Famine and Fortune

On April 23, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Genesis 26: 1, 12

Now there was a famine in the land. Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him.

I have been thinking about the economic aspect of this corona virus problem and wanting to write on it. This passage has been running through my mind for a couple of weeks now. It has everything to do with our current economic situation. However, this story about Isaac is one of the Biblical passages which can leave you scratching your head.

When Isaac was confronted with a famine, he thought about going to Egypt, but the Lord told him to stay in a town called Gerar, and Isaac did. So, the first thing we learn from this passage is obedience.

Here is the second observation. Isaac, though facing a famine, did not hoard his seed. He didn’t put everything in storage, saved against the effects of the famine. He did quite the opposite. He sowed. Now how is this resonating for our current situation? Wouldn’t it be the easiest thing in the world to hoard all your resources. Aren’t you tempted to stop tithing? You know, some people have. I honestly believe that the better thing to do is to give more. That’s crazy sounding but how is any crop going to come up if we don’t sow?

The last thing we see in this story is that Isaac reaped a hundredfold in the very same year. I am saying that these couple of verses are a message for us today and that if we trust in the Lord, we, too, can reap in this very economically challenging time.

Isaac prospered in a time when it made no sense that anyone could. And this is why this passage leaves me scratching my head, could it work for us too? And if so, what is required? Well, apparently it only works for those who: trust God, obey Him, and sow. I would add that belief is part of that trust component. This only works for those who believe. So here is the problem with testing this theory. If you believe it won’t work, you’re right! If you believe it will work, it will. What do you think?

I think this is a message from the Father to all of us. I believe He is telling us to look to Him as our source of income, blessing and harvest. I think about what Jesus said about the birds of the air. They neither reap nor sow and yet our Father takes care of them (Matthew 6: 26). What will it take from us to receive God’s bounty during this famine? How can we be like Isaac? Can I even hear what God is telling me to do?

I have a friend whose salary has been reduced by ten percent and yet she said she is not going to reduce her tithe? What? That made an impression on me. I want to be an Isaac in this land. I want us to learn how to trust God so that the famine does not defeat us but that we, instead, reap a hundredfold in this very same year. I want God to show up and show off by blessing the socks off of believers. Tell us Lord, what to do and we will obey.

Okay, now do your part. Listen for the voice of the Lord. He is speaking to you. Listen attentively. Second, obey. Yep, that word that no one seems to like these days. Third, trust the Lord and believe that what He did for Isaac, He will do for you. Sow and then gather in your harvest. I am praying that you will increase during this strained economic time and that you will look back and see how the Lord walked with you continually.

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The Isaac Principle

On February 20, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 6: 38

Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measure to you in return.

I have been thinking about what we might call the Isaac Principle which we beheld earlier in the week. In the time of famine, Isaac sowed and in that same year he reaped a hundredfold (Genesis 26: 1, 12). One of the things we have learned about times of economic slumps is that churches and ministries suffer. 

The wrongness of that fact bowled me over this week. I saw something I had not seen before. It tells me that the church isn’t living by Biblical principles. Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you.” Therefore, if we are in an economic downturn then we should not withhold our giving, we should increase it. When the famine was on, Isaac sowed. He didn’t withhold his seed or eat it for dinner. This is what the Bible teaches us. And we see it in the Old Testament and the New as well as from the mouth of Jesus. I just don’t think we can get more authoritative than that. So, the question is, “Why do people cut back on their giving in the lean times?”

The only answer I can come up with is that we are responding in fear rather than faith. Face it, the faith walk isn’t always easy but then, being broke in attitude and pocketbook is no cake walk either. I can look back over my lifetime and see the difference God’s truths have made. I remember having no money or having to wait for the next paycheck to buy tires for the car. It was no fun. Now you couldn’t convince me not to tithe. Just wished I had started it earlier. Now I wonder what God will show me next. Twenty years from now what will I wish I had learned earlier? I think it might be that I would learn how to trust God bigger than I do now.  Maybe I will say, “I wish I had held God to His word and believed He would come through for me.” 

