Inspirational Words - Gathering a Harvest of Love

Sweet Song Ministries, LLC ~ Non Denominational Church and Ministerial Outreach

Gathering a Harvest of Love

⁹ " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field

or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not go over your vineyard a second time

or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner.

I am the LORD your God. ~ Leviticus 19: 9-10.

Devotional:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman (farmer)." John 15:1

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." 1 Corinthians 15:20

"For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches." Romans 11:16

"But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." 1 Corinthians 15:23

"... the harvest is the end of the world..." Matthew 13: 39

"If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Revelations 3:3

"For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Galatians 6: 8-10

"Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it." Isaiah 45:8.

Commentary:

Many of us are familiar with the harvest that comes from planting a garden, watching it grow, and then reeping the products that we've raised. But there is another type of harvest, a harvest of love, that is spiritual, and not seen by the human eye. This harvest of love comes from seeds that we sow every day of our lives. Galatians 6: 8-10 says "For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

When a farmer plants his crop, he plants it with the expectation that what he has planted will yield fruit, and he plants the appropriate seeds. Later, the seeds spring up, and a crop comes forth. The farmer then harvests the crop when it's ready. It's the same way in the spiritual realm. John 15:1 says "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman (farmer)." God is the farmer, with a certain crop in mind; and, like you, or me, when we plant a garden, God plants the appropriate seeds. God's garden is mankind, the seed is the Word of God, and His Seed of Righteousness is poured down from the skies, as told in Isaiah 45:8. "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it."

We are the plants of God, and He pours His Righteousness down upon us. His love covers each and every one of us, every day of our lives. But what we do with that love, and whether or not we choose to accept it, is a choice that we each have to make. We can take God's love and pass it on to others, or we can take it for granted and do nothing. The fruits that spring forth from us are the results of those choices we make, and we may never know the extent of them. When we love God and seek to do His will, we can not help but let His love pour from us. We can sometimes see the immediate results in the way that others respond to us, but often times we don't see the results, and may never know them until much later, if at all. But the seeds of goodness that we sow are never lost, and any seed sown for Him will reap harvest.

After a time God's crop becomes reality, and is harvested, and put into His barn. We can never make a fool out of God. Whatever we plant is what we will harvest. If we plant corruption, we will harvest destruction. Likewise, if we plant in the soil of our spiritual nature, we will harvest everlasting life. Sometimes life and stress gets us down, but we can't allow ourselves to get tired of living the right way. Each of us will receive everlasting life at the proper time, if we don't give up. Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone we come into contact with, especially for the family of believers. We all need encouragement, even Christians, and the best way we can give encouragement is by spreading the love of God.

The Bible says that God is coming back for His own, and that ... "the harvest is the end of the world" Matthew13: 39. Many people speculate as to when that will be, but Revelations 3: 3 tells us that God will come upon us as a thief in the night, and that no man will know the time or hour of His coming. God has planted His crop, and He has sown the seeds. It's up to us to glorify Him with our fruit. He is going to harvest His crop, and whether He comes back for us at the "end of the world", or when we take our final breath on earth, that day is coming for all of us.

God's love is for all men, and His love is free. All we have to do is accept it, and live for Him. His Word is full of hope and joy, but most of all it is full of His promises for good things that lie ahead, if we only trust and believe in Him. If you have not yet experienced the joy that comes from accepting Christ as your Saviour, and being under His grace, I invite you to accept Him today. And if you have, I congratulate you and challenge you to continue spreading His love, thereby drawing others into His fold.

The time of God's Harvest is coming. Will you be ready?

Meditation:

A Prayer For Love

Teach me to love, Lord, as You love,
Make it unconditional, honest, and kind,
To ask nothing back in return, Lord,
To encompass the whole of mankind.

May I offer my love without speaking,
May it radiate as it shines forth from me,
May it be seen in my face and my eyes, Lord,
May it be simple, sincere, and shame free.

Show me how to forgive, Lord, as You do,
To not burden another with guilt,
To not play the role of the martyr,
To be a rock on which trust may be built.

Make my love for others be greater by far
Than any love that is offered to me,
Led by the Spirit, Inspired of God,
As forgiving as Jesus...and free.

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by Virginia (Ginny) Ellis
Copyright 1999 ~ Updated 2007

Stories to Touch the Heart and Warm the Soul:

THE SEED

~ Author Unknown ~

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young executives in his company together.

"It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO," he said. "I have decided to choose one of you."

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next
CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed.

He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by - still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened.

Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful--in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back.

"My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO.

"Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front.

Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed.

Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Here is your next Chief Executive! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said?

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed.

I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.

"When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!"

Moral:

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.

If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.

If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.

If you plant hard work, you will reap success.

If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

SOWING AND REAPING/ LAW OF RECIPROCITY

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"Every behavior you participate in will have a consequence." -- Brian Tracy

"Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts
will inevitably bring about right results." -- James Allen

"An idealist believes the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long
run doesn't matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in
the short run determines the long run." -- Syndey J. Harris

"Life is a process of accumulation. We either accumulate the debt or the
value, the regret or the equity." -- Jim Rohn

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Galatians 6:7