I’ve been routinely mentioning a particular phrase when we receive our offering: [EC1] “God is taking us off the world’s economy and placing us back onto His which is one of reaping and sowing”. This is becoming even more important, ever more critical in the coming weeks and months as we prepare for Yeshua’s return. What does this statement mean and how exactly does it apply to us? I’m glad you asked, we’ll begin in:
Galatians 6:7-9. Don't delude yourselves: no one makes a fool of God! A person reaps (therizo {ther-id'-zo}: reap, harvest) what he sows (speiro {spi'-ro}: to sow, scatter, seed). 8 Those who keep sowing in the field of their old nature, in order to meet its demands, will eventually reap ruin; but those who keep sowing in the field of the Spirit will reap from the Spirit everlasting life. 9 So let us not grow weary of doing what is good; for if we don't give up, we will in due time reap the harvest.
Our lives as believers, as Messianic Followers of the God of Israel is centered upon a system of reaping and sowing as in agriculture. The opening verse in Galatians warns us not to be deceived, led astray, wander from truth. What truth is that? A person reaps what he sows. Those who submit to the demands of the flesh in the flesh will reap ruin, corruption, and decay. This is a fundamental core value in the Kingdom of Heaven. If you sow corn seed, you’ll harvest corn.
Reaping and sowing is a principle that works whether you believe it or not. For example, a person who tithes above and beyond never has financial issues. Here is a profound fact: In 25 years of ministry and tithing records, we’ve not once helped, counseled, or interceded through our ministerial benevolence anyone that biblically tithes. That’s not a guilt trip, rather its evidence, proof of this Kingdom principle. Yeshua speaks directly to this in:
Luke 6:38. Give (didomi {did'-o-mee}: to give, of one's own accord to give one something, to give what is due or obligatory [Tithes]) and you will receive gifts -- the full measure, compacted, shaken together and overflowing, will be put right in your lap. For the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure back to you!"
These are red letter words spoken by the Master Himself. Yeshua clearly gives us the pattern of reaping what we sow, if you tithe and freely give in love and joy that’s exactly how it will be measured back out to you. The Barna Group found that very few Americans tithe. Overall, the proportion of adults who tithed has remained in the 5 percent to 7 percent range. If you’re a person of loving kindness you will reap loving kindness. If you are a divisive person given to gossip and slander you will be the victim of division, slander, and gossip. A rebellious person who doesn’t submit to authority reaps rebellion and discord. The sages teach that holiness is a mirror, what irritates you in others is a reflection of yourself. If you’re a rude person your quick to see rudeness in others etc…..
This is also experienced at a congregational level, what Kehillat sows is what it reaps! This principle is irrevocable; there is no escape, either for the believer or for the unbeliever. It is a law of life.. The process of sowing and reaping first comes from the Tanach in Job:
Job 4:8. What I see is that those who plow sin and sow (zara` {zaw-rah'} to sow, scatter seed, to produce) trouble reap (qatsar {kaw-tsar'}: reap, harvest, be grieved, discouraged) just that.
We reap what we sow! Here is an Ancient Paths moment. How is your life? How are things with you! If your life is not what you desire, if it isn’t reconciling to the Kingdom of God you must change your own personal atmosphere. Don’t keep living the same life, doing the same deeds and actions and expect different results. It’s a sad but true statistic, those who live in poverty rarely if ever tithe and rarely ever come out of poverty. There are many, many religious teachings that tithing is Old Testament only and since that’s done away with so is tithing but the reality couldn’t be farther from the truth! Yeshua said in Matthew 5 that He did not come to do away with one jot or tiddle of Torah!
Mark 12:14-17. They came and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you tell the truth and are not concerned with what people think about you, since you pay no attention to a person's status but really teach what God's way is. Does Torah say that taxes are to be paid to the Roman Emperor, or not?" 15 But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it." 16 They brought one; and he asked them, "Whose name and picture are these?" "The Emperor's," they replied. 17 Yeshua said, "Give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!" And they were amazed at him.
Yeshua makes a radical statement that holds true today! Pay your taxes to the Government and pay unto God what belongs to God! What does belong to God?
