Seeing this next passage with new eyes this morning...
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
What gain has the worker from his toil?
I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil - this is God's gift to man." - Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 ESV
God-given seasons. God-given toil. I think the key passage that puts the rest into perspective is this one.
"I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with." - Ecclesiastes 3:10 ESV
" 'All things are lawful,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor... So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31 ESV
Yes. Yes. Yes.
When we are in the glory of God business each season has a place and makes sense eventually. The Greek word there is doxa (Strong's G1391) and it is a 'revealing.' It is a true account made by a believable witness.
A polished outside isn't what glorifies God. Grace, mercy, truth and redemption do. Forgiveness. Rebound (getting back up when we fall). Living in a new identity. Being free inside. Struggling with God for 'the blessing' until He lets us win.
"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." - Romans 14:17 ESV
Not every season is easy or comfortable or fun but there is a glory waiting in each one for them that believe. God can be revealed as He Is.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me...' " - John 14:6 ESV
Jesus is the revealer of God. God can't be known correctly without Him but if we have Him and He has us glory is going to happen. That glory is man's highest truest joy.
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Showing posts with label Seasons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seasons. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2018
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Seasons And Fixtures
There are seasonal things and then there are things that become lasting fixtures in our lives. I have been thinking about what is seasonal and what is not.
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace." - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV
Love becomes a fixture. Lust is seasonal.
"By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward." - Hebrews 11:24-26 ESV
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." - Proverbs 18:24 ESV
Siblings are a fixture. Some have close relationships and others don't but we are born in an order and that order affects us.
God is the one who sticks closest. He is the one who is closer than a brother. That relationship, once established, transcends death.
Seasons can be long can't they? Still they are just seasons. There is a time to have little or to be lonely or to seem limited. Then there is a time to have more and be surrounded by friends and have opportunities. These things as hard as they can be have seasons. We never want the wonderful things to end either but many times they do all to quickly.
But... There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
The decisions we make today may have seasonal impact or they may turn into fixtures that stay in our lives for the rest of our lives.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them." - Hebrews 13:8-9 ESV
I am speaking to myself here and I hope it never comes across in a chiding way. This is for me first. I want to decide things based on the One who stick close because He makes all things new. He Is the One who will be with me for the long haul. If I mess it all up He isn't leaving. If I get ahead in life I haven't gotten ahead of Him.
"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 ESV
I could have just quoted verse 17 here. It's a great verse but I think what comes before is vital to thrive in our seasons and live with our fixtures.
God must be the one to shift our thinking into newness. This newness has a funny way of moving whatever has been built on the sand and revealing the foundation that can never be moved.
--
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace." - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV
Love becomes a fixture. Lust is seasonal.
"By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward." - Hebrews 11:24-26 ESV
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." - Proverbs 18:24 ESV
Siblings are a fixture. Some have close relationships and others don't but we are born in an order and that order affects us.
God is the one who sticks closest. He is the one who is closer than a brother. That relationship, once established, transcends death.
Seasons can be long can't they? Still they are just seasons. There is a time to have little or to be lonely or to seem limited. Then there is a time to have more and be surrounded by friends and have opportunities. These things as hard as they can be have seasons. We never want the wonderful things to end either but many times they do all to quickly.
But... There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
The decisions we make today may have seasonal impact or they may turn into fixtures that stay in our lives for the rest of our lives.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them." - Hebrews 13:8-9 ESV
I am speaking to myself here and I hope it never comes across in a chiding way. This is for me first. I want to decide things based on the One who stick close because He makes all things new. He Is the One who will be with me for the long haul. If I mess it all up He isn't leaving. If I get ahead in life I haven't gotten ahead of Him.
"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 ESV
I could have just quoted verse 17 here. It's a great verse but I think what comes before is vital to thrive in our seasons and live with our fixtures.
God must be the one to shift our thinking into newness. This newness has a funny way of moving whatever has been built on the sand and revealing the foundation that can never be moved.
--
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
For Every Season
"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one." - 1 John 2:12-14 ESV
God writes to us. For each stage and season of our life grace is for us and towards us. He writes forgiveness. He writes victory. He writes intimacy.
Are you young? He Is writing to you not just the older people.
Are you old? He is writing to you.
Are you sick? Are you poor? Are you weak? Are you lonely? He pens His thick book to you to give you the good news that you are not disqualified. Sin is paid for and your problem whatever it is has been accounted for. There is forgiveness. There is intimacy. There is victory.
