Sowing and Reaping Unexpectedly

Creation date: 23-Apr-2021
Often even called Karma by Christians

Last updated: 19-May-2022
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Sections

1 Ignoring Both Sides of Sowing and Reaping 2 Grace and Mercy Applies More than Perceived
3 Overlooked and Ignored 4 Patterns shown in the Scriptures
5 Scriptural Example of Exact Consequences Reaped 6 Two Personal Amazing Incidents Experienced

As a preface to this topic, see the topic on Secret Sins for a greater understanding of how everyone that has lived, living now and will be born in the future has will experience consequences for things done in secret that are against God, others, animals and even the Earth.  Additionally, read the topic on 70 multiplied by 7 scriptural passage concerning the question if there is a limit to forgiveness of sins, where there is not a limit, but there is an amazing insight to 490.

Ignoring Both Sides of Sowing and Reaping

There seems to be many Christians that are only familiar with scriptures dealing with:
  1. Successful living,
  2. Sowing and reaping to get something beneficial through faith and tithes,
  3. Sowing Tithes in faith for desired financial outcomes, and
  4. Abundant life through faith.

These types of beliefs are absolutely correct, as they are based in seeking God in faith.  A common expression that has been heard by most likely all of us at one time is:

You cannot out give God, and God will be no debtor to any person.

which is based liberally on these scriptural passages of 1 Chronicles 29:12-14, Romans 11:33-36, Malachi 3:10 and the principles of Tithing:

1 Chronicles 29:12-14 12 Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou rulest over all; and in thy hand is power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. 14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
Romans 11:33-36 33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor? 35 or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.
Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

Unfortunately, all of us should have the following three points as a complete perception from the scriptures, where the last two are often ignored:

  1. All benefits from faith, may not yield blessings from God in our earthly life.  Indeed, it should be obvious to realize that it is better to have Rewards in Heaven than any temporary rewards in our short life on Earth as compared to Eternity. 
  2. There are actions, which are sinful that often will have negative consequences for us, while it is impossible to lose our Salvation.
  3. There are actions, which are not sinful, but seen or heard by someone else that makes them commit sinful actions.  When this occurs, we can experience negative consequences. 

There are Pastors and Evangelist, who give great messages on Christianity, which incorrectly might state that we can have both great rewards in our Earthly lives and Eternity.  While this sounds wonderful, it simply isn't truthful when considering the totality of the scriptures with the evidence of great Christians in history:

Matthew 16:24-27 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.
Acts 7:57-60
Stephen killed 		57 At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Philippians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Grace and Mercy Applies More than Perceived

The unfortunate belief by all of us, until we grow in maturity through Faith, is the thought that we are deserving of great rewards in our life by the simplest of things done that we feel are worthy and righteous.  We also can incorrectly think that God will allow us to anything we need in life to obtain happiness, even with it at the expense or being sinful to others.  These two perceptions are often perpetuated by the way of the Gospel is given in Church and by Christians, were our sins have no consequences because of Jesus Christ.

The correct scriptural understanding of the Christian benefits is:

The paramount goal for us all is to obtain a deeper relationship with God that is only possible through Jesus Christ.  When we are growing in our Christian life, we are then able to realize that ultimately, we will be at the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ to receive the benefits of a life that was pleasing to our Judge Jesus Christ. 

Excerpt from the Rewards in Heaven topic:

Everything done through faith that:

  1. Developed our relationship with God during our life,
  2. Activities in God's Service,
  3. Faithfulness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
  4. Righteously suffering, and
  5. Overcoming sinful areas and obstacles in life through the Holy Spirit.

will contribute to rewards in Heaven.

Overlooked and Ignored

Many of us are familiar with Romans 8:1, which states that there is no condemnation, but this often taken out of context as the scripture is dealing with Salvation through Jesus Christ, and actually pertains to us living our lives to a higher level of accountability through the Law of the Holy Spirit who indwells us.

Romans 8:1-4 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

We all will have positive and negative consequences in our lives for righteous living and also for sinful actions. While all of our sins are forgiven and cannot cause the loss of our Salvation, there is always consequences which:

As one of the most beneficial examples in the scriptures is the life of King David.  In King David's life he committed adultery, and then committed murder to cover up the adultery, where King David was absolutely forgiven but had life-time consequences.  King David never lost his love for God and God always loved David, where David has a special role in the 1,000 Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  Two primary points:

As already noted in this topic, we are no longer under the Old Law of the Old Testament, but we are now under a more comprehensive Law of the Holy Spirit.  The new Law of the Holy Spirit absolutely gives us Grace and Mercy, along many other benefits such as the Holy Spirit guiding us away from sin. 

