Luke 8:5- 8  “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

John15:1-8 ““I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Do you know that some plants only bear once a year, like corn, that then that is it?  On the other hand some plants bear throughout the year such as a class of the evergreen.

What about us? Are we bearing only once a year or through the year?  What kind of plant are we?  Are we like the pumpkin vine where we bear once and then that is it?  Or are we like the mango tree bearing several times throughout the year and ready to start all over again next year?   Are we content just to bear once a year or to bear throughout the year in and out of season? 

This is our challenge today.  God want us to bear fruit and sow His word into the lives of people.  People need the Lord Jesus Christ to come into their lives to make the difference.  But how will they know unless someone goes and ministers to them?  Are we content to sit on our spiritual bottoms instead of producing more and more fruit?  What do I mean?  God is reminding us that there is a harvest of souls that need to be reached but they are being hindered from entering into the kingdom by our:

1. Disobedience.  God needs each of us to listen and obey him.  He is sending us.  To obey is better than to sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.  What are we doing instead of bringing someone into the presence of the Almighty God?
2. Waiting on a special occasion & opportunity.  God wants to enter into people’s everyday situation using ordinariness of the situation.  People need us to minister to them where they are. Some of these people we will never meet again but that encounter is what they are waiting for transformation of their lives.  Others will need us to have ongoing conversation with them to break through the barriers erected.  We need to stop waiting and start today.
3. Closed minds & spirits.  Too often we are closed to people because they are different from us.  Like God we need to judge by the condition of the heart instead of by appearances.
4.  Lack of focus and disorganized thinking.  We need to make sure that we are not distracted from our main mission.  Each of us has a spiritual need and only God, our shelter in the time of storm, can fill that gap.

We need to point others to this Jesus who offers living water not just to one person but can transcend individual, communal, national and international borders bringing salvation to all. 

Let us therefore repent of these hindrances which prevent us from bearing fruit continuously.  Let us commit ourselves to being perennial plants bearing in and out of season, telling others about the gospel of Jesus Christ which has the power to change their lives and their nations.

PRAYER

Father, forgive me for putting up hindrances which prevent me from bearing fruit and reaping the harvest of souls for you.  I come to you now for a fresh anointing to do what you have called me to do, in the name of the El Shaddai, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.