Christian Living
Recognizing the seasons of our life
King Solomon who the bible describes as being the wisest man that ever lived; had this to say in regards to years of reasoning about the seasons of his life that he had acquired. Some of the preaching I have heard in my life time was that; Solomon turned away from the Lord at the end of his life however; this can not be the truth because; he learned the true meaning of life when he said this. “The reverential fear of the Lord is the beginning of true wisdom and every thing else is pure vanity.”
We will define how these different seasons of life affects our plans and hopes in either us allowing God to rule our life or us living by doing our own thing. We are living in the last round up before Jesus return to the earth and God wants to quiet our hearts from any fears we may have that; God is not on the scene orchestrating what is going on for our good.
In Ecc 3:1-15 Solomon says this. “ To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: 1.)A time to be born, 2.) a time to die; 3.) A time to plant, 4.) And a time to pluck what is planted; 5.) A time to kill, 6.) And a time to heal; 7.) A time to break down, 8.) And a time to build up; 9.) A time to weep, 10.) And a time to laugh; 11.) A time to mourn and a 12.) Time to dance. 13.) A time to cast away stones and a 14.) Time to gather stones.15.) A time to embrace and 16.) A time to refrain from embracing. 17.) A time to gain, and 18.) A time to lose. 19.) A time to keep. 20.) A time to throw away. 21,) A time to tear, 22) a time to sew. 23.) A time to keep silence, 24.) A time to speak. 25.) A time to love, 26.) A time to hate. 27.) A time of war, 28.) A time of peace. What profit does a man get from all his toiling?
I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied or busied. (If our tasks are being ordered by the Lord; we won’t be burdened down and busy trying to do our own thing.) God has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [which is a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun. (Under the sun representing man in his own strength trying to handle God’s purposes.) This causes mankind to not be able to understand what God has done from the beginning to the end. (We start out in life being a son or daughter of man. However; when we become born again; we become a child of God the Father. With out God’s wisdom at work in your life; mankind will never understand and give their life meaning.)
I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor because; it is the gift of God. I know that what ever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it that men should have the reverential fear before Him. That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past. Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of (Godly) judgment; wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness; iniquity was there.” The only past requirement from God is that we accept Jesus sacrifice at the cross and become one of His born again children.
Seasons are appointed times in our life and the term under the sun represents; the influences that we all have to deal with as we try to figure out the meaning for our life however; we must not try to figure it out by leaning towards our own understanding. A person must have a living God faced attitude of loving the Lord with all their heart and with all their understanding and with all their soul and strength if; they are going to be able to deal with these wearisome trials of life and not just be a survivor or crisis type Christian in these last days.
The Hebrew words for judgment and wickedness are mishpat: and rasha: judgment meaning; declaring God’s divine law and decrees which represents Godly rule verses wickedness meaning; a person speaking out of their mouth wrong reasoning and confessing strategies contrary to the wisdom of God’s thinking. The words and confession that comes out of our mouth will determine our destiny.
The Hebrew word for righteousness and iniquity are tsedeq: and also resha: righteousness meaning; a person knowing they are cleansed and not guilty of being morally wrong by God verses iniquity which is a person living in guilt and feeling judged and knowing they have broken laws and afraid that; they are going to be punished.
We are defining two forces at work in our life and we must clearing understand how to make will choices of who we will follow the Lord or the devil’s deceptions. God comes to protect and have us find purpose and how to deal with the trails of our life in Christ Jesus verses the devil trying to get us focused on the confusion and man made conceptions of trying to survive and find some meaning to their dilemmas. Before we begin let us remind our self that our trials and warfare of life are not against people’s personalities.
Paul said this in in Ephesians 6:12 “For we are not contending with flesh and blood [which are physical opponents], but against the tyrannical spirits; against powers, [which are master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
Mankind will never be able to handle the ills of the world with their own earthly wisdom. It is only as the born again children of God make them self known in their own arenas in world affairs that; God’s purposes will become fulfilled as he intended. A born again believer must be trained to know their anointed given power by God their Father and not get caught up with the nightly news and human wisdom conversations that may sound good however; it is all based on vanity and ideas that continue to bring strife and division. We must stay informed of what’s going on in the world however; we are not to become alarmed and afraid and lose our peace.