When we sin, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross forgives us of our sin where there still can be consequences to our lives on Earth with also the potential loss of Rewards in Heaven.  In other words, Jesus Christ paid the price for the entirety of all sins of humankind, so that everyone could have entrance into Heaven with God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and God the Son. 

The misunderstanding is the thought that Jesus Christ's payment allows us to sin without consequences.  The exciting thought from the scriptures to remember is God will use all negative consequences of sins, known as suffering, for the Christian's benefit if we respond correctly, which will lead us to love God more and more.

Consider these rhetorical questions, regarding sins that we all could or have committed:

These three scriptures, of many scriptures, informs us that we will reap negatively.  Also, we can lose the ability for God to hear our prayers.

Romans 2:6-11 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality
Galatians 6:7-10 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.
Isaiah 59:1-3 1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice.
Ephesians 4:30-32 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and slander be put away from you, along with all hatred. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you in the Messiah.
1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Joel 2:25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.   
Revelation 2:23 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

Patterns shown in the Scriptures

The scriptures are replete with patterns which are one of many proofs of the scripture's authenticity from God.  It is impossible to have 40 authors spread out over thousands of years to write 66 books where there is consistency in terminology, phrases, the message and so much more. 

One of several patterns of consequences in the scriptures is the life of Jacob, who later is renamed by God to be called Israel.  Jacob's father, Isaac, was near death, nearly blind and he wanted to give the very important blessing to the first born, which should have gone to Esau.  Esau was Jacob's twin brother, who was born first.  At the birth of the twins, God let Isaac, and Isaac's wife Rebekah, know that the older would serve the younger, which meant Jacob would inherit the blessing, but the problem was Jacob stole the blessing

Genesis 25:21-23 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”

The blessing and inheritance of the first born was very important and had many financial inheritance rewards along with being the priest of the family, where God would honor with additional blessings.  Jacob stole the blessing by pretending to be Esau with the help of his mother, Rebekah.  The story is read in Genesis 27:1-45, where the deception part is Genesis 27:15-19.

Genesis 27:15-19 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 She also gave the delicious meal and the bread which she had made to her son Jacob. 18 Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Come now, sit and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”

First part of consequence by deception

Jacob ends up receiving the stolen blessing, but has to escape to Haran in fear of being killed by his brother Esau.  When Jacob gets to Haran, he spends fourteen years working for his relative, Laban, to have Laban's daughter Rachel for his wife. 

Laban treats Jacob unfairly in many businesses dealing along with tricking Jacob into first taking Laban's oldest daughter Leah for his wife, after seven years of promising to work for Rachel as wife.  Jacob then works for another seven years for Rachel to be his wife. 

During the whole time, God prospers the work of Jacob despite the treacherous deceptions of Laban, where Jacob finally leaves Laban with his two wives, two lesser wives, and the children who would become the Twelve Tribes of Israel. 

Second part of the consequences by deception

God later renames Jacob to Israel, where many years later, there were sons of Israel who despised the favoritism that Israel gave one of his sons Joseph.  The other sons, except for Benjamin, resort to deceiving Israel into believing Joseph was killed by bringing Israel the coat of Joseph with sheep's blood thrown on it.  In actuality, Joseph was thrown in a pit for three days, and then sold into slavery that had Joseph being taken to Egypt where God had Joseph eventually rise into the position of Prime Minister underneath Pharaoh.

Genesis 37:23-24 23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the multicolored tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
Genesis 37:31-36 31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood; 32 and they sent the multicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” 33 Then he examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A vicious animal has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 Then all his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

The casual reading of the narrative in the scriptures, which was just given at a very high-level summary, would have the reader potentially miss the consequential pattern God used on Jacob, who becomes Israel.  Note that God has prophesized that Jacob would be the favored son with the blessing of the first-born, but Jacob took the blessing in a way that God would not have intended.

Notice that Jacob deceived his father Isaac by the use of a goat skin to simulate hairy arms and hairy back of his brother Esau.  Later Jacob (Israel) was deceived through a coat, which was made from goat or sheep skins.  Both incidents involved the similarity of deception through animal skins, where Jacob (Israel) was tricked by the same items which he had used.

