James 5:7
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.
Devotional Thoughts
By David Wilkerson
It doesn’t matter what kind of manifestations you see in a so-called revival. It is not a true move of God unless it is focused on the harvest! Holy Ghost rains always fall to produce an ingathering of souls.
God poured out His Spirit at Pentecost to soften and prepare the ground for the gospel seed to be sown. Spirit-filled believers were sent out from the Upper Room into the entire world to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
After almost two thousand years of sowing and growing, it is now time for harvest! All who died in Christ up to now represent the first fruits or the early harvest. The Lord has been waiting patiently for His final, mighty harvest.
“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rain” (James 5:7).
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced” (Zechariah 12:10). This passage speaks of the promised latter rain that must precede the final harvest.
Many so-called Holy Ghost movements have vanished quickly because they were man-centered — focusing on gifts, self-improvement, happiness. But if a move is truly of the Spirit, it will result in a hunger to reach a lost and dying world. In fact, Jesus tied the harvest to lost souls when He said, “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
Any true outpouring of the Holy Spirit will focus on this prayer of Jesus. The very few revivals documented as genuine all were blessed with great harvests of souls. There is no true revival without a great ingathering of lost souls!