A born again Christian’s discernment from the Holy Ghost must be operating to its peak capacity if we are to recognize the devil’s tactics as he comes to steal kill and destroy any way he can. We must not only believe scripture that tells us; “our weapons are powerful through God to the tearing down of strongholds.” but also be able to participate in the process. The kingdom of God is suffering violence and the violent must take it by force. I don’t hear that be being preached very much instructing God’s kids how to do this. I am defining my goals and attempt in my life to make a difference for God. I have not arrived but I am focused and a work in progress. How about you? I will give some credibility to our life as I define from scripture the 28 statements that Solomon referred to in him sharing his growing pains of life.
1.) A time to be born:
To begin with we must see God’s intensions and hand at work from the very beginning of mankind’s life and where it physically started. There are many scripture I could use that God spoke to different people in the bible with this same message. I will use Jeremiah 1:5-8 to make my point. God said to Jeremiah. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Then Jeremiah said. “Ah, Lord God Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” (Jeremiah spoke with bewilderment because; his self esteem was almost non existent.) However; the Lord said to him “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,”
God says; He knew Jeremiah in the womb and God sanctified him which means; God had given him the state or quality of being holy causing him to become a source of giving God’s grace (His favor that we do not have to earn) to others. However; he had not yet been persuaded of his call. This is still God’s intensions for his children today however; they are still reasoning as young children and ignorant of the power they have to be a mighty force in the world today.
In the Old Testament God used the Prophets to mediate a relationship between man and Himself. In the days we are living right now; our mediator is Christ Jesus and as God’s born again children; we have Christ living in us and His anointing that gives us the right and the power to stand in the gap for God through the power of the Holy Ghost. Don’t let any spirit intimidate you and make you think that; you are an accident getting ready to happen. All of mankind has been called from their mother’s womb by God for a particular purpose and destiny that God has ordained for their life. Do you think that mankind would allow the death of a living human being in the womb if they understood this?
The devil knows that if he can deceive mankind and kill living babies in the womb who have been called by God; it makes him think that; this will stop God’s glory from covering the earth. Can you truly see what an abomination this is and how mankind is destroying it self. An abortion is the most diabolical action that was ever created in the mind of Satan which desensitized this atrocity in the hearts of man. This is a crucial issue in this coming election and we must have people who are called to office believing and declaring Godly wisdom in their decision making or the continuing killing of babies will go on.
2.) A time to die
We start with God’s life and purpose and we leave this physical world with our physical body going back to the earth where God originally created it however; Paul tells us this in 2 Cor. 1-10. “For we know that if our earthly house (physical body) is destroyed, we have a building from God which is a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For because we have an inner witness of this; we earnestly groan desiring to be clothed with our house which is from heaven, if indeed, we have been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent ( physical body) groaning and burdened down not because we want to be unclothed, but we yearn to be further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by eternal life. Now God who has prepared for us this very thing has also given us the Spirit as our guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in our physical body we are absent from the Lord.
For we walk by faith and not by physical sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Paul was talking to born again people who had a miracle encounter with God and scripture tells us that those who have been born again have been clothed with the righteous robe of Christ Jesus. Now having the Spirit of God in them; they were capable to sense the love and compassion of God and they longed to be personally with the Lord in heaven. The fear of death had no hold on them because; they truly knew that; by their physical death; it was the beginning of a new dimension of life for eternity with God.
This inner moaning should be the norm for all of God’s children because; it is being motivated by the Holy Ghost from with in as we are allowing the jealous love of the Lord to mold our lives. It makes us hunger after our righteous state that God sees us in. Unless a person is born again and has received God’s Spirit; they will always reason with things they have done in their body or carnal mind in right and wrong thinking causing them to judge whether they have done good or bad.
John the Apostle tells us this in 1 John 3:7. “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is (already) righteous. It has been preached in far too many places that; if a person does righteous acts; this is what proves that they are righteous. This is exactly opposite of what John said here. Our righteousness comes from Christ who lives in us as born again believers. It was a free gift that we do not have to earn through good works. People who live with this under the sun mentality labor under the burdens of life at working hard to be accepted by God and man.