In the case where Jacob was deceived, the deception and pain of it was far worse than the consequences that Isaac felt when being deceived by Jacob.  In the deep contrast, the scriptures show that Jacob (Israel) felt the pain for multiple decades until the eventual reunion with Joseph in Egypt when Joseph was Prime Minister.  There are scriptures such as Proverbs 6:30-31 that describe the penalty for theft requires payment of sevenfold for the amount stolen to the victim.

Proverbs 6:30-31 30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry; 31 But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; He must give all the substance of his house.

God gives us great love in His Grace and Mercy, where even in the history of the life of Jacob (Israel), God worked all of the problems, deceptions, loss of time to eventually reward those involved when they recognized God in the process.  Joseph was meant to go to Egypt and prepare away to save Israel's entire family, with their wives and children, from a very severe period of seven years of famine.  Joseph forgave his brothers and showed that he (Joseph) had recognized God in all of the processes, which then gave God the Glory and everyone blessings.

Genesis 50:19-21 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive. 21 So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Scriptural Example of Exact Consequences Reaped

In the Tribulation Period there will be many punitive consequences and amazing judgments against the Earth such as the Seven Seals.  An interesting judgment, which God exactly distributes to those who murder Christians and non-Christians, is read in Revelation 13:10 shown below.  Those who murder others, will be killed in the same method, which is precise example sowing and reaping. 

Revelation 13:10 10 “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed." This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

For more information on the passage dealing with verses surrounding Revelation 13:10, see the topics:

Partial excerpt from Mark of the Beast topic:

The uniqueness of the Tribulation Time Period of the Antichrist is because it is the only time in the history of God's protection for Christians does not stop Satanic Forces from killing and martyring all the Christians they can find.  Many Biblical Commentaries point out that this is partially because people should have recognized the events happening on the Earth that was leading up to the 70th Week of Daniel and therefore accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior so that this horrible period of the Tribulation Period could have been avoided.   The 70th Week of Daniel is a seven-year period that the first 3.5 years are peaceful and the second 3.5 years are the Tribulation Period.

Two Personal Amazing Incidents Experienced

The following two incidents happened to this author, which I absolutely know God was involved in effect of repaying the sowing of good deeds where there is a pattern of what was sowed was reaped.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

For the background, before describing the two incidents:

I have been a life-time runner since the age of 8 years old, and it is remarkable how often I see nails and screws on the roads, which most likely have fallen inadvertently out of the back of construction vehicles.  When running, I'll quickly reach down and pick up the nail or screw, and then throw it into the grass off the side of the Road. 

Also, I have also on occasion helped people change a flat tire.  There was an incident in 1989, when it was literally pouring down rain and I was on the way home from work, where the one-lane exit lane to the left on a freeway suddenly had all the cars stopped.  I was a few cars behind a vehicle ahead of me that stopped and the car had just put on the emergency car flashers.  I waited for a few moments, realizing all the cars behind me couldn't back up and we couldn't go forward, so I got out of the car with no umbrella and walked up to the stranded car. 

There was a woman driving the car who rolled down her window (this is before all cars had power-windows and no one had mobile phones) and she told me her car's engine stopped running and won't start.  I asked her to put the car in neutral and I managed to push the car to the side of the very narrow exit ramp, in order for cars to squeeze by.  Next, I told her I am a Born-Again Christian, so she could trust me, and come with me to my car so that I can get you somewhere to call for help.  I decided to take her to my house which was nearby, where my wife got her some dry clothes and I ended up giving her a ride to her house where someone in her family could help her more.  She tried to give us money, but we said it was not needed, and we wouldn't take it.

Incident One

In 2016, my daughter had gone back to college and was driving an old 2004 Honda Pilot which was safe to drive but had some problems at high speeds over 55 MPH, which caused the right front wheel to vibrate.  She was only driving to/from college and job so the car was great for that purpose. 

Unfortunately, she wanted to go to Austin to see a boyfriend which she had broken up with and I told her not to do that because her tire would probably have a problem and possibly go flat with a vibrating wheel.  Unbeknownst to me, she went to Austin, and on the way back she had a flat-tire where she called me where she managed to drive her car off of the interstate highway to a nearly abandoned small-stores center that only had a convenience store in front of a gas station that no longer provided gasoline or air for tires.

After driving for an hour and half to find her from my job, I pulled up to her car to see the right front-tire was in shreds.  I next went to look at the spare-tire to find it was flat and there was no car-jack wrench.  At that point, she was in tears and she could see that I was very angry because I was thinking how to get the car towed to a Tire store, where we were in a nearly desolate area of the interstate highway outside of Houston, TX.  All of a sudden, I heard a voice from behind me say, "Hi, do you need some help?".   Without turning around, I said "Yes I do!".

