What Time is It

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

WHAT TIME IS IT?

What time is it in your life? Where are you in your walk? Have you set goals for yourself and developed a plan for how you are going to achieve them? Do you have a timeline? Have you set smaller goals that lead you to your big goal? And then have you considered what’s next.

Solomon, God said there would never be one as wise as him and he’s telling us there’s a season for everything, not only that, there’s a time for every matter under heaven.

Solomon, God said there would never be one as wise as him and he is telling us there is a season for everything, not only that, there is a time for every matter under heaven.

He didn’t say time for every matter, there are some things you just need to leave alone. He said, a time for every matter. There are some things we are going to experience here on this side of heaven. So you need to know that, in due time some things are going to come your way. Your time is coming to do and be what God has called you to be. Your time may already be here.

Seven years ago, you could not have told me I would be standing here. Seven years ago you could not have told me I would be a licensed real estate agent, a doctoral student and the co-pastor of a church. But God has plans for us we can’t even imagine. No eye has seen, no ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him. You see, when your life is all about Him, things start to happen, opportunities come you don’t expect, opportunities you’re not even looking for—But God.

In the next eight verses of this Scripture Solomon gives us a lists of opposites. He begins with “a time to be born”. Now when we think of a time to be born, we typically think of a baby. Can I give you another picture? There are times when God has given you a vision for your life, He gives you an assignment; and when it has fully come to maturity, when you have prayed, when you have done your research, when you have investigated, when you have spoken to those who may have the knowledge or experience for the tasks, and you have prayed some more, there comes a time to birth that vision—there comes a time to open the doors of the church, literally. There comes a time to enroll in the class, there comes a time to leave the house and go to your first day of work, or to the bank to apply for the loan, or to the landlord to rent the building. There comes a time when you have push through for your vision to be born.

When a woman is pregnant, she carries that baby for 40 weeks, she eats healthy, she exercises, she takes care of herself because she has someone else whose life depends on what she does. When God gives you a vision you have to nurture it, you have to take care of it, you have to take care of you and when the time comes, when the child has reached maturity, the woman has to push out the baby, if she doesn’t push, the baby could die, if she doesn’t push the baby could have brain damage, if she doesn’t push the baby could be oxygen deprived, if she doesn’t push… When you’re this close to your goal, sometimes you may have to push to get through, you may have to push to realize the dream. You’re almost there, you almost see your baby, you can almost see your goal. PUSH…your vision is about to be born.

Then there is a time to die. Yes, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble”. When a baby is born they begin to die. We were all born and unless Jesus returns first, we will all die. It is appointed unto man once to die, then the judgment. You need to be ready, you need to have your soul ready for that day. But not only do you need to prepare your soul; you must understand there are some things in your life that are going to have to die. The are some attitudes that are going to have to die. There are some people who cannot make the journey with you and that relationship will have to die. There are some beliefs, that are going to have to die and when God shows you those things, when he shows you those people—let it go, let them go, because your vision, your dream, your assignment does not include them and all they will do is try hinder you from reaching your God ordained goal.

Seven years ago, you couldn’t have told me I’d be standing here. Seven years ago, you couldn’t have told me I would be a licensed real estate agent, a doctoral student and the co-pastor of a church. But God has plans for us we can’t even imagine. No eye has seen, no ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him. You see, when your life is all about Him, things start to happen, opportunities come you don’t expect, opportunities you’re not even looking for—But God.

There is a time to plant. When something is planted, it goes through a process before it produces. You have to go through a process before you can produce, before you’re fully prepared. You have to die to self, you have to pick up your cross and follow Jesus, you have to be willing to deny yourself for the cause of Christ. When you plant the Word of God in your heart, things start happening and when that Word begins to take root—when it grows, soon it will be time to pluck up what’s planted.

In the next seven verses of this Scripture Solomon gives us a list of opposites. He begins with “a time to be born”. Now when we think of a time to be born, we typically think of a baby. Can I give you another picture? There are times when God has given you a vision for your life, He gives you an assignment; and when it has fully come to maturity, when you’ve prayed, when you’ve done your research, when you’ve investigated, when you’ve spoken to those who may have the knowledge or experience for the tasks, and you’ve prayed some more, there comes a time to birth that vision—there comes a time to open the doors of the church, literally.

