00:00:00 [START OF VIDEO]

[Music]

Introduction

00:00:35 DR. JAMES PAYNE: Hello, I’m James Payne! I know this is a little lengthy for an internet program, but stick around, it’s gonna be worth your time. Your financial destiny is going to change today. I realize that many of you are going through tough times. You’re going through financial difficulties. I believe I have some answers for you. In the Bible here in Genesis, chapter 26, there’s a man by the name of Isaac and it’s a time of famine.

00:01:03 Most of us living in America don’t understand famine. I do because I’ve been in different parts of the world where there was famine, where families were dying; entire families dying from starvation because there had been no rain and there was no water for the crops. And so, it was a time of famine. Isaac was in one of those times of famine.

00:01:26 And I know not too long ago, through a difficulty in our country here, people would go to the grocery store and the shelves were empty. And that’s about the closest we’ve ever come to understanding what a famine was. And out of that time came some difficult times. People were laid off their job, people not being able to work. Maybe you were one of those. Well, Isaac was in that situation in Genesis, chapter 26. And the Bible says that he “sowed in the time of famine”. Now, that don’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense to give when you need money.

Sowing in Difficult Times – Genesis 26

00:02:05 It don’t make sense to sow when you need that- whatever you’re sowing in your own life. But God set up a system of seed, time and harvest. And that’s why today I’m sitting on this 1956 John Deere tractor here in, what is called in Western North Carolina, “Bad Apple Farm.”

00:02:27 There’s 16 acres of apple trees; thousands of apples on these trees because it’s harvest time. But if someone at someplace had not sown seeds, there would be no trees and there would be no apples. So we can see that God’s law of seed, time and harvest is in full production here in this apple orchard right now. And in Genesis 26 it said when Isaac sowed that seed, it didn’t make sense, took faith to sow that seed. But he sowed that seed in the time of famine.

00:03:01 The Bible says he reaped a hundredfold that year and God blessed him. And that word “blessed” means to prosper; to excel; to increase; to empower and to be empowered for prosperity. And I’ve found out in my life when it comes to the work of God, if I will sow a seed in the work of God and if I’ll plant a financial seed in the work of God, the Lord will bless me.

00:03:32 It has been many years since I’ve faced real financial difficulties but I have faced them in my younger life. There was one time I owed so many people that they were carpooling over to my house, and all of ‘em had me on speed dial. And they were wanting to know when they’d get paid. I one time was six months behind on my house payment. I couldn’t buy an automobile because I had no credit.

00:04:01 And it was through a seed that I sowed at the right time, in the right place as God led me, that changed my whole life. And for the last 33 years, I’ve been able to live my life debt-free. And I’ve been able to live in abundance because I learned a secret that a lot of people have never learned. And that is that even in bad times and in tough times and in difficult times, you still need to sow.

Five Reasons to Sow in Difficult Times

00:04:30 So today, I’m gonna give you five reasons that you should sow in bad times. Isaac sowed in bad times. You know, it’s pretty easy to sow in good times. You know, when everything’s good and all the bills are paid and all the family is happy and you’re healthy, it’s pretty easy to sow during that time. But when everything is going against you and man, when it seems like you don’t even want to get up in the morning because tomorrow is gonna be worse than today.

Sowing Gives Birth to Expectation

00:05:01 Every one of us has been through tough times. But in those tough times, we have to continue to sow. And the first reason we need to continue to sow is because there’s no reason to expect a harvest if you have not sown a seed. I mean, if this 16 acres here were just growing grass, there’d be no reason for the pickers to come out here and look for apples, see?

00:05:28 The reason they expect a harvest each year here on this apple farm is because they have seed in the ground. And that seed in the ground is producing and multiplying apples on these trees. And your seed… when Isaac sowed, it gave him a reason to expect a harvest even though in the natural everything was against him. It was famine. Nobody else was getting a harvest. People were starving to death. But he was the person that said, “I don’t care what’s going on around me, I’m going to do what the word of God tells me to do. I’m gonna sow regardless of the circumstance.”

00:06:08 And the Bible said when he did that, God blessed him and God prospered him. And he made it through the famine and reaped one hundredfold, you see? And there’s another story in the Bible in 1 Kings 17. There’s a widow there and she has a son. And if you’ve been to church at any time in your life or heard much preaching, most preachers or Sunday School teachers at one time or another have talked about this woman.

00:06:34 When I get to Heaven, this is one of the first people I want to see in Heaven. After I see Jesus, I want to see this woman. This woman was down to her last meal and her last day and she had a son. And here comes a preacher, a prophet, a man of God….Elijah. He came to her house. He had been sent by God. And God told the woman before he got there, “There’s a prophet coming and I want you to sustain him.” And so he comes and he tells her, “Go get me some water.”

