In Due Season…

Copyright: hannamariah

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Last week, we left off with Galatians 6:9 KJV, which says; And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season, we shall reap if we faint not, and we will come back to it a little later.  In the meantime, you may not have realized it, but we have five (5) seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, and DUE season.  The Holy Spirit has been rather persistent with this message of Seed, Time, and Harvest, so I’d suggest that we listen very carefully as we look at the seasons through the eyes of a farmer. 

Winter, which is from early December to late February, is a time for rest! However, the work doesn’t end.  Now the farmers have time to fix machinery or other projects on the farm and prepare for the next planting season.  It’s February, so what season are you in?

As Spring begins, we are waiting for the ground to thaw out, and we want to make sure there will not be another frost.  Then from late March to late June is the time to put the crops in the ground.   Our time to plant and sow the seeds is right around the corner. 

Summer, which is July to early September, can make or break for most farmers. Rain is critical in these months but not too much! Too much rain can damage crops, but not enough rain can also damage crops. The perfect amount of rain, sunlight, and heat produces the best crops!

He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful.  

Isaiah 30:23a NLT

In the Fall of the year, late September to early December is the time where farmers get to see the reward of the growing season. Harvest starts in mid-September, and most do not understand all the work that goes into harvest.

While farmers celebrate the harvest season just once a year, we experience the spirit of harvest all the time.  Throughout the Bible, harvest symbolizes God’s provision, His protection, and His prosperity for us in Due Season, our 5th season.

If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 

Leviticus 26:3-4 KJV

As I was preparing for this blog post, as always, the Holy Spirit helped me to put the season that I’m in into perspective and I hope that it will do the same for you.  My season cycle began last spring, when the Lord planted a seed of expectation in my spirit that He was expanding the territory of Order Your Steps.  I won’t rehash the story, but I must tell you that I’ve gone through Summer and Fall, but I have not hit my Due Season.  Instead, I have found myself in the winter season and the Lord has me at rest, which I must admit is a tad uncomfortable.  I’ve done a lot of prep work for what’s ahead and I will continue to do so, but then what?   

As an entrepreneur, at times, I often find myself in a place of uncertainty, which is where I am now.  However, I’m learning to trust my periods of uncertainty because they deepen my faith.  Nothing can make us second guess ourselves more than when we implement something that we know God has told us to do, but it doesn’t quite work the way we planned.  I’ve heard it said that a delay, in not a denial, but have I tried to put the Lord on a deadline, based on my plans, not His.  VERY bad idea… So, as I laid in the bed the other morning, wondering about what He has in store for me, the Holy Spirit said very clearly, In Due Season

The Lord has given me a dream, so I’ve stepped out of the boat, like Peter. Although I’m still not certain if I’ll be able to walk on water, I must have the commitment and courage to take the next step and keep walking.  As we pursue our purpose, success, and greatness, we realize that it all will happen in His Divine Timing.  Therefore, we must not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap [the harvest], if we don’t give up. 

Un-Clutter Your Mind

We’re already 30 days into a new year and I’m very concerned that we are already consumed by the mental chaos of busy and out of our divine rhythm.  A stream of clutter is slowly turning our mental space into a chaotic mess.  Our minds, soul, and space are cluttered with unnecessary things and people that may be slowing us down.  Remember, I said that this year, we are being pushed even harder into our purpose and there is no time to waste.  We may be very busy but are we accomplishing the things that really matter to us the most.  Those things that will empower and motivate us to be the very best that we can be. 

Our lives should not be hustle and grind, but we must ebb and flow with the Spirit.  Prioritizing those things that are important is a great way to proactively take charge of your life.  It may sound redundant, but have we taken a serious look at where we are, where we are going, and thought of ways that we might get there.  A famous American poet Bill Copeland had rightly said, “the trouble with not having a goal is that we can spend our life running up and down the field and never score.”  We must be more mindful of our time, and have the courage to say no to the things that we would consider unimportant or unfruitful. 

In the last two (2) blog posts, we talked a lot about Seed, Time, and Harvest.  We want to plant seeds that will produce a bountiful, fruitful harvest.  Therefore, it is crucial that we unclutter our mind of all the non-essential mental baggage for us to stay focused, motivated, and productive for the rest of this year and years to come.  So, we are going to pause, take a deep breath, get out our journal and take some notes on what I’ve shared with you over the past few months. BTW, if you’ve listened to my podcast, this will be a review, but you will still need to take notes.

Let me begin by saying that we know that every year is a year of God’s favor.  Dr. Dharius Daniels defines God’s Favor as undeserved, unexplainable, irrational, preferential treatment. His Favor puts us in the right place at the right time according to His plan for us.  Therefore, if we have not earnestly given any thought to what His plan might be for us, then 2023 will most likely be no different than all the other years.  I will continue to emphasize the importance of listening to the Holy Spirit and being guided and directed by Him every day, all day and He will tell us and show us how to Live Our Best Live Ever! We must let go of our yesterday, make the most of our today, and trust the Lord with our tomorrow.