Soon you’ll be fully ready to go out and evangelize wherever you go. So you’ll no longer be worried about what you’re going to say,instead you’ll listen for what God wants you to say, because guess what? It’s not about us—it’s about Jesus. Soon it will be time to pluck up what is planted.

· There comes a time to enroll in the class,

Then Solomon tells us there is a time to kill, of course he’s not saying kill a person, but you will certainly have to kill those negative thoughts that want to come in and keep you from doing what you’ve been called to do. You want to kill those thoughts that try to tell you, you’re not good enough, you’re not smart enough, you’re not pretty enough, you’re not rich enough, you’re not. You have to kill those negative thoughts that threaten to take you out and find the positive inside because…there is a time to heal.

· there comes a time to leave the house and go to your first day of work,

Healing only comes when you leave the sore alone, if you keep picking at it, if you keep dwelling on it, if you keep talking about it, you can never get better, the wound will never heal. Who is you need to forgive so you can begin to heal?

· or to the bank to apply for the loan,

There’s a time to break down, when you go into the military, they want to break down some habits and thought processes you may have in order to build you up into the soldier, sailor, airman, marine they need you to be. It’s no different in God’s army, we are the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, therefore we are born with some faulty thinking, we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity, so God must break that down and he will build us up into mighty warriors of God, warriors that have not been given the spirit of fear, instead we are warriors who’ve been given the spirits of power, of love and of a sound mind. We can do it because he will.

· or to the landlord to rent the building.

Don’t be dismayed, disappointed or disheartened when you have to cry sometimes, because the Bible says there is a time to weep. There are some things that will happen in your life, that will just break your heart and you will have to cry sometimes. God didn’t promise your way would always be easy, in fact, he said in this life you will have trouble but be of God cheer, I have overcome the world, and you know what that means…oh you got it. Since He has overcome the world, that means we are overcomers, because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. You got this, I got this, we got this...

· There comes a time when you have push through for your vision to be born.

And because you know that, you may have your times of weeping, they may last a little while but the time to laugh is coming, joy comes in the morning and just the way night comes, so does the morning and your time to laugh is coming. Perhaps it’s already here. Perhaps you need to get up, look up, wash up and see what it is God is doing. Did you know He is continually at work around you. The sun rises in the east every morning and it goes down in the west every evening. Winter turns to spring, spring turns to summer, summer turns to fall and fall turns to winter, every year. The earth, sun, moon and stars all stay in their orbits because God is in control of the entire universe and beyond.

When a woman is pregnant, she carries that baby for 40 weeks, she eats healthy, she exercises, she takes care of herself because she has someone else whose life depends on what she does. When God gives you a vision you have to nurture it, you have to take care of it, you have to take care of you and when the time comes, when the child has reached maturity, the woman has to push out the baby, if she doesn’t push, the baby could die, if she doesn’t push the baby could have brain damage, if she doesn’t push the baby could be oxygen deprived, if she doesn’t push… When you’re this close to your goal, sometimes you may have to push to get through, you may have to push to realize the dream. You’re almost there, you almost see your baby, you can almost see your goal. PUSH…your dream is about to be born.

Just like there is a time to weep, there is a time you will mourn, we all mourn the death of a loved one. We mourn the loss of something we love, the loss of a dream, the failure of a business. When things don’t work out the way we planned and we can’t yet see the good in it, we mourn, but praise God, he will turn your mourning into dancing. Does anybody feel like dancing? It’s ok to dance for the Lord, David danced before the Lord with all his might. Sometimes you need to just cut a step for the Lord.

