Thursday, November 1, 2012

I SEE THE HARVEST

As a little boy growing up, we lived close to a Christian neighbour who liked playing this song every Sunday. An old song which goes like this ‘all over the world the Spirit is moving. All over the world as the prophets say it will be. All over the world there’s a mighty revelation of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.’ Amazingly, I never knew what those words were doing to my spirit. I grew up remembering that song again and again and kept wondering why I was so affected by it. Today, the Holy Spirit has made Habakkuk 2:14 the melody of my heart. I never new I carried a prophecy in my spirit. Habakkuk 2:14 tells us “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Praise God! When you look at the world today, what do you see? As you look into the eyes of people from day to day, what do you see? As you hear of turbulence and catastrophe from the news media every single day, what do you see? What comes to mind when you hear of the pestilence, terrors and inhumanity of fellow humans? Friends, I see the harvest. I see countless number of men and women, boys and girls from every nation, race, tongue and tribe turning to the Lord as their only hope. I see a sea of humanity turning back to their creator God through the only remedy He has provided – Jesus Christ! I see multitudes calling on the wondrous Name of Jesus Christ for their salvation! It’s harvest time. The harvest is ripe and ready for harvesting! This is the season the Prophets talked about when there shall be unprecedented divine manifestations! The Lord Jesus Christ firmly declares in John 4:35-36 “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” This is so instructive and prophetic! What harvest was Jesus talking about? – The harvest of souls brought into the Kingdom of God, possessing His eternal life and free from the dominion of the devil! The Lord Jesus said to His disciples and to us in extension that we don’t need to look too far to see the harvest. He said that the harvest is ripe already, ready for harvesting. In other words, it’s not the time to wait, it’s not the time to analyse the situation, and it’s not the time to try to see the possibility of plunging into the harvest field to reap the harvest into God’s ban. It is simply the time to act. It’s the time to step out with every eagerness and faith to bring in the harvest. Jesus was expressing Heaven’s urgent demand on you and me towards getting the lost to hear the Gospel and receive the gift of God – eternal life (Romans 6:23). Heaven is counting on us! I want you to observe these three expressions Jesus used in John 4:35 “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” The first thing I want you to observe is the word ‘behold’. It’s an old expression which means to see something, to look upon. Next is the phrase ‘lift up your eyes’. This expression doesn’t refer to a physical act of lifting up your eyes but to something very supernatural and prophetic. It has to do with our positioning which would in turn affect what we see and how we see what we see. Jesus was simply asking us to see through the eyes of the Spirit in the same manner a Prophet would. This is very important because by way of application if you look through your optical (physical) eyes you will see little or nothing. In fact those who try to see with their physical eyes only end up discouraged because the physical factors are so disheartening. In Genesis 13 we see this play out so amazingly. Lot lifted up his physical eyes and looked and made a deadly mistake that almost cost him his life. But Abraham lifted up his eyes, at the Lord’s instruction, to see and saw through the eyes of the Spirit and till today his action is still paying off well (Genesis 13:10 & 14). Abraham couldn’t have seen what he saw through his optical eyes – it wasn’t possible for that to happen because he actually saw the whole world. Wow! That’s what God wants us to lift up our eyes to see. He wants us to see beyond our local Churches, communities, nations and see the world because the harvest is so great – everywhere! Thank God we can see through the eyes of the Spirit. This also applies in any situation. Then thirdly, the phrase ‘look on the fields’ is very instructive. In a nutshell Jesus is asking us to breakout from the four walls of the Church buildings and go reach the unsaved out there! He’s asking us to set our focus on the harvest. The Church exists on earth for one ultimate purpose – to reach the world for Jesus. But if we only organise Church meetings without stepping out to win a lost world to Jesus then we have lost our whole essence of existence. As long as we continue to focus only on blessing ourselves, we remain useless to God! The Prophet Joel gave a very timely prophecy that speaks of our day. What a great time to be alive and watch this happen before our very eyes and to be a part of it! Joel 2:28-32 says: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit...And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” Glory to God! This is the season of its full fulfilment. Be a part of the harvest! Prayer: Father in the Name of Jesus, thank you for the privilege of being a part of this historic season of harvest which will usher in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that you cause our eyes to see through the eyes of the Spirit so that we can see and play our roles effectively in this season of unprecedented harvest of souls. Amen! Photo: Christ for all Nations (The Evangelistic Ministry of Reinhard Bonnke)

No comments:

Post a Comment