SERMON BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER OF INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA GHANA
TOPIC: FOUR INVESTMENTS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE COMPLETELY
BIBLE TEXT: GALATIANS 6:7
Galatians 6:7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Now I just want you to understand that ‘he’ there is in a neutral sense – It means both male and female.
But for the avoidance of doubt, I just want to read it for the women – “Do not be deceived ladies, God is not mocked. For whatever a woman sows, that she will also reap.
Now we have both men and women – You can say: God has spoken to you from the Scriptures.
And this Passage sets out some important Principles – I want you to pay attention to two (2) words in the Verse:
- The first one is the word “Sow” or “Sowing”.
Sow or Sowing is to take an action with an expected harvest in Mind.
To do something, to act in such a way with an expected result in Mind.
When a farmer sows a seed, he does it in expectation of a harvest – Many times, it is the expectation of a harvest.
Many times farmers can tell you specifically what they want to harvest – You talk to a farmer, and they tell you, “Well, I’m Planting this acre of; it could be corn, it could be pepper, groundnuts or cocoa.”
They could tell you, “I’m expecting so many bags of corn, pepper, groundnuts, or cocoa at the end of the Harvest Season.
So the Sowing in the field is premised on an expectation – They expect a certain Harvest.
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.
Now the Principle of Sowing is Primarily an Agricultural term.
But when you look at the Verse (Galatians 6:7); there’s a second word that I want us to pay attention to.
- 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 saying this Principle of Sowing affects whatever; It affects whatever, it affects anything, kind or amount.
If you sow it, you will reap it – Whether it’s a smile, a Prayer, a habit; whatever you sow, you will also reap.
So the Principle of Agriculture is now given a Universal Application – That’s what the Bible is teaching: It’s Primarily an Agricultural Principle, it’s now a Universal Principle.
Whatever a man or a woman sows, they will also reap.
Alright! Now, if we expect to live a Purposeful Life, we must sow into it.
If we expect to be surrounded by good People, we must sow into it.
If we expect to have money, we must sow into it.
We sow into the things we expect to harvest.
So if you decide, “Oh, I want to have the happiest Marriage”; you must sow into it.
Oh, I want to be a rich Person, sow into it.
Oh, I want to be able to have a PhD, you 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 result – Whatever a man invests in, that will he also reap.
So taking this Principle a little further, I’m 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”.
Four (4) very important things to sow if you’re going to have your expectations met. And all of us have it.
If you want to see your expectations come to pass, these four (4) things you must invested in.
- The first one is, you must Sow Time.
Time is an expression of the moment you live in, the season you live in.
It may be Chronological time on a Calendar or on your Watch.
But if you want to reap a harvest, you have to sow time – You have to invest time.
There is no way you’re going to have things happen to you when you don’t make time for it.
Time is the most Valuable or one of the most Valuable commodities we have – We use it to acquire everything we need.
Everything you need requires time:
- If you need an Education, you must sow time.
- You need a good Relationship? You must sow time.
- You want to be happy in Life? You must sow time.
Time will determine how your Investment comes out.
So, I cannot say, “Oh, I want a good Marriage” but you don’t spend time with your spouse.
“I want Education” but you don’t spend time in class.”
“I want to make money ” but you don’t spend time thinking about how to make your finances grow.
Whatever you want, you’re going to invest time in.
And as a matter of fact, the things you invest time in determine the Harvest you produce.
Many of us are living lives; we want one kind of Life, but we don’t spend time with that thing we want.Actually, we’re spending time on something else.
And a lot of the men have spent very good precious time on football.
And some People spend time, they want to make money, they want to get along, they want their Marriage to work, but they are investing time in Manchester City.
So they watch them and they win FC Cup.
And yes, Manchester City had won! But what about you? You watched the Players, you invested your time, they earn the money, you earned a Television Show.
And I’m not saying don’t watch Sports and I’m not saying don’t follow Sports – All of us watch Television, 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, or some other things. This is how much time I spend watching them, 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’s 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 and went to the Podium, and he didn’t have a Bible with him; he didn’t open to Matthew Chapter 5. And 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 Pastor said, “It’s 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 not a Miracle; it’s Time Investment.” And the harvest is what you just saw.
Especially some of you Young People, are you investigating something now that at the age of 70 80, you can stand up and do something so we’ll that you can say, “This is my Youth in display in my old age?”
… If you want expectations in Life you have to invest time.
- Secondly, you have to invest Thoughts.
Your ideas and your plans: Whatever you think about: spend time thinking about, spend time meditating on, will 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 created.
Because if you spend all your time thinking about witches and wizards and your enemies running after you, and all of that, 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 thoughts will manifest in your Life.
As a matter of fact, you can live in a Life of imagination that you think is real because you invested thought into it.
