Wednesday, January 12, 2022

TIME & PURPOSE


TIME AND PURPOSE AUDIO LINK



We read in Ecclesiastes 3: 1 that to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.  That He has set a time for everything that happens in our lives.  We measure time and purpose in minutes, hours, days and seasons. The Word says that He has placed the world in our hearts so that we would not be able to know what He does from the beginning to end.  He has set the world in your heart.  This world in the Strong’s concordance means “eternity” or time.  We think linear, He thinks eternal.  He has no beginning and end and He has placed the principal of time, of eternity in our hearts so that just when we think we have this thing figured out, we realize that the circuit is still going.  This simply means that there is always more to your season than what meets the eye.  More than you can ever think or ask for.  Like a stone cast into a still river, causing ripple upon ripple, so are the seasons of our lives.  A season resembling a ripple.  But He sees the whole earth and all that is still to come.  So vast is His understanding and wisdom.  So far reaching is His ways that we would never be able to comprehend the importance of one season in our life.  One ripple in the river of your life.    

To further confirm this we read in Ecclesiastes 3…

Ecclesiastes 3: 14 - 15

14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

Ecclesiastes is full of words like vanity and foolishness and how man is to spend his days here in wisdom, enjoy his portion received from the Lord, but know one thing…He will stand before God.  The whole time the words “under the sun” is mentioned.  As if the writer had a bird’s eye view, an overall or summary of life.

John 21: 18 - 22

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

 

Peter was just told what he would endure for the Lord and he looks to John and cannot help but to ask…”What about John?”

From this we are admonished to focus solely on what He has placed before us and not before another.  We are not to compare ourselves with all the great revelations, visions and dreams other people get.  We are not to compare ourselves with how they are used by the Most High.  We are not to compare ourselves period. 

2 Corinthians 10: 12 - 14

12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

13 But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.

14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:

I have found that discontentment with where we are, are often the result of an unwillingness to let go or an unwillingness to embrace.  And so we long for a season to end, or just for another season in general where He can use us, where we at least in some form or shape can be of use to the Kingdom of God.  At least we will then have a testimony, right?  And so we will obey Him in what He asks of us in the season, but not joyfully.  We are willing to pay a price for whatever He asks, willing to suffer, but deep inside of us sits a discontentment with this stupid season taking so long.  “Why can it just not end already?” we ask.  We are unwilling to accept.

And so the same is true once we go to a new season.  He reveals a bit of the season to come and tells us that we will have to count the cost.  And what do we do when we hear those words?  We run.  Just like a jack rabbit we are out there.  And we hide.  Because the moment He says count the cost we are faced with the reality that we know we will not be able to do it.  Not even for a second.  And so we decide not to make a choice.  We make sure that we are busy with everything else, except that very thing He wants us to do.  Make a decision to let go.  Let go of the season where it has been cozy and loveable, and come into the valley with Him.  We are unwilling to let go. 

We have to let go the one season to embrace the next and we have to embrace the one we are in, in order to obey Him joyfully and not begrudgingly.  Neither can we secretly desire abundance in a season of healing or suffering.  Every season requires a certain disposition of mind and determination to allow the season to take its course.  When we are of two minds, we are double-minded and the word says we will then be unstable in all our ways.  With every season there will be a surrendering, an acceptance, a time to be still and a death.  The season following, will be the life that comes out of that season of death that will require you to walk in obedience to what He taught you.  Then the season after that will again bring you into a greater degree of death, with the one thereafter bringing you in a greater degree of life and obedience in Him.  But you can forget about going into the next without learning what you were supposed to learn in the previous. 

We read the following also in Ecclesiastes 3…

Ecclesiastes 3” 16 - 17

16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

Who are we?  We are nothing. We cannot even breathe without him or sit up straight.  The mere fact that He even thinks of wanting to use us should blow our minds.  But no, true to human nature, we want more.  Always more. Never considering that He does not even have to use us and for that matter even think of us.  Psalm 40 ends with the words:

17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

It is important that you understand and can articulate exactly what season you are in and what He is teaching you.  Very often He will let you know by His Spirit exactly what He is busy with.  Contentment is both a choice and a disposition.  A sweet spot of complete fulfillment in whatsoever state or season you are in.  This produces fruits of righteousness of which love, joy and peace are foremost.  Every season is given by Him so that we may be exercised in it. 

Ecclesiastes 3: 10

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of man to be exercised in it.

Sometimes, we may not know exactly what He is producing in us, but we can know that He determines the seasons of our life and choose to be content with our lot and our portion so that we may work with Him and not against Him, being exercised by whatever He deems necessary.  Not being content will cause us to slow down and resist Him.  He will then have to discipline us and correct us as a loving Father.  We can either accept and surrender joyfully, or resist and long for the former season or the seasons of other’s.  However, this will not change the season we are in.  It will however affect our disposition - Joy and contentment or unhappy and miserable whilst going through the motions. 

