Jesus is the Lord of the harvest, and He is calling us to help Him bring in His end-time crops, the biggest harvest of souls the world has ever seen. Kairos is a Greek word used in the Bible to represent a unique season, opportunity, or occasion and a specific season of God’s favor. We understand it to mean a fixed, specific, right, or appointed time (Matthew 13:30; Mark 1:15; Luke 1:20, 12:42; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Galatians 6:9). Apostle Paul urges us in Ephesians 5:16 to redeem the time.
Kairos moments are not precisely known, but they come according to God’s will and timing. Since the beginning of the early church, Christians have believed that Christ would be coming soon. But we are the ones living in a time of the fulfillment of prophecy concerning Christ’s return.
Before Christ ascended into heaven, Jesus Himself gave us what we call the Great Commission. This is what we, as the body of Christ, His church must be doing until the time He returns.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:19 – 20
We have heard prophetic words about an outpouring of God’s Spirit in these last days (Acts 2:16-21), ushering in a great awakening, revival, and a billion-soul harvest! We need to discern the times and seasons we are in and the correct prophecies for today. As prophetic people, we need to focus on what God is doing and saying because God does nothing except He reveals it to His prophets first (Amos 3:7).
God also does nothing on earth except through man (Psalm 115:16). God has always told His people to declare and reveal His glory to all nations (Psalm 96:3). Thus, through Abraham and his seed, all the families of the earth were to be blessed (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:14). Because we are Christ’s, then we are Abraham’s seed (Galatians 3:29).
God gave us His Son Jesus to return the dominion of the earth to us after we lost it to Satan in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:26-28; Luke 4:5-8). Therefore, a man needs to pray and release God’s power into the earth by yielding to the Holy Spirit and cooperating with Him, bringing heaven to earth and rivers of living water.
So, what must we do to prepare for the harvest? First, we must consider the condition of our hearts and how we are living our lives. An awakening and revival come before the harvest. Revival starts with us, so we need to look at the state of our hearts. Revival is a renewed commitment to Jesus Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit. He wants to revive our hearts and give us the breath of His Spirit to breathe life into us, our families, cities, and nations. The Lord wants us to have healthy hearts to prepare us for the great awakening and harvest of souls He is planning.
The Bible talks a lot about our hearts. The heart is the center of who we are. It refers to our spirit or inner man and is the seat of our words, thoughts, and actions (Proverbs 23:7; 27:19). Our words and actions reflect the intention of our hearts (Matthew 15:18-20). We are to guard our hearts and keep it with all diligence, above all else, for it determines the course of life (Proverbs 4:23). Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). Therefore, what we believe and what is in our hearts matters. Faith believes in God and His Word (Hebrews 11:6). Let faith guard your heart. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). He wants to purify our hearts and mouths!
We must have sincere repentance, humility, and turning from sin. These are heart issues. We must allow God to reveal what is in our hearts that is not pleasing in His sight and harmful to us and our relationship with Him. Repentance means changing your mind by turning from following your way and turning to God, asking Him to forgive you, and forsaking your sin. Ask the Holy Spirit to shine the light on your heart.
Then, ask the Lord to baptize you again with the Holy Spirit and fire to consume all that is not pleasing to Him. It is His Word that discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). So, we must spend time in the Word so that it can change us and keep us from sin (Psalm 119:10-11; Romans 12:2). Only the Holy Spirit can bring the revelation, show us how to apply God’s Word to our lives, and give us the grace and power to walk in it (Psalm 119:11).
After we repent by changing our minds and turning from our sin, surrendering to Him is the next step. We surrender our lives to Him as King of kings and Lord of lords! Jesus wants us to be His disciples – to be all in, to forsake all. We can then surrender our hearts to Jesus as Lord. We make Jesus King of our lives by submitting our hearts, wills, and lives to Him completely. Total surrender to Him is dying to self (John 12:20-26), living for Christ, and putting Him first as the top priority, i.e., first in our thoughts, plans, ambitions, decisions, time, etc. He becomes the Lord and ruler of our lives.
Surrender is more than just yielding. It is about committing all that we are and have to Jesus. We honor Him as our deserving King by putting Him first, obeying Him, and worshiping Him. Worship is giving honor, respect, and attention to someone or something. True worship of God is surrender to Him (Romans 12:1). Surrender to His Lordship will allow us to willingly share Christ with others because we love Him and have already counted the cost of being His disciple (Luke 14:26-33; Isaiah 6:8).
It is essential not only to ask the Lord what His will and purpose are for our individual lives, but what is His purpose for our generation. He has a destiny for our generation and the nations. Therefore, we must be willing to give our lives for His purpose and kingdom (Mark 8:35; Philippians 2:4 – 11).
God’s timing is involved in revival and harvest (Jeremiah 5:24; Isaiah 28:23 – 29). He determines the harvest field. It is God who empowers and equips us to go out into the harvest field. He orchestrates the circumstances of the harvest, but we are to be ready and willing to be used by the Lord at any time to share the gospel with others (Acts 8:4-13, 26-31; 10:9-33; 16:6-15, 25-35).
We must be in partnership with Him. We may plant or water, but God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6 – 7). Though God acts sovereignly, it does not absolve us of our responsibilities in preaching the gospel to souls until they get saved!
Jesus tells us to pray to Him as Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest because the fields are ripe. So then, evangelism or sharing the gospel is the next step in making disciples of Jesus Christ.
“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest?’ Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:35
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Living the Abundant Life 