Then there is a time to die. Yes, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble”. When a baby is born they begin to die. We were all born and unless Jesus returns first, we will all die. It is appointed unto man once to die, then the judgment. You need to be ready, you need to have your soul ready for that day. But not only do you need to prepare your soul; you must understand there are some things in your life that are going to have to die. The are some attitudes that are going to have to die. There are some people who cannot make the journey with you and that relationship will have to die. There are some beliefs, that are going to have to die and when God shows you those things, when he shows you those people—let it go, let them go, because your vision, your dream, your assignment does not include them and all they will do is try hinder you from reaching your God ordained goal.

There’s a time to throw away stones, to tear down the walls that separate us, walls of hate, walls of racism, walls of inferiority, walls of I’m better than you because I have money, walls of sexism, it’s time to tear down some walls. It’s time to throw away some stones.

There is a time to plant. When something is planted, it goes through a process before it produces. You have to go through a process before you can produce, before you’re fully prepared. You have to die to self, you have to pick up your cross and follow Jesus, you have to be willing to deny yourself for the cause of Christ. When you plant the Word of God in your heart, things start happening and when that Word begins to take root—when it grows, soon it will be time to pluck up what’s planted.

Then there’s a time to gather stones, we gather stones by standing united in our walk for Christ, standing united in what we believe, stand united because when we come together, whatever we ask God will do. When we come together and love one another, when we unite in spirit, we know there is nothing we can’t do. We can truly walk out what Paul said, when he said, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

Soon you’ll be fully ready to go out and evangelize wherever you go. So you’ll no longer be worried about what you’re going to say, instead you’ll listen for what God wants you to say, because guess what? It’s not about us—it’s about Jesus. Soon it will be time to pluck up what is planted.

Then we have a time to embrace, there’s a time to show love to one another, to encourage each other and cheer your brother or sister on, but then there are times when embracing is not appropriate. I love you, but I can’t be your encourager when you’re going the wrong direction. I can’t give you a hug and tell you it’s ok when it’s clearly not. If I’m your sister and you’re my sister or brother, if we can’t be honest with one another then we are not helping each other, in fact we are being a hindrance.

Then Solomon tells us there is a time to kill, of course he’s not saying kill a person, but you will certainly have to kill those negative thoughts that want to come in and keep you from doing what you’ve been called to do. You want to kill those thoughts that try to tell you, you’re not good enough, you’re not smart enough, you’re not pretty enough, you’re not rich enough, you’re not. You have to kill those negative thoughts that threaten to take you out and find the positive inside because…there is a time to heal.

Next Solomon tells us there is a time to seek, whatcha lookin’ for. We should be seeking Christ, we should be seeking his perfect plan in our lives, in our church, in our community, in our city, in our state, in our country. What is it you seek? Is it fame and fortune, money and riches, are you seeking after adoration and worship? If so you need to know this, there is a time to lose, there’s a time to let go of the flawed thinking we have of what success is, of what is ok and what’s not ok, of the things we think, say and do. Perhaps more importantly, it’s time to lose those things others have imprinted on us in trying to tell us who we are, when what they say is contrary to who God says we are.

Healing only comes when you leave the sore alone, if you keep picking at it, if you keep dwelling on it, if you keep talking about it, you can never get better, the wound will never heal. Who is it you need to forgive so you can begin to heal?

There’s a time to keep, keep what God says about you, you are fearfully and wonderfully made, you are the apple of his eye, you are the head and not the tail, you are above and not beneath, you are the lender and not the borrower. You gotta know who you are, because if you don’t define you, then someone else will and it will probably not be good. You know why? Well I’m so glad you asked. It won’t be good because man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

There’s a time to break down, when you go into the military, they want to break down some habits and thought processes you may have in order to build you up into the soldier, sailor, airman, marine they need you to be. It’s no different in God’s army, we are the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, therefore we are born with some faulty thinking, we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity, so God must break that down and he will build us up into mighty warriors of God, warriors that have not been given the spirit of fear, instead we are warriors who’ve been given the spirits of power, of love and of a sound mind. We can do it because he will. WON’T HE DO IT? He’ll prepare you for a spiritual war unlike anything you’ve ever seen.

So with that there is a time to throw away. Throw away any and everything that is not like Christ. Now I must tell, there are some people who will not be like Christ, I’m not suggesting you throw them away. Pray for them, pray earnestly for them, but you do not allow them into your inner circle.

