What is Our Harvest - Laverne Miller

Good morning, Ingredients in our Savior's name. This morning. It's

good to be here with you and worship with you.

How many of you are enjoying the miracle of plant

growth and development and fruit. I love this time of year.

I enjoy going out to the garden in the evening

after I get home from work, and watering the plants,

watching the growth of the plants, of the fruit, and

I'm just amazed at the miracle that takes place in

the garden. It may be on your deck, it may

be in the orchard. We see it all around. But

you go out to the garden, and so I relate

to the things that we have in our garden, and

you watch the onions and the red beads and some

of those things. The growth is a little slower. But

you go to the bean patch, the green bean patch,

and you pick the beans on Monday, all right. You

pick the ones that are ready to be picked, and

there's ones that are clearly not ready to be picked. Right. Well,

you go out two days later and there are beans

begging to be picked in two days. Something is taking place.

The cucumbers. We want different sized cucumbers for different things.

But again, give it two days, and I am amazed

at what is taking place within those little cucumbers. They're

growing fast. The zucchini plant again, they just start really small,

give them just several days. I'm amazed at what's taking place.

The corn. We live at a little higher elevation, and

corn is a little trickier to grow. We'd like for

it to be knee high by the fourth of July

to get fruit. It's not always that, but you watch

those little corn stalks slowly grow, slowly grow, and then

it seems like there's a there's a trigger that flips.

Suddenly they're tasseling, and it comes quickly. And as soon

as they tassel, there's ears coming. You don't notice the

ears before that, and those ears start developing and growing,

and soon there's ears of corn on the stalks. Just

amazing how that growth takes place within the plant. Found

that verse that we considered in Sunday School. Our death

and life are in the power of the tongue, and

they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof we

planted a green bean patch. We enjoy green beans, and

we grew a patch. It's one of our staple vegetables,

green beans. We like green beans. And so we planted

those green bean seeds in the garden, and those seeds

grew plants, and those plants are growing green beans, and

we're harvesting those green beans. No marvel, right, we like

green beans. We planted green beans, we watered green beans.

Guess what we're picking green beans. What's your vision this morning?

Is it death or is it life? You are planting

this morning. I am planting this morning. I am watering

this morning. You are watering this morning. You are watching

something grow. Is it to life or to death? We're

gonna get the fruit thereof harvest is my subject this morning.

Mm hmm. We are so blessed. We are so blessed

in this land, this country. We live in food. The

shortage of food we cannot even relate to. Yes, COVID

maybe introduced a little bit of something of that nature

to us, but we don't know what shortage of food is.

The wise man said says in Proverbs, go to the ant,

though sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, having no ruler,

provideth her meat in the summer, and gathered her food

in the harvest. I believe God expects us to enjoy,

to invest in and to benefit from the fruits of

the earth. He gave them to us. And you know

the feeling. You know the reward of having invested in

your garden, some money, a lot of labor, and then

receiving and rejoicing in the reward of that labor or

a job well done. Take any job, you do it well,

and you finish it, and you are rewarded with the

job well done. There are a lot of parallels between

the natural and the spiritual. And I ask us this morning,

do we consider do we take the time to sit

back and consider God's work in my life, God's investment

in my life? And what is the fruit that I'm bearing?

What is it that's coming from me? And as God

looks on, where's it? Act is he rewarded? I believe

he can be. I believe he wants to be, and

I believe he is when my life is perdue. You've

seen fruit that glorifies him. He is rewarded just as

I am when I have accomplished a job well done.

Before we consider some fruit, I want to notice a

couple of gardening rules that God put in place when

he created. The first one I find in one Corinthians

three six. I have planted, paul says A Paulus watered,

but God gave the increase. Whether we're speaking of the

natural or the spiritual, I believe we have a part

to play, and God has his part to play. I

can only imagine you find it the same way. But

our garden does not happen by itself. It's a sight

to behold in the spring, and so for us to

be able to glean from a profitable garden, we have

to invest in it. But I don't make the beans grow.

