LIVING IN EXPECTANCY – PART 3: PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE, 4TH JUNE, 2023.

SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)

TOPIC: LIVING IN EXPECTANCY – PART 3 (SOW INTO IT)

DATE: 4TH JUNE 2023

BIBLE TEXT: GALATIANS 6:7

Let us rise up together as we make our “DECLARATION OF GATHERING” in this “YEAR OF GATHERING”.

Are you ready? Say with me:

I Proclaim Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. The Lord is the Shepherd of my Soul, my Shelter by Day, my Light by Night.

In His Name, we Plough our fields, by His Spirit we gather the Harvest, in His Light we seek and find.

In this Year of Gathering, the Lord of the Harvest has commanded: Launch Out into the Deep. At His Words, we cast our Nets, we gather in Souls and Substance for God’s Kingdom.

The Lord is our Reward; in this Season I received God’s Portion set aside for me: Full Measure, Pressed down, Shaking together and running over.

Nothing is Lost and Nothing is wasted in Jesus Name – Amen!

I have been doing a Series on: “Living in Expectancy”, and I have been talking about how to create an Expectancy, how to design that Expectancy. And today we are going to look at how those Expectancies would come to pass.

Each one of us has something we expect in Life; something we are looking forward to; something we trust God to do for us. Every Human Being expects something Good in Life.

Each one of us want to live for God. We want to live well in Life, we want to have trustworthy friends, we want to fall in Love with the right Person, we want a happy Life after Marriage, we want to be Financially secure, and so many more!

Now, is it Presumptuous and naive to have all these Expectations in Life? I think it is not! I believe God who Plans Expectations in our lives will also give us the means to see the Expectations come to pass.

And God has invested Laws in His Word to make some of the things He wants for us become a reality – And one of those Laws is the Law of Sowing and Reaping.

Today I am talking about Living in Expectancy – Part 3. Subtitle: Sow into it.

So, if you want to have your Expectations met, you have to sow into it – You have to invest into it.

Let’s go to Galatians 6:7 (NKJV);

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

I just want you to understand that the “he” there is in a Neutral sense – It means both male and female.

This Passage states some Important Principles; and I want you to pay attention to two (2) words used:

1. The first is the word “Sow or Sowing.”

It is to take action with an expected Harvest in Mind. To act in a such a way, with an expected Harvest or result in Mind.

When a farmer sows a Seed, he or she does it in Expectation of an Harvest.

Many times, farmers can tell you specifically what they want to Harvest.

You talk to farmers and they tell you, “well, I am Planting on this acre of farmland – It could be corn, Pepper, Groundnut, Cocoa, etc and I am expecting many bags of grains corn, pepper, groundnut, Cocoa at the end of the Season.

And that’s how we also live our lives – We do things with Expectations. Although sometimes, we do things without Expectation.

Sowing is taking an action with an expected Harvest in Mind.

The Principle of Sowing is Primarily an Agricultural term.

But when you look at Verse 7 (Galatians 6:7) there is a second word that I want you to pay attention to;

2. And the word is “Whatever”

‘Whatever’ means something Universal; any kind, any amount – Whatever!

So, the Bible is taking this Principle beyond Agriculture, beyond farming. And says, this is the Principle affecting ‘whatever’. It affects any thing, kind and amount. If you sow, if you would reap it; whether it is a smile,a Prayer, a habit; whatever you do, you will also reap.

The Principle of Agriculture is now given as a Universal Application; that is what the Bible is teaching.

It is Primarily an Agricultural Principle; but it is now a Universal Principle – “Whatever a man or woman sows, they will also reap.” – Alright!

• Now, if we expect a Purposeful Life, we must sow into it;
• If we expect to be surrounded by Good Person, we must sow into it;
• If we expect have money, we must sow into it.

We must sow into the things we expect to happen to us.

If you decide, “oh, I want to have the happiest Marriage, you must sow into it!

If you decide, oh I want to be a rich Person – sow into it!

Oh, I want to be able to have a PhD, you’ll sow into it.

Whatever you expect in Life, you must be committed to sowing into it; to invest in it, to commit to it.

And the Bible says, if you do, you will have the results – “Whatever man invests in, that will he also reap.”

Taking this Topic further, I am going to talk about things we should sow into. And I am going to talk about four (4) very important Things we must endeavour to sow.

If you want to see your Expectations come to pass, these four (4) Things you must invest in:

1. TIME:

You must sow Time – Which is an expression of the moments you live in; the Seasons you live in. It may be Chronological time on your Calendar or on your wristwatch or clock.

