{"id":84,"date":"2003-01-01T21:30:52","date_gmt":"2003-01-02T03:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=84"},"modified":"2012-04-23T21:38:18","modified_gmt":"2012-04-24T02:38:18","slug":"a-bumper-crop-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=84","title":{"rendered":"A Bumper Crop Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDo not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.\u201d Galatians 6:7<\/em><\/p>\n

Early in 1998 I decided to conduct an experiment. \u201cThat\u2019s a pretty specific recollection,\u201d you might say. \u201cThe experiment must have made an impression.\u201d Yes, it did. It followed an unspectacular epiphany a few months earlier when, sitting on my living room sofa one November afternoon, I suddenly realized\u00a0many of the good things God had promised were never going to happen to me unless I changed my ways.<\/p>\n

I was struggling financially at that time. Behind in my bills. Caught in a cycle of minimum payments on high interest debt. So I decided to put Malachi 3:10 to the test by beginning to tithe. None of this \u201cShould I tithe off the gross or the net?\u201d debate. If tithing were holy, if it represented the firstfruits going to the Lord, then He got His cut before anyone else. End of story. So I sat down and identified the ministries from which I was being fed and I began writing checks. Remember, I didn\u2019t have enough to pay my bills BEFORE this. A creditor challenged me about my giving on the phone one day. \u201cHow can you give to a church when you owe it to us?\u201d Good question. Yet, how could I not? I owed the Lord too.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t tell you now how it happened, but in a very short time somehow my bills were caught up. And they\u2019ve been paid on time ever since, lo these five years. My credit union and the car dealer actually got into a bidding war to get the loan for the last car I bought. I got a great rate. Do I believe the law of sowing and reaping applies to our cash? No argument you might devise to dissuade me could compete with the results of my successful experiment. Yes! You bet I do!<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s only filthy lucre, the least of all the good seed we have to sow. It pleases the Lord for us to return mere material blessing to those who have lavished spiritual wealth on us (1 Corinthians 9:11), but turning loose of our cash is only a beginning, a very small baby step of a beginning, in learning to give. Dr. Jack Hayford wrote a wonderful book about it some time back called, \u201cThe Key To Everything\u201d. It\u2019s a life-changing read. What is the key to everything? It\u2019s giving. Giving our money. Giving our talents. Giving our time. Our love. Our best. It\u2019s forgiving, too.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not kid ourselves. Too often, we are like farmers who don\u2019t farm. Who don\u2019t till the hardened fallow ground. Who don\u2019t plant. Who never reap. Owning a farm doesn\u2019t make one a farmer. Working a farm does. Farmers farm. An action that looks like sowing and reaping in fields all day. Believers believe. An action that also looks like sowing and reaping in fields all day.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking for a bumper crop this year. Last year was a fine year for sowing. But beyond the fence line are fields I haven\u2019t touched. I\u2019d like to get some of this year\u2019s increase into that good ground. Who knows how far the borders of the farm might stretch if the land is tended year after year, crop after crop? Who knows how many the land might feed in the end?<\/p>\n

I never knew such simple work could be so satisfying, but after a while it gets in your blood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDo not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.\u201d Galatians 6:7 Early in 1998 I decided to conduct an experiment. \u201cThat\u2019s a pretty specific recollection,\u201d you might say. \u201cThe experiment must … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Mo02-1m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":334,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=334","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":0},"title":"Trivial Pursuit","author":"lsimonds","date":"February 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.\u201d Mathew 23:23 I learned something about myself when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2014"","block_context":{"text":"2014","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=50","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":1},"title":"Anticipation","author":"lsimonds","date":"February 1, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cBut if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.\u201d Romans 8:25 The Lord convicted me about worrying the other day. I know it was Him. You see, I spend a lot of time\u2014I mean, a really lot\u2014hoping for things I don\u2019t have.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2002"","block_context":{"text":"2002","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1258,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1258","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":2},"title":"The Power of Presence","author":"lsimonds","date":"June 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I was sought by those who did not ask for Me;I was found by those who did not seek Me.I said, \u201cHere I am, here I am,\u201dTo a nation that was not called by My name.Isaiah 65:1 I frequently listen to the podcasts published by The Word Church in Lloydminster,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2019"","block_context":{"text":"2019","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":958,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=958","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":3},"title":"Own It","author":"lsimonds","date":"December 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cFor the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.\u201d 1 Corinthians 1:18 I used to think it sounded \u201cbetter\u201d when someone said they were an agnostic instead of an atheist. Agnosticism seemed less\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2017"","block_context":{"text":"2017","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=62","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":4},"title":"See No Evil, Hear No Evil","author":"lsimonds","date":"June 1, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201c\u2026that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened\u2026\u201d Ephesians 1:17-18 April was an extraordinary month for my family. On April 5, my dad had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2002"","block_context":{"text":"2002","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":81,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=81","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":5},"title":"What Will Be","author":"lsimonds","date":"January 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201c\u2026the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,\u2026\u2026which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.\u201d Ephesians 1:18, 23 Some while ago I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2004"","block_context":{"text":"2004","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/85"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}