Ask yourself: What are the things I think about?” When I’ll lying down alone, where’s 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 is your Predominant thought, whatever thoughts you invest in, it’s going to manifest.
People don’t just become things, they become what they have thought about.
Every one of us thinks about something;
Some of us think about things and 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, “Oh, 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.
… That’s the second thing!
- The third thing we have to be concerned about investing is Talent – our Gifts and our Abilities.
Our gift, our talent our ability is what we use to create worth in Life.
Talent by itself will not give us much; but talent plus the right usage of time will 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 that Jesus spoke about it, He is talking about money.
But the Principle is applicable to talent as in ability, our gifts.
Each one of us is talented – There is no untalented Person. Every Human Being is talented.
But talent by itself will not get us far if we don’t invest time to sharpen the talent.
So some of us are using sharpened talents, while others are using dull talent. 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 – The knife has two (2) parts: The blunt edge doesn’t cut but 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 Challenges will come your way, you must have things to cut it through – And that’s 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 will make you say, “Yes Sir” to the wrong People.
- Poverty will make you call People Boss, who have no right to be called your Boss.
You can go to a family and find even the 70, 80-year old Head of family calling a young man of twenty six (26) years, “Oh, my father.”
Why? Because this twenty six (26) year old is the one who is paying the bill for the funeral and for everything in the family.
So now he’s calling a twenty six (26) year old (a grandson) my father.
Why? Because he’s poor. And if he doesn’t act Stupidly, he will not get his money.
… Poverty will 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’m not talking about being a Billionaire, being very rich and owning airplanes – That’s not what I’m talking about;
I’m 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’s 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. Or that you need somebody’s favour before you survive.
And if we want to deal with poverty, then we have to invest Time, Thought and Talent.
- And finally, we have to invest Treasure
Treasure is your worth and your wealth.
Jesus puts it this way: He says, “If you give, it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over” (DMC NOTES: Luke 6:38).
Every Christian who wants to have financial success, in addition to managing their time, managing their talent, managing their ability; they must also manage the Wealth that God gives to them and the Resources that God gives them. And you must invest it 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’ve never seen any rich man who is not a Giver.
You can accumulate money 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 invest money, – The Business People.
I’ve heard People say, “Well, there are unbelievers who are rich – They don’t go to Church, they don’t give First Fruit, they don’t give Tithe, but they are rich.”
I say, “Are you sure?”
They may not come to your Church to give, but they go to the Church of something else – The Church of Secular Intellectual Development.
So they put their money to save whales, and to save mosquitoes, and to save antelopes and to promote Gay Rights and all kinds of things.
That’s how they invest their money, because that’s what they treasure – That’s what is important to them.
They want People to live a certain Lifestyle, so that they are going to support them.
And you say, “I believe in Righteousness, I believe in the Kingdom.” But you don’t invest in Righteousness, you don’t invest in God and in the Kingdom. Whilst your counterparts are investigating in their Pleasures.
If you check the world, you find that almost all the richest People in the world are donating huge amount – not ten percent (10%), huge! Some are looking at 90%, 95% of all their money, to support courses.
Do you think they will support Evangelism, Printing of Bibles and building of Churches? – No.
If they are Gay, they will support Gay Agenda.
If they are Lesbians, they will support that.
If they are Transgender, they will support that.
If they are Atheist, they will support that;
Because where your treasure is, there your Heart will be.
So how do I know where your Heart is? By what you support.
If you believe that 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.
So for every Expectation;
- We sow Time.
- We sow Thought.
- We sow Talent.
- We sow Treasure.
You have to invest.
☆ Sometimes you invest consciously,
☆ Sometimes you do it unconsciously.
Because certain unconscious actions will still produce results, whether you want it or not.
It’s like somebody who is eating a mango – You know, he just gets the mango, eats the mango, licks the seed, eats the fiber of the seeds, until it’s very white.
When we were kids, we used to eat mango and then throw the seed away. And it falls somewhere, then twenty (20) years time it’s a tree.
And when he passes 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; and he was not deliberate and intentional about what he has planted.
Somebody else is eating his fruit because he wasn’t intentional.
And many of us are doing things without thinking.
Although we expect a Harvest, we are not like the farmer who knows exactly where he’s planting and what he’s harvesting.
IMPORTANT ASPECT OF SOWING
So, 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 things.
So they are mixing up what they are sowing.
And the Bible addresses that in Deuteronomy 22:9: Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.
Now many times because we are far removed from the Bible, the Culture of the Bible, the times and the Purposes for which instructions are given in the Bible – We read some Passages of Bible, but they don’t make sense to us.
Or even if they make sense, we misinterpret them.
And that’s why I endeavour always to go not just by reading a Verse, but understanding deeper within a context – Why it was given and why God gave that instruction.
Now, if you would notice, the Book of Deuteronomy includes Laws that God gave to Israel just before they entered the Promised Land.
