SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm Steve Holt, the senior pastor of The Road at Chapel Hills.
SPEAKER_00: This is the Road Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER_00: My heart is to empower you to change the world.
SPEAKER_00: I hope this message impacts you.
SPEAKER_00: So we're on part three.
SPEAKER_00: Just turn to Isaiah 60.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to, for a moment, look at Isaiah 60, verse 5, and then I wanted to talk about tonight, and then we're going to go into baptisms, and that's the main thing tonight.
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about a principle that I've guided my life on.
SPEAKER_00: And I and I've taught on it before, but it's been a long time.
SPEAKER_00: So for some of you, you probably don't even remember, and for others, you've never heard it.
SPEAKER_00: But Isaiah 60, we've been talking about arise and shine.
SPEAKER_00: That's our theme for 2022.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read it again, starting in verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Arise, shine, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
SPEAKER_00: And so, first principle is this idea that if you will arise and shine, God's glory will shine upon you.
SPEAKER_00: And what we mean by that is his weight, the weight of his glory, his splendor will be upon you, and that through that splendor, wherever you go, people will sense it.
SPEAKER_00: And that it's weightiness, it's maturity, it's being a person of substance.
SPEAKER_00: And I shared how when you're not mature, when you don't walk with that glory of the Lord upon you, you're a shallow person.
SPEAKER_00: And actually, literally in the Hebrew, the counter to the weightiness of the Kabbat, the glory of God, means lightness.
SPEAKER_00: It means shallowness.
SPEAKER_00: And so God wants to make you a deep person, a person who thinks deeply about things, and that the glory of God can shine through you.
SPEAKER_00: For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people.
SPEAKER_00: But the Lord will arise over you and his glory will be sent upon you.
SPEAKER_00: That it's the light of the church.
SPEAKER_00: We're the light of the world.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Christ said he was the light of the world, but he also said you are the light of the world.
SPEAKER_00: So you are the light, and you're the reflection of his glory wherever you go, especially in darkness.
SPEAKER_00: And the darker the environment, the greater the light, the brighter the light that you bring.
SPEAKER_00: The Gentiles shall come to your light, and the kings to the brightness of your rising.
SPEAKER_00: We talked about how God's using the road, and he will use us in greater measure in 22 to influence leaders in our county and in our city.
SPEAKER_00: Lift up your eyes all around and see.
SPEAKER_00: They all gather together, they come to you.
SPEAKER_00: Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
SPEAKER_00: And this was our main point last night.
SPEAKER_00: That God's going to bring families together.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to bring reconciliation among sons and daughters and prodigals.
SPEAKER_00: And this place, you know, the night before and then last night, Pat, as many of you are so hungry to see God do mighty things in your family.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to do that.
SPEAKER_00: If you will arise and shine, he's prophetically telling us, I'm going to bring massive reconciliation in families.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he wants to do this year.
SPEAKER_00: And then we came to verse 5 last night.
SPEAKER_00: Then you shall see him become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy, because the abundance of the sea, which shall be turned to you, and the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.
SPEAKER_00: And I shared, you know, about the wealth of this church and how many of you have are becoming well, you're being blessed financially and emotionally and spiritually in your life because you're following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And the closer you follow Jesus, the more radiant you become.
SPEAKER_00: The more radiant you become, the more I think God is attracted to who you are.
SPEAKER_00: And so I believe there's going to be a surprise of financial windfall and financial blessing this year.
SPEAKER_00: And it goes totally in the face of what they're saying.
SPEAKER_00: Totally in the face of what we're facing right now with the most inflation and the highest inflation in 35 years in our nation and the shutdowns and everything that's happened.
SPEAKER_00: It's been amazing.
SPEAKER_00: Our church has been blessed.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I feel like that video that I shared with you guys about the Amish.
SPEAKER_00: The Amish was sitting, we just love the fact she's talking to the reporter, if you didn't hear me last night.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking to the reporter and he says, there's three things we we Amish don't like.
SPEAKER_00: We don't like your health care, we don't like your education, and and what was the other one?
SPEAKER_00: We don't like your government.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: And then he said, and then he said, and we just love that you guys shut down everything because we didn't.
SPEAKER_00: And we're just making so much money with all the people that are coming to us because you guys are all shut down.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, it's kind of been like that in our church.