The next thing I know, this man starts talking while working stating:

  1. "Well, your spare-tire is flat.  No problem I'll pump it up using my truck."
  2. "Give me a moment to get my Jack-System and I'll get your car up so that we can get the old wheel off."
  3. I turn around to see this man had his 18-Wheeler Tow Truck parked quite a distance away from us at this nearly abandoned small-stores center.
  4. Within 15 minutes, this man had the spare-tire filled with air from his Truck's air-pump system, and put on my daughter's car.  I tried to assist him, but he did everything in amazing speed.
  5. Next, he told us that the spare-tire, often known as a donut-spare-tire, is only good for about 50 miles, so he told us exactly where to drive to get a new tire for the one that had been shredded.
  6. I tried to get the man to take some money and he wouldn't accept it.  He said he was a Christian and just felt led by God to help us.

There is absolutely no explanation for this occurring other than God's direct 100% intervention to send someone to help with perfect timing.  Someone driving this type of 18-Wheeler Tow Truck is in high demand and also very expensive to hire where the odds of all of the coincidents to have happen is beyond probability or happenstance.


(Note: this is not the actual truck, but it was just like the one from the man who helped my daughter and me.
Photo from public domain, so unknown credit to give to photographer.  If this is your photo, please contact website.)

Instance Two

In September of 2019, my wife and I took a trip from Houston, TX through many States of the mid-west.  On the second day of the trip, we were on an interstate highway that was not near any town or city.  We were perhaps 30 or miles from Welch, TX, when our rented car had a flat tire. 

I pulled off the side of the road and was looking at the tools provided to put on a donut-tire spare tire, when I heard a voice, from a truck that pulled up beside our car, "Hey you guys need some help?".  I said "yes" and the man said "the first thing you need to do is pull off to that side-road leading to that farm to get you off of this interstate road so you don't get accidentally hit by an 18-Wheeler.  That farm is my buddy Mickey's farm, so he won't mind." 

Note that this was Saturday afternoon around 4pm, so even if I managed to get the spare-tire on the car, I was next worried on how I could drive anywhere to get the flat-tire fixed as we still had three hours of driving to go to our next destination on interstate roads where there were really no places to get a tire fixed that were possibly open on a later Saturday afternoon.

The man who stopped to ask us if we needed help, is named Royce where he and his wife Lisa, said they felt led to help us.  Here's what happened:

  1. Royce got on the phone and located a local mobile truck repair service that will fix flat tires on the interstate.  The man driving the truck ended up being an old friend of Royce's and was about to be off work for the day but got to us in 20 minutes.
  2. The flat tire ended up having two different drilling bits that had punctured the tire in two different places. 
  3. The flat tire was a 19" specialty sports car tire where if we had found a tire store, they would most likely not have had the tire in stock or could have easily found one on a late Saturday afternoon.
  4. The guy who fixed the flat tire said he felt the tire was fixable even though he said a tire store would not take the liability of doing so.
  5. We ended up have a nice time talking with Royce, Lisa, Mickey (who showed up at the same-time) and the tire truck repairmen who I can't recall his name.  Royce and Lisa invited me and my wife Genia to dinner, where we unfortunately had to decline where we told them we were on a tight schedule, so we exchanged addresses and phone numbers.  We told them if we are ever near Welch, Tx in the future, we promised to meet up for dinner, and they said if they were ever in Houston, Tx they would look us up.
  6. When we got back home from the vacation, we sent them a $50 gift card with a thank you card.  Lisa called my wife to see how the vacation went.

Just like Incident #1 above, we recognized the absolute guidance of timing by God to arrange help for us at a place that would have been impossible for us to continue without it. 

(This is me, talking with Royce on the right photo.  The truck on the right is the mobile tire repair truck. 
As you can see in the background, of the two photos, we were in the middle of nothing but farm lands with no buildings in sight.)

This author is not saying that if I had not picked up nails and screws off of the road all the times while running for exercise along with helping the woman at age 29, that God would not have sent people to help.  What I am trying to impart is the concept of sowing and reaping in due time.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

What to read next?