They are at the edge of Jordan – They are about to cross the Jordan to the Promised Land to start their New Life as a Nation.
And God says, before you get to the Promised Land, these are the things you must watch – The People you are going to their land, this is what they do, that is what they do. Don’t copy them.
So most of the Deuteronomy Laws are aimed for the Promised Land.
Why did God give them this Law?
At that time the Canaanites live in the Promised Land and they farm the land. They had an Agricultural Practice.
And the Agricultural Practice is, when they want to plant in the field they pack up all kinds of seeds.
So they have wheat, barley, grape seeds, they put it all together in their hands and spread on a field.
The net effect is that all kinds of plants 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 sown, the harvest is ruined.
So they don’t earn much.
And God says to Israel: When you go to the Promised Land, don’t farm like the Canaanites – You don’t have to mix your seeds; you have to separate your seeds.
So if you look at the Passage carefully, He says, “You shall not sow your Vineyard…”
How many of you know what a Vineyard is?
A vine is a grape plant – The plant that produces grapes. It’s used for producing wine and so on.
Now, when you have a Vineyard, it means that the place must be planted with vines.
If you have a vineyard, you plant grapes in the Vineyard. That’s what the vineyard is for. It’s not for some other purpose, it’s for planting grapes.
But it says you shall not 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. Or what it has in mind is grain.
In other words, this is a Vineyard, it’s supposed to produce. Then you take barley, take your wheat.
In our days, it will be, you take corn, you take millet, and go and sow it 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 Isreal, learn how to farm well.
Now if we take this Principle from Agriculture and apply it on the basis of 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 Galatians 6:7 teaches us:
- 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, it must not be wheat.
You say, I want to spend this time: This four (4) years of my Life is to get a degree – It’s not for boyfriend, it’s not for girlfriend.
The next five (5) years, I want to raise my income from a thousand Cedes to a hundred thousand Cedes – This is not the time for Manchester City.
Are you getting me?
Because I have a Purpose for this field and I must not sow the wrong seed in this field – If I do that, I’m going to ruin my field.
So be Purposeful about your actions.
That’s the first thing – Be Purposeful with what you sow.
- Don’t 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 – You know, these days People fall in love and they call their Partners (whether it’s their husband or wife) – They call each other, Sweetheart, Honey, Babes.
… I have not been able to understand Babes. The Plural aspect.
I can understand Babe – But Babes, why is one Person a Plural (laughs).
Where these crazy ideas come from in this world, I don’t know. “I love you Babes” .
Are you trying to say I love you and other People?
But you know, young People would generate all kinds of thing.
When you call your spouse Sweetheart, Honey, Sweetness, that’s nice. And everything is sweet.
And after some time, you start sowing different things – You are sowing all kinds of lemon.
So, two (2) Contradictory seeds – 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 and if you are going to sow bitter, sow bitter; so that we can know that you are a better Person.
But don’t contradict what you are sowing.
Sometimes I see People they say, I want to sow, I want to give to God. And they start, they give one Month, two to four Months and then they stop.
Then they begin to give to something else.
And then then they come back the next year and give to God – They are so inconsistent.
There’s so much Contradiction – Your field doesn’t even recognize its owner because one Person is sowing Contradictory seeds.
I used to tell our young People, when you go to School, you are a Christian, you are Born Again; then we expect you to live righteous.
But you didn’t go to University to go and develop a Ministry – You went to collect a Degree and so don’t substitute lecture times for Prayer time.
By all means, Pray, by all means, go for Fellowship, do your Bible Study, live righteous, be Holy but when it’s time and lectures are going on, you shouldn’t be somewhere else interceding for the Nations of the world, or interceding for Revival.
It’s a good thing, but you are sowing Contradictory seed – At this time in your field, you must sow into Education. That’s your Primary Purpose, you don’t contradict them.
And sometimes even in Business there is a time where you are sowing, and you are sowing into your business – It’s not time to buy a new car, buy a new furniture, or buy new shoes.
Instead of all these things, at this point in this field, the seed I’m sowing is to grow my business.
Others may be doing something else, but you have to know at every point what your Priority is.
- Good Harvest can be ruined by bad Seed.
The word that is used there in Deuteronomy 22:9 says that the seed and the field will be defiled.
And it’s a very interesting Hebrew word that is used there – It is used for things that are confiscated.
- So it means you will plant, but you will not eat the fruit.
- You will lose it.
It will be confiscated, it will be taken away from you. It will be defiled.
It will be considered not good for your use, and taken away from you.
And normally, what happened in Israel, things that are considered defiled will have to be taken from the People and sometimes burnt altogether.
It says what you have worked for, for so long, you would lose it.
Has it is ever happened to you, when you thought something was working so well and then you lose it?
Could be Business: 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’re going to lose it!
