Strategy for Such a Time as This
At the beginning of March the Lord began to impress on my heart a strategy that required quick obedience. After sharing with the national team they asked me to share with you what the Lord has been speaking to me about. I prepared a 10 minutes clip on Youtube. Please click VIDEO to listen.
We sense that there is something about doing this in March. Our desire for each of you is for you to participate in the celebration of First Fruits with us for it will impact us for rest of the year.
Firstfruits Strategy
While part of the Aglow National Team was in Spokane, Dutch Sheets stated that this season ahead would have to require obedience where we would have to move quickly without overthinking or over planning. Then he stated “There is something so powerful happening in the Spirit in this hour that will cause the purposes of God to be birthed in days. I am a little ahead of myself here, but when I looked over at Chuck and said, “They are going to have to be light of feet”, I was trying to find the right phrase. What I was feeling was an organization this large is when you try to get people from around the nation or nations to participate you cannot just do things quickly in a week or two, you have to plan… But what I am hearing the Lord saying is, you do not have months in this season. You are going to hear assignments from the Lord and you are going to have to put a team together in a week.”
As we consecrate our First Fruits to the Lord it will be a strike that separates our cities, nation, regions etc. to the Lord.
- This is strategic warfare giving.
- Our generations yet unborn, breakthrough communities yet to arise can be impacted by our First Fruits offerings.
- First Fruits is a Prophetic Act
- First Fruits is the key to prospering in God’s time and order.
Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.
First Fruits was to be celebrated around three feasts. The first one is at Passover, which is the barley harvest, the second at Pentecost –wheat harvest and finally the fruit harvest at the Feast of Tabernacles.
When Israel took the First Fruits before they had the whole harvest in, they brought it to the High Priest and consecrated it to the Lord and that’s why God said He will breathe on their harvest.
First Fruits brings us into alignment with the apostolic and consecrates what we love to God.
It consecrates our entire harvest, family and lives and ministry to the Lord.
Our entire household and lineage comes under the blessing of First Fruits.
2 Chronicles 29:36
Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.
When the people obeyed, look what happened:
2 Chronicles 31:5-7 NASU
As soon as the order spread, the sons of Israel provided in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of all. 6 The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of sacred gifts which were consecrated to the Lord their God, and placed them in heaps.
2 Chronicles 31:9-10 NASU
Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 10 Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok said to him, “Since the contributions began to be brought into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over, for the Lord has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over.”
Hezekiah had them build storehouses to keep their plenteous supply.
We feel the weight of this assignment and we desire that your participation would be involved with us. Aglow is called to impact our nation and First Fruits blessings will help us complete our mission at every level, locally, area and nationally. Please consider this as individuals for your own lives and also corporately for your teams as well. We are obeying the Holy Spirit in this.
Remi Ogunrinde and Darlene Smith
More About First Fruits Strategy
The Pattern of Firstfruits giving.
Firstfruits giving is not a legalistic demand. You do not have to participate. It is not something we have to do, it is something we get to do. We can discover the pattern of firstfruits giving and choose to align ourselves with it and receive the tremendous blessing that flows out of this.
A pattern is the discovery of how God works. Ps 103:7 “He made known His ways to Moses,His acts to the children of Israel.”
A pattern appears over and over in the Word of God. Firstfruits is mentioned 20 times in the Bible. 13 – Old Testament and 7 times in the New. So there is a pattern to firstfruits giving that we can find and align ourselves to.
Now, for those of you who are seamstresses or if you have ever sewn a garment, you know that you can purchase the pattern and lay it out on the fabric. Now, you can use that same pattern with variations: long sleeves, short sleeves, scoop neck, etc. and you can use the same pattern with different colours and kinds of fabric. Your garments will not be identical; each one will be unique, although you used the same pattern for all.
Every garment is different because they are made by hand. Just as we, each of God’s children is unique because we are also made by hand, by His Hand. In the same way, our firstfruit offerings will also be unique and each year your offering will be a different amount, although following the pattern that we find in scripture.
As we follow the scriptural pattern of firstfruits giving, we will discover the Blessing that is attached. I have made a short video teaching on this Blessing that you can find HERE
This week Passover begins (April 19 – 27th) along with the time of firstfruits offering. I encourage you, dear friends, to join with us as we honour the Lord with our firstfruits.
“Honour the Lord with your wealth and the firstfruits of all your increase” Proverbs 3:9
Donate firstfruits here
With Much Love and Blessing
Iris Williams
National Treasurer
Aglow International Canada