Gtcotr/ss101319
Genesis 4 NKJV
1 ¶ Now Adam knew Eve his
wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from
the LORD.”
2 Then she bore again, this
time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of
the ground.
3 ¶ And in the process of
time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground
to the LORD.
4 Abel also brought of the
firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his
offering,
5 but He did not respect Cain
and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
The
familiar story of Cain and Abel ends with Cain being so angry that he went out
into the field, argued with Abel and ended up killing him. We understand that
this first murder in the Bible happened during the fall of the year,
specifically at harvest time. You see, Harvest time is
also offering time.
The
Bible does not give us details as to how Adam and Eve raised Cain and Abel however we can conclude from this one passage that Adam taught his children to
honor God and to thank Him for their harvest by bringing an offering to Him.
And,
not just any old offering … but the best: the best of the flock and the best of
the field. Cain failed to do so, and God was not pleased with him.
Fast
forward about 2000 years or so and we come to another picture of harvest time.
This time it’s in a dream.
Genesis 37 NKJV
5 ¶ Now Joseph had a dream,
and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.
6 So he said to them, “Please
hear this dream which I have dreamed:
7 “There we were, binding
sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and
indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8 And his brothers said to
him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over
us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
The
stalks of grain were gathered at harvest time and bundled into standing sheaves
to dry. The story of Joseph and his brothers continues to unfold and ends up
with them being so angry with Joseph that they conspire to kill him but, by the
grace of God, they end up only selling him into slavery and telling his father
that some wild animal killed him.
Joseph’s
brothers continued to feud and fuss and fight and wasted so much of their time
arguing that they grieved the family and almost destroyed everyone’s life. What
good does all the fighting do? Families fighting
amongst themselves is such a waste of time, energy, and
opportunity.
Again,
this happened at the time of harvest when they were gathering in the fruit of
the field. Harvest time is a special time to God and
the devil knows it. The devil wants to get his hands on your harvest.
Just at the time when there are so many blessings and so much opportunity, here
comes the devil …
How
does the devil try to steal your harvest? He makes every effort to get you
distracted from all of the blessings and opportunities God has given you.
Instead, just like he did with Cain and the sons of Jacob, the devil tries his
best to make you angry and divide you from family and friends and ultimately
separate you from God and His continued blessings. We may not all agree or be
best friends, but we can certainly keep from hating and trying to hurt and
destroy each other.
I
believe every Born-Again Believer in Jesus as Messiah is already abundantly blessed
and given the greatest opportunity known to mankind. We have the privilege of
telling others the Good News and living our lives as examples of what God will
do for anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord. However, many Born-Again
Believers in Jesus Christ are being drawn right along with the devil’s plan for
this world to distract and destroy both the blessings and the opportunities God
is willing to give us.
We are in the time of harvest. Your blessings are abundant, and your
opportunities abound. If the devil can make you angry, like he did Cain and
like he did with the 12 sons of Jacob, he can divide you from your family, from
your friends, and ultimately from the blessings of God on your life.
Last week I heard myself say something and
immediately I felt the Holy Spirit confirm the words in my spirit. I will be so
bold as to call it “An admonition from the Lord.”
I rarely listen to the news on radio or TV and
have a difficult time finding newsprint media outlets I can trust. I’m not
searching for someone who will agree with me but rather someone who will simply
report the unbiased facts. What I find is that every report is filled with
opinionated, biased, negative commentary, blasting opponents in efforts to
destroy their credibility and cause them shame, without regard as to what is
best for America, but only fighting for what is best for some political party
or special interest group.
Just like the far majority of Americans, I am
just fed up with it and the whole thing makes me want to vomit. What is
happening … can’t anyone agree with anything? Is the almighty dollar or staying
in empty power worth that much? Every question posed … every sidestepped
response is vitriolic and inflamed with hatred. They madly lunge straight for
the juggler … cutting and slashing and interrupting and all for what?
I was sitting in a doctor’s office last week,
listening to the latest volley of political hate speech from both sides, when,
ashamed of what I was hearing, I heard myself say out loud: “We are better than this!”
What is anyone doing to build our roads,
strengthen our bridges, help our homeless, better our schools, pay our national
debt, preserve our world image, protect our national borders, keep our citizens
safe, provide for elderly care, insure disaster relief, and keep guns out of
the hands of those who want to harm us and in the hands of those who want to
protect us? Not to mention the desperate need for America to wake up and
realize the God has blessed our nation and it is by His grace that we stay
strong.
Issues and answers aren’t judged on their
merits anymore but rather on who proposed them. If one side said it, the other
side is against it. Forget the fact that it might be a great step towards some
solution … but, “If they’re for it, I’m against it” … That’s just the way it
is.
Surely, if our leaders and our educators and
our celebrities and our media would spend half as much time trying to find ways
to better America as they do trying to find ways to tear down their political
and ideological opponents, we could solve most if not all of the problems of
the world. What’s going on here? It’s the devil! And people are falling
for it right and left.
Right in the middle of all of the blessings
and the opportunities we have to do something great and really help the needy
and leave the next generation with something better, we are divided and argue
against the truth with every breath. Believe me when I say:
We are better than this !
Our families are divided, our communities are
divided, our government is divided, and even our Churches are divided.
Remember I said that these things happened at
harvest time? Well guess what … It’s harvest time again.
Today on God’s calendar marks the day each
year that God chose for His children to celebrate The
Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is also known as The Feast of Ingathering.
At the beginning of the new year, the Children of Israel were commanded to
celebrate their harvests of corn, new wine and olive oil with a feast. God told
them to bring Him a freewill offering in remembrance of a time before they had
nice houses to eat in and warm beds to sleep in. They were to build a temporary
shelter out of doors and stay in that “booth” as they called it, for a week. It
was something like a family camp out that reminded them of how it was before
the blessings and how good it is now. It is a feast!
Deuteronomy 16:16 “Three times a year all your males shall
appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and
they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.
Today is the beginning of this year’s Feast of
Tabernacles and we should not appear before the LORD empty-handed.
If we want to have God’s blessing on our
nation, our family and our life, let’s at least offer these three things to God
today:
1.
Refuse to be a part of the angry divide.
a. Studies show that
the more educated and successful a person is, the more they are willing to
disregard truth that does not support their opinion.
b. Stop fighting and
start fixing.
c. Start agreeing with
things that are right even when it comes from the mouths of people you don’t
like.
2.
Pray for our leaders; Confess the Word of God over their lives; and
Command all spiritual darkness to leave them in the name of Jesus.
3.
Reach across the aisle.
a. Someone has to take
the first step
b. Someone has to make
the first move
c. Someone has to be
the one God will use
i. In your neighborhood
ii. At school
iii. In the workplace
iv. On social media
You
can be that someone … believe me … God knows … and let’s show others …
We are better than this!
