Understanding the Moment

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Times and Seasons

Ecclesiastes 3:1–17 NKJV
1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; 7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; 8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace. 9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. 12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God. 14 I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. 15 That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past. 16 Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, Wickedness was there; And in the place of righteousness, Iniquity was there. 17 I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

There is a time for everything

The extremes of life always find opportunity
++Death life
++Giving and taking
++Buying and selling
++Joy and grief

Life is full of shifting Season

Genesis 8:22 NKJV
22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”
Somethings never change
++Seedtime and Harvest
++Cold and Heat
++Winter and Summer
++Day and Night
These conditions impact
++What we wear
++What we do
++How we plan
To understand the Moment

We must open our eyes

We need to see more than
++Our condition
++Our situation
++Our circumstances

We must see God

Isaiah 6:1 NKJV
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
Isaiah saw the Lord
++Seated In full authority
++Exalted above all
++Completely victorious

How we see God will impact how we see life.

Ecclesiastes 3:10 NKJV
10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.

Many people Judge God by life’s condition.

Genesis 3:12 NKJV
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
Job 2:9 NKJV
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Life’s conditions do not change God

Malachi 3:6 NKJV
6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
1 Corinthians 2:9–10 NKJV
9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

We must see our life through the Spirit of the unchanging God

2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,

Blinded by the world

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NKJV
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
When things are not good
++Misunderstandings
++Broken trust
++Sometimes life hurts

We are broken pieces

Can anything be don to fix the broken pieces?
Is there any hope?
There is a time coming
++Beauty for ashes
++Joy for morning
Something good is about to happen
Ecclesiastes 3:11 KJV 1900
11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
He put eternity in their heart.
KJV uses the term “the world”

God knows our end

Isaiah 46:10 NKJV
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’
Jeremiah 31:17 NKJV
17 There is hope in your future, says the Lord, That your children shall come back to their own border.

We are limited by our experience

Have you ever though that your situation is permanent?

Stuck in
++Sickness
++Pain
++Brokenness
++Poverty

How we think places limits on our response to changing seasons.

Proverbs 23:7 NKJV
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

We must open our eyes

We must strengthen what we know

When all you know is the world

Ecclesiastes 3:12 NKJV
12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,
There is nothing better
++Rejoice
++Do good
Why?
This is a life without purpose.
++Don’t Worry
++Be Happy
2009-2019 Suicide - Ages 15-24 HI: 13.9 U.S.: 13.9 Suicide - Ages 25-34 HI: 24.0 U.S.: 17.5 Suicide - Ages 35-44 HI: 19.8 U.S.: 18.1 Suicide - Ages 45-54 HI: 25.0 U.S.: 19.6 Suicide - Ages 55-64 HI: 14.5 U.S.: 19.4 Suicide - Ages 65-74 HI: 17.1 U.S.: 15.5 Deaths per 100,000 population
1 Corinthians 15:19 NKJV
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

There must be more

Ecclesiastes 3:14 NKJV
14 I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.
Daniel 11:32 NKJV
32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
Hebrews 10:35 NKJV
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
Hold on to what you have learned
Never let it Go
Romans 8:28 NKJV
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

We must strengthen what we know

We must change what we say

Ecclesiastes 3:17 NKJV
17 I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
He saw a place
++Of judgment
++Of the righteous
In the place of Judgment were the wicked
in the place of the righteous was iniquity

In this life there is no difference.

Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

A Changing Heart

Eze 11:19
Ezekiel 11:19 NKJV
19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,
Why did they need a new heart?

There heart was connected to the world

It was a
++Cynical heart
++Hopeless heart
++Hard Heart

Everything was under the circumstances of life.

God did not just promise to change them

Ezekiel 36:26 NKJV
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

This promise is for us too.

This new heart
++Focuses on God
++Believes in what He has declared
++Speaks differently
Luke 6:45 NKJV
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

There is a time for every work

Chronology
++Past-Present-Future
++We easily understand History
History
++Looks to the past
++Looks to the passing present

There is a purpose for the season

Each Season brings opportunity
++To know God more
++To grow in out relationships
++To give of our selves
++To Go and fulfill our destiny

We must understand the moment

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