We are nothing and this is what we lose sight of.  We lose sight of the very 3 things He wants us to remember in every season:

·        To whom you are called (That would be Him, not man or ministry)

·        Unto what you are called (Your specific calling, even if you are not sure about it now, He knows what it is)

·        For what you are called (In what particular way He will use you)

All three of this is His blueprint in what He is doing in you, in every season.  I think this is a very important lesson, because if we lose sight of this, we will lose sight of Him, our call and purpose.  And that is what we by all means necessary must never lose sight of.  He died not just for our sin and to redeem us, but to prepare us for His Kingdom and our function in His Kingdom.  It is not just about now, it is about eternity.  When you lose sight of unto whom you are called to, what and for who, you lose sight of eternity and only think of now.  What you can get out of now.  Having narrow vision and basically miss the point.  If you do this long enough, you will eventually get sidetracked and start adding or subtracting according to what you think must be and make your own way prosperous, which is nothing but flesh.

And the reality is that we always measure ourselves with others.  “How do I rate against that person?” Even sub-consciously.  It is then that we miss the crux of the matter.  That all of your life was made to serve Him.  Not man or yourself.  Only Him.  You miss out on the fact that the Most High, the creator of all things, the All-powerful and Almighty God actually wants to use you.  Heck, just really contemplating that and meditating on that should cause you to say that you are willing to be a rag to wash someone’s feet, if only this rag lies in His hands.  Those precious hands that was pierced for you.  You will be willing to wash floors and toilets, it really does not matter what, as long as you can serve Him.  Then we would not compare ourselves to ourselves or to anyone, but know that we are nothing.  And that our only worth is in the fact in whom is using us and not what He is using us for.  Our hearts would be overjoyed and overwhelmed in gratitude.  The problem is that we do not value the fact that it is actually Him that uses us more than what He uses us for.  And so we fall short of the glory we so desire.   Our eyes are still on ourselves and on man.    

About a month or so ago Father led me to give a message to someone very dear to me.  This was not easy at all.  It was a message of judgment, but also of restoration.  I had a choice to make.  Am I going to obey Him and be willing to let go of this person in my life, or am I going to hold onto this person and disobey Him.  I obeyed Him and trusted the person into His hands.  Before Father gave me the word He wanted me to tell this person, He gave me a vision.  This was whilst the person was at my house.  I saw a pocket watch fall to the ground and the lid flipped open.  As it crashed to the ground, all the small parts of the watch fell out with barely anything intact.  At that moment the Spirit said to me…The pocket watch represents our life.  When someone dies, we say, “His time is up.”  The lid represents whatever we use to keep everything nicely together.  But that he is going to fall like this pocket watch and the season, time and purpose of his life will be broken.  This person was called to be a missionary, and even though he made a vow to be just that, he broke this vow.  And now his life will be broken.  But the Lord will restore him when he returns to Him.  There is more to the word, but this makes the point.  Later the Spirit showed me a valley full of watches, all broken.  All the purposes and seasons of people’s lives wasted.  Broken promises and people who wanted to do it “their way”.  Refusing the voice of wisdom.  Refusing the Creator who Himself created every time, season and purpose or their life.  What we forfeit from moving out of season and being stiff-necked in the one we are in, affects generations and eternity, because when a purpose and call is lost or broken, He has to raise up another.  But more than that, it breaks the “Watchmaker’s” heart.  I cannot help but to think of Corrie Ten Boom whose father was a watchmaker.  As a family they hid many Jews from the Nazi’s during the World War and she was eventually captured and led many to Yeshua in the concentration camps.  The “Watchmaker’s” daughter was exactly where He wanted her, but she would never have chosen it.

Philippians 4: 11 – 13

11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Words that catches my attention in these verses are: learned; know and instructed.  This speaks of a clear directive from the Lord.  Nothing is by chance.  Paul had to learn what it meant to go all over the world and preach the gospel.  However he spent 3 years in the desert.  For 3 years he was hidden from all where the Most High had to deal with him.  It is not that Paul did not know scripture, but rather, Paul had to learn wisdom and the ways of the Most High.  There will also come a critical time in your seasons just before He uses you, the way He intended and purposed, which will require you of giving everything up.  You will be asked, “Are you willing to be never used by Me?  Are you willing to be nothing in everybody’s eyes, including yourself?”  You see, significance is something we all want to feel.  We all want to feel that we are part of the group, or can make some kind of mark in society.  We want to be able to add to life and be of value.  And the question He is asking is, “Are you willing to give that up, forever?”  Once He knows, really knows that you are willing, and have in fact done so, He will cause you to wait.  The waiting season is fairly difficult, but it is the proverbial corn of wheat that falls to the ground and dies, and only He can raise you up.  Only He decides if you should ever come out of the dark soil which He has planted you in.  For everything there is a season.  A time to plant, and a time to uproot that which was planted.  You have to be willing to be nothing.