If you want to reap a Harvest, you have to sow (invest) Time.

There is no way you are going to have things happen to you when you don’t make time for it.

Time is one of the most Valuable Commodities we have – We use it to acquire everything we need.

Everything you need requires Time.

Do you want a Good Education? You must sow Time.

You want a Good Relationship? You must sow Time.

You want to be happy in Life? You must sow Time.

Time would determine how your investment pays off!

So you can say, Oh I want a Good Marriage but you don’t spend time with your Spouse; “I want a Good Education” but you don’t spend time n class; “I want to make money” but you don’t spend time thinking about how to make your finances grow.

Whatever you want, you are going to invest Time in it.

And as a matter of fact, the things you spend Time in, determines the Harvest you Produce.

Many of us are living lives – We want one kind of Life, but we don’t spend Time on that thing we want.

Actually, we spend Time on something else – A lot of the men spend Time on football.

And some People spend time – They want to get along, they want their marriage to work but they are investing time n Manchester City.

They watch them, and they win every time.

Yes, Manschester has won but what about you? You watched the Players, you invested your Time; they earned their money, you earned a TV Show.

I am not saying don’t watch or follow Sports. All of us watch TV, we watch things.

But if there is something that is more important that you want to achieve, then don’t make spending Time watching Sports your Priority in Life.

Because at the end of the day, you have to show something for it – “This is how many hours I spent watching the Premier League, and this is what I earned” – Time!

You want your Marriage to work? You have to invest Time.

You want to go to School? You have to invest Time.

You want to know something? You have to invest Time.

I heard the Story of an old Preacher – He is about Eighty five (85) years old, he attended a Pastors’ Conference and he was asked to do the Scripture reading from somewhere in Matthew Chapter 5.

This Preacher got up, went to the Podium and he didn’t have a Bible with him. He didn’t open Matthew Chapter 5, but he quoted Matthew Chapter 5 from beginning to the end.

And when he finished, he went to sit down.

The Great Preacher, Billy Graham was sitting by him; and he said, oh what a blessed Gift!

The Old Preacher said, “this is not a Gift: this is the Investment of my Youth being harvested in my Old Age.”

What He is saying is: “I spent time in my Youth memorizing this – It’s not a Miracle, it is Time Investment, and the Harvest is what you just saw.”

Are you investing something especially some of you young people now, that at the age of Eighty (80) you can stand up and do something so well, that you can say, “this is my Youth on display in my Old Age?”

If you want expectations in Life, you have to invest Time!

2. THOUGHTS:

You have to invest Thoughts: your ideas and whatever you think about.

Spend Time thinking about; spend Time Meditating on what would manifest in your Life.

Life is such that what you think about so much becomes real to you.

And sometimes you can live in a reality you yourself have created. Because, if you spend all your time thinking about witches, wizards, your enemies coming after you; they will manifest.

And there are some of you who are always seeing Visions of demons. It’s because that’s your Predominant thought.

And your Predominant thought would manifest in your Life.

As a matter of fact you can live in a Life of Imagination that you think it’s real, because you invested Time in to it.

Ask yourself: What are the things I think about when I am lying down alone? Where is my Mind? Am I able to bring my Mind on course? Are you able to tell your Mind, stop thinking about that and come home? Or when your Mind goes wild, you follow wherever it leads?

Because whatever thought you invest in is going to manifest.

People don’t just become things, they become what they have thought about.

Everyone of us thinks about something, some of us think about things; we say – Oh it’s just in my Mind (I won’t do it)!

But if you think about it long enough, you will do it – You think about Adultery long enough, you will commit it; you think about fornication long enough, you will commit it; you think about stealing long enough, you will steal.

You may say, it’s just in my Mind. No! Because when you invest a thought it will become an action.

You spend your Time on it, it’s going to become a reality.

So you have to be careful the thoughts you are investing in – The ideas, the Plans that you commit yourself to.

3. TALENTS:

We have to be concerned about investing in our Talents, Gifts and Abilities.

Our Talents are what we use to create wealth in Life.

Talent by itself would not give us much. But Talent Plus the right usage of Time would take us to the top of our field.

When we rightly sow our Talents in the right Fields, we blossom: because each one of us has Talent.

We know the Parable of the Talents – Jesus spoke about it, although in the context He is talking about money.

But the Principle is applicable to our Talents, Abilities and Gifts – Each one of us is talented.

There is no Untalented Person – Every Human Being is talented.

But Talent in itself would not get us far if we don’t invest Time to sharpen the Talent.