SPEAKER_00: So many of you did not shut down.
SPEAKER_00: As best you could, you stayed open.
SPEAKER_00: You've worked hard, and we've done very, very well.
SPEAKER_00: Not everybody, not everybody, but most have.
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember when I put out that edict?
SPEAKER_00: I said, look, we're gonna bless you guys at Christmas.
SPEAKER_00: Let us know.
SPEAKER_00: We want to find, first, before we give to these other organizations, we want to give to people in church.
SPEAKER_00: Hardly anybody, you know, came to us because so many of them were saying, look, we are not gonna receive anything from the church, you know.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna give.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what they did, and we gave over, I found out today it was not$221, but$227,000 we gave to people in need and ministries across the county and the city and stuff last year.
SPEAKER_00: So I want you to turn to Genesis 8, and this is what we're gonna count on tonight.
SPEAKER_00: And this is not just about finance, this is about everything in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And in Genesis 8, this is where Noah comes out of the ark, and it's like the first thing God says to him.
SPEAKER_00: So he comes and he makes this altar to the Lord, he sacrifices to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 21, it talks about the imagination of man's heart is always evil from his youth.
SPEAKER_00: But then there's this outstanding statement.
SPEAKER_00: And when I remember when I first read this, well, I should say the first time I understood it, because I'd read it many times before.
SPEAKER_00: I really understood it about four or five years ago.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it was pretty revolutionary in my life.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: While the earth remains, so in other words, from now on, I'm not gonna ever flood the earth again.
SPEAKER_00: See time and harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Underline that, circle that, box that, highlight that, whatever it is you do.
SPEAKER_00: Seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night, shall not cease.
SPEAKER_00: So, this principle I want to talk about.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna call it the kingdom law of seed time and harvest.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom law of seed time and harvest.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the laws of the kingdom of God that is true in everything.
SPEAKER_00: That you harvest from a seed.
SPEAKER_00: And you say like, duh.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm telling you, this is important.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of you in this room came from a seed.
SPEAKER_00: Everything in nature comes from a seed.
SPEAKER_00: This is really important, you guys, because we forget this.
SPEAKER_00: That there is a kingdom law of seed time and harvest.
SPEAKER_00: If you sow good seeds, you reap a good harvest.
SPEAKER_00: If you sow bad seeds, you reap a bad harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why is that important?
SPEAKER_00: That's important because sometimes, sometimes, not much in this church, but sometimes with Christians I'm around, they're idiots.
SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is they've been sowing bad seeds their whole life.
SPEAKER_00: They start to reap what they've been sowing and they blame God.
SPEAKER_00: Now that makes a lot of sense.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: They take no responsibility for their own life.
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the biggest problems, probably one of the biggest signs of maturity is when you can learn to blame yourself for the right things and not blame God for the wrong things.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's actually that's actually a great mature thing.
SPEAKER_00: When you start understanding I have a responsibility, and if I'll and if I'll obey God, he actually will bless me.
SPEAKER_00: There's a partnership with God.
SPEAKER_00: And what I find is that people take credit for the stuff God does, and then they blame God for the stuff they do.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone ever done that in this room?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't, that's awesome, but most of us have.
SPEAKER_00: We have, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so this principle or this law always works.
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, it always works.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom law of seed time and it works in your finances, it works in your relationships, it works in your marriage, it works in your family, it works in the kind of job you have, seed time and harvest.
SPEAKER_00: So in Galatians, Paul writes this: Galatians 6, 7 and 9.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be deceived, and the reason he starts off that way is because we're also deceived.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
SPEAKER_00: For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.
SPEAKER_00: But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
SPEAKER_00: And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season, and that's a really key word, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
SPEAKER_00: So everyone has the ability and the promise of a harvest if you're planting your seeds in good soil, and you're planting good seeds in good soil.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So here I want to talk about a few things.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, write this down.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom law of seed time and harvest applies to everyone all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Now, there's not many things you can say.
SPEAKER_00: This applies all the time, everybody, it's always true.
SPEAKER_00: It is.
SPEAKER_00: Seed time and harvest applies to everyone all the time.
SPEAKER_00: It has to do with your job that you're working at, it has to do with your marriage, it has to do with your singleness.
