Apologies for waiting so long to post. God has been showing me a few things, and I had to talk with Him about it before I posted some of these things. This may be a little long, but stick with it, and be ready for a few posts in the next few days. Without further pause, let us begin.
Turn to Genesis 26:1. It starts by saying, “There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. 2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.” So, Isaac’s job in the famine was stay where he was and get blessed. I personally believe that was what Abraham was supposed to do as well, instead of going to Egypt. He was God’s minister of the Blessing! Let’s skip down now to verse 12. “Then Isaac sowed in the land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold, and the LORD blessed him.” Look at that. In a famine-their version of the recession, he sowed and reaped a hundredfold! That was the Blessing of the Lord in action! Verse 13, “The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous.” Now, some people want to say, “Well, he was spiritually prosperous. He didn’t have wealth.” Read the book, and let the elevator go to the top. The very next verse says, “for he had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.” So, he got more and mores prosperous as the famine continued, and he had so much stuff, in the middle of this recession, that the Philistines envied him. This even gets better. Let’s look at what happened next.
Verse 15 “Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we” 17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. 19 And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the Esek, because they quarreled with him.” So, let me explain what happened here. Isaac was told to leave to Philistines, basically because he was making Abimelech look bad. That’s what it comes down to. Isaac had much more than Abimelech, even during the famine, or recession. So, Isaac moves around the area, and opens up all the wells that the Philistines closed up. Then he digs another one, and finds an underground river. The Philistines are arguing with him, so he just moves, and digs another well. He keeps digging these wells, and moving around, until he digs the last one. The Philistines finally come to Isaac and tell him that they have seen that Jehovah is with him. They make a peace agreement, and then Isaac found even more water.
So, let's fully understand this here. They saw the Blessing of the Lord at work on Isaac’s life. Why do I say that? Isaac went around digging up these wells, they forced him to move, he dug another one, and it kept going. That is what stopped the famine. His actions stopped the famine, and that was the Blessing at work in his life, and it called attention to God. They told him that they saw the LORD was with him. We should have people saying that about us, because we are helping turn this recession around, just like Isaac did!
So, as believers, we are here in this recession that is surrounding us, in this world’s system. However, we don’t let it touch us. I like what Jesse Duplantis said about the recession. Someone asked what he thought about it, and his response was, “We’re not participating.” We don’t have to participate in it. We can be a blessing to the people around us, and turn this recession around. That is what Isaac did. He was a blessing to those that were around him, and it stopped the famine in it’s tracks.
So do not be scared by this economy. Remember, you don’t have to participate in this recession. Psalm 91 says, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.” This recession ain’t touching me. I have increased throughout this time, because I keep sowing and reaping. That is on top of my tithe.
Oh, man, it’s flowing out of me now. You see, when you tithe, God opens up the windows of heaven and rebukes the devourer for your sake! You can’t afford not to tithe. Otherwise, he will not rebuke Satan in this area of your life, because you are a thief, you have robbed God. It says that in Malachi 3. When you tithe, it’s not like you are losing money. God always spends your tithe on your spiritual development. Jesus receives this tithe like Melchizedek received Abram’s tithe. He received it, and then he blessed Abram. Jesus takes your tithe, and blesses you. The word blessed means “empowered to prosper”. So, when you bring in the tithe, Jesus’ job is to empower you to prosper. Did you notice after Abram was blessed by Melchizedek, that he became very rich?
So then, keep tithing. You can’t afford not to tithe. Keep giving, because that is you sowing seed. 2 Corinthians 9 tells us, “ He who sows sparing will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Let each man give as he purposes in his own heart, not grudgingly nor of necessity, for God loves a cheerful, joyous, prompt to do it giver, whose heart is in his giving. And God is able, to make all grace abound toward you, so that you, having ALL sufficiency, in ALL THINGS, may abound to for every good work. As it is written, “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who ministers seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.” I paraphrased a little, but you get the point. God is taking care of multiplying your seed. Notice, He gives you the seed! All you got to do is sow it! Bless God, I can be a distributor, and it’s not even my job to get the seed, it’s His ministry! And then, not only does He give me the seed which I am to sow, He causes it to multiply! You better be shouting, this is good stuff right here. All you have to do, is follow God’s commands about the seed He has given to you, and He will take care of the rest, so that you can disperse abroad and give to the poor. What does that do? That stops the recession in it’s tracks, and halts it’s progress. So get yourself in your prayer closet, and talk to God about sowing seed. If you haven’t been tithing, ask forgiveness, and bring that tithe before God, and put it in the church. Then, you start looking for places to sow, where you can be a blessing to people, and turn this recession around. God will show you where the good ground is for your seed. Refuse to let this recession get a grip on you. Do not participate in it. Be like Isaac. You sow in the year of famine, and reap a hundredfold. I don’t tell you that in my own personal life, I have seen an increase of what I can so into various ministries and good works in the past year. It works. It may seem tough at first, but be faithful to what God says, and help turn this recession around!
I hope I didn’t get to long for you guys, and I hope you read it all. I’ll sum it up for you in a sentence or two. In this recession, we as believers should be increasing, and use that increase to turn this recession around. We are to be a blessing to people, especially when times get tough, and point them to God through our blessing them.
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