00:07:00 Well, it was a famine. It hadn’t rained. Water was scarce. And he asked her for something it was gonna take faith for her to give. And after he asked her for the water, she went to get the water and as she was going to get the water, he said, “Hey, wait a minute. Bake me a cake.” [chuckles] And boy she said, “Man of God, I don’t have a cake. I’ve got a son. We’ve got enough meal for one cake. We’re gonna eat it and we’re gonna die.”

00:07:32 See, it was a tough time. It was a tough time. He said, “You bake me a cake first, and then you go bake you and your son one.” See he was saying, “If you sow, then you’ll have a reason to expect a harvest.” Well, the story says she went and baked a cake. They all ate. But they didn’t just eat that day, they ate every day until the famine was over because, by faith, she sowed a seed in tough times.

00:09:02 See, when you sow a seed, it creates an expectancy inside of you. I’m sitting here today looking around this orchard and I’m gonna tell you, I’ve got a lot of financial seed sowed in the kingdom of God. I sow in churches everywhere. I sow in children around the world. I feed the hungry. We’re coming up just very soon- every year my wife and I, we buy coats and hats and gloves for every foster child in our city.

00:08:29 God told us to do that and we do that. I’m excited. We have a big party and we give these foster kids brand new stuff; not used stuff, brand new stuff. That’s seed. So, I have an expectancy that God’s gonna meet my need. I don’t have the money even to buy them the clothes right now, but I will have. You know why? I’ve got seed in the ground, and I’ve got expectancy. The second reason you ought to sow in difficult times is every seed, whether it’s a natural seed or a financial seed, it is designed to multiply.

Seed Are Designed to Multiply

00:08:59 It’s designed to multiply. You see, this tree started with one seed. One seed grew this tree behind me. But on this tree there’s hundreds of apples full of seeds because seeds are designed to multiply. And it’s the same way when you sow a financial seed into God’s work. That seed is designed to multiply. The Bible tells us that.

00:09:23 2 Corinthians 9:10 Paul said, “God gives seed to the sower.” He multiplies seed that is sown. Jesus said it in Luke 6:38, “Give or sow and it’ll be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. The measure you give He’ll measure it back to you multiplied to you.”

A Seed Can Change Everything

00:09:43 So, the third reason you’re to sow in bad times is a seed can change everything. A seed can change the direction of your life. A seed can change your finances. You know, there’s a young man I met last year up in Ohio and he was from Pakistan. And he was working, going to college at brother Rod Parsley’s church there. And as he was going to Bible college, he’s not a rich kid. He’s having to work his way through college. Well he starts out in the mail room. And he starts sowing.

00:10:22 And then he gets moved onto the warehouse and he keeps sowing. Well, while he’s working in the warehouse God gave him an idea for a computer program that ended up being a computer company. And he moved back to Pakistan. When he went back to Pakistan he built two huge buildings on each corner of the street there for God, for church. This young man, a seed changed everything in his life. A seed can change things.

Tough Times Magnify Faith

00:10:54 Number four, when you sow a seed in tough times it magnifies your faith. In other words, it takes more faith to sow a seed in bad times than it does in good times. You know, if God spoke to you today to give $100 and you had $500, it wouldn’t take as much faith if God spoke to you to give $100 and all you had was $100. You understand? So, in bad times, that seed you sow in those bad times, it’s magnified. Your faith is magnified.

00:11:23 And Hebrews 11:6 tells us that faith moves God into action. It said, he that- “Without faith it’s impossible to please God. If you come to God you believe that He is and He’s a rewarder.” See, your faith that believes God is also moves God to become a rewarder. So tough times magnify faith, that believes God is, also moves God to become a rewarder. So, tough times magnify faith.

Refusing to Sow Prevents Future Harvests

00:11:44 And then, the fifth thing. When you refuse to sow the seed that’s in your hand you disqualify yourself for the harvest that’s in God’s hands. When we have a need in our life God will do nothing until we do something. And I want to encourage you that are going through tough times, don’t give in and don’t give up to tough times. A seed doesn’t know the tough times in the world. When Isaac sowed this seed, that seed didn’t know there was a famine. That seed just knew what God said, “You’re gonna multiply.” So, that seed was just doing what it was designed to do.

00:12:26 And when I sow a seed into God’s work, I am just the lord of the seed. He is the Lord of the harvest. You see? All I’m qualified to do is just sow a seed. But God is qualified to give the harvest. You see, I might sow out of my resource. Like you know, I’ve got $200; that’s my resource.