SPEAKER_00: You're write this one down to you.
SPEAKER_00: This is a good one.
SPEAKER_00: You're always one decision away from stupid.
SPEAKER_00: So, you I mean, really, you could do 25 things right and you can do one stupid thing and it just ruins your life.
SPEAKER_00: So, like in parenting.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, parenting's really hard.
SPEAKER_00: It's it marriage is really hard, parenting's harder.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you get married and you don't have any kids, I mean, seriously, like 50, 60% of your life, you don't even have to see the person because you're at a job or something.
SPEAKER_00: But then you get home and you've got kids now, and you got decisions to make.
SPEAKER_00: And my wife makes dumb decisions sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: And Steve Holt makes dumb decisions sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: And so we and now we have to talk about it.
SPEAKER_00: And because we're messing up our life if we don't start talking about things.
SPEAKER_00: And then the kids don't like the decisions, and the kids don't obey you even when they're good decisions.
SPEAKER_00: And so parenting's really, really hard.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's it's tough, man.
SPEAKER_00: Um the reason this is important is because you're always planting seeds in that kit.
SPEAKER_00: So you could do, you could have a great week.
SPEAKER_00: Like you just made great decisions, you know, it's pretty joyful and everything, and then you lose it.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you lose it.
SPEAKER_00: You get really angry, and guess what happens?
SPEAKER_00: Everything you did all week gets wiped out because of your anger.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, anger, I think, is one of the number one biggest problems in parenting.
SPEAKER_00: Because kids, they they get scared when you get angry.
SPEAKER_00: You have all the power.
SPEAKER_00: You carry all the power physically, emotionally, and spiritually in their lives.
SPEAKER_00: And everybody here's gotten angry.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody, I mean, as soon as I said that, everyone you're just going, I mean, I know what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: You're you're just taking off in your head about all the times you've blunt, and you have.
SPEAKER_00: So that's why it's important to quickly apologize and everything.
SPEAKER_00: But but but it's seed time and harvest right there.
SPEAKER_00: And you can tell a lot about a husband's treatment, not a hundred percent, not a hundred percent, because some women, you know, they have their own depression issues and stuff, but you can look into the eyes of many a woman and you can see how she's treated at home and vice versa.
SPEAKER_00: There's many a lonely man because a woman can't isn't intimate with her husband.
SPEAKER_00: There's many a lonely woman because a man is angry at home.
SPEAKER_00: So see seed time and harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Because you're planting seed, that's what you're harvesting in that relationship.
SPEAKER_00: It applies to everyone all the time.
SPEAKER_00: That's why it's important that we're planting good seeds.
SPEAKER_00: That's why this talk is important to all of us.
SPEAKER_00: And when I say all this, it's to say that we've all messed up.
SPEAKER_00: We've all got issues.
SPEAKER_00: But if you can start or even begin to grow even deeper in the seeds that you're planting and you're thinking about it, you'll have a great and an awesome harvest in it anyway.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, the kingdom law of seed time and harvest is of the same kind.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom law of seed time and harvest is of the same kind.
SPEAKER_00: So if you plant spinach, you're not gonna get carrots.
SPEAKER_00: If you plant lettuce, you're not gonna get rhubarb.
SPEAKER_00: If you plant lettuce seeds, you get lettuce plant.
SPEAKER_00: Same kind.
SPEAKER_00: If you sow goodness, you reap goodness.
SPEAKER_00: If you sow love, you'll reap love.
SPEAKER_00: If you sow bitterness, you'll reap bitterness.
SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna sow bitterness and get love.
SPEAKER_00: Never gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: If you sow discord, you're not gonna reap unity.
SPEAKER_00: So why is that important?
SPEAKER_00: It's important because when you look at what's happening in a church, or you look at what's happening in your relationships, and if everywhere you look, there's a lot of discord, somebody's planting discord seeds.
SPEAKER_00: And you can't control her, and you can't control them, but you can control you.
SPEAKER_00: So you've got to ask God to give you power in your heart to plant good seeds.
SPEAKER_00: And you've got good seeds.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know it.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's in an area you've never seen good come from, that area.
SPEAKER_00: You've got the seed.
SPEAKER_00: You've got everything you need right there from God because He has made you seed time and harvest.
SPEAKER_00: He is not going to leave you alone.