The Crucifixion Psalm, Abraham's Location with Isaac,  Risen - 4 Gospels and is there a discrepancy on Easter? and Noah's Ark rests the day before Christ's Resurrection.  What is Salvation?  Is it is possible to lose Salvation?  We have eternal life.  Evolution is not real.  When a Christian suffers is there benefits from it.  Rewards in heaven.  Do we Tithe?  What does the 3rd Commandment tell us?  What is Grace and Mercy?  Is there an Age of Accountability?  Is there a place of unending punishment and exile form God?

 
Sowing and Reaping Unexpectedly

Creation date: 23-Apr-2021
Often even called Karma by Christians

Last updated: 19-May-2022
A A A  help

 
Sections

1 One Sided Blindness by the Christian 2 Grace and Mercy Applies More than Perceived
3 Overlooked and Ignored 4 Patterns shown in the Scriptures
5 Scriptural Example of Exact Consequences Reaped 6 Two Personal Amazing Incidents Experienced

One Sided Blindness by the Christian

There seems to be many Christians that are only familiar with scriptures dealing with:
  1. Successful living,
  2. Sowing and reaping to get something beneficial through faith and tithes,
  3. Sowing Tithes in faith for desired financial outcomes, and
  4. Abundant life through faith.

These types of beliefs are absolutely correct, as they are based in seeking God in faith.  A common expression that has been heard by most likely all of us at one time is:

You cannot out give God, and God will be no debtor to any person.

which is based liberally on two scriptural passages of 1 Chronicles 29:12-14, Romans 11:33-36, Malachi 3:10 and the principles of Tithing:

1 Chronicles 29:12-14 12 Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou rulest over all; and in thy hand is power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. 14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
Romans 11:33-36 33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor? 35 or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.
Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

Unfortunately, all of us should have the following three points as a complete perception from the scriptures, where the last two are often ignored:

  1. All benefits from faith, may not yield blessings from God in our earthly life.  Indeed, it should be obvious to realize that it is better to have Rewards in Heaven than any temporary rewards in our short life on Earth as compared to Eternity. 
  2. There are actions, which are sinful that often will have negative consequences for us, while it is impossible to lose our Salvation.
  3. There are actions, which are not sinful, but seen or heard by someone else that makes them commit sinful actions.  When this occurs, we can experience negative consequences. 

There are Pastors and Evangelist, who give great messages on Christianity, which incorrectly might state that we can have both great rewards in our Earthly lives and Eternity.  While this sounds wonderful, it simply isn't truthful when considering the totality of the scriptures with the evidence of great Christians in history:

Matthew 16:24-27 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.
Acts 7:57-60
Stephen killed 		57 At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Philippians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Grace and Mercy Applies More than Perceived

The unfortunate belief by all of us, until we grow in maturity through Faith, is the thought that we are deserving of great rewards in our life by the simplest of things done that we feel are worthy and righteous.  We also can incorrectly think that God will allow us to anything we need in life to obtain happiness, even with it at the expense or being sinful to others.  These two perceptions are often perpetuated by the way of the Gospel is given in Church and by Christians, were our sins have no consequences because of Jesus Christ.

The correct scriptural understanding of the Christian benefits is:

The paramount goal for us all is to obtain a deeper relationship with God that is only possible through Jesus Christ.  When we are growing in our Christian life, we are then able to realize that ultimately, we will be at the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ to receive the benefits of a life that was pleasing to our Judge Jesus Christ. 

Excerpt from the Rewards in Heaven topic:

Everything done through faith that:

  1. Developed our relationship with God during our life,
  2. Activities in God's Service,
  3. Faithfulness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
  4. Righteously suffering, and
  5. Overcoming sinful areas and obstacles in life through the Holy Spirit.

will contribute to rewards in Heaven.

Overlooked and Ignored

Many of us are familiar with Romans 8:1, which states that there is no condemnation, but this often taken out of context as the scripture is dealing with Salvation through Jesus Christ, and actually pertains to us living our lives to a higher level of accountability through the Law of the Holy Spirit who indwells us.

Romans 8:1-4 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

We all will have positive and negative consequences in our lives for righteous living and also for sinful actions. While all of our sins are forgiven and cannot cause the loss of our Salvation, there is always consequences which:

As one of the most beneficial examples in the scriptures is the life of King David.  In King David's life he committed adultery, and then committed murder to cover up the adultery, where King David was absolutely forgiven but had life-time consequences.  King David never lost his love for God and God always loved David, where David has a special role in the 1,000 Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  Two primary points:

As already noted in this topic, we are no longer under the Old Law of the Old Testament, but we are now under a more comprehensive Law of the Holy Spirit.  The new Law of the Holy Spirit absolutely gives us Grace and Mercy, along many other benefits such as the Holy Spirit guiding us away from sin. 