Leviticus 27:30. "'All the tenth given from the land, whether from planted seed or fruit from trees, belongs to ADONAI; it is holy to ADONAI.
So then the next religious argument is that we’re not farmers so we don’t have to do this. Adonai has got this covered:
Haggai 2:8. "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine," says ADONAI-Tzva'ot.
When we add up the tithe, the 10th of all our income, then add in the Shelamim offerings, then the Levitical welfare Tithe of Deut. 14 we see about a 23% tithe rate! Yet when we understand the reaping and sowing aspect, we see the blessings of the most High God upon our lives:
Proverbs 3:9-10. Honor ADONAI with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your income. 10 Then your granaries will be filled and your vats overflow with new wine.
Sha’ul stated that we must do this with a joyful heart, not begrudgingly or with an attitude! As always, we have free will, all that we do we choose to do! But if we choose to do so:
II Corinthians 9:7-10. Each should give according to what he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 Moreover, God has the power to provide you with every gracious gift in abundance, so that always in every way you will have all you need yourselves and be able to provide abundantly for every good cause -9 as the Tanakh says, "He gave generously to the poor; his tzedakah lasts forever." 10 He who provides both seed for the planter and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your tzedakah.
So many people bemoan their current situation in life but won’t change their behavior or actions in order to align their life with the Kingdom of God and reap the harvest, experience the blessings!
Hosea 10:12. If you sow righteousness for yourselves, you will reap according to grace. Break up unused ground for yourselves (niyrû läkhem niyr: niyru: to break up, freshly plough or till, root word is Ner: Lamp, LaKhem is life, niyr: untilled or fallow ground), because it is time to seek ADONAI, till he comes and rains down righteousness upon you.
This Hebrew word play is profound, break up the fallow ground in your life, in your heart, in your spirit, expose the fallow areas of your life, fan the flame of your lamp, your light! Fallow ground doesn’t produce fruit, break up this area that’s become lukewarm, hardened so the light and knowledge of God that that the heavenly see of righteousness may be sowed! Seek Adonai till He comes and rains down righteousness upon you! Seek God, press in until He responds, until He literally pours out, rains righteousness upon you!
Psalm 126:5-6. Those who sow in tears will reap with cries of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping as he carries his sack of seed will come home with cries of joy as he carries his sheaves of grain.
There are many contexts in scripture to sowing, this example is both for the restoration of Israel (the land and the people) and for Israel’s salvation! Sowing seeds of the Good News while weeping brings a joyful harvest. Weeping is a sign of a broken, contrite heart! I’m amazed yet not surprised that it brings us back to humbling ourselves before God, our hearts synchronized and beating with His, weeping over Israel’s salvation, repenting for own wicked and evil nation as we sow the very seed of their redemption and returning with shouts and cries of joy with the harvest!
This is based upon fruit, Yeshua commanded in John 15 that we bear fruit, that’s sowing seeds of the Good News and bringing in the harvest of Souls. Yeshua said in fact that bearing fruit proves we are His Talmidim and Glorifies Adonai:
John 15:2, 8. Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit.
8 This is how my Father is glorified -- in your bearing much fruit; this is how you will prove to be my talmidim.
This is also a warning, anyone who doesn’t bear fruit will be cut off. Seeds and fruit are parables of fruit tree that Yeshua chose to teach us Kingdom Axioms. So we must go all the way back to Genesis 1, to the beginning to understand the words of Yeshua in John 15:
Genesis 1:11. God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, seed-producing plants, and fruit trees (Etz P’riy: Etz is Tree in Hebrew and P’riy: fruit, offspring, children, progeny of the womb, reward), each yielding its own kind of seed-bearing fruit, on the earth"; and that is how it was.