So, although you sowed the field with an expectation, you can lose it – You can lose what you have done.
Whatever you believe you want to harvest:
☆ You want to be happy, sow into happiness.
☆ You can’t be happy when you are quarreling with everybody. You can’t!
☆ 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’ve 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’ (laughs).
It just simply means you don’t know how to manage relationships well and you are sowing bad things into relationships.
So you are ruining the Harvest.
If you want good relationships; 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 sow 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 it.
Because, listen to me, Life is full of Pressure – People are going to Pressure you to do things you are not ready for.
So sow your seeds, sow into it, sow into the good things you want to be; and be the Person who lives to reap the harvest of your expectation.
But by and large, the most important thing that we must sow into is called Eternal Life.
You must sow into Eternal Life.
How do we sow into Eternal Life?
We sow our Life, and then we receive Eternal Life.
How is that Possible?
Jesus Christ taught us the Principle – He wanted to give Eternal Life to all of us.
He wanted all of us to become Children of God. And He couldn’t stand up and say, “Everybody be a Child of God.”
He had to give up His Life – He sowed His Life.
He said, except a grain of wheat falls to the ground, it abides alone; But when it falls to the ground it will germinate and bear much fruit (DMC NOTES: John 12:24).
- Jesus sowed His Life to produce Children of God;
- And we sow our lives into Christ to receive Abundant and Eternal Life.
For you to have Abundant Life, you’re going to lose your Life;
- You are going to lose your Life of sin.
- You are going to lose your Life of Selfishness.
- You’re going to lose the Life where you are the boss of your Life.
So that Christ becomes the Boss of your Life.
You have to Change authorities in your Life.
☆ Then you become a Born Again Christian.
☆ Then you have Salvation and Eternal Life.
ALTAR CALL
So if you want Jesus to be the Lord of your Life, I’m going to Pray with you very shortly;
That you can invite Him into your Life and you can give your Life to Him.
You will not need to lose your Life – He will make your Life far better than you could ever make it.
Let’s bow our head for a Word of Prayer.
And if you want Jesus Christ to come into your Heart, and you want to give your Life to Jesus, I’m going to ask you to lift up your right hand wherever you are.
You say, Pastor, I want to be Born Again.
I want Eternal Life.
I want Jesus to come into my Heart.
I want to start living the Life of Christ.
I want Eternal Life.
Just let your right hand be up!
Wherever you are, let your right hand be up.
I want you to put that hand upon your Heart.
And the whole Church will join you as we Pray this Prayer together.
Say with me: Heavenly Father, I come to You today.
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 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!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
Discovery Media Crew (DMC) reserves Copyright over this work – Users should keep our Signatures intact!
EDITORIAL NOTES – FURTHER JUICY OFFER ON THE LABEL OF DMC
- You can pick a Special Compilation on Past Minister’s Conference and Solemn Assembly Specially Dedicated now from us.
- You can get to pick Compilation of Audio Messages of all Programs in Year 2025.
For any Pick Up as above: Call/Chat/Text: 08023604721, 08066497178, 08097655795 or 08059821748.
- The recently released Inspiring Autobiography E-book copies of the “Inspiring and Challenging Life of Divine Calling” of the DMC Convener is now live for Pick Up Hard Copy as well as on AMAZON AND SELAR:*
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H9ZHBDPG
SELLAR: https://selar.com/5zf1a07ns1
TO SUPPORT DMC
NIGERIA LOCAL CURRENCY
Account Name: D Discovery Media Crew Multibusines Ventures
Account Number (Naira): 5403958804 (Providus Bank)
Account Number (Naira): 0536333330 (GTB Bank)
FOREIGN CURRENCY
Account Name: D Discovery Media Crew Multibusines Ventures
Name of Bank: GTB
DOLLAR – 0560340366
POUNDS – 0560340373
EUROS – 0560340380
OR
https://discoverymediacrew.com/donate/
To read other Messages on the Coverage of DMC MediaCrew so far this Year and beyond; kindly visit our Website: http://discoverymediacrew.com.
Follow us on Twitter: @discoverymediac
Follow the DISCOVERY MEDIA CREW (DMC) Channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VabDEA9HFxP0xpAB1z25
Send a Friend Request on Facebook to DMC MediaCrew.
Like our FB Page: Discovery Media
Join us on Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/NzzPckuGazKYFxZZFkt9fg
Follow Us on Instagram: Discoverymediacrew
Watch and Follow Us on YouTube: Discovery Media Crew
For Inquiries, email Us on: info@discoverymediacrew.com
Discovery Media Crew … Reaching out to the World through the Power of the Gospel!!!
COMPILATIONS BY:
MOSES DURODOLA, TITILAYOMI AJAYI AND TOPE BABALOLA
© DISCOVERY MEDIA CREW (DMC) 2026