"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." - 2 Peter 1:2-4 ESV
"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:13 ESV
All of it is wrapped up in Jesus... who He Is and what He has done... He did the work... His shed blood has brought us who have believed close to God.
Do we get that or have we disqualified ourselves by looking at ourselves or someone else in an unwise comparison. Anyone with genuine spirituality has it because they look to Jesus not because they have some rare unattainable quality.
"looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:2 ESV
Jesus' time of shame is over and is sitting in the seat of acceptance. A present tense acceptance that will always be. It will go on and on into forever.
The forgiveness is complete. The intimacy is real and possible. We have yet to see the beginning of all the victories that God has planned. The best is yet to come.
--
God writes to us. For each stage and season of our life grace is for us and towards us. He writes forgiveness. He writes victory. He writes intimacy.
Are you young? He Is writing to you not just the older people.
Are you old? He is writing to you.
Are you sick? Are you poor? Are you weak? Are you lonely? He pens His thick book to you to give you the good news that you are not disqualified. Sin is paid for and your problem whatever it is has been accounted for. There is forgiveness. There is intimacy. There is victory.
"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." - 2 Peter 1:2-4 ESV
"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:13 ESV
All of it is wrapped up in Jesus... who He Is and what He has done... He did the work... His shed blood has brought us who have believed close to God.
Do we get that or have we disqualified ourselves by looking at ourselves or someone else in an unwise comparison. Anyone with genuine spirituality has it because they look to Jesus not because they have some rare unattainable quality.
"looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:2 ESV
Jesus' time of shame is over and is sitting in the seat of acceptance. A present tense acceptance that will always be. It will go on and on into forever.
The forgiveness is complete. The intimacy is real and possible. We have yet to see the beginning of all the victories that God has planned. The best is yet to come.
--
Monday, February 17, 2014
Midwinter Morning Thoughts
"A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." - Psalms 127:1 ESV
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account... Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:12-13, 16 ESV
I am not building this house nor am I tearing it down. I leave that work to God.
On a cold mid-winter morning when things seem uncertain and my emotions are not high, warm, sunny and carrying me along this is a comforting thought. Things are frozen outside and have been for a while and not much construction work gets done in these seasons. It is a season. It will pass.
God is still doing what He does. I don't have to feel the progress in myself or in others. He is the master builder. I can rest. I can draw near to His heat. I can let His objectivity be my guide. I can read the words in His book in confidence that it surgery is needed the words will do what need to be done.
A new season is coming. Who knows what it will bring but it will be warmer soon enough and the construction done by God in the wintertime will be used when springtime comes.
--
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account... Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:12-13, 16 ESV
I am not building this house nor am I tearing it down. I leave that work to God.
On a cold mid-winter morning when things seem uncertain and my emotions are not high, warm, sunny and carrying me along this is a comforting thought. Things are frozen outside and have been for a while and not much construction work gets done in these seasons. It is a season. It will pass.
God is still doing what He does. I don't have to feel the progress in myself or in others. He is the master builder. I can rest. I can draw near to His heat. I can let His objectivity be my guide. I can read the words in His book in confidence that it surgery is needed the words will do what need to be done.
A new season is coming. Who knows what it will bring but it will be warmer soon enough and the construction done by God in the wintertime will be used when springtime comes.
--
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Adding to Every Season
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace." - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV
"Charity never faileth" - 1 Corinthians 13:8a KJV
"I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." - John 17:4 KJV
There are different times for different things and yet what Christ has done spans the length and breadth of times and it's seasons.
We go through many seasons... Times of humor and comfort and times of distress and conflict but in all of them and through all of them Christ remains seated at the right hand of God and rises only to meet those who come to Him.
In each season we can say, "It is finished." Christ is our Rock throughout it all.
We can all read Ecclesiastes 3 and after each new phrase say "... but It is finished."
"Charity never faileth" - 1 Corinthians 13:8a KJV
"I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." - John 17:4 KJV
There are different times for different things and yet what Christ has done spans the length and breadth of times and it's seasons.
We go through many seasons... Times of humor and comfort and times of distress and conflict but in all of them and through all of them Christ remains seated at the right hand of God and rises only to meet those who come to Him.
In each season we can say, "It is finished." Christ is our Rock throughout it all.
We can all read Ecclesiastes 3 and after each new phrase say "... but It is finished."
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