A person who has been born again and God has become their Father; when they stand before God they will hear; “well done though good and faithful servant.” We will now go on to what our seasons can be like between the beginnings of our life in the womb to the end of our life when we personally stand before God our father.
Let’s understand that all these seasons are the normal events that take place in a person’s life and they must truly understand and know that; God gives them the choice of going through them alone in their under the sun reasoning or allow God to direct their steps and protect them from the anti-christ spirit that is running ramped on the earth.
3.) A time to plant
When we think about planting from a Godly perspective; we think of a thriving plantation of all kinds of crops that are exceedingly and abundantly over flowing with rich harvests. A person who is a child of God must have this vision and hope for the impossible to happen for them. The main precept of Godly wisdom that builds God’s kingdom is seed time planting and then harvesting. I have spent my whole life searching the scripture and trying to live in this principle. There would be no poor people on the earth if we could cooperate with God in this promise.
All people on the earth at one time or another have tried to be seed planters. God tells us that; “what ever we put or hand to; it will prosper.” That means that; what ever God tells us to put our hand to will prosper. If God isn’t in it; forget it for it will end up in vanity and strife. God will withhold no good thing from those who diligently seek Him.
Let’s stay focused by reminding our self that we are talking about our free will choices to live with planning our future with a under the sun mentality verses us reasoning with the mind of Christ that we received the day we became born again by God the Father planting His sperm seed in our being and we became his child. God the Father is the Author of seed planting. A child of God will not be able to plant seed as God their Father does if; they do not recognize their permanency as being a child of God after they became a new creation in Christ Jesus.
This back sliding and going to hell teachings after our born again experience has had the body of Christ crippled for years. This principle of God planting seeds and us taking after Him must be deeply planted in our heart and mind. Our main foundation is in us believing what John said in 1 John 3:9. “Who ever is born of God doeth not commit sin; for God’s seed remains in him: and he cannot sin because; he is born of God.”
A person who has not become born again still has their fallen nature that they were born with and are sinners who can sin. That’s because; their nature has not been changed. However; as I stated earlier those who have become born again have become the righteousness in Christ and they have been transformed into saints. Jesus is called the King of saints.
Sinner’s sin however; born again believers who are righteous have faults as they grow to maturity and learn how to live by surrendering the nature of Christ who lives in them. We are to plant wisdom seeds with substance in obedience to God’s commands as the Holy Ghost tells us how and where to plant them. They are an extension of God Him self and they must bear fruit for He is the author of giving abundantly till it flows over.
Scripture tells us that it pleases God when we live by faith. We must understand that; faith has great substance because; it is us hearing a word from the Holy Ghost telling us how to prosper in all areas as we walk in obedience to His leadings. There also is a learning persuasion process that we all go through as we learn to trust His leadings.
A born again believer who is not secure in their mind of God their Father’s holding power as being a inheritor of God their Father’s wealth; will live with a spirit of double mindedness and they will not be able to receive anything from the Lord. Being onced saved and always saved is not a doctrine of devil’s giving a person a license to sin after becoming born again as it is being taught in many Christian assemblings.
Our born again experience impregnated us with thousands of Godly seeds and by us being persuaded of this by the Holy Ghost; we will look for every opportunity because of us knowing that we can freely give what God has already given us and that He does not think as man thinks who takes back what once was given. We must not be as a young Jeremiah the Prophet who still had no clue as to the wealth that was already in him. Our seed planting in God’s kingdom is a subject in it self.
4.) A time to pluck what is planted
The Hebrew word for pluck is aqar: it means to be hamstringed causing us to become powerless or ineffective and having a need to be transplanted into a more protected environment. This is a season that all people of the earth go through. We all came into this world as hamstringed and having a powerless condition to live a life after God‘s purposes. Scripture tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The word for planted is nata: meaning; to strike or be fastened to. A person who has been struck discovers something, especially suddenly or unexpectedly by giving God permission to allow His spirit to invade our powerless condition by coming our aid.
