Becoming a Sower!!

Christmas time is always busy like so many of you. I have been out of pocket but am back to share my thoughts, life, and Him. As I have gone through challenging times around support raising (full-time support), the Lord has been doing a transforming work in my life. I have realized through the Holy Spirit that I have still seen life as a consumer (when it comes to money), looking to have my needs met rather than being a sower. We are trained in our buying and selling culture that we are to consume things to meet our needs. I believe Jesus lived in the reality of the Kingdom which was giving and receiving. Jesus was truly a sower (of the Word, of love, of healing, of money, and of God-life). In 2 Corinthians 9:6-12 we are shown that sowing sparingly leaves us reaping sparingly. Why do we sow sparingly? I believe so many of us as believers have a poverty mind-set rather than a Kingdom mindset of being rich. I am not talking primarily about money but rich in the riches of Christ. Most of us as believers have been deceived by the Enemy to not lay hold of the riches that we have already been given "in Christ". In Ephesians 1 Paul boldly says we have "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm..." Either God is lying (spoken through Paul) or we are totally ignorant of what we have. The other option is we believe that if we pray right, do the right things, talk to the right people, etc.. then we will receive. Paul states this in the past tense, you my friend are extremely rich and you didn't know it. Religion always has something for us to do to receive from God but grace shows that God has poured out on us. Faith is believing what God says regardless of how we feel, what others say, what religion says, or what we see in front of us. As God took the yoke of slavery off of me, which was "it is all up to me to raise support" I began to get a revelation of being a sower. Since Jesus was the most prolific sower in history and He is in me then I am a sower. The good news is that God also provides seed, what is seed? In Corinthians 9 there is differentiated bread for food and seed to the sower. The Word also says that "And God is able to make all grace abound to you..." What stops God from make all grace abound to you, mainly our lie-based beliefs that direct us back to earning from God rather than receiving His gift by faith. When we give seed there is a supernatural release because according to Genesis 22:18, God will greatly multiply your seed and through the seed is the blessing. This is the promise to Abraham by covenant and this is our promise because the Seed is Jesus and He is in us. It is mind blowing that God's promise according to Genesis 12 is for us to be a blessing to all nations, make your name great (put your name in their____), and that in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. That is a big vision and one that is impossible to accomplish without the supernatural release of God's power. This power is released as we are willing as John 12:24 says to let the seed fall into the ground and die. In other words when we give the seed that God provides to us, we are losing all the potential it could do for us but at the same time God is giving birth to something big. This is New Covenant sowing, whether it be your time, your giftings, your prayers, the Word of God, money, etc... God owns it all and when we live from that perspective, holding everything with an open hand it multiplies and we prosper. Prospering is not about wealth but about having everything we need to do all God has called us to. Many believers have felt manipulated by the "name it and claim it" and the "health and wealth gospel". These are unfortunate misrespresentations of Biblical truth, God's purpose in prospering us is for Christ in us to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. It is the Enemy that has come to steel, kill, and destroy (according to John 10:10), in other words he doesn't want us to prosper. May God bring a transformation in your heart for you to be a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

In His Grace,
Bret