When we sin, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross forgives us of our sin where there still can be consequences to our lives on Earth with also the potential loss of Rewards in Heaven.  In other words, Jesus Christ paid the price for the entirety of all sins of humankind, so that everyone could have entrance into Heaven with God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and God the Son. 

The misunderstanding is the thought that Jesus Christ's payment allows us to sin without consequences.  The exciting thought from the scriptures to remember is God will use all negative consequences of sins, known as suffering, for the Christian's benefit if we respond correctly, which will lead us to love God more and more.

Consider these rhetorical questions, regarding sins that we all could or have committed:

These three scriptures, of many scriptures, informs us that we will reap negatively.  Also, we can lose the ability for God to hear our prayers.

Romans 2:6-11 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality
Galatians 6:7-10 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.
Isaiah 59:1-3 1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice.

Patterns shown in the Scriptures

The scriptures are replete with patterns which are one of many proofs of the scripture's authenticity from God.  It is impossible to have 40 authors spread out over thousands of years to write 66 books where there is consistency in terminology, phrases, the message and so much more. 

One of several patterns of consequences in the scriptures is the life of Jacob, who later is renamed by God to be called Israel.  Jacob's father, Isaac, was near death, nearly blind and he wanted to give the very important blessing to the first born, which should have gone to Esau.  Esau was Jacob's twin brother, who was born first.  At the birth of the twins, God let Isaac, and Isaac's wife Rebekah, know that the older would serve the younger, which meant Jacob would inherit the blessing, but the problem was Jacob stole the blessing

Genesis 25:21-23 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”

The blessing and inheritance of the first born was very important and had many financial inheritance rewards along with being the priest of the family, where God would honor with additional blessings.  Jacob stole the blessing by pretending to be Esau with the help of his mother, Rebekah.  The story is read in Genesis 27:1-45, where the deception part is Genesis 27:15-19.

Genesis 27:15-19 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 She also gave the delicious meal and the bread which she had made to her son Jacob. 18 Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Come now, sit and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”

First part of consequence by deception

Jacob ends up receiving the stolen blessing, but has to escape to Haran in fear of being killed by his brother Esau.  When Jacob gets to Haran, he spends fourteen years working for his relative, Laban, to have Laban's daughter Rachel for his wife. 

Laban treats Jacob unfairly in many businesses dealing along with tricking Jacob into first taking Laban's oldest daughter Leah for his wife, after seven years of promising to work for Rachel as wife.  Jacob then works for another seven years for Rachel to be his wife. 

During the whole time, God prospers the work of Jacob despite the treacherous deceptions of Laban, where Jacob finally leaves Laban with his two wives, two lesser wives, and the children who would become the Twelve Tribes of Israel. 

Second part of the consequences by deception

God later renames Jacob to Israel, where many years later, there were sons of Israel who despised the favoritism that Israel gave one of his sons Joseph.  The other sons, except for Benjamin, resort to deceiving Israel into believing Joseph was killed by bringing Israel the coat of Joseph with sheep's blood thrown on it.  In actuality, Joseph was thrown in a pit for three days, and then sold into slavery that had Joseph being taken to Egypt where God had Joseph eventually rise into the position of Prime Minister underneath Pharaoh.

Genesis 37:23-24 23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the multicolored tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
Genesis 37:31-36 31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood; 32 and they sent the multicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” 33 Then he examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A vicious animal has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 Then all his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

The casual reading of the narrative in the scriptures, which was just given at a very high-level summary, would have the reader potentially miss the consequential pattern God used on Jacob, who becomes Israel.  Note that God has prophesized that Jacob would be the favored son with the blessing of the first-born, but Jacob took the blessing in a way that God would not have intended.

Notice that Jacob deceived his father Isaac by the use of a goat skin to simulate hairy arms and hairy back of his brother Esau.  Later Jacob (Israel) was deceived through a coat, which was made from goat or sheep skins.  Both incidents involved the similarity of deception through animal skins, where Jacob (Israel) was tricked by the same items which he had used.

In the case where Jacob was deceived, the deception and pain of it was far worse than the consequences that Isaac felt when being deceived by Jacob.  In the deep contrast, the scriptures show that Jacob (Israel) felt the pain for multiple decades until the eventual reunion with Joseph in Egypt when Joseph was Prime Minister.  There are scriptures such as Proverbs 6:30-31 that describe the penalty for theft where deception to gain something is the same as theft.