Every living thing produces fruit of its own kind, you reap what you sow. A fig cannot produce apples. The first principle of note is that fruit that’s produced is not for itself. A fig tree does not enjoy the figs. The figs are the result, the harvest, the effects of the growth, nourishment, and maturity of the tree itself. The tree’s fruit does not affect the growth, maturity, or nourishment of the tree, it’s a result of these things. A sick tree, a malnourished tree, an immature tree produces little or no fruit. A dead tree produces no fruit. The fruit itself is desirous for both humans and animals to eat but the purpose is to get the seed into the ground to produce more trees. You can distinguish what kind of tree you have by observing its fruit. Yeshua used this to tie together something very profound and urgent, yet it’s all in the same teaching:
Matthew 7:13-21. "Go in through the narrow gate; for the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road broad, and many travel it; 14 but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 15 "Beware of the false prophets (pseudoprophetes {psyoo-dop-rof-ay'-tace}: a false prophet, pretended foreteller or religious impostor)! They come to you wearing sheep's clothing, but underneath they are hungry wolves! 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Can people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every healthy tree produces good fruit, but a poor tree produces bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, or a poor tree good fruit. 19 Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire! 20 So you will recognize them by their fruit. 21 "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants.
Were reminded to beware, false prophets, falsehood, religious imposters, lying spirits, doctrines of demons! As Sh’aul sated in Galatians, don’t be deceived, don’t be led astray. Why? Because we have a narrow gate to go through, wide is the path to destruction, narrow is the way to life! And how will we know those who are imposters, deceivers, those who are leading people astray! We’ll recognize them by their fruit! A good tree cannot produce bad fruit. That’s how we recognize the wolves. No fruit is a showstopper in the Kingdom. Remember, not everyone is entering into the Kingdom of Heaven, like those who call upon Him but bear bad or no fruit.
Fruit is the Key, fruit is critical because one fruit contains hundreds, even thousands of seeds which are future trees which in turn produce even more fruit. A tree that does not produce fruit will never produce more trees, there’s no harvest. If you don’t produce fruit, you don’t replicate more believers, if there are no more believers the Kingdom declines. A fruitless tree may look strong, tall, vigorous, and be full of leaves, but it has no legacy; because it failed to reproduce the seed that it received to create itself it’s the living dead. Fruitless trees are cut off and destroyed, trees that produce fruit are pruned so even more fruit comes forth.
John 15:2. Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit.
One apple seed that is planted in good soil, nourished and cared for will grow and mature into a large tree that will produce tens of thousands of Apples in its lifetime which contain millions of seeds! You are the fruit of a seed planted long ago. [EC2] As you grow and prosper in Yeshua you then must produce fruit and sow seed, or you are not of the Kingdom of God.
As Messianic Believers were on a journey, a course if you will of intimacy and relationship with God. A restoration of worshipping Adonai in Spirit and truth! Of proclaiming Yeshua while living out a biblically holy, obedient, and submissive lifestyle through our expression of worship, daily living, culture, and calendar. This journey is not an easy one, it can be very difficult and challenging. To be pioneers in anything is to be going against the mainstream, counter culture to what everyone else is doing. But it also comes with great reward, satisfaction, and joy as we draw closer to God and bear fruit!
As we draw closer to Him we begin a transformation as we are molded into His image, we begin to look like scripture, all scripture. The closer we get to Him the more Jewish biblical we look. Not Orthodox Judaism, Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism or any other religious form as they are not Biblical Torah based. Most of Christianity doesn’t look biblical because a lot of what it does isn’t biblical. When the body of Messiah strays from the truth and foundation of Gods instructions and commands, there is no fruit and there are little to no signs and wonders. The power departs.
Pruning is a process that occurs over time. To come into the Messianic realm from the world, Christendom, or non-messianic Judaism takes years, in fact 5-6 years to become cleansed, purified, pruned of the filth and impurity of religion and the world. Pruning also occurs on a more intimate, personal level. This pruning then bears fruit!
From just one seed comes one tree that can produce millions of seeds. This is God’s multiplicative process known as fold. Here is where this all comes together, profoundly. Humanity (Mammon) works in simple interest format. You borrow money as a simple interest, APR Annual Percentage Rate. If you borrow $35,000 dollars to purchase a new car @ 3.5 % interest rate for 40 months. [EC3] You’ll be charged $2,558 in interest, paying back a total of $ 37,558 over 48 months paying $782 a month. A 60 month loan for $35,000 at the same interest rate you’ll pay back $38,203, being charged $3,203 in interest, an increase of $645 in interest. Your monthly payment will drop to $ 637. The longer you take to pay it off the more interest you will pay! This is NOT how the Kingdom of God works. Heaven works on sowing and reaping.