We are each on this journey; learning and growing in the Lord. We just need to keep taking the next step. If you have not yet become a giver, do it today. Stop robbing yourself of God’s bounty. Jesus didn’t tell us to give because he needs something. He is trying to get resources into our hands. By our measure of giving, Jesus said, it will be given to us. How would you describe your giving? Is that the word that you want describing what comes in to you? Don’t give in to fear. Have the courage of heart to sow. Then watch your harvest increase.

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Victory in Jesus

On February 18, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Genesis 26: 28

And they said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you.”

This should be the testimony of Christianity. We really shouldn’t have to go testify to people and try to convince them that Christianity is a great way of life. They should just see it evidenced in our lives. That was Isaac’s testimony. The people around him saw the favor of God on everything he did. He didn’t have to say anything. I wish my life spoke as loudly as Isaac’s.

The problem with many of us is that we are living below the Christ level. What do I mean by that? Well, you have heard of the poverty level and that there are some who live below that minimum level of existence. This is similar. There is a level of victory and blessing that every Christian should be living at but it seems that there are only a few who have a revelation of how to live in Christian abundance. We need a class taught by Isaac. He had a revelation. One of my favorite passages is in this same chapter, verses 1 and 12. Verse 1 reveals that there was a famine in the land. Rather than pulling up his tent stakes and moving on to a more fertile area Isaac listened to the voice of the Lord and obeyed. Verse 12 tells us that in that year, in that time of famine and in that same land, Isaac sowed and “reaped in that same year a hundredfold.”

This is the legacy that has been passed down to us. This is our inheritance through Father Abraham. Truthfully, though, we should excel far beyond Isaac because we have an even better covenant, based on better promises and mediated by a better counselor (Hebrews 8: 6). We also can sow in the time of famine and reap a hundredfold. Then people will look at us and see the awesomeness of our God.

We should all succeed at everything we set our hand to because great is our God. However, there are some keys revealed here and that Isaac adhered to that will help us if we too follow them. First of all, when the famine came Isaac didn’t just run off in panic or churn his brain trying to figure out what to do. The first thing he did was to receive counsel from the Lord. It is going to be impossible to live above the Christian poverty line if we don’t first receive instruction from the Lord. It is His counsel that sets our feet on the profitable path. Secondly, Isaac obeyed. He heard what the Lord said and he did it. God told him not to go to Egypt but to stay in that land. So Isaac stayed. That is two keys so far: receive the counsel of the Lord, obey.

The third thing that Isaac did in this time of famine is outlandish. It goes against all conventional wisdom. Isaac sowed. What most people do in times of famine or economic depression is to hoard. They become very tight-fisted and stingy. This causes them to develop a scarcity mentality which continues to manifest in their lives and their finances until they develop a new attitude. Most of us end up eating our seed corn. In other words, we use the money that we are supposed to sow for our harvest rather than planting it. It is tough to reap a harvest if you haven’t first planted a crop. There are all kinds of seeds. Most of us think about money and that is fair. We are foolish if we don’t sow money. I am also reminded of the verse that says, “The sower sows the Word” (Mark 4: 14). We need to sow the Word into our lives, businesses, families, etc. That begins by putting the Word in you but then to sow it you must speak it.

You are meant to live in the hundredfold return. However, 100 X 0 = 0, so we must get some seed in the ground. We need a victory attitude and to turn our faces to the Lord our God. When we follow His direction we will succeed in every facet of our lives so that people will look at us and say, “Mighty is your God!” There are all kinds of seeds. Ask the Father what He would have you sow and get out your plow and get busy. Don’t hoard for goodness sake. If you are going through a tough time, find something, anything, and give it away. Let “Victory in Jesus” be your anthem and show the world the loving power of your Father.

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