God knowing how mankind was born crippled like this; made provision by us needing to be transplanted into His kingdom of grace and love by sending His best love gift in Christ Jesus to work with the goal of bringing us to an agreement or reconciliation and deliver us from our powerless condition. There are many examples in the bible where people became born again by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Paul the Apostle was one who was on his way to the city of Damascus to kill born again Christians. He was thrown to the ground and struck with God’s power and light causing him to become a child of God and he spent the rest of his life being used by God to convert 2/3’s of the world of his day. Have you been delivered from your hamstrung condition and become a born again child of God?
When a person becomes born again they become fastened with a unbreakable weld put their by God that can not be; sinned off; cursed off; preached off because; it is a seal put there by the Holy Ghost and no power can separate us from being God‘s child. Most of the western worlds born again assemblies do not believe this. This causes God’s grace to not have its perfect way in their life.
Peter tells us in 11peter 3:18 that; “we need to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Without God‘s grace at work in our life; there is no way to grow to know the Lord better. His unmerited favor that we do not have to earn is the only power that can give us a revelation of the love that God has for us.
When one goes through a killing season it is characterized by a person having antisocial behavior, social deprivation and it involves inflicting severe punishment or strict rules on a person. I have to say that even though a person is God’s child by their born again miracle encounter with Christ Jesus; if they do not know the power and right they have to walk in God’s heavenly courts by truly knowing their total acceptance from God their Father; they are susceptible to be in bondage to this spirit in reasoning with a under the sun mentality. Let me put this in a biblical perspective by what James said in James 4:1-6.
“How do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that is at war in your five senses? You lust and do not have. You murder and to have a strong desire to possess something that belongs to somebody else and you can not obtain it. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is you having an ill will towards God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture is devoid of substance when it says; “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously. However; God gives more grace to over come these tendencies. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.”
Let’s forever get this fixed in our mind and heart. God is never an enemy against us in any way. We become our worst enemy because; we depart from letting the Lord love us as He wants to.
What we have here is the nature that we were born with when we came out of our mother’s womb. It represents the curse of mankind with out Christ living in us. However; James was talking to born again Christians who were still living in bondage to these evil persuasions. This was because; they were ignorant of God’s word and had no clue as to the yearning holding power of the Holy Ghost that lives with in them. The real killing that God is trying to complete in His children is them learning to trust Him and die to selfish ambitions and be made over into the image of Christ Jesus who lives in them through the power of the Holy Ghost.
6.) A time to heal
The word heal in the Hebrew is raash: It means a person having a condition that God wants to mature us so we do not live in a under the sun mentality causing us to have uproars of feelings or waves of fearful emotions that causes us to feel insecure, alone and lost. This is God’s nature and total resolve heal all His children and mature them and make them become independently dependent on His love and holding power. However; a Christian can not be delivered of this if they are living in denial and not acknowledge these feelings of inadequacy and come to God with a humble spirit by recognizing their need for God’s help.
There is only one thing and one thing alone that can deliver us from fear and that is what John said in 1 John 4:15-19. “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And they know and believe the love that God has for them. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” Let’s spend a moment and think carefully about what John said here and reason together. I am sure that; the entire world is looking for the freedom to not live in fear.
A person who is truly abiding in God; stays in a continual expectancy for God to reveal to them His securing love and heal all areas of their soul at all times which represents our mind, will and emotions. Now unless this is true in a Christian’s life; God’s love is being interrupted from doing its job. There is no way that God’s perfect love will not be able to deliver us from the fear that we all have to deal with in our life from time to time.
Let me make my self very clear. We are not talking about maturing so that eventually we will be able to be motivated by us knowing how God loves us. God’s love is perfect because; He is love and not a person who works at loving. There is an instant release of all fear the moment we experience God’s holding power of love. So the real issue that we must deal with is; for some reason what is causing a born again believer to not trust God’s love and not simply receive it to be healed and delivered.
Well from my own growing pains and the hundreds of people that I have talked to; this happens because; they do not understand their true son ship in Christ Jesus and they still have a spirit of shame that is hindering them from coming to God openly and unafraid. This is the most tragic think that can befall a born again child of God. This only takes place because they are sitting and are being influenced under teachings of behavioral codes of measuring up to receive God’s favor. I must repeat what I said earlier. I am sad and grieved to say that over 90% of the western world born again church is living under this task master philosophy.