Matthew 19:29. Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times (hekatontaplasion {hek-at-on-ta-plah-sec'-own}: One Hundred Fold, One Hundred Time) more, and he will obtain eternal life.
This revelation, this mystery revealed right here very will might be one of the most important and critical message I give in the next six to nine months as things are looking bleak for our nation! When we stand in covenant with God, when we toil for Him, when we sow into the Kingdom of heaven we are not working for simple interest, we are working in the dunamis, resurrection power of God, His multiplicative power of the supernatural, where a few loaves of bread and fish fed thousands of people, where a little amount of Olive oil will fill dozens of containers, where a little portion of meal will not run out and feed a widow and her son for weeks. Where heaven will provide food for over six million souls every day for forty years as we wondered in the wilderness! Where Yeshua blesses a few fish and some loaves of bread, and thousands are fed with twelve baskets of left overs. This same multiplicative axiom applies to our spreading the seed of salvation! Remember Luke 6:38?
Luke 6:38. Give, and you will receive gifts -- the full measure, compacted, shaken together and overflowing (huperekchuno {hoop-er-ek-khoo'-no}: to pour out beyond measure, to overflow, to run over), will be put right in your lap. For the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure back to you!"
This multiplicative axiom is not affected by famine, pandemics, recession, depression, hyperinflation, food shortages, wars, droughts, or any other calamity! This describes the multiplicative process of fold (times)-if you give, not partially, not 7%, not 2.5 % but at the minimum of what God commanded, 10% plus the additional Shelamim offerings, thanksgiving offerings, and blessing offerings it will be returned to you beyond measure, overflowing, running over! It’s not 10% back to you, it’s One Hundred-Fold! 10% of one is .01, 100-fold (Times) 1 is 100!!!!!!!!
Yeshua spoke about the parable of a farmer who sowed seed (the Word of God, the Message of salvation), some fell on rock soil, some in the thorns and yet others on Good Ground, that good ground is multiplicative:
Mark 4:20. But those sown on rich soil hear the message, accept it and bear fruit -- thirty, sixty or a hundredfold."
May you experience a hundredfold blessing!
Blessings and Shalom!
Rabbi Eric S Carlson
Galatians 6:7-9. Don't delude yourselves: no one makes a fool of God! A person reaps (therizo {ther-id'-zo}: reap, harvest) what he sows (speiro {spi'-ro}: to sow, scatter, seed). 8 Those who keep sowing in the field of their old nature, in order to meet its demands, will eventually reap ruin; but those who keep sowing in the field of the Spirit will reap from the Spirit everlasting life. 9 So let us not grow weary of doing what is good; for if we don't give up, we will in due time reap the harvest.
Our lives as believers, as Messianic Followers of the God of Israel is centered upon a system of reaping and sowing as in agriculture. The opening verse in Galatians warns us not to be deceived, led astray, wander from truth. What truth is that? A person reaps what he sows. Those who submit to the demands of the flesh in the flesh will reap ruin, corruption, and decay. This is a fundamental core value in the Kingdom of Heaven. If you sow corn seed, you’ll harvest corn.
Reaping and sowing is a principle that works whether you believe it or not. For example, a person who tithes above and beyond never has financial issues. Here is a profound fact: In 25 years of ministry and tithing records, we’ve not once helped, counseled, or interceded through our ministerial benevolence anyone that biblically tithes. That’s not a guilt trip, rather its evidence, proof of this Kingdom principle. Yeshua speaks directly to this in:
Luke 6:38. Give (didomi {did'-o-mee}: to give, of one's own accord to give one something, to give what is due or obligatory [Tithes]) and you will receive gifts -- the full measure, compacted, shaken together and overflowing, will be put right in your lap. For the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure back to you!"
These are red letter words spoken by the Master Himself. Yeshua clearly gives us the pattern of reaping what we sow, if you tithe and freely give in love and joy that’s exactly how it will be measured back out to you. The Barna Group found that very few Americans tithe. Overall, the proportion of adults who tithed has remained in the 5 percent to 7 percent range. If you’re a person of loving kindness you will reap loving kindness. If you are a divisive person given to gossip and slander you will be the victim of division, slander, and gossip. A rebellious person who doesn’t submit to authority reaps rebellion and discord. The sages teach that holiness is a mirror, what irritates you in others is a reflection of yourself. If you’re a rude person your quick to see rudeness in others etc…..
