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We were staying in a hotel in Tokyo, and one day we went into a nearby mall, walking around and looking at shops. We ate some food, sat down on a bench, and I looked across at a restaurant called Good Luck Curry.
I thought to myself, Good Luck Curry? This isn't India, it's Japan. Why would you call it that? Maybe the owner's name is "Good Luck." So I did some research, and I found out that many Japanese believe in luck. They buy charms, they have ornaments, and there's a particular Japanese food they eat that they think brings good luck. That's where the name comes from — the owner came up with the idea that eating his curry brings you good luck.
If you go to Japan, you'll see the beckoning cat everywhere, with one paw up. If the left paw is up, it's sending you good luck. If the right paw is up, it's beckoning customers into the shop. The Japanese have this in their culture.
Here's the interesting thing, though. The Japanese don't rely on good luck to build their country. They sow and work incredibly hard and give themselves totally to building their nation. You don't see a scrap of paper on the ground.
When we were in Hiroshima, it was boiling hot — the maximum was 37 degrees. So I bought an ice cream, like a Magnum, pulled off the wrapper, and started looking for a bin. We walked and walked — maybe a kilometre and a half to a shopping centre — and there wasn't a single dustbin. Not even inside the shopping centre.
Esta página aún no se ha traducido por completo. Parte o la totalidad del texto siguiente se muestra en English, su idioma original.
Apparently the Japanese do not throw litter on the ground. They put it in their pockets or handbags and take it home. That's how much respect they have for their country. They sow into their nation — they don't just rely on luck.
How many of you know there's no such thing as Lady Luck? There's God the Father. We don't rely on luck; we rely on God. But we've also got to sow into our lives and into our country — and if we do, we can be just as excellent as them. They've created a culture that is admirable, and we could follow suit.
The Bible talks about this principle of sowing and reaping. Today I want to talk about it — but not only in terms of finance. I want you to understand something very important: everything that happens in our lives does not happen by accident. It happens by sowing.
Everything we do has consequences. Every action has repercussions.
Job's friend Eliphaz put it this way:
"As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it." (Job 4:8)
And Proverbs adds:
"Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity." (Proverbs 22:8)
Nothing just happens. God works in our works. Whatever we do, He needs something to work with — and whether good or bad, He will bring it back to us.
That's the title of this message: It always comes back. Look at your neighbour and say, "It always comes back."
I want you to realise this happens in your character, in the giving of yourself, and in the giving of your money. This message is not about getting money out of you. It's about getting God's blessing to you.
We read it in Luke chapter 6:
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:37–38)
Judging, condemning, and forgiving all relate to character. Giving relates to serving, volunteering, and money. Both in character and in finances, what we sow, we will reap.
Then in Galatians:
"Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. People will reap exactly what they sow. If they sow in the field of their natural desires, from it they will gather the harvest of death. If they sow in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit they will gather the harvest of eternal life." (Galatians 6:7–8)
Here's what we tend to think. If we steal, or do something no one sees, we get away with it. We don't — something happens in you. If you commit adultery and your spouse never finds out, you don't get away with it; something happens in you. If you watch pornography in secret and think, I'm not hurting anyone, you're sowing to the flesh — and it always comes back to you.
But Paul continues:
"Let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest." (Galatians 6:9)
Can you see the certainty of this?
When and where it comes back, we can't determine. Our job is to keep sowing, keep giving, keep serving — and then expect His blessing. Sometimes we focus on the conditions of God's promises but forget to look for the reward. There's always a reward, and God expects us to trust Him for it.
But you have to have the patience to believe God, because the enemy wants you to become impatient. He wants you to tithe for six months and then say, "See — I'm in debt now. It doesn't work." I want to tell you: it always comes back. The problem is you just don't have enough patience.
I'm experiencing things in my life right now because I sowed years and years ago. That's why I'm preaching this to you today — I felt the Holy Spirit say, "Tell them, so that they don't grow weary and so that they build great faith in My goodness."
As the Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard said, "Patience is necessary; one cannot reap immediately where one has sown." You have to wait. And the Bible promises this is a principle of God:
"As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night." (Genesis 8:22)
You can't decree the time — but there will be a time.
When you sow your life, expect God to give back more to you — and I'm not just talking financially. I'm talking about kindness, love, good character. You might say, "It's a waste of time — the people I work with are all crooks." No. God will reward you. It always comes back in health, blessing, and favour.
When you go to work and you get an increase, don't think it's because you're so clever. You've been sowing.
When I sold my successful business and went into the ministry, I had no idea what God would do. In business I was driving new cars every year. When I went into the ministry, my total salary was equivalent to one of those cars' monthly payment. And yet, all I've seen as I've sowed my life is God reward me. It always comes back.
"Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times." (Mark 4:8)
Notice: when a farmer sows a seed, what comes up is much more than the seed.
Now, a word of caution. We cannot decree the size of what comes back. I've heard pastors say, "God told me it's a hundredfold today — bring your money to the platform." That's cheating and manipulating people. We can't decree what comes back. But I love that with wheat, the minimum is thirty. When conditions are good, you could get a hundredfold. So expect multiplication — not less.
As James Allen said, "The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow." That's true of farming and of spiritual matters.
"Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously... Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion." (2 Corinthians 9:6, 10–11)
God gives back to you so that you can give even more. The multiplication process is up to us to set in motion.
"Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." (Proverbs 3:9–10)
You give ten percent and think it's a huge thing. You're looking at the wrong thing. Honour God, give knowing it always comes back — and it'll overflow.
