TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 20TH AUGUST 2023)
“He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.”
“As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.”
“In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 232ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
Today is another bright and beautiful day from the LORD. It is another first day of the week where we gather in God’s presence to fellowship. I hope you find a church to do just that today; not just a church, but a ground and pillar of truth.
Like I have always shared, for us Citizens of God’s kingdom, every day is a seed sown into our lives to bring forth a harvest of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. However, these harvests can only be reaped if we spend the day as we should.
Now, one may ask, how should I spend my day as a kingdom Citizen? There are so many beautiful ways the Bible outlined and taught. But one of them can be found in a letter Paul the Apostle wrote to his spiritual Children in the Church at Galatia. The very verses that holds what we are looking for says,
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”
“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:7-9NKJV
Hidden in these scriptures is how to spend our day (I mean each day the LORD allows us to see). We are to spend our days not sowing to please the flesh. If we spend our days sowing to please the flesh, we will never reap righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost as harvests. We will reap sin, restlessness, and sadness.
The Bible says we will reap corruption or moral decay.
Have you ever heard some people say they had a bad day? Why do people have bad days? The reason is simple. Many of us have the habit of spending a portion of our day sowing to please the flesh! We respond to all that the flesh asks us to do and end up reaping corruption as a result.
For instance, if the flesh asks us to set our eyes on some explicit pictures, satisfy a carnal craving, etc. we obey. As we obey, we end up having a bad day.
YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A GOOD DAY IN YOUR LIFE SOWING TO PLEASE YOUR FLESH.
Now, let us take a closer look at the verses. The first verse made it clear that God has set a spiritual law in motion that makes sure that whatever we sow, we will reap. If we sow to please the flesh and then go and pray or fast against the harvest of what we have sown, it will not work.
The harvest will still come, leading to a bad day. Sometimes, it does not come immediately, it comes later leading to not just a bad day, but bad days.
For instance, here is a young woman who just fell into sexual love with a man. (Falling into sexual love alone is a seed we sow to please our flesh). Then the flesh will drive her to get herself sexually satisfied.
Now while she will be responding to the flesh, she will be enjoying what the Bible calls the pleasure of sin. But after the act, reality will dawn on her. Then she will start praying to God not to let anything bad happen. But if she is a child of GOD who gave in to the flesh, something bad has already happened; a spiritual stain on her holiness garment has taken place.
For some, the stain does not end in one bad day, but but in many bad years. That is the reason for unwanted pregnancies and sexual intercourse induced marriages in the society today!
We must understand that prayers do not work where we have sown to please our flesh. It is a law that the harvest comes. Yes, the harvest will be sure because God is not a law breaker. He could suspend laws but does not break them. It is better not to sow to please your flesh than to do it trusting God to take care of the result.
The Best way to spend your day as a Child of God, is to spend it sowing to please the Spirit. Because “he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life”
EVERY TIME YOU SPEND WATCHING A MOVIE THAT ENHANCES YOUR FAITH IS A SEED YOU HAVE SOWN TO PLEASE THE SPIRIT.
Any time you attend a Bible meeting where you are taught the ways of God or listen to a compact disc that contains the good word of God, you have sown to please the Spirit. Attending church service today, is a seed to please the Spirit, if you end up in a Bible practicing and believing Church.
Reading these devotionals daily is a seed you are sowing to please the Spirit. Staying away from gossips, sinful people, striving men and women, and whatever does not edify, is a seed you have sown to please the Spirit. You will never have a bad day sowing to please the Spirit. You could have a tough day, but will never have a bad day.
It is therefore a good thing we do to ourselves when we spend our days sowing to please the Spirit. And do not forget, the Bible says we should not grow weary in doing good; in other words, we should not grow weary in sowing to please the Spirit every day of our lives. The reason is we shall reap if we faint not!
The raw King James version puts it this way;
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9 KJV
Reaping the seeds that we sow to please the Spirit has three harvest seasons. But I will not go into that now. Just understand that, the ultimate principle that governs the harvest of good seeds sown is persistency. We must be persistent; we should not faint or lose heart. We should keep sowing to please the Spirit until our days on earth are over!
If we do that, we will come to a realm where the glorious harvest of such acts will be over taking itself, leading to a great outbreak of God’s presence in our lives and a powerful fulfilment of our divine destinies. People who changed the course of History in God’s kingdom, spent their days sowing to please the Spirit.
Now, it is important to note that, it is not easy to sow to please the Spirit. The winds of the flesh will blow against us as it tries to fight us not to sow to please the Spirit. But our devotional text this morning says, we should not observe the winds.
Sometimes it is the evil wind of having people who are not controlled by the Spirit in our lives.
IT COULD BLOW AS A TERRIBLE WIND THAT FRUSTRATES AND PUSHES US TO FAINT SPIRITUALLY.
The Bible made it clear that a Kingdom Citizen who observes such winds will cease sowing to please the Spirit. And that is very true, especially in a world driven by an evil and corrupt system like ours; a world that makes you a laughing stock or a prey for departing from evil.
For instance, there are young men and women who have been made to break their virginity on the altar of sin and all forms of sexual perversion, because they became a laughing stock for sowing to please the Spirit by keeping themselves pure.
Sadly, I remember one who reaped a terrible harvest that claimed her life after being made by dark friends to faint spiritually and stop following God, for not sowing to please her flesh. She decided to join them, just to escape the evil winds of mockery, but she reaped premature death as harvest.
A major highlight in our devotional text says,
“In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good.”
That means we should never allow our “morning” or “evenings” to hinder us from sowing to please the Spirit. The bible says weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
Our morning represents a time of joy and our evening a time of trial.
This scripture then means, in time of joy we should sow to please the Spirit and in time of trial, persecution, or temptation, we should sow to please the Spirit. We should sow to please the spirit when the evil winds of mockery and discouragement is blowing on us. We should be consistent in sowing to please the Spirit in any circumstances.
I believe the message of today’s devotional has been passed!
Any problem you create for yourself, by sowing to please your flesh cannot be solved by prayer, fasting, or giving. It can only be solved through repentance and the healing of the breach; which will take a significant time of sowing to please the Spirit for it to happen, depending on the gravity of what you did and the impact of the same on your life.
Sadly, the principle of seed, time, and harvest has been reduced to money-talk by those the Bible call greedy dogs – people we call men of God, consequently, blindfolding us to the real truths God buried in His word. But I trust this morning that the Holy Spirit has enlightened us.
Find a church that will help you live a Christian live of sowing to please the Spirit, not giving money endlessly as seeds and plant yourself. It’s a new Day for you in Jesus’ precious name. AMEN!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalms 126:5-6 NKJV