This is also experienced at a congregational level, what Kehillat sows is what it reaps! This principle is irrevocable; there is no escape, either for the believer or for the unbeliever. It is a law of life.. The process of sowing and reaping first comes from the Tanach in Job:
Job 4:8. What I see is that those who plow sin and sow (zara` {zaw-rah'} to sow, scatter seed, to produce) trouble reap (qatsar {kaw-tsar'}: reap, harvest, be grieved, discouraged) just that.
We reap what we sow! Here is an Ancient Paths moment. How is your life? How are things with you! If your life is not what you desire, if it isn’t reconciling to the Kingdom of God you must change your own personal atmosphere. Don’t keep living the same life, doing the same deeds and actions and expect different results. It’s a sad but true statistic, those who live in poverty rarely if ever tithe and rarely ever come out of poverty. There are many, many religious teachings that tithing is Old Testament only and since that’s done away with so is tithing but the reality couldn’t be farther from the truth! Yeshua said in Matthew 5 that He did not come to do away with one jot or tiddle of Torah!
Mark 12:14-17. They came and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you tell the truth and are not concerned with what people think about you, since you pay no attention to a person's status but really teach what God's way is. Does Torah say that taxes are to be paid to the Roman Emperor, or not?" 15 But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it." 16 They brought one; and he asked them, "Whose name and picture are these?" "The Emperor's," they replied. 17 Yeshua said, "Give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!" And they were amazed at him.
Yeshua makes a radical statement that holds true today! Pay your taxes to the Government and pay unto God what belongs to God! What does belong to God?
Leviticus 27:30. "'All the tenth given from the land, whether from planted seed or fruit from trees, belongs to ADONAI; it is holy to ADONAI.
So then the next religious argument is that we’re not farmers so we don’t have to do this. Adonai has got this covered:
Haggai 2:8. "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine," says ADONAI-Tzva'ot.
When we add up the tithe, the 10th of all our income, then add in the Shelamim offerings, then the Levitical welfare Tithe of Deut. 14 we see about a 23% tithe rate! Yet when we understand the reaping and sowing aspect, we see the blessings of the most High God upon our lives:
Proverbs 3:9-10. Honor ADONAI with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your income. 10 Then your granaries will be filled and your vats overflow with new wine.
Sha’ul stated that we must do this with a joyful heart, not begrudgingly or with an attitude! As always, we have free will, all that we do we choose to do! But if we choose to do so:
II Corinthians 9:7-10. Each should give according to what he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 Moreover, God has the power to provide you with every gracious gift in abundance, so that always in every way you will have all you need yourselves and be able to provide abundantly for every good cause -9 as the Tanakh says, "He gave generously to the poor; his tzedakah lasts forever." 10 He who provides both seed for the planter and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your tzedakah.
So many people bemoan their current situation in life but won’t change their behavior or actions in order to align their life with the Kingdom of God and reap the harvest, experience the blessings!
Hosea 10:12. If you sow righteousness for yourselves, you will reap according to grace. Break up unused ground for yourselves (niyrû läkhem niyr: niyru: to break up, freshly plough or till, root word is Ner: Lamp, LaKhem is life, niyr: untilled or fallow ground), because it is time to seek ADONAI, till he comes and rains down righteousness upon you.
This Hebrew word play is profound, break up the fallow ground in your life, in your heart, in your spirit, expose the fallow areas of your life, fan the flame of your lamp, your light! Fallow ground doesn’t produce fruit, break up this area that’s become lukewarm, hardened so the light and knowledge of God that that the heavenly see of righteousness may be sowed! Seek Adonai till He comes and rains down righteousness upon you! Seek God, press in until He responds, until He literally pours out, rains righteousness upon you!
Psalm 126:5-6. Those who sow in tears will reap with cries of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping as he carries his sack of seed will come home with cries of joy as he carries his sheaves of grain.