Some of us are using “Sharpened Talents”, others are using “Dull Talents” but in life you must have a “Cutting Edge”.

Everybody must have a “Cutting Edge”.

A “Cutting Edge” is like the edge of the knife that cuts.

A knife has two (2) Parts – The blunt edge does not cut; the sharp edge cuts.

Your Talent is your “Cutting Edge” – That is what helps you to cut through Life.

Cut through Mountains, cut through Difficulties, cut through Challenges, because they will all come your way.

But you must have something to cut through; and that is your Talent. If it is Properly invested with Time, then your Talent is going to cut through Obstacles in Life.

And one of the Chief Obstacles we all want to cut through is Poverty:

… I don’t know about you, but Poverty is not Good.

• Poverty can make you do things that would make you hate yourself.
• Poverty would make you say ‘Yes Sir’ to the wrong People.
• Poverty would make you call People Boss, who have no right to be called your Boss.

You can go to a family Meeting and find an Eighty (80) years old man – Head of family calling a Young man in his twenty sixth (26th) years, “my father.” Because this Twenty six (26) years old boy is the one who is paying he bill for the funeral and for everything in the family.

So he is calling a grandson “my father.”

Why? Because he Poor! And if he doesn’t act Stupidly, he would not get his money.

Poverty would make you act Stupidly.

I don’t know about you: but for the sake of your own Human Dignity, you must not be Poor!

I am not talking about being a Billionaire, being very rich and owning Airplanes – That is not what I am talking about.

I am talking about a Dignified Life – Where you can manage your own Expenses and live your Life so that you don’t owe somebody your Life.

That is what we all want! – We want to be able to walk through Life and not feel that unless somebody smiles at you nicely you are doomed; that you need somebody’s favour before you survive.

And if we want to deal with Poverty, then we have to invest Time, Thought, Talents. And finally;

4. TREASURE:

Treasure is your Worth and your Wealth.

Jesus puts it this way, He says in Luke 6:38, Give, and it will be given to you: Good Measure, Pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same Measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

Every Christian who wants to have Financial Success in addition to managing their Time, Talent, their Ability must also manage the Wealth that God gives them. And you must invest it as well.

If you want God to Prosper you, then God must also be the One you give to Primarily.

Because in this world everybody gives – I have never seen any rich man who is not a Giver.

You can accumulate Wealth by being Stingy; but you cannot create Wealth by being Stingy.

If you are Stingy, you can pile up money. But if you want to create wealth, you have to invest money.

And in the Business World everybody invests money.

I have heard People say: There are Unbelievers who are rich – They don’t go to Church, they don’t give Firstfruits, they don’t give Tithes, but they are rich.

I say, are you sure?

They may not come to your Church to Give, but they go to Church of something else – The Church of Circular Intellectual Development.

They put their money to save Whales, save Mosquitoes, save Antelopes and to Promote Gay Rights and all kinds of things.

That is how they invest their money!

Because that is what they treasure; that is what is important to them.

They want People to live a certain Lifestyle, so they are going to support them.

You say, I believe in Righteousness, I believe in God, I believe in the Kingdom but you don’t invest in Righteousness, in God and in the Kingdom.

Your counterparts are investing in their Treasure.

If you check the world, you will find that almost all the richest People in the world are donating huge amount (not 10%).

Some are donating 95% of all their money to support Courses.

Do you think they will support Evangelism and Printing of Bibles and Building of Churches? No!

If they are Gays, they will support Gay Agenda.

If they are Lesbians, they will support that.

If they are Athiest they will support that.

Because, “where your Treasure is, there your heart will be.”

How do I know where your heart is? – It is by what you Support!

If you believe God is the Source of your Blessing, then your most important Financial Consideration must be in the things of God and the things that affect the Kingdom of God.

For every Expectation, we sow Time, Thought, Talent, we sow Treasure.

You have to Invest!

Some time you invest consciously, some time you do it unconsciously. Because certain unconscious actions will still Produce results; whether you want it or not.

It’s like somebody who eats a Mango, licks the Mango Seed, eats the fiber of the Seed until it is very white.

But the Person throws the sees away and it falls somewhere. Twenty (20) years time, it’s a tree!

And when he passed by, he doesn’t even know that it is his Seed that has Produced a Harvest.

He can’t claim it because he acted unconsciously – He was not deliberate and intentional about what he Planted.

Now somebody else is eating his fruits, because it was not intentional.

Many of us are doing things without thinking – Although we expect a Harvest, we are not like the Farmer who knows exactly where he is Planting and watch what he is Harvesting.