We are being pushed out of our comfort zone and beyond what we may consider our inadequacies and our limitations.  I believe that the Lord has given us a vision, dream, idea, and clarity of mind to accomplish what He’s given us, but we now must have the commitment and courage to take the next step and move forward.  As we pursue our purpose, success, and greatness, we realize that it all will happen in His Divine Timing.  He will give us what we need, not necessarily what we want, exactly when we need it.  It’s been said that “Success is never final; failure is never fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts,” [especially when the journey gets tough, and the mountains are high]. The Lord has given us ‘hinds’ feet’, the ability to overcome difficult challenges successfully.  Stumbling blocks are not going to slow us down and the mountains that we must climb will not stop us.  

In all of this, for us to accomplish what’s ahead we must set our Un-Cluttered Mind on the things above! We must keep sowing/planting good seed and the Lord will send us rain for the seed we sow in the ground, and let us not be weary, while we are working diligently and waiting for the rain, for at just the right time, we shall reap A bountiful harvest and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful… if we don’t give up.

The year has just begun, and it is much too soon to allow our mind to become cluttered with thoughts of discontent and defeat.  There are endless possibilities ahead, but we must unclutter our mind, soul, and space; and establish an atmosphere of peace, harmony, and grace, so that we will hear and know His voice, even when we can’t see Him. 

Seed, Time, and Harvest – Part II

Last week, we started our discussion on Seed, Time, and Harvest.  In Genesis 8:22a, it says, As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest…and the Holy Spirit showed us how the process of farming can be applied to our lives today. 

The Lord prepares the soil for the seed, that’s you and me, to be planted.  Over time, He feeds the soil, and He may have to pull up a few weeds, as He clears the path for where we are going.  Then we must be confident that He has put everything that we need into the seed and thus, our seed is sowed in faith.  But if we continually keep our eyes fixed on negative conditions, we will fail to sow or will lose faith in our seed. 

Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest. –

Proverbs 20:4

We must then be diligent as we wait.  It’s our responsibility to do the work no matter what the results because the Lord will reward us for our efforts and the quality of our work.  Remember, we will get out what we put in.  The Holy Spirit will give us guidance along the path, but without all the details.  However, we must not stop growing, while we wait for further instructions. The Lord will send others to provide the water for us to grow;

He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful.  

Isaiah 30:23a

The Lord provides a bountiful harvest, the reward for our labor. 

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

So, don’t give up before the harvest!  To be honest, when the Lord gives us something to do, we cannot give up until the Lord says we can… and I really don’t believe that that’s gonna happen!

Seed, Time, and Harvest – Part I

Copyright: leonidtit

I had been super excited after last week’s blog, We are Being PUSHED!… and I still am, but by Saturday morning as I thought more about my own purpose, I felt that I’d hit a wall. I woke up a tad discouraged and to top it all off, the Holy Spirit hadn’t given me the download for my blog post for this week.

 I decided to go to a happier place and reflect on last week’s episode.  As you may remember, I believe that we are going to be PUSHED into our Purpose, like never before this year.  We must be ready to use what the Lord’s already given us.  We are enough, which is why He chose us.  We must listen for His guidance without all the details, but keep moving, while we wait for further instructions.  We can no longer wait for the Lord to do what He has given us the ability to do.

So, as I was lying in bed, anxiously awaiting to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, He reminded me that I had posted this scripture earlier in the week. 

The message is that there will never be the perfect time to take our next step.  But then I heard, in my spirit, SEED, TIME, AND HARVEST, thus my topic for this week, part I.  Farming analogies are used throughout the Bible, so I started my search, which began at Genesis…

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. – Genesis 8:22 KJV

22 As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” Genesis 8:22 NLT

I realize that this may appear somewhat unusual, but remember, we are dealing with the Holy Spirit, who pushes us outside of our norm.  So, just stick with me as we look at the first few steps of the farming process, with some accompanying scriptures.  We have:

  • Prepare the Soil
  • Sow/Plant the Seed
  • Feed the Soil
  • Water

The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. … The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom. 

Isaiah 28:26, 29

Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both. 

Ecclesiastes 11:6

The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 

1 Corinthians 3:8

For this to make sense, we must put ourselves into the place of a farmer, and remember that farming is very hard work, extremely labor intensive.  As we are pushed into our purpose, what are the things that we must gleam from these scriptures.

  1. The Lord has prepared the soil. He has given us understanding and He is a wonderful teacher and has given us has taught us great wisdom for the task at hand and for the journey ahead.
  2. Plant the seed early in the morning and work all afternoon.  Let the success of the task rest in the hand of the Lord, but we must get the task done. 
  3. Don’t try to work alone and do it all, some will plant, and others will water.  We are working hard to achieve a great harvest.  It’s our responsibility to do the work no matter what the results because the Lord will reward us for our efforts and the quality of our work. 

Next week, we are going to talk more about harvest.  We must first have faith in our seed and if we sow our seeds in faith, we KNOW that the Lord will provide the increase and we will reap a great harvest.  So, Stay Tuned!

Remember, Our Steps are Ordered…