There are many contexts in scripture to sowing, this example is both for the restoration of Israel (the land and the people) and for Israel’s salvation! Sowing seeds of the Good News while weeping brings a joyful harvest. Weeping is a sign of a broken, contrite heart! I’m amazed yet not surprised that it brings us back to humbling ourselves before God, our hearts synchronized and beating with His, weeping over Israel’s salvation, repenting for own wicked and evil nation as we sow the very seed of their redemption and returning with shouts and cries of joy with the harvest!
This is based upon fruit, Yeshua commanded in John 15 that we bear fruit, that’s sowing seeds of the Good News and bringing in the harvest of Souls. Yeshua said in fact that bearing fruit proves we are His Talmidim and Glorifies Adonai:
John 15:2, 8. Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit.
8 This is how my Father is glorified -- in your bearing much fruit; this is how you will prove to be my talmidim.
This is also a warning, anyone who doesn’t bear fruit will be cut off. Seeds and fruit are parables of fruit tree that Yeshua chose to teach us Kingdom Axioms. So we must go all the way back to Genesis 1, to the beginning to understand the words of Yeshua in John 15:
Genesis 1:11. God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, seed-producing plants, and fruit trees (Etz P’riy: Etz is Tree in Hebrew and P’riy: fruit, offspring, children, progeny of the womb, reward), each yielding its own kind of seed-bearing fruit, on the earth"; and that is how it was.
Every living thing produces fruit of its own kind, you reap what you sow. A fig cannot produce apples. The first principle of note is that fruit that’s produced is not for itself. A fig tree does not enjoy the figs. The figs are the result, the harvest, the effects of the growth, nourishment, and maturity of the tree itself. The tree’s fruit does not affect the growth, maturity, or nourishment of the tree, it’s a result of these things. A sick tree, a malnourished tree, an immature tree produces little or no fruit. A dead tree produces no fruit. The fruit itself is desirous for both humans and animals to eat but the purpose is to get the seed into the ground to produce more trees. You can distinguish what kind of tree you have by observing its fruit. Yeshua used this to tie together something very profound and urgent, yet it’s all in the same teaching:
Matthew 7:13-21. "Go in through the narrow gate; for the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road broad, and many travel it; 14 but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 15 "Beware of the false prophets (pseudoprophetes {psyoo-dop-rof-ay'-tace}: a false prophet, pretended foreteller or religious impostor)! They come to you wearing sheep's clothing, but underneath they are hungry wolves! 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Can people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every healthy tree produces good fruit, but a poor tree produces bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, or a poor tree good fruit. 19 Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire! 20 So you will recognize them by their fruit. 21 "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants.
Were reminded to beware, false prophets, falsehood, religious imposters, lying spirits, doctrines of demons! As Sh’aul sated in Galatians, don’t be deceived, don’t be led astray. Why? Because we have a narrow gate to go through, wide is the path to destruction, narrow is the way to life! And how will we know those who are imposters, deceivers, those who are leading people astray! We’ll recognize them by their fruit! A good tree cannot produce bad fruit. That’s how we recognize the wolves. No fruit is a showstopper in the Kingdom. Remember, not everyone is entering into the Kingdom of Heaven, like those who call upon Him but bear bad or no fruit.
Fruit is the Key, fruit is critical because one fruit contains hundreds, even thousands of seeds which are future trees which in turn produce even more fruit. A tree that does not produce fruit will never produce more trees, there’s no harvest. If you don’t produce fruit, you don’t replicate more believers, if there are no more believers the Kingdom declines. A fruitless tree may look strong, tall, vigorous, and be full of leaves, but it has no legacy; because it failed to reproduce the seed that it received to create itself it’s the living dead. Fruitless trees are cut off and destroyed, trees that produce fruit are pruned so even more fruit comes forth.
John 15:2. Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit.
One apple seed that is planted in good soil, nourished and cared for will grow and mature into a large tree that will produce tens of thousands of Apples in its lifetime which contain millions of seeds! You are the fruit of a seed planted long ago. [EC2] As you grow and prosper in Yeshua you then must produce fruit and sow seed, or you are not of the Kingdom of God.