Let me shift gears a little and talk about an aspect of Sowing that is important.

Many times we sow the right things in Life, but we mix them up with wrong things.

For example, in a Marriage, one Spouse can say and do the right thing for a long time and then later mix it up with the wrong thing.

The Bible addresses that in Deuteronomy 22:9, “You shall not sow your Vineyard with different kinds of Seed, lest the yield of the Seed which you have sown and the fruit of your Vineyard be defiled.”

Many times, because we are far removed from the Bible and the Culture of the Bible – The Time and Purpose for which the instructions are given in the Bible; we reason some Portions of the Bible, they don’t make sense to us.Or even if they make sense, we misinterpret them.

That is why I endeavour always to go through the Bible – Not just by reading a Verse, but understanding in deeper context why God gave that instruction.

If you would notice this Verse is in Deuteronmy – The Book of Deuteronmy include Laws that God gave to Israel just before they entered the Promise Land.

They are at the edge of Jordan, they are about to cross the Jordan to the Promise Land; to start a New Life as a Nation.

And God says, before you get to the Promise Land, these are the things you must watch out for – The People you are going to meet, this is what they do, this is how they do things, don’t copy them.

Why did He give them this Law?

At that time the Cannanites lived in the Promise Land. They found the Land and they had an Agricultural Practice.

The Agricultural Practice is – When they have a field and they want to Plant in the field, they pack all kinds of Seeds.

So they have Wheat, balleys, grapes Seeds; they put them all together and spread on the field.

The Net effect is that all kinds of plant germinate in a field.

And Because some of them have different Gestation, different root Structure and all of that; By the time the field is fully grown, the Harvest is ruined.

… The Harvest won’t emerge.

The Lord says to the Israelites, when you get to the Promise Land, don’t farm like the Cannanites. You don’t have to mix your Seeds, you have to separate your Seeds.

If you look at it carefully it says, “you shall not sow your Vineyard.”

How many of you know what Vineyard is?

A Vine is basically a Grape Plant. The Plant that Produce Grapes.

It is used either for Producing wine and so on.

Now when you have a Vineyard, it means that Place must be Planted with vines.

If you have a Vineyard, you Plant Grapes in the yard. It is not for some other Purposes but it is for Planting Grapes.

But it says, “you shall noted sow your Vineyard.”

That means the Place that is supposed to be for a vine, don’t sow it with different kinds of Seed.

The Hebrew word for Seed is grain.

In other words, this is a Vineyard, it is supposed to Produce vine.

Then you take barley, wheat – In our case, it will be like you take corn, millet and go and sow in the Place where Grapes are supposed to grow.

And He says, if you do that, you are defiling the Seed and the field and you will lose everything.

… So God is telling Israel: learn how to farm well.

Now, if we take the this Principle from Agriculture and apply it on the basis Galatians 6:7; then it means that it is also a Universal Principle that when you are sowing Seed, you have to be very careful how you sow.

Three (3) Things this Verse 7 (Galatians 6:7) teaches us:

1. Be Purposeful with what you sow – Pay attention! Don’t just do anything.

If you say it’s a Vineyard, pay attention to what you are sowing in a Vineyard – It must be Grapes; it must not be Barley or Wheat.

You say, I want to spend these four (4) years of my Life to get a Degree: it’s not for boyfriend or girlfriend.

You say, the next five (5) years I want to raise my Income from a thousand Cedes (¢1,000) to a hundred thousand Cedes (¢100,000); this is not the time for Manchester City.

Are you getting me?

Because I have a Purpose for the field and I must not sow the wrong Seed in this field.

If I do that, I am going to ruin my field.

So be Purposeful about your Actions!

2. Dont sow Seeds that are contradictory – They have different Gestational root Systems. They will destroy one another.

… Don’t sow Seeds that are contradictory – And we do that all the time.

These days People fall in Love – They call their Spouse Sweetheart, Honey, Babes:

I have not been able to understand “Babes” (Laughter).

I can understand ‘Babe’; but the Plural aspect (Babes) I can’t!

Why is one Person in Plural? Where did this crazy ideas come from in this world, I don’t know.

You say things like, “I love you Babes.”

Are you trying to say, I like you and other People? (Laughter).

Well, Young People generate all kinds of things – You call yourselves Sweetheart, Honey and everything is sweet.

After some time you start sowing different things – You are sowing Grapes and all kinds of Lemons!

These are two (2) contradictory tthings – One is sweet, the other is bitter. And then you wonder why your Marriage is not doing well.