That's God. We both have a part to play. The

fruit is for our enjoyment and benefit and for those

around us. The second rule we find in Galatians sixty seven,

be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a

man soweth, that shall he also reap in the natural sense.

Like I've already said, we wouldn't want it any other way.

I've got these, this this row of young grape vines

that I wish would go. But again there it's been

a slow process. Every year they have just a few

grapes here and there, a few more this year. Now,

I'd be really disappointed to go out there and find

cucumbers hanging on the vines. Very disappointed. I planted grapes,

and that's what I intend to get. Why is it

when I sew to the flesh, somehow I think that

my harvest will be good fruit? We do that? Why

that's not God's law. We reap what we sew. Thirdly,

from Mark four twenty nine. But when the fruit is

brought forth, immediately he puteth in the sickle, because the

harvest is come. The harvest will come, The harvest will

come again. I'd be very disappointed to put all that

work in the garden, prepare it, plant it, and not

get any yield from the plants. Be very disappointing. Harvest

will come. That law is just as sure. As I

plant in my life, as I nurture the plants in

my life, as I begin to bear fruit in my life,

that law is just as real. Harvest will come. Fourthly,

I find in Matthew thirteen eight in the parable of

the sower, but others fell into good ground and brought

forth fruit, some and one hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

We find here that we reap what we sow. We

see this in the seeds we plant. We can we plant. Ever,

so ever, so few seeds, but we are blessed with

a tremendous amount, a tremendous multiplication of that one seeds,

as those plants bear fruit. Why is it that, again,

when I sow to the flesh, I wish I could

cut off the harvest. That's enough, now, it's not the

way it works. What I sew in my life will

bear many times more good or bad. Moving on to

some fruit, I'm going to go to the fruit of

the spirit that Paul gives in Galatians five gives us

a short concise list here of spirit fruit, godly fruit,

that is character qualities, It is God, it is the

essence of God. And as we bear the spirit of God,

it is the fruit that He wants to find in

our lives Verses twenty thru twenty two to twenty five.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there

is no law, And they that are christs have crucified

the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live

in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.

The work of fruit bearing is God's work. God's work

within my life as I live in His spirit. The

first one is his love. I liken his love to

green beans. You go to the bean plant, and you search,

and you search to find all the beans. They're hidden

among the stems and among the leaves, and you must

search to find the beans. And at the peak of

the season there are many many beans hanging from the plants.

There can be believe God's love is a gift we

must look for. It's there, It's been there all the time.

But I believe God's love is a gift we must

look for. Life is hard on the surface. It can

feel like there's a lot of stress. There's a lot

of loss, a lot of pain, a lot of uncertainty,

and life is full of that. Roman's eight twenty eight says,

And we know that all things work together for good

to them that love God, to them who are the

called according to His purpose. I believe, as we have

faith in God and that He is in control of

my life and life in the bigger picture, that when

these things come into my life, I don't have to

look at them as a curse. I've known one person

especially that I felt had a little bit of that view,

but God's love is there. God loves you, and God

loves me. And if I look for God's love, it's

there and I'll find it. God loves us in the storm.

When I don't have the feeling that I deserve God's

love and God's goodness to me, then every day is

a gift from God. Everything I have has been given

to me by God, and I can realize the greatness

of God's love for me, all that He's done for me.

Our world is in such need of God's love, and

we have as many opportunities to love as there are

beans in the bean patch. Everywhere we turn, we have

the opportunity to love, to show God's love. Love is

the mark of the Christian and I believe love will

win more battles than guns. You can stock in your closet.

Love will win when it's God's love. Next, Paul mentions joy,

I like enjoy to corn. You take one corn kernel

and put it in the ground, and when it dies

and that life sprouts. I've never taken the time to

count the kernels of corn on an ear of corn,

but how many times is that corn multiplied? Amazing, and

that stock may have two ears. Rejoice in the Lord

all way, and again I say, rejoice, Rejoice evermore. Joy

begets joy. When God's joy is in my heart, he

enables me to rejoice even when life is difficult. It's

another miracle of God. How in the time of loss,

in the time of pain, in the time of trial,

how can we have joy? Believe that's another miracle of God.