As Messianic Believers were on a journey, a course if you will of intimacy and relationship with God. A restoration of worshipping Adonai in Spirit and truth! Of proclaiming Yeshua while living out a biblically holy, obedient, and submissive lifestyle through our expression of worship, daily living, culture, and calendar. This journey is not an easy one, it can be very difficult and challenging. To be pioneers in anything is to be going against the mainstream, counter culture to what everyone else is doing. But it also comes with great reward, satisfaction, and joy as we draw closer to God and bear fruit!
As we draw closer to Him we begin a transformation as we are molded into His image, we begin to look like scripture, all scripture. The closer we get to Him the more Jewish biblical we look. Not Orthodox Judaism, Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism or any other religious form as they are not Biblical Torah based. Most of Christianity doesn’t look biblical because a lot of what it does isn’t biblical. When the body of Messiah strays from the truth and foundation of Gods instructions and commands, there is no fruit and there are little to no signs and wonders. The power departs.
Pruning is a process that occurs over time. To come into the Messianic realm from the world, Christendom, or non-messianic Judaism takes years, in fact 5-6 years to become cleansed, purified, pruned of the filth and impurity of religion and the world. Pruning also occurs on a more intimate, personal level. This pruning then bears fruit!
From just one seed comes one tree that can produce millions of seeds. This is God’s multiplicative process known as fold. Here is where this all comes together, profoundly. Humanity (Mammon) works in simple interest format. You borrow money as a simple interest, APR Annual Percentage Rate. If you borrow $35,000 dollars to purchase a new car @ 3.5 % interest rate for 40 months. [EC3] You’ll be charged $2,558 in interest, paying back a total of $ 37,558 over 48 months paying $782 a month. A 60 month loan for $35,000 at the same interest rate you’ll pay back $38,203, being charged $3,203 in interest, an increase of $645 in interest. Your monthly payment will drop to $ 637. The longer you take to pay it off the more interest you will pay! This is NOT how the Kingdom of God works. Heaven works on sowing and reaping.
Matthew 19:29. Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times (hekatontaplasion {hek-at-on-ta-plah-sec'-own}: One Hundred Fold, One Hundred Time) more, and he will obtain eternal life.
This revelation, this mystery revealed right here very will might be one of the most important and critical message I give in the next six to nine months as things are looking bleak for our nation! When we stand in covenant with God, when we toil for Him, when we sow into the Kingdom of heaven we are not working for simple interest, we are working in the dunamis, resurrection power of God, His multiplicative power of the supernatural, where a few loaves of bread and fish fed thousands of people, where a little amount of Olive oil will fill dozens of containers, where a little portion of meal will not run out and feed a widow and her son for weeks. Where heaven will provide food for over six million souls every day for forty years as we wondered in the wilderness! Where Yeshua blesses a few fish and some loaves of bread, and thousands are fed with twelve baskets of left overs. This same multiplicative axiom applies to our spreading the seed of salvation! Remember Luke 6:38?
Luke 6:38. Give, and you will receive gifts -- the full measure, compacted, shaken together and overflowing (huperekchuno {hoop-er-ek-khoo'-no}: to pour out beyond measure, to overflow, to run over), will be put right in your lap. For the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure back to you!"
This multiplicative axiom is not affected by famine, pandemics, recession, depression, hyperinflation, food shortages, wars, droughts, or any other calamity! This describes the multiplicative process of fold (times)-if you give, not partially, not 7%, not 2.5 % but at the minimum of what God commanded, 10% plus the additional Shelamim offerings, thanksgiving offerings, and blessing offerings it will be returned to you beyond measure, overflowing, running over! It’s not 10% back to you, it’s One Hundred-Fold! 10% of one is .01, 100-fold (Times) 1 is 100!!!!!!!!
Yeshua spoke about the parable of a farmer who sowed seed (the Word of God, the Message of salvation), some fell on rock soil, some in the thorns and yet others on Good Ground, that good ground is multiplicative:
Mark 4:20. But those sown on rich soil hear the message, accept it and bear fruit -- thirty, sixty or a hundredfold."
May you experience a hundredfold blessing!
Blessings and Shalom!
Rabbi Eric S Carlson
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