00:12:57 God tells me to sow $100 out of my resource. I sow that $100 out of my resource. The moment I sow that seed out of my resource, it builds a bridge to my source. It connects me with my source. God is my source. And the Bible tells us that He owns all the gold. He owns all the silver. He owns all the diamonds. He owns all the riches. He created every one of those. The Bible even says in Psalms 50 He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He owns everything. God controls everything.

Create a Season of Favor in Your Life

00:13:26 And listen, a seed sown in your difficult times will create a season of favor in your life. And boy, there’s nothing like having favor. When you have the favor of God, He begins to bless you. Isaac was a child of covenant living in a famine. But when he sowed a seed, God honored that covenant. What was that covenant? It was made to his father Abraham, “I’ll bless them that bless you, curse them that curse you.

00:13:56 “I’ll bless you coming in, going out. Rising up, laying down. You’ll be blessed in the city, blessed in the field. You’ll be the head, not the tail. You’ll be above, not beneath. Your enemy will come one way and flea in seven ways.” And listen, He said, “And you’ll lend and not borrow”. That covenant covers you getting out of debt. That covenant covers you getting a better job. That covenant covers your business prospering more. And I want to ask you to help me today.

Why Sow Into the Good Ground of Inspiration Ministries?

00:14:24 Here at Inspiration Television, this ministry reaches around the world. And every seven seconds someone is born again by this ministry. Every two seconds someone hears the gospel. See that’s close to God’s heart. And I’ve discovered over the years when I involve myself in what concerns God, He involves Himself in what concerns me. I’m gonna ask you today to join me and say, “I’ll plant a $28 seed each month.”

00:14:53 Matthew 28 gives the great commission, “Go into all the world preach the gospel.” Deuteronomy 28 gives the 17 promises of the covenant that Isaac inherited from Abraham. And you and I inherited according to Galatians 3:29 through Christ. We’re heirs of that covenant. I believe your $28 seed into Christian television today- I’m asking you to sow $28 a month for the next 12 months. That’s just a little more than a dollar a day.

00:15:23 A dollar a day you can change the world. A dollar a day, you can change the world. Isn’t that amazing? That for so little we can do so much to change the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Would you join me today in planting that seed? There’s a number on your screen. There’s a button, a give button, that you can push and give your offering.

00:15:52 Would you join me in doing that today? Father, I just pray in the name of Jesus that You would touch the hearts of those that are watching and they’ll realize that their seed is going to go to touch people around the world. I pray for a quick harvest. I pray for a quick harvest, that You will speak to them and give them a quick harvest, those that are going through tough times. Your seed today can change the world.

The Power of Your Seed

00:16:22 It can change the world for somebody else. It can change the world for you. The power of your seed… I tell you, the power of your seed is so supernatural. I look back over my life, the defining moments of my life where God took me to a new level was when He spoke to me about giving a seed. $28 a month. You can help us change the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

00:16:54 God will favor you and give you a season of favor if you’ll help us today. Dial the number on your screen, push the give button. Say, “I want to be part of this.” Many of you can do it. Put it on your credit card. You can put it on the credit card right now. That’s money we can use right now. That’s money we need right now. See, there’s always opportunities to preach the gospel if we have the money to purchase the time. God bless you. I love you. I appreciate you helping us. I’ll see you the next time.

00:17:23 [MUSIC]

00:17:47 [END OF VIDEO]

We are a partner supported ministry whose purpose is to cover the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the seas. (Habakkuk 2:14) Our mission is Impacting People for Christ Worldwide Through Media. Our vision is to shine the light of the Gospel on every continent, in every major language group, through every form of technology.  Stay connected and enjoy all the free resources available at www.inspirorgdev.wpengine.com.

There is no greater miracle than salvation through Jesus Christ! In 2020, we registered 3,084,619 salvations and recommitments to Christ through our media outreaches. This includes 23.2 million gospel presentations, or one every second of every day, one new believer every 10 seconds, and new believers in 214 countries! We are committed to investing the resources needed each year to see 50 million souls saved by 2030.

We are so glad you asked! Inspiration TV and Inspiration TV On Demand is a Salvation and Discipleship outreach of Inspiration Ministries. Our desire is to shine the Light of Christ brightly and help you turn off the darkness! Inspiration TV’s airwaves are transmitted across many persecuted countries, providing a safe avenue of worship to those who could be beaten, imprisoned, or even killed because of their faith. We deliver the Gospel to more than 200 million people worldwide through television, streaming and on demand services. For more information you can visit inspirationtv.comand play.inspirationtv.com.

We deliver over 60 million daily digital devotionals and our Strengthen Your Walk Video Series is viewed more than 20 million times each year. Additionally, we provide daily articles from leading Christian authors to help and encourage you. Our International Prayer Center ministers are there for you, when you need a partner in prayer.