The work of God his spirit within us. Our joy

is not found in circumstances. Rather, the presence of God.

Joy is contagious. A smile will almost always beget a smile.

Joy can lift another out of the darkness, out of gloom,

out of despair, kernel of joy and spread it around.

Your world needs it. Let the joy of Christ flow

through you. Next, he mentions peace. I liken peace to

grape juice. You know that wonderful flavor of smooth flavor

of grape juice as you as those grapes blend together

to produce that liquid, very satisfying when you are thirsty.

If you have a little child, they come in from

playing outside, they're hot, they're sweaty, they're thirsty, and you

give them a drink maybe of grape juice. It's cool,

it's refreshing and they drink and drink and drink till

it's all gone, and then they grunted. They're satisfied. God

wants us to be at peace. God wants us to

be satisfied in the fullness of Himself, and the very

God of Peace, sanctify you, Holy, And I pray God,

your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless

unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't

work in installment. Yes, he does work and installments, but

his filling is full every step of the way. God

wants us to be satisfied in Him. God wants us

to be filled in Him by Him. Now, the Lord

of Peace himself, give you peace always by all means.

God wants us at peace and at rest. And the

peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your

hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. God wants to fill us.

We can't understand how I cannot understand the peace of God,

but it's there. And may you enjoy the peace of

God personally and then be at peace with one another. Next,

Paul mentions his long suffering. I like and long suffering

to pickles. We enjoy going and picking cucumbers and eating

fresh cucumbers. We eat a lot of fresh cucumbers, but

my family also likes pickles. But those cucumbers have to

go through a process. We take them and we wash,

we scrub them, we take the ends off. We either

slice or wedge them. They get put into jars in

a brine. Then they get canned, and then they sit

on the shelf. Need to age, They need to have

some long suffering in order to be what they're intended

to be as pickles. Long suffering is forbearance, it's patience,

it's suffering long Colossians twent eleven, strengthened with all might

according to his glorious power, unto all patience, and long suffering,

with joyfulness, patience and long suffering. How do those words

hit you? Those words are not words of weakness. It's

easy to think they are, but they're not. They're filled

with might, and if you can imagine, they can be

done with joyfulness. To be patient, to suffer long, and

to do it with joy is more than you or

I can do. The natural man cannot do that. But

it's the feeling of the spirit of God. It's the

fruit of the spirit that allows us to have joy

in those circumstances. Paul mentions his gentleness next. I liken

gentleness to a tomato. Kindness, fairness, sweet reasonableness. Makes me

think of the way we must handle that ripe tomato

very gently. We teach our very young children to be gentle.

You don't go up to the baby and squeeze her.

You don't go up to another child and grab their face.

You be gentle, You to touch softly, You be reasonable.

I know we're adults here, but we must treat each

other with regard. We must treat each other gently. There's

time to get a little more aggressive, but we must

be gentle to do unto others as you would have

them do unto you, and be kind one to another,

tenderhearted forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake,

has forgiven you. From my vantage point, I think I

can understand what's going on and what's going through your

mind and why you're doing what you're doing. I just remember,

I don't see the full picture. I don't see the

full picture. I don't know what all is going on

in your life to produce how you're responding. I don't

know that I don't know everything be gentle, handle your brother,

handle your sister as you would a nice ripe tomato.

The next fruit pul mensions is goodness. I don't know

what I like better than to bite into a nice, sweet, crisp,

juicy apple delicious. Scripture is very clear that God is

the only one who is good. God is the only

one who is one hundred percent good. None of us,

none of us, can claim that Romans two four or

despises thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and

long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth

thee to repentance. I like this verse, What was it

that brought you around? That brought me around to the

place of accepting God's love for me? What was it

God's goodness? Do we realize that if it wasn't for

God's goodness, it wouldn't have happened. It is not within me.