SPEAKER_00: He's not going to not give you what you need.
SPEAKER_00: You just don't recognize it because you're in a habit pattern of bad seeds.
SPEAKER_00: And so you go through life scattering seeds of bitterness and discord, and you don't understand why nobody loves you or why you don't have close relationships.
SPEAKER_00: And what God's going to do through this talk and through the days ahead in 2022 is you're going to start scattering good seeds, better seeds.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to start sowing righteousness and holiness and forgiveness and kindness.
SPEAKER_00: You show me a person who sows on a regular basis goodness and kindness and peace, and I'll show you someone that's going to start reaping in due time.
SPEAKER_00: It will not happen overnight.
SPEAKER_00: It does not happen overnight.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you just have to plug away.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Galatians 6 is saying.
SPEAKER_00: Do not grow weary while doing good.
SPEAKER_00: Why did he say that?
SPEAKER_00: Because we grow weary in doing good.
SPEAKER_00: Because we do grow weary.
SPEAKER_00: We do get deceived.
SPEAKER_00: We think everything we've been trying to do is not working.
SPEAKER_00: It's not working.
SPEAKER_00: No, it will work.
SPEAKER_00: It's a farmer.
SPEAKER_00: You're the farmer.
SPEAKER_00: You're farming the land.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to keep going to the field and watering those plants and keep planting those good seeds.
SPEAKER_00: Don't quit.
SPEAKER_00: You will reap.
SPEAKER_00: That's a promise.
SPEAKER_00: In due season, you shall reap.
SPEAKER_00: And it's and God's, like we just say, God's always on time.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not, it may not be our timetable, but it's God's timetable.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to work it out.
SPEAKER_00: Keep sowing the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: You'll reap the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: You will.
SPEAKER_00: Don't quit.
SPEAKER_00: Don't give up.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why we need each other because sometimes we we want to quit.
SPEAKER_00: Number three, the kingdom law of seed time and harvest always brings multiplication.
SPEAKER_00: It always is multiplied.
SPEAKER_00: So there's gonna be a harvest.
SPEAKER_00: There's a promise of a harvest, and it's always more than what you put in.
SPEAKER_00: When you think about a corn kernel, and then the thousands of kernels of corn that come from a cob of corn that comes off of a corn plant that has, I don't know, seven to ten different husks on that plant with thousands in there from one kernel.
SPEAKER_00: That's God's way.
SPEAKER_00: When you see those birds flower, it's hundreds of birds.
SPEAKER_00: When you look at a pine cone, when you see the pine forest, thousands of trees from that one seed.
SPEAKER_00: That's God's way.
SPEAKER_00: God's way is always multiplication.
SPEAKER_00: So you're always gonna get more than what you put in.
SPEAKER_00: Good or bad.
SPEAKER_00: If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.
SPEAKER_00: But if you sow the kingdom, you'll reap a mighty kingdom in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And that's true in your finances too.
SPEAKER_00: So 2 Corinthians 9 says, now may he who supply seed to the sower and bread for food supply and multiply the seed you've sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: While you are enriched in everything for all liberality which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is this is a multiplication.
SPEAKER_00: This is an enrichment verse.
SPEAKER_00: It's saying that God supplies the seed and then God multiplies the seed and then he enriches the fruits of your righteousness in your life.
SPEAKER_00: So as you are living a life of the kingdom, and we're learning to plant seeds of the kingdom, you can expect there will be a time where there will be a wave of blessing.
SPEAKER_00: Expect it.
SPEAKER_00: It may be this year, it's gonna happen in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Expect it.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be a wave of blessing.
SPEAKER_00: You keep pouring into those kids, there will be a wave of blessing.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean the enemy's not at work, it doesn't mean there's not spiritual warfare, all that, because it's in due season.
SPEAKER_00: We have to fight for it, we have to battle for it.
SPEAKER_00: But the but the kingdom law of seed time and harvest is a reminder to you that if you'll hang in there, you'll not quit, there's gonna be a harvest and it's gonna be more than anything you put into it.
SPEAKER_00: It will multiply.
SPEAKER_00: But it always takes time.
SPEAKER_00: It always takes time.
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't happen, and you have to keep doing it.
SPEAKER_00: You have to keep putting into it.
