GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES!    DFO951   24/10/80
--Don't Miss the Harvest

         1. WE REALLY FEEL THAT WHEN VERY SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES OPEN, we've found out from years of experience in the Lord's work it is something that God does in a special way to reach a special audience that you may not have the opportunity to reach again! So don't neglect those golden opportunities which the Lord presents & gives you a foot in the door to pursue!
         2. Follow the leading of the Lord, not any set system! Don't set for yourself any set regimen or set system or itinerary of schedule that you can't break whenever one of God's setups appears.
         3. You have to have a real sixth sense of the Lord--maybe it's a SEVENTH sense of the Holy Spirit & His guiding--to recognise such unusual opportunities & to realise that this is something that God has suddenly opened to you & is a golden opportunity at the moment & must be pursued at once & followed up now or it may never come again & you may never be able to reach those same people again or that class of people or that type of people or that particular field again.
         4. GOD HAS HIS TIMES, HE HAS HIS HARVEST TIMES, & THEY DON'T ALWAYS LAST, because as He said, "the harvest truly is plenteous but the labourers are few. The field is already white unto harvest." (Mt.9:37; Jn.4:35) The harvest won't last if it's not reaped immediately when it's ripe, & then you'll be sorry.
         5. You'll find out when you come back that the harvest has been devastated by some storm of the Enemy or some opposition or some freeze of their hearts, & it's gone & past forever & you'll never have it again! So when you have that opportunity & when the doors are open, enter them!--Because God does not open doors that He doesn't want you to enter. When He opens doors like that, it means that you're supposed to enter & follow it up until He closes the door.
         6. The whims of man are fleeting, fame is fleeting, & when you're on that big wave of popularity you've got to ride it as long as it lasts because it's eventually going to crash on the beach & go to pieces & you may be with it! So don't pass up those good opportunities when you get a particularly juicy choice open door to some special field that will not always last & you'll not always be able to come back to.
         7. DON'T LEAVE THAT PLOW DESERTED IN A FERTILE FIELD before a ripe harvest which God has opened a door to! Don't abandon something that is fruitful & paying off--as long as you're reaping & fruitful & getting souls or support or the blessing of the Lord spiritually or monetarily or some way. Pursue it as long as you can, as long as you can see & feel that God is really working--then let Him close the door!--Don't you close it!
         8. Go through the open doors & accept the invitations & take advantage of the golden opportunities which may only knock once & be gone forever! The door may only be opened once & then be slammed shut & locked forever afterwards! Each harvest field is only ripe once, it never grows again, it never is ripe again; it only has its one time of harvest & that's it, & then it's gone!
         9. SO MAY GOD FORGIVE US & HELP US NEVER TO FAIL (DAD WEEPS) TO GO THROUGH THOSE OPEN DOORS & take advantage of those marvellous harvest fields which may never be available again. May God bless you! I know you're doing your best. I know that the Lord really wants to use you & I just want to see Him use you to your fullest in ways that you can be the most useful & the greatest blessing.
         10. When things are going strong, keep at it! If Nehemiah had come down to fiddle around with something else, then he might never have finished the wall! So keep on the job until the time is spent & over & the harvest is harvested & the door is shut & the wave is spent & crashed; then God'll let you know when it's time to go on someplace else & do something else.
         11. Don't pass up those golden opportunities, leaving a plow in the field that may not be there when you get back! It may be their last chance! Seize it TODAY!