Don’t be dismayed, disappointed or disheartened when you have to cry sometimes, because the Bible says there is a time to weep. There are some things that will happen in your life, that will just break your heart and you’ll have to cry sometimes. God didn’t promise your way would always be easy, in fact, he said in this life you will have trouble but be of God cheer, I have overcome the world, and you know what that means…oh you got it. Since He has overcome the world, that means we are overcomers, because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. You got this, I got this, we got this...

There’s a time to tear. During this time, the people would tear their clothes as a sign of great grief, but there was a time to sew their clothes when the period of grief was over.

And because you know that, you may have your times of weeping, they may last a little while but the time to laugh is coming, joy comes in the morning and just the way night comes, so does the morning and your time to laugh is coming. Perhaps it’s already here. Perhaps you need to get up, look up, wash up and see what it is God is doing. Did you know He is continually at work around you? The sun rises in the east every morning and it goes down in the west every evening. Winter turns to spring, spring turns to summer, summer turns to fall and fall turns to winter, every year. The earth, sun, moon and stars all stay in their orbits because God is in control of the entire universe and beyond.

This next one is something we could probably all benefit from, there is a time to keep silent. Sometimes we just need to sit still and listen, listen to God, listen to your sister or brother who may be going through something, listen to our children. If we give them the opportunity, they just may share their dreams with us. It’s not for us to critique them, it’s just for us to listen and encourage them. The worst thing you can do to a person is destroy their dream with your words. The words you say to a child can stay with them their whole life. When it’s time to speak, what is it you want them to remember you said? Did you speak life or death.

Just like there’s a time to weep, there’s a time you will mourn, we all mourn the death of a loved one. We mourn the loss of something we love, the loss of a dream, the failure of a business. When things don’t work out the way we planned and we can’t yet see the good in it, we mourn, but praise God, he will turn your mourning into dancing. Because there is a time to dance. Does anybody feel like dancing? It’s ok to dance for the Lord, David danced before the Lord with all his might. Sometimes you need to just cut a step for the Lord.

There is a time to love, the world will know you are a disciple of Christ by the love you show toward one another and a time to hate. What! The Bible says there’s a time to hate. Yes. We must learn how to hate the sin that destroys lives and people, yet love the person. A person is not what they do and remember Jesus died for them too. He thought they were worth saving too, He thought they were worth keeping too, so He sacrificed His life for them too. It is so easy to get caught up in what someone does, that we forget we must love the person, but hate the sin. Forgiveness is a powerful thing and so is hate. Let it go.

There’s a time to throw away stones, to tear down the walls that separate us, walls of hate, walls of racism, walls of inferiority, walls of I’m better than you because I have money, walls of sexism, it’s time to tear down some walls. It’s time to throw away some stones.

There is a time for war. There are wars being fought all around us, the war against terrorism, the war against drugs, the war against mental illness, the war against alcoholism and spousal abuse and child abuse and greed and lust and the list goes on. The war between good and evil rages every day . We must be the warriors God called us and put on the whole armor of God. We have to put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, put the gospel of peace on for shoes, don’t forget your shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the wicked, put on your helmet of salvation, take your sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and pray and pray and pray so more. Pray without ceasing for all saints because we are in a war.

Then there’s a time to gather stones, we gather stones by standing united in our walk for Christ, standing united in what we believe, standing united because when we come together, whatever we ask, God will do. When we come together and love one another, when we unite in spirit, we know there’s nothing we can’t do. We can truly walk out what Paul said, when he said, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.breastplate

But praise God, the day is coming when the wicked will cease from troubling; and the weary be at rest. There will come a time when there will be peace, the wolf and the lamb will feed together and the lion will eat straw like the bull. There will come a time when, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. God said, I make all things new.

truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Then we have a time to embrace, there’s a time to show love to one another, to encourage each other and cheer your brother or sister on, but then there are times when embracing is not appropriate. I love you, but I can’t be your encourager when you’re going the wrong direction. I can’t give you a hug and tell you it’s ok when it’s clearly not. If I’m your sister and you’re my sister or brother, if we can’t be honest with one another then we are not helping each other, in fact we are being a hindrance.

