What are you sowing?

Good morning and welcome to CCC. I am so glad each of you are with us this morning. I also want to welcome in all those watching on the livestream or those who will watch this later on our youtube channel. I am amazed at just how God is using our little body here to spread the gospel around the world!

On behalf of Melody and Logan and myself I want to thank you for letting us be at the lake last Sunday and be in Orange Beach next Sunday. We sure miss you when we are gone but it is such a refreshing time to fellowship with family and spending time with Jesus

God led me all over the place this past week. I believe that a new series is coming and God gave me a few other messages as well but Saturday He drew me to the office to give me what He wanted me to share with you this morning.

Let’s Pray

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Galatians 6:7-10

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“Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.”

This is a wonderful truth that is being lost in modern Christianity today. I am so thankful that God brought us here today. Let’s dive in

The first thing I noticed is in verses 7-8. God is very clear that He will not be mocked and if you believe differently you are deceived. He says he is not mocked “whatever a person sows he also will reap”

Have you ever blamed God for something that was your fault?

So many times in life you are experiencing or reaping heartache and pain due to what you have sown but you write it off as life is unfair, life is hard, that is just the way it is or even worse you blame your issues on someone else

That person lied about me

That person doesn’t understand

That person did this or did that

That person ran me down on facebook

Christians it is time to stand on God’s Word and when things start happening around you or in your life you must stop and discern what is happening

Are you reaping what you are sowing?

In leadership it is very important to have an attitude that when bad things happen you look to you first.

What did I do to allow that to happen?

What could I have done differently?

How can I grow to be better to stop something like that in the future?

It may have nothing to do with you

Could have been your fault at all

but yet a great leader always starts with them not others when bad things happen

They also start with others when good things happen

very quick to give praise and even quicker to accept blame

As Christians we should be in the same position

When bad things happen look to God to search your heart to see what is going on

Is it a result of living in a fallen world

Is it persecution

Is this something I am reaping because I sowed into the flesh and not the Spirit and if so confess that, give that to God and start sowing into the Spirit

You will reap what you sow.

If you don’t like what you are reaping you better check what you are sowing into

God says if you sow to the flesh you will reap destruction and if you sow to the Spirit you reap eternal life. Church this is a very important truth

II Corinthians 9:6

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“The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.”

God says how much you reap is determined by how much you sow.

Many say I am a Christian and I go to church on Sunday mornings. Why am I reaping bad, wordly, fleshly things? I don’t understand.

How much do you really sow in the Spirit?

There are 168 hours in a week in 7 days. Let’s say you are one of the very few that go to Sunday School, Church every week that is about 2 1/2 hours. 2.5 divided by 168 is 0.015%. You give God 0.01% of your time each week but expect to reap 100% Godly, spiritual things.

That is not how this works. If you only attend Sunday School and Church weekly you are sowing 99% of your time into the world.

Now that is an extreme example but I pray you get it.

Some of you may be asking what does sowing to the flesh look like or result in?

I Corinthians 6:9-10

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“Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.”

Let’s look at the unrighteous who will not inherit God’s kingdom.....remember in Galatians God said sowing to the flesh leads to destruction but sowing to the Spirit leads to eternal life

Sexually immoral people, the KJV uses fornicator…means the same…these are people having sex outside of marriage....one night stands, prostitution, living with someone before marriage and having a sexual relationship with them....the Greek word also means whoremonger.

Pastor Josh I don’t sell my body to get money or things. I don’t have unmarried sex

Good but what do you support? What do you find entertaining on TV or in movies? What does the music you like to listen to say about sexual immorality?

If you listen to it you support it. If you watch it you support it.

What are you sowing?

Idolaters…putting people or things like jobs, status, power, money before God.

What or who do you turn to when things go wrong?

What or who do you run to for shelter and protection?

What or who gets a majority of your time?

Remember those 168 hours in a week?

10% of that or your tithe in terms of time is 16.8 hours a week or 2.4 hours a day.

What stops you from spending that time with God?

You probably are not going to spend 16.8 hours at church each week so what are those things

Daily secret place time

Daily bible study

Daily prayer

Daily worship

Daily service to the lost and those in the family of God

2.4 hours a day is minimum what stops you from doing that?

What do you sow?

Adulterers. Homosexual lifestyles, stealing, greed, drunkards, verbally abusive people. These are all things that result from sowing into the world and your flesh.

What do you sow?

When you sow to the Spirit you reap, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

What are you sowing and what are you reaping?

You reap what you sow!

That is the truth on reaping what you sow.

This truth also requires endurance. You and I live in an instant gratification society. If we don’t see results (reaping) we give up and move on to something else

God says in verse 9 Let us not get tired of doing good for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up

I want you to understand something.

You may never reap what you sow in the Spirit until heaven.

You don’t do good to get good.....no sir you do good because God is good.

Many want to reap here on earth. There is nothing wrong with enjoying what you reap on earth but that is not why you sow to the Spirit

Romans 8:9

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“You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.”

How often do you forget about the Holy Spirit?

I see so many people hurting, broken, feeling trapped by bad decisions such as drugs, alcohol, sex before or outside of marriage resulting in pregnancy, feeling trapped by debt due to bad financial decisions the list is limitless but if those people are Christians they have the Holy Spirit living in them. They are in the Spirit. They are children of God. Those circumstances may not change, actually probably won’t change immediately but their outlook needs to

Where the Spirit is there is peace. Peace inside the chaos because no matter what happens in this earthly life a Christian has Jesus and the Holy Spirit and will wake up one day in heaven face to face with God!

Doing good....sowing to the Spirit is tiresome work, especially when you try to do it yourself.

But God is clear here Let us not get tired of doing good.

II Thessalonians 3:13

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“But as for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing good.”

Here we see this truth mentioned again.

Do not grow weary means that you can indeed grow weary and when you are doing things, sowing in the Spirit, for the satisfaction of reaping or seeing the rewards on earth you miss the point and will grow weary because ministry is messy.

People are messy

People are broken

People demand time and energy and money

People are hurting and you must sow in the Spirit and get close enough to hurt with them!

Verse 10 reminds us that the time is short so you must sow to the Spirit while you have the opportunity.

Seize the day

Do good

sow to the Spirit?

This is really a heart issue.

What do you sow?

Many will hear this message and never ask God to search their hearts to truly know if they are sowing to the flesh or to the Spirit.

Many don’t take sin seriously enough to care who or what they are sowing to because they are deceived and bought this lie that there are many ways to heaven.

The have bought into the world’s view of Christianity not God’s view.

3 John 11

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“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.”

There are so many “Christians” I use air quotes because according to this scripture those who imitate evil have not seen God

Think about that.

Who does your life imitate the world or God?

Are you sowing to the flesh or to the Spirit?

Again most don’t care enough to find out but to those who do the altar is open.

The altar is nothing more than a physical place set aside to meet Jesus.

The altar doesn’t matter but your heart does.

Many of the people in Matthew 7 who thought they were good.

Thought they were Christians.

Thought they were sowing to the Spirit

They were not and met their destruction when Jesus said away from me I never knew you.

Those people were too proud to humble themselves and come to God.

They were too busy to mess with church and devotions and prayer

They had too many other things to do than to help with the ministries God has placed here in this body.

They had to work so they couldn’t help that neighbor who was seeking Jesus but Jesus’ followers were too busy to show Him to them

They had to get away and didn’t have time to speak to and help that man or woman holding the cardboard sign on the side of the road

What do you sow?

Who do you imitate?

The answer to those questions have eternal impact so I beg you to please get with God for the answers.