SPEAKER_00: And same with finances.
SPEAKER_00: Finances are the same the same way.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, we call it the miracle of compounding interest.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all know the miracle of compounding interest.
SPEAKER_00: So it's it's the idea that your interest on your investment multiplies into the interest of your interest of your interest.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a point of multiplication on your investment.
SPEAKER_00: That's why it's good to invest.
SPEAKER_00: Invest in land and Invest in houses, invest in the stock market, you know, and if you don't know how to do that, then get a good advisor.
SPEAKER_00: But invest, because there's the the miracle of compounding interest is really crazy.
SPEAKER_00: What happens when your finances start multiplying based on the entrance and the interest of the interest of the interest, and it continues to multiply.
SPEAKER_00: So, same with goodness, same with love, same with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: That as we start to do that, people start to talk about you.
SPEAKER_00: You start to get a reputation as someone that is loving and kind, and so someone else who you never invested in knows about it, and they come to you, or someone who is looking for work or they're looking for a connection.
SPEAKER_00: They come to you because they heard you're a good connection, you're a good connector for them.
SPEAKER_00: And so your love is starting to multiply out, and now you're getting credit for stuff you never did.
SPEAKER_00: Because someone said, Well, he said, and then they said, Oh, you said, and you, I don't know if I say that, I don't remember if I said that.
SPEAKER_00: No, three years ago you said to that guy this, and we did that, and oh my goodness, you can't believe what happened, and they're giving you the credit, and you don't have anything to do with it.
SPEAKER_00: But because you're just a faithful person, you become a faithful person.
SPEAKER_00: As my grandfather used to say at the kitchen table, he's a good man.
SPEAKER_00: And what he meant was that's a trustworthy person.
SPEAKER_00: And if you ask my granddaddy about someone else and he didn't say anything, not a good man.
SPEAKER_00: He would just, he would just say, you know, pass the potatoes.
SPEAKER_00: Well that, what about what about Tommy Ailish's dad?
SPEAKER_00: Because you know, I was new to the town.
SPEAKER_00: We had moved there.
SPEAKER_00: I was there in the sixth and seventh grade.
SPEAKER_00: So I was making these friends, and it's a small town, it's only about a three to the two the two towns, Batesburg, Leesville, and South Carolina were about 5,000 total.
SPEAKER_00: One high school, one elementary school, one middle school.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody knew each other, but I didn't because I'm new.
SPEAKER_00: But granddaddy's always been there his whole life, and his father's father was there, so every he knew everybody.
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes you'd ask, like, things.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I he'd say, Well, what's happening at school?
SPEAKER_00: What's happening at school?
SPEAKER_00: And I'd say, Um, well, I met this kid today, Tommy Ailish.
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, oh, Ailish family.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, granddaddy, what about him?
SPEAKER_00: Pass the potatoes.
SPEAKER_00: Might not be someone you want to be friends with, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But if he said he's a good man, or he said Tommy's father's a good man, you knew that was a trustworthy person.
SPEAKER_00: He was having he had a harvest in his life of a good reputation.
SPEAKER_00: Let's close with Malachi 3.
SPEAKER_00: So Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: So this is really talking about seed time and harvest, and it's financial.
SPEAKER_00: It's talking about financial blessings and how we get financial blessings in our life.
SPEAKER_00: And I've tried to follow this with my life.
SPEAKER_00: When I teach on this, I call it the Malachi miracle.
SPEAKER_00: And it's then it's talking about the miracle of compounding interests, except it's spiritual, the spiritual interest of God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 8, well, a man robbed God, but you say you've robbed me, but you say, in what way have we robbed you, in tithes and offerings.
SPEAKER_00: So he's saying that when you don't tithe 10% of his blessing back to him, you're robbing God.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's that's not smart.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody say that's not smart.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's not smart to rob God.
SPEAKER_00: You can rob the IRS.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if you rob the IRS.
SPEAKER_00: That's between you and the IRS.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not the IRS, but I am a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: So it kind of matters if you rob God because he sort of has all the blessings.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's something like 8%.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's higher than that.
SPEAKER_00: It's some low percentage of people tithe.
SPEAKER_00: 10%.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's like the average is like 2% that people actually give to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody say that's dumb.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is God, folks.
SPEAKER_00: I I think God wants to bless me.