If you are going to sow sweet, sow sweet; If you are going to sow bitter, sow bitter – So we know you are a Bitter Person (Laughter).

But don’t contradict what you are sowing.

Sometimes you hear People say, I want to Give to God.

And they start – They Give for a couple Months and then they stop.

They are so inconsistent, and there is so much contradiction.

Your field doesn’t even recognize its owner, because one Person is sowing contradictory Seeds.

I tell Young People, when you get to School – You are a Born Again Christian, we expect you to live Righteous. But you didn’t go to the University to go and develop a Ministry – You went to collect a Degree.

So, don’t Substitute Lecture time for Prayer Time.

By all means Pray, go for Fellowship, go for Bible Study, live Righteous, be Holy. But when Lectures are going on, you shouldn’t be somewhere else interceding for the Nations of the world or Revival.

It is a Good thing! But you are sowing contradictory Seeds.

At this time in your field, you must sow into your Education – That’s the Primary Purpose, and you don’t contradict them.

Sometimes, even in Business, there is a time you are sowing into your Business – it’s not time to buy a new car, buy a new furniture, buy new shoes. At this Point in this field, the Seed you should be sowing is to grow your Business.

Others may be doing something else, but you have to know at every point what your Priority in is.

3. Good Harvest can be ruined by bad seeds.

Deuteronmy 22:9 says the Seed and the field will be defiled.

So it means you Plant, but you will not eat the fruits – You will lose it.

It will be confiscated – Maybe taken away from you. It will be defiled, considered not good for your use and taken away from you.

And normally, what happens in Israel – Things that are considered “defiled” would have to be taken away from the People and sometimes burnt all together.

It says, what you have worked for so long, you will lose!

Has it ever happened to you, when you thought something was so well; the Business is working so well, and then you lose it because you start sowing different Seeds.

You start paying attention to different things; you start making something else your Priority – You are going to lose it!

So, although you sowed the field with Expectation, you can lose it – You can lose what you have done; you can lose whatever you believe you want to Harvest.

You want to be happy, sow into Happiness. You can’t be happy when you are quarrelling with everybody.

You can’t tell People, “as for me I always tell the Truth” and that has divided all your friends. From Primary School through University, to your Working Life, you’ve lost every friend you made.

You have no consistent friend because you tell the “Truth.” I mean, something should tell you that something is wrong with your thinking. You’ve lost all your friends, you can’t be the “Holy One of Israel.”

It just simply means you don’t know how to manage relationships well. And you are sowing bad things into the Relationship. Hence, you are ruining the Harvest.

• If you want Good friends, you have to show yourself friendly; you have to be a Good friend.
• You want to make it in Life Financially? You have to manage your finances well.

You have to know when to spend what and when not to spend what; when to pay attention to something and when not to pay attention to something.

Listen to me, Life is full of Pressure – People are going to Pressure you to do things you are not ready for.

Sow into the Good Things you want to be; and the Person who reaps the Harvest of your Expectations.

But by and large, the most important thing that we must sow into Eternal Life.

HOW DO WE SOW INTO ETERNAL LIFE?

We sow our lives and then we receive Eternal Life. How is that Possible?

Jesus taught us the Principle – He wanted to give Eternal Life to all of us, He wanted all of us to be Children of God.

But He couldn’t Stand and say: Everybody be a Child of God. He had to give up His Life – He sowed His Life.

Jesus said, except a grain of wheat falls…

Jesus sowed His Life to Produce Children of God.

And we sow our lives to Christ to receive Abundant Life and Eternal Life.

For you to have Abundant Life; you are going to lose your Life of sin, your Life of Selfishness; the Life where you are the boss so that Christ become the Boss of your Life. You have to Change authorities in your Life; become a Born Again Christian.

ALTAR CALL

If you want Jesus Christ to be Lord of your Life, I am going to Pray with you shortly. Then you can invite Him into your Life – You can give your Life to Him.

He will not mess up your Life; He will make your Life far better than you could ever make it.

Let’s bow our heads for a Word of Prayer;

If you want Jesus to be in your Life, just lift your right hand wherever you are listening to us now or reading now on the Label of DMC:

PRAYER FOR SALVATION

Put that hand upon your heart and say with me:

Heavenly Father, I come to You today just as I am. I am a Sinner, I cannot save myself.

But I Thank You Father, that Jesus died for me to give me Life. Today I give my Life to Jesus Christ.

And I receive Abundant Life, I receive Eternal Life; a New Life, the Victorious Life of Christ.

Thank You Father for accepting me.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen and Amen!

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