blessing. He will first refine you so that you can become proper vessels for the blessing. Through this, He will make your soul prosper, give you wisdom and power, and lead you to a good environment and cause everything to work together for good.
If you obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit and act in faith, you will surely be able to bear fruit. I hope you will wait for the appointed time in everything with faith, reap abundant fruit, and pile up many rewards.
3. You must give all glory to God.
Apostle Paul received all kinds of persecutions and sufferings for the Lord, and spread the gospel of the Lord to the Gentiles. But he did not say that he achieved the work of God in his toils and sacrifice. He rather lowered himself and said he was the 'foremost of all sinners' and 'the untimely born'.
He said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me." Although he glorified God greatly, he kept his past in his mind. He remembered the Lord's grace given to him who was on the way to death, and he gave all glory to God.
If you acknowledge God and give all glory to Him, God will take delight in you. Therefore, I urge you to give all thanks, glory, and honor to God saying, "But by the grace of God I am what I am."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Psalm 126:5 says, "Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting." As said, those who sow in tears will taste rewarding joy in their reaping.
If you sow with all your heart before God, your services, devotion, prayer, and evangelization, and all your efforts will not be vain, but they will be paid back to you as everlasting rewards. In addition, you will gain answers, blessings, good health, wisdom, and glory even on the earth. God will pay you back with such overflowing blessings.
I pray in the name of the Lord that in doing so you will pass the pearl gate and enter New Jerusalem the most beautiful heavenly dwelling place on the day when we will reap fruit of our earthly lives.
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