SPEAKER_00: I really believe that.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe he wants to bless me in every area.
SPEAKER_00: So don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: Not that's not smart.
SPEAKER_00: Because here's what he says.
SPEAKER_00: You're cursed with a curse, for you've robbed me.
SPEAKER_00: Even this whole nation has robbed me.
SPEAKER_00: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that they may be food in my house.
SPEAKER_00: He means his church, and try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you such blessing that there will be no room enough to receive it.
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty big blessings, you guys.
SPEAKER_00: And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that awesome?
SPEAKER_00: God will protect you.
SPEAKER_00: God will bless you as you give your seed.
SPEAKER_00: He says, keep 90%, but give 10% to me, and watch what I'll do.
SPEAKER_00: Watch if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a harvest in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And when Liz and I left Mountain Springs, I mean, we were seriously looking at like selling our house and stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And so we just got on our face for 40 days.
SPEAKER_00: And we cried out to God, and God gave us a financial plan.
SPEAKER_00: He gave us a financial plan.
SPEAKER_00: We clearly heard from him about seed time and harvest.
SPEAKER_00: And the blessings that we've had have been phenomenal.
SPEAKER_00: Just amazing.
SPEAKER_00: So, guys, everybody here can do it.
SPEAKER_00: Everything here, this is not rocket science.
SPEAKER_00: This is obedience.
SPEAKER_00: This is about being a whole-hearted disciple.
SPEAKER_00: And it is really, really exciting.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what's exciting.
SPEAKER_00: What's exciting is when you're following the law of seed time and harvest and hard times come.
SPEAKER_00: That's really when it's exciting.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you've been doing it, you can cry out to God and say, Lord, I've been faithful.
SPEAKER_00: And you say you've got a cattle on a thousand hills, you need to sell some and give me some of that money.
SPEAKER_00: Because I need a blessing right now.
SPEAKER_00: But some of you can't say that.
SPEAKER_00: Because you've been robbing God.
SPEAKER_00: So when tough times come, what are you going to do?
SPEAKER_00: Well, God, I've been robbing you for 25 years.
SPEAKER_00: Um, can you help me out a little bit?
SPEAKER_00: Robber?
SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be exciting to say, God, I've been, I started here and I've been faithful.
SPEAKER_00: And I, and, and, and it's all yours, and I'm giving it to you, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm in a pickle.
SPEAKER_00: I'm in a pickle.
SPEAKER_00: But you know I'm a conduit for the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: You know as it comes in and some of it's gonna go out, it's gonna get back to you, it's yours.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm gonna I'm gonna follow your plan.
SPEAKER_00: That's a beautiful feel.
SPEAKER_00: That's a confidence-building feeling when you can cry out to God with a confidence that you've been faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody go like that if you understand half of what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: So that's the principle of seed time and arms.
SPEAKER_00: I could, we could go on and on about it, but it's true in everything.
SPEAKER_00: It's true in your emotional world, it's true in your relationships, it's true in parenting.
SPEAKER_00: So think about it.
SPEAKER_00: As you go into the new year, think about when I arise and shine, I'm gonna plant good seeds.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna plant good seeds this year.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be an encouragement to my kids and to my wife and to my husband.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be there for them.
SPEAKER_00: And in due season, not immediately, most of the time, not immediately.
SPEAKER_00: It's not even immediate in farming.
SPEAKER_00: It's not immediate.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you have seasons where you plant, you don't see anything happen on the ground.
SPEAKER_00: You can go back out there and you can look, and suddenly there's a little something popping up.
SPEAKER_00: And a little more, and a little more, and a little more, and then there's a harvest.
SPEAKER_00: So it just takes time.
SPEAKER_00: Everything in life is like that.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks for listening to the Road Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: It's been my joy to be a part of your life today.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, that's part of what we do here at The Road, and this is what I do in having this Road Podcast is to empower people to change their world.
SPEAKER_00: My passion and desire is that you would take God's word through the power of the Holy Spirit and make that relevant for your life.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the reality is that God has placed your life here on this earth to make a difference.
SPEAKER_00: And if you'd like more information about how to grow in Christ, if you need prayer, if you want more equipping in different areas of your life, go to theroad.org.
SPEAKER_00: God bless you.