Proverbs 6:30-31 30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry; 31 But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; He must give all the substance of his house.

God gives us great love in His Grace and Mercy, where even in the history of the life of Jacob (Israel), God worked all of the problems, deceptions, loss of time to eventually reward those involved when they recognized God in the process.  Joseph was meant to go to Egypt and prepare away to save Israel's entire family, with their wives and children, from a very severe period of seven years of famine.  Joseph forgave his brothers and showed that he (Joseph) had recognized God in all of the processes, which then gave God the Glory and everyone blessings.

Genesis 50:19-21 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive. 21 So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Scriptural Example of Exact Consequences Reaped

In the Tribulation Period there will be many punitive consequences and amazing judgments against the Earth such as the Seven Seals.  An interesting judgment, which God exactly distributes to those who murder Christians and non-Christians, is read in  Revelation 13:10 shown below.  Those who murder others, will be killed in the same method, which is precise example sowing and reaping. 

Revelation 13:10 10 “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed." This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

For more information on the passage dealing with verses surrounding Revelation 13:10, see the topics:

Partial excerpt from Mark of the Beast topic:

The uniqueness of the Tribulation Time Period of the Antichrist is because it is the only time in the history of God's protection for Christians does not stop Satanic Forces from killing and martyring all the Christians they can find.  Many Biblical Commentaries point out that this is partially because people should have recognized the events happening on the Earth that was leading up to the 70th Week of Daniel and therefore accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior so that this horrible period of the Tribulation Period could have been avoided.   The 70th Week of Daniel is a seven-year period that the first 3.5 years are peaceful and the second 3.5 years are the Tribulation Period.

Two Personal Amazing Incidents Experienced

The following two incidents happened to this author, which I absolutely know God was involved in effect of repaying the sowing of good deeds where there is a pattern of what was sowed was reaped.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

For the background, before describing the two incidents:

I have been a life-time runner since the age of 8 years old, and it is remarkable how often I see nails and screws on the roads, which most likely have fallen inadvertently out of the back of construction vehicles.  When running, I'll quickly reach down and pick up the nail or screw, and then throw it into the grass off the side of the Road. 

Also, I have also on occasion helped people change a flat tire.  There was an incident in 1989, when it was literally pouring down rain and I was on the way home from work, where the one-lane exit lane to the left on a freeway suddenly had all the cars stopped.  I was a few cars behind a vehicle ahead of me that stopped and the car had just put on the emergency car flashers.  I waited for a few moments, realizing all the cars behind me couldn't back up and we couldn't go forward, so I got out of the car with no umbrella and walked up to the stranded car. 

There was a woman driving the car who rolled down her window (this is before all cars had power-windows and no one had mobile phones) and she told me her car's engine stopped running and won't start.  I asked her to put the car in neutral and I managed to push the car to the side of the very narrow exit ramp, in order for cars to squeeze by.  Next, I told her I am a Born-Again Christian, so she could trust me, and come with me to my car so that I can get you somewhere to call for help.  I decided to take her to my house which was nearby, where my wife got her some dry clothes and I ended up giving her a ride to her house where someone in her family could help her more.  She tried to give us money, but we said it was not needed, and we wouldn't take it.

Incident One

In 2016, my daughter had gone back to college and was driving an old 2004 Honda Pilot which was safe to drive but had some problems at high speeds over 55 MPH, which caused the right front wheel to vibrate.  She was only driving to/from college and job so the car was great for that purpose. 

Unfortunately, she wanted to go to Austin to see a boyfriend which she had broken up with and I told her not to do that because her tire would probably have a problem and possibly go flat with a vibrating wheel.  Unbeknownst to me, she went to Austin, and on the way back she had a flat-tire where she called me where she managed to drive her car off of the interstate highway to a nearly abandoned small-stores center that only had a convenience store in front of a gas station that no longer provided gasoline or air for tires.

After driving for an hour and half to find her from my job, I pulled up to her car to see the right front-tire was in shreds.  I next went to look at the spare-tire to find it was flat and there was no car-jack wrench.  At that point, she was in tears and she could see that I was very angry because I was thinking how to get the car towed to a Tire store, where we were in a nearly desolate area of the interstate highway outside of Houston, TX.  All of a sudden, I heard a voice from behind me say, "Hi, do you need some help?".   Without turning around, I said "Yes I do!".