When tough times come, fear comes. Now, I'm not suggesting for a minute that when you're broke you sow your car payment or your rent into the church. If they come to arrest you, don't come to us for help!
But in famine you can't sow as much as in the good times — so you do like Isaac did. He sowed in famine, even while they were eating that seed, and the Bible says he reaped a hundredfold. Remember the widow's mite: she sowed the little she had, and it got God's attention. Be careful not to stop the sowing cycle, because it always comes back.
"One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." (Proverbs 11:24–25)
Even in the tough times, don't hold back.
"Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them." (Psalm 126:5–6)
Even when it's tough, go out with joy — because it always comes back. Look at your neighbour and say, "Always."
When we sow to weaker situations or weaker people, we can feel like we're wasting our money — like giving to a beggar who's just going to drink it. Maybe he is. But God will make sure it always comes back.
"Those who are kind benefit themselves... the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward." (Proverbs 11:17–18)
Isn't that amazing? It's not about the person or the situation — you're actually benefiting yourself. As Zig Ziglar said, "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want."
Don't be competitive. Don't be conniving at work, thinking, If I do this, they'll get ahead of me. Just give. God is watching — not just the boss.
"When you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it... and your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you." (Matthew 6:3–4, paraphrased)
It's often the hidden sowing that produces the visible reaping. I'm reaping now from things I sowed more than 40 years ago, when I bought an evangelist a tent with 500 chairs and he preached all over the Cape Flats. It took a while — I didn't know when or how — but God has been incredibly good to me.
"If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord, and he will repay you." (Proverbs 19:17)
When you give to the poor, it's as if God receives it on the other side. He puts it in His pocket, multiplies it, and gives it back.
We have sown into churches in the UK, Australia, Switzerland, Durban, and into Edenvale, Alberton, and other places. Sow to the weak and watch God bless. The harvest doesn't always come immediately, but it will surely come.
Paul wrote to the Philippians:
"When I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need." (Philippians 4:15–16)
And later:
"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory." (Philippians 4:19)
That's not just a memory verse — it's the result of sowing. Behind our need is the Lord. It always comes back.
A lot of the time we give without expectation. We must fully expect God to give us a harvest. Don't sow and then think, lucky. Have great faith for a harvest, and look for it.
"Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing." (Proverbs 20:4)
Everyone should expect a harvest — but you can't expect one unless you've sown. If you've sown, then expect a harvest and live with expectation.
Here's a truth: we cannot reap a financial harvest where we have not planted seeds. And the open hand that gives is the hand that God fills.
"The one who plows and the one who reaps should do their work in the hope of getting a share of the crop. We have sown spiritual seed among you. Is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?" (1 Corinthians 9:10–11, paraphrased)
Paul lived in expectation. So must we.
God will do things you can't do.
"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, so that there will be enough food in my temple. If you do, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!... Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease... Then all nations will call you blessed." (Malachi 3:10–12, paraphrased)
The last time the phrase "the windows of heaven" was used before this was at the flood. I don't know how it works or when it works, but I've seen it in my life — from the most unlikely sources, at the most unlikely times, God does supernatural things that I can't.
When you sow — not just money, but yourself in volunteering — God rewards you with spiritual perception, wisdom, and discernment, so you don't make foolish decisions. If you're single, He'll anoint your eyes to see the truth.
There are things we can't get right on our own. But as we put God first, He gives us insight into challenging things. Sometimes you get a perception, and you have to make a decision that the congregation doesn't understand — but God knows He is rewarding you with discernment that is way above.
The church doesn't grow because we're super talented. It grows because we've sown our lives, and He has given us the grace and wisdom to run it. Keep sowing your life into Him, and He will open your eyes to avoid bad situations.
You usually don't get back from the person you gave to. People say, "I've got a friend I'm always helping, and they never help me back." So do you stop sowing? No — give, and then turn your back on them and walk away. Somewhere else, God has a plan.
I don't sow into a weak church and then say, "When are you going to invite me to preach? Do you know how much Rivers gave you?" No. Sow to the weak, and walk away.
God will send reward from unexpected sources when we trust Him — deals, business opportunities, job openings, breaks, maybe even holidays or cars, something unusual because of what you've sown. But don't stare at the person you gave to, or you'll become disappointed. Walk away, and leave it to God. He always gives it back.
As Oral Roberts said, "You cannot outgive God. When you sow into His kingdom, you set yourself up for a harvest." It's not magic — it's simply the way God created the kingdom to work, from Genesis onward.
Sometimes the fact that you're eating food, paying rent, and have clothes on your back is already the harvest you're receiving.
"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation." (Psalm 68:19)
"Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits — who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things." (Psalm 103:2–5)
All of that is daily. Next time you eat a chocolate or an ice cream, say, "Thank You, Lord, for the harvest." It always comes back. Can you say amen?
When you sow your life and finances into the kingdom, God will step in and sort out difficulties you can't sort yourself. He will create open doors you never thought possible.
Some of you are sitting there saying, "It's all fine and well, but I'm in a hard place. My kids are rebellious. I've been serving, volunteering, and giving for years, and we're still in debt. I can barely afford to service my car." I've been there. I understand.
Don't give up — because sometimes, before the light breaks, it's very dark. In Genesis, it doesn't say it was morning then evening on the first day. It says:
"There was evening, and there was morning — the first day." (Genesis 1:5)
Darkness before light. Keep trusting that it will come back. Even in a dark place, in a dark time in your business or your family, God can work — and He can do it.