With this crippledness a person will not have the boldness that God wants us to have to rebuke the works of the devil and to bolding proclaim and be the salt and light of the world in their arenas of life only because; they do not truly believe that; as He is, so are we in this world.
Well let’s understand how He is and prove to our selves how we are exactly like Him. Most born again believers have told me right out that; there is no way they can be like Jesus. The first time I heard that; many years ago I was shocked and speechless. However; as of late; I am hearing it more and it has me disturbed with a great hunger to proclaim the good news gospel every where I go with greater boldness.
Sin is not the issue in the born again believers life and the many well know preachers spending hours talking about getting sin out of your life is and never was the real issue. The real issue is; a Christian being ignorant of who they are in Christ Jesus. Sinful behavior was dealt with at the cross. God’s kids must now be weaned off of this subtle mesmerized spiritual slavery influences in their mind of self judgment. A growing child is not guilty of sinning if he is learning to walk, being potty trained, eat for him self, make choices of how to dress himself etc. Some times I wonder what bible are these preachers reading from.
Just last night in surfing Christian programs I heard a pastor who has been ministering for twenty five years say that; “ It is us receiving God’s love that causes us to receive Christ into our heart and that is true however after that; in order to live in our sanctified state meaning us maturing and be transformed daily into the image of Christ who lives in us; a Christian has to work at loving the Lord. I am sorry brother but that is utter nonsense because; it puts the responsibility back on the born again child of God to muster up some resolve to get God’s unearned favor.
God’s love for us is the motivator that causes us to hunger after God because; He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith walk and we must surrender to the Holy Ghost.
Paul says this in Phil. 2:12-13. “Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, (develop by having a Godly goals, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling ( not trusting in your self but be seriously cautious having a tenderness conscience, recognize temptation, you own lack of power from being able to move away from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ.
“Not in your own strength for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire, both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.”
A under the sun mentality represents the admonition of what a Christian should be having developing in their make up in verse 12 as Paul tells them what to be aware of as they are maturing and in verse 13; he tells how this admonition is to be accomplished and by who’s power.
To me this is perfectly clear and I must surrender my life and let Christ live again in me as he lived in Jesus which is the key and the constant vision that I must have of; “ letting go and letting God live through me.”
I must stress this point. Jesus life is the perfect role model as being the first born again Christian who had Christ living in Him because Mary was impregnated with the sperm of God the Father and; He came into the world as a born again Child of God who was sinless from birth. His main goal was to do his Heavenly Father’s will. He had to be born sinless because; His main purpose was to offer His life on the cross freely as a spotless sacrificial lamb for the cursed fallen sinful nature that all the people of the earth were born with. This is what makes Him different from all the other physical people that have ever walked the planet.
I personal do not think that the body of Christ totally and perfectly understands the mystery of what He did and that includes my self. That is why we must have a life style of sharing our common interests, goals, experiences, or views with Him that causes us to have a clearer revelation and the spiritual discernment that goes beyond our natural understanding and really come to know that we are like Him.
Let’s get this forever settled in our mind and heart. The same miracle that took place for Jesus birth is the same miracle that took place in us when we were born again through God the Father’s sperm when we had our born again miracle of becoming a child of God as Jesus was God’s first born son. For us since we were physically born from our physical Father‘s seed which represents our fallen sinful nature of man; we had to have a second birth which was spiritual from above and we now have Christ living in us as he lived in Jesus who was born sinless.
This is not that hard to believe as it is the good news gospel as the scriptures define it. However; we must be constantly going through loving persuasions by our interacting with the Holy Ghost to become convinced that this is true and that we are no longer sinners but saints in progress which will give us the confidence that; we can finally rest from us laboring to improve our performance.
That is why; this performance orientated preaching must come to an end so; God’s people can be set free and truly know that; their steps are being ordered by the Lord. I am going on however; some times I wish I had the power to stress this point clearer. Yet; that is the Holy Ghost’s job to convince us of God’s holding power with out our help if; it is our true intentions to live at peace in Christ Jesus.Cont. in p. 2
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