The next thing I know, this man starts talking while working stating:

  1. "Well, your spare-tire is flat.  No problem I'll pump it up using my truck."
  2. "Give me a moment to get my Jack-System and I'll get your car up so that we can get the old wheel off."
  3. I turn around to see this man had his 18-Wheeler Tow Truck parked quite a distance away from us at this nearly abandoned small-stores center.
  4. Within 15 minutes, this man had the spare-tire filled with air from his Truck's air-pump system, and put on my daughter's car.  I tried to assist him, but he did everything in amazing speed.
  5. Next, he told us that the spare-tire, often known as a donut-spare-tire, is only good for about 50 miles, so he told us exactly where to drive to get a new tire for the one that had been shredded.
  6. I tried to get the man to take some money and he wouldn't accept it.  He said he was a Christian and just felt led by God to help us.

There is absolutely no explanation for this occurring other than God's direct 100% intervention to send someone to help with perfect timing.  Someone driving this type of 18-Wheeler Tow Truck is in high demand and also very expensive to hire where the odds of all of the coincident to have happen is beyond probability or happenstance.


(Note: this is not the actual truck, but it was just like the one from the man who helped my daughter and me.
Photo from public domain, so unknown credit to give to photographer.  If this is your photo, please contact website.)

Instance Two

In September of 2019, my wife and I took a trip from Houston, TX through many States of the mid-west.  On the second day of the trip, we were on an interstate highway that was not near any town or city.  We were perhaps 30 or miles from Welch, TX, when our rented car had a flat tire. 

I pulled off the side of the road and was looking at the tools provided to put on a donut-tire spare tire, when I heard a voice, from a truck that pulled up beside our car, "Hey you guys need some help?".  I said "yes" and the man said "the first thing you need to do is pull off to that side-road leading to that farm to get you off of this interstate road so you don't get accidentally hit by an 18-Wheeler.  That farm is my buddy Mickey's farm, so he won't mind." 

Note that this was Saturday afternoon around 4pm, so even if I managed to get the spare-tire on the car, I was next worried on how I could drive anywhere to get the flat-tire fixed as we still had three hours of driving to go to our next destination on interstate roads where there were really no places to get a tire fixed that were possibly open on a later Saturday afternoon.

The man who stopped to ask us if we needed help, is named Royce where he and his wife Lisa, said they felt led to help us.  Here's what happened:

  1. Royce got on the phone and located a local mobile truck repair service that will fix flat tires on the interstate.  The man driving the truck ended up being an old friend of Royce's and was about to be off work for the day but got to us in 20 minutes.
  2. The flat tire ended up having two different drilling bits that had punctured the tire in two different places. 
  3. The flat tire was a 19" specialty sports car tire where if we had found a tire store, they would most likely not have had the tire in stock or could have easily found one on a late Saturday afternoon.
  4. The guy who fixed the flat tire said he felt the tire was fixable even though he said a tire store would not take the liability of doing so.
  5. We ended up have a nice time talking with Royce, Lisa, Mickey (who showed up at the same-time) and the tire truck repairmen who I can't recall his name.  Royce and Lisa invited me and my wife Genia to dinner, where we unfortunately had to decline where we told them we were on a tight schedule, so we exchanged addresses and phone numbers.  We told them if we are ever near Welch, Tx in the future, we promised to meet up for dinner, and they said if they were ever in Houston, Tx they would look us up.
  6. When we got back home from the vacation, we sent them a $50 gift card with a thank you card.  Lisa called my wife to see how the vacation went.

Just like Incident #1 above, we recognized the absolute guidance of timing by God to arrange help for us at a place that would have been impossible for us to continue without it. 

(This is me, talking with Royce on the right photo.  The truck on the right is the mobile tire repair truck. 
As you can see in the background, of the two photos, we were in the middle of nothing but farm lands with no buildings in sight.)

This author is not saying that if I had not picked up nails and screws off of the road all the times while running for exercise along with helping the woman at age 29, that God would not have sent people to help.  What I am trying to impart is the concept of sowing and reaping in due time.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

What to read next?

The Crucifixion Psalm, Abraham's Location with Isaac,  Risen - 4 Gospels and is there a discrepancy on Easter? and Noah's Ark rests the day before Christ's Resurrection.  What is Salvation?  Is it is possible to lose Salvation?  We have eternal life.  Evolution is not real.  When a Christian suffers is there benefits from it.  Rewards in heaven.  Do we Tithe?  What does the 3rd Commandment tell us?  What is Grace and Mercy?  Is there an Age of Accountability?  Is there a place of unending punishment and exile form God?