I would not have responded. It's because of what God

has play, God's drawing in us, God's goodness, add to

that his forbearance and long suffering with me. That's why

I am where I am today. That's why I why

I am who I am today because of God's patience

with me. Ps I'm thirty four to eight. Oh, taste

and see that the Lord is good? Do you believe it?

Have you reached out for it? If not, the Psalmist,

the Psalmist here says, try it. Just taste it and

find out of God's goodness. It's there. God is good,

and God will be good to you. Reach out and

try it. Next, we have faith. I liken faith to

the nuts that we harvest. We have a couple of

walnut trees in the yard. I've started a few Philbert trees,

and I enjoy going out there and when it's time

shaking the trees and gathering the nuts ahead of the squirrels,

and taking those nuts and taking them in the house

and drying them. And it takes just a little faith

on my part to believe that there's fruit in that

light nut. But most often they're read a few verses

from Hebrews chapter ten, the writer urges us to reach

out in faith. Hebrews ten twenty two and twenty three.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full

assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,

and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold

fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he

is faithful that promised. Try God. Maybe you just have

a little faith, step out and try God. He will

respond to your faith. Then, in chapter twelve, verse two,

he says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of

our faith, it is God that starts us on our journey,

and it is God that we will meet at the

end of the road. He is the one who prepared

the way for us. He is the one who I

don't understand how all it works. But He is behind

my faith, the faith that I put in him, and

the work of his spirit in my life. He is

truly responsible for the good that my life that comes

of my life. But without faith it is impossible to

please him. For he that cometh to God must believe

that He is, and that He is a rewarder of

them that diligently seek Him. Next we have. The next

fruit we have is meekness. I like in meekness to squash.

I haven't met anyone who feels too glamorous about the squash. Yes,

we grow them, we intentionally grow them, we enjoy them,

but they're usually not a showpiece. Most people either like

them or don't. Not a lot of in between. But

for all the talk that I've heard about squash, I've

never had one respond to those you know, dirty remarks.

They're meek. I believe meekness is a character trait that

a good many of us could use a good dose of.

I need more meekness. It's so easy for that little

helium balloon of ego within me to rise higher and

higher and higher. We just have that ingrained within us.

Meekness is described as an in wrought grace of the soul.

We need that work of God within us, deep within us,

the work of his spirit. We need his meekness in

our lives. Meeknesses we somewhat couple up with humility. There

is not a struggle or a fight against God when

we have his meekness, and his meekness works out in

our lives, in our in our human relationships. Cuts out

the struggle, cuts out, the fight, cuts out the ego.

It's the way the spirit of God works from within.

He changes within, and then and then we bear his fruit. Lastly,

we have temperance. I like in temperance to beef. I

haven't handled as many cows as some of you have

but I've witnessed quite a variety of responses of cows

who are cornered and corraled and attempted to be trailered temperance.

We like cows that aren't temperamental, but that are easy

going and easy to handle. We look around our world

today and we quickly see how unpopular temperance is. Look

within our own lives. The natural man does not like

to be temperate. We want what we want, and we

want it now, and I want more than I need.

It's not popular to be temperate. I know a little

bit about the struggle, the battle with the flesh, and

the fight against temperance. But I also have experienced some

of the work of God and the fruit of His

spirit in bringing control to that in temperance, and I

have more room to grow. We need that grip of

God in our lives. And I find it inspiring to

see God's work happening in my own life and in

the lives of others, his fruit being grown. I believe

that's the work of temperance. Temperance is self control. Temperance

is again strength. There's nothing weak about the word temperance.

It is a strength, a godly strength, a God given

strength that enables me to say yes to God and

his principle when my flesh is crying out for the opposite,

that is power. Believe that's what God, the Spirit of God,

wants to perfect in our lives. And so in this

harvest time of year where we are harvesting, and there

will be more to come if the Lord terries. And

in this harvest time of year, as you enjoy the

fruit of your labor, the fruit of the ground, let

us consider the fruit of our lives and the work

of God and what He is wanting to produce in us.

And God bless you as you bear more fruit for

His glory.