"I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly."  Jesus said this in the tenth chapter of John's gospel and yet there are many born again people who still have lack operating in their lives.  There are people who lack physically in their bodies, lack financially in their bank accounts, and lack socially in their relationships. What is keeping believers from having their needs met? What is keeping Christians from experiencing abundance in every area of their lives? 

In the book of Genesis, Chapter 1 we see the miracle of God's creation.  In that miracle of creation there is a law that God released into motion called the Law of Genesis.  The Law of Genesis says that every seed that is sown will produce after its own kind.  In other words, if we sow a seed of corn, then that seed will harvest a crop of corn.  We cannot sow a seed of corn and harvest a crop of beans because the Law of Genesis says that every seed produces after its own kind.  In the New Testament we see the law of Genesis referred to in Galatians 6:7.  It says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."  As you can see again from this scripture we will not reap something that we do not sow.  In Genesis 8:22 God introduces us to another law called the Law of Seedtime and Harvest.  In that verse God said, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." This law simply states that as long as the Earth remains seeds will be sown and harvests will be produced. 

These scriptures and these laws are not just referring to the physical seeds that produce plants.  As people on this Earth everything we do is a seed.  Galatians 6:7 says, "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."  In our lives, if we want to see a certain harvest then we have to be willing to sow the seed that will produce that harvest.  If we want to see financial prosperity in our lives, then we have to get involved in the financial prosperity of someone else.  In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 6 we see Jesus refer to these laws in verse 38 when He said, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." Notice in this scripture Jesus did not tell us what to give.  He simply said whatever we give as a seed will come back to us in harvest form.  In other words, whatever we choose to give (money, prayers, encouragement) will come back to us.  We get to choose the "it" that we give, and what we choose to give will determine what is given back to us.  If we want to see a need met in our lives, then we have to find someone else with a similar need and meet their need. Then that seed that we sow qualifies us for provision to show up in our lives.  The tremendous thing about the law of seedtime and harvest is that the harvest always comes back much greater than the seed.  We see from this scripture in Luke 6:38 that spiritual sowing and reaping goes hand in hand with physical sowing and reaping in the sense that we do not get just one seed of corn back when we sow one corn seed.  You get a whole stock of corn praise God!  What we do for others will come back to us in a multiplied manner.    

The law of seedtime and harvest can work for us or against us based on what we choose to sow into the lives of other people because whatever we give will be given back to us.  When we choose to sow towards someone else's debt deliverance, then we can expect that seed to produce debt deliverance in our lives.  At the same time, if we operate in selfishness and never sow into the lives of other people, then we cannot expect to see our needs being met.  We determine what we have in life, based on what seeds we choose to sow.  According to the law of seedtime and harvest, nothing just happens.  Every harvest in our lives is the result of a seed that we have sown.  Now that can be hard on some of our religious doctrine, but it is simply the truth.  If we are believingGod for healing, then we need to sow towards another person's healing.  If we are battling discouragement, then we need to minister encouragement into the life a person who is also battling discouragement.  We need to get on the positive side of the law of seedtime and harvest and begin to sow good seeds that will produce harvests that we desire in our lives.  In Matthew 7:12 Jesus said, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."  Jesus told us this because he knew that what we did for others would be done back to us.  First Thessalonians 5:15 says, "See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men." When somebody treats us poorly we do not repay evil with evil.  We sow the "do-good seed" and treat them "good", so that "good" can come back to us.  That is why Galatians 6:9 says, "And let us not get weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." This scripture encourages us to continue sowing the "do-good seed" and we will reap a harvest of "good" being done to us. 

Understanding the law of Genesis and the law of seedtime and harvest enables us to make this statement; whatever harvest that we do not have in our lives is a direct result of our unwillingness to sow the seed that would produce it.  The law of seedtime and harvest says that whatever we want done in our lives we have to do for someone else before it can be done for us.  Perhaps the reason that we have not seen the miracle in our lives is because we have not been the miracle in someone else's life.  Maybe the reason that our debt deliverance has not manifested in our lives is because we have not gotten involved in someone else's deliverance from debt.  Whatever we are harvesting in our lives right now, whether it is good or bad is based on seeds that we have sown in the past.  We can change our harvest tomorrow by making a decision to sow a different seed today. 