Whose ready for that day? Whose ready for the time of peace? Well I’ve got news for you can have peace right now, even in the midst of your trials and tribulations. You can have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Next Solomon tells us there is a time to seek, whatcha lookin’ for. We should be seeking Christ, we should be seeking his perfect plan in our lives, in our church, in our community, in our city, in our state, in our country. What is it you seek? Is it fame and notoriety, money and riches, are you seeking adoration and worship? If so you need to know this, there is a time to lose, there’s a time to let go of the flawed thinking we have of what success is, of what’s ok and what’s not ok, of the things we think, say and do. Perhaps more importantly, it’s time to lose those things others have imprinted on us in trying to tell us who we are, when what they say is contrary to who God says we are.

If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and you desire that kind of peace, today is your day. It’s your day because Christ died to give you that kind of peace. And if you have already accepted Christ and you’re having a problem accessing that peace come on down and let’s pray. The doors of the church are open.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

There’s a time to keep, keep what God says about you, you are fearfully and wonderfully made, you are the apple of his eye, you are the head and not the tail, you are above and not beneath, you are the lender and not the borrower. You gotta know who you are, because if you don’t define yourself, for yourself, then someone else will and it will probably not be good. You know why? Well I’m so glad you asked. It won’t be good because man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

So with that there’s a time to throw away. Throw away any and everything that’s not like Christ. Now I must tell you, there are some people who will not be like Christ, I’m not suggesting you throw them away. Pray for them, pray earnestly for them, but you don’t have to allow them into your inner circle.

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

There’s a time to tear. During the time Solomon penned these words, the people would tear their clothes as a sign of great grief, but there was also a time to sew their clothes when the period of grief was over.

the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.[e] 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.[f] 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

This next one is something we could probably all benefit from, there’s a time to keep silent. Sometimes we just need to sit still and listen, listen to God, listen to your sister or brother who may be going through something, listen to our children. If we give them the opportunity, they just may share their dreams with us. It’s not for us to critique them, it’s just for us to listen and encourage them. The worst thing you can do to a person is destroy their dream with your words. The words you say to a child can stay with them their whole life. When it’s time to speak, what is it you want them to remember you said? Did you speak life or death?

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.[g

There’s a time to love, Love Christian Center, the church where the love of Christ is at the center of all we do, the world will know you are a disciple of Christ by the love you show one for another and a time to hate. What! The Bible says there’s a time to hate. Yes. We must learn how to hate the sin that destroys lives and people, yet love the person. A person is not what they do and remember Jesus died for them too. He thought they were worth saving too, He thought they were worth keeping too, so He sacrificed His life for them too. It’s so easy to get caught up in what someone does, that we forget we must love the person, but hate the sin. Forgiveness is a powerful thing and so is hate. Let it go.

There’s a time for war. There are wars being fought all around us,

· the war against terrorism,

· the war against drugs,

· the war against mental illness,

· the war against alcoholism

· and spousal abuse

· and child abuse

· and greed

· and lust

· and the list goes on and on.

The war between good and evil rages every day. We must be the warriors God called us to be and put on the whole armor of God. We have to put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, put the gospel of peace on for shoes, don’t forget your shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the wicked, put on your helmet of salvation, take your sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and pray and pray and pray so more. Pray without ceasing for all saints because we are in a war.

But praise be to God, there is a time for peace. The day is coming when the wicked will cease from troubling; and the weary be at rest. There will come a time when there will be peace, the wolf and the lamb will feed together and the lion will eat straw like the bull. There will come a time when, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. God said, I make all things new.

Whose ready for that day? Whose ready for the time of peace? Well I’ve got news for you can have peace right now, even in the midst of your trials and tribulations. You can have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.

If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and you desire that kind of peace, today is your day. It’s your day because Christ died to give you that kind of peace. And if you have already accepted Christ and you’re having a problem accessing that peace come on down and let’s pray. The doors of the church are open for salvation.

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