The only thing that can keep us from seeing the harvest that we desire is our refusal to sow the seed that will produce it.  If we are not willing to do the works of sowing then we will never see the rewards of the harvest.  If we are not willing to sow towards someone else's victory, then we cannot expect to harvest victory in our lives.  As believers we need to do some self-examination in our lives.  If we do not like the harvest that we see, then we have to sow a different seed.  God recently showed me a vision of a guy sitting in the middle of a huge field that was full of rich soil.  This guy had one bag full of apple seed and another bag full of orange seed.  I saw this guy take an apple seed and plant it in the ground and up came an apple tree.  Then he did this about four or five more times and decided that he did not want apples; he wanted oranges.  However, this man went right back to the bag full of apple seed, took out a seed, planted it, and up came another apple tree.   He said, "I don't want apples I want oranges.  He went through the same process again and up came another apple tree.  This time he shouted, "I don't apples, I want oranges!"  He continued this process until that whole field was covered with apple trees except the spot right in the middle where he sat with that bag full of orange seed weeping because he wanted a different harvest.  God asked me, "Matt, what would you say about that guy?"  I thought about for a while and God told me to just answer Him plainly.  So I said, "That guy is an idiot.  He's got that bag of orange seed, and if he wants oranges then why doesn't he just sow the seed?"  God said to me, "Matt, He wants a different result, but he is not willing to change His actions to get the result."  I thought on that for a while, and then noticed the guy in the field was me.  I would imagine that the actions of this guy describe the actions of many believers in the Body of Christ today.  The point is this; if we are sitting in a middle of a bunch of harvested crop that we do not like, then we need to get up and start sowing a different seed!

The way out of lack in any area of our lives is to sow our way out.  If we do not have what we need, then we have to sow a seed.  In a time of need the only way that we can remain in lack is if we get selfish and refuse to sow seed.  When we are in need and we refuse to sow towards someone else's need being met, then our refusal to sow is what will keep our needs from being met.  The worst thing that we can do when we have a need is to get selfish.  Selfishness will keep us from sowing the necessary seed.  Selfishness is the root to all lack because a selfish person will not sow into the lives of other people, and a person, who will not sow into the lives of others, will never see a harvest in his or her life.  First Corinthians 13:8 says, "Love never fails."  The reason that love never fails or never falls short is because love is constantly seeking the prosperity of others and sowing into the lives of other people.  In a time of need when we stay in love, refuse to be selfish, and continue to sow towards the prosperity of others our needs will always be met.  That is why in Matthew 6:25,31,33 Jesus said, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what yeshall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  This is scripture is telling us to not be selfish.  Jesus is telling us that when we are in need to focus on meeting someone else's need.  He is telling us to not worry about what we are going to eat, what wewe are going to wear.  In fact, Jesus said focusing on ourselves would not add anything to our lives (V27).  He told us to seek the Kingdom of Love (1 John 4:8 "God is Love") and Love's way of doing things and that would cause all those things to be added unto us.  What is Love's (God's) way of doing things?  Love's (God's) way of doing things is to focus on the prosperity of others, and then prosperity will come back to us. are going to drink, or what

In Mark 10, the rich young ruler came to Jesus in desiring eternal life (the God-kind of abundant life).  Jesus told him to sell what he had, give it to the poor, and to follow him (Jesus), but the rich young ruler would not do it.  He wanted to harvest the God-kind of life, but he would not sow the necessary seed.  He wanted to harvest the best life, but he was not willing to give God his life.  He operated in selfishness, refused to sow, and that kept him in lack.  What has kept believers from having our needs met?  We have refused to sow the necessary seed.  In the time of great need, we have been guilty of becoming self-centered.  When we are in need, we have to put our focus on someone else.  We have to sow towards someone else's prosperity.  The "time of need" is not the time to be selfish.  The "time of need" is the time to sow our greatest seed and then watch the harvest come back to us and meet our need in abundance.