And so a whole field of watches find themselves broken.  Unused.  The purposes of the Most High frustrated, because we wanted to climb the spiritual ladder.  We were more concerned with where we are going and lamented the season of preparation.  Seeing it as a means to an end, forgetting that obedience in every season is the end in itself.  He is the Beginning and the End and every season has a beginning and an end and He is that in the season you are now in.  You miss your season, you miss Him.  For every season He will reveal Himself to you in a way that no other season can do.  In every season, apart from everything you learn in it, He is your reward.  It does not matter where someone else is, it only matters where you are and whether you are obeying Him.  Because the person in a season way ahead of you may be able to do great exploits that you long for, but live in disobedience, and the Most High will look on your season and be well pleased because of your obedience.  Obedience is His love language.  Did you know this?  He says in John 15, “If you love Me, you will do My commandments”.  Your season, whether it is your first season in your walk with Him or your 48th season, it does not matter, is for Him exceptionally important.  Because if He ordained it for now, His will is accomplished. 

Ephesians 2: 10

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Wanting to be in another season, running ahead of Him or being over eager, will only delay the season you are in.  You will have to turn around with hat in hand and see Him waiting there ever so patiently for you so that the teaching and learning can proceed.  He does not measure things the way we do.  His scale is completely different and this is why He wants us not to lean on our own understanding.  He will not let us go into the next season until we have learned in this season what He has purposed.  So you might as well get comfortable and put your learning cap on.  At the right time, usually when you think it will never happen…He opens the door that nobody can shut.  And He makes all things beautiful in its time.

All our days were written in His book.  This book is in fact our DNA.  He is never in a hurry and also never late.  The Spirit inspired me to write the following and I pray it blesses you.

MY BOOK

I am aware that like a clock, there are seconds, minutes, hours and a day.  Every day we get the same amount of time.  And like a clock there is a beginning and an end of a book.  A book is in itself a journey.  As I see a book before me with its pages spread open in a half circle, I realize that every page of my life is open before Him.  He sees every dot and every line.  Just like He is with us every second and every minute of the day.  He alone is the Author of this book and nobody else have ever written in it.  Only Him.  He holds the book in His hands and nobody can snatch it out of His hands.  Nobody can grab it, write something in it or even take something out.  In His sovereignty He has decided what is to be written in this book.  He has planned every single day beforehand and has written it already.  Nothing must still be written in my book.  For just like He predestined what would be written in the life of the Living Word, his Son, so He predestined what would be written in mine.  He alone determines the end of my book, because He alone is the Beginning and the End.  He alone has decided the boundaries of every page, knowing exactly how much I can handle for each day.  He will never write more on a page that what the page can allow.  The length of my book already established.  I can trust Him.  Every single page, a day, every single chapter a season and one day the book of life, and all our books will be opened and read.  Every word that was said, every act of kindness, every time we laid our lives down for another, every moment of a secret glance upward to love Him, every time we considered another, every time we did not strike back, every time we were willing to speak the truth in love to save another, every hour or second spent searching His Word and holding it dear in our hearts.  Every time we loved the unlovable and every time we chose faith over doubt.  All those hours spent in prayer in the middle of the night.  All these will be read in His presence. And yes, we can make choices to not follow the “Book”, but even those choices He knows of before they even are a thought in us.  He uses even that.  Every single day He opens this book and desires that we would come and listen to His voice leading us on the paths of righteousness for His name sake.  He knows the end from the beginning and therefore He knows how my story ends.  He knows how your story ends.  It is a love story of a sinner saved by grace and that sinner taking the hand of his Savior and walking with Him every step of the way. One word, one sentence and one page at a time.   It is story of how that sinner often let go of that hands that held him so lovingly, and how the Savior never left His side.  A story of how that sinner fell helplessly in love and gave up all so that He may be with her/his Savior even now and forever.  A story where the Savior fell in love with the sinner and said, “You Are Mine”.  This is my story and laced within my story is my purpose.  He has determined it in His great love and right through every page He decided whether good or bad needed to happen in order to prepare me for this purpose.  For I do not want to miss the purpose He has written in my book.  Not because I want to fulfill it for myself, but because it originated from His heart for His ends and purposes.  For His glory and not mine.  It is His desire that I want to fulfill.  And so every day is working towards that purpose and I want to be conscience and totally surrendered to it in everything He has written for that day.  We read one word at a time, one page at a time.  And so, every day will have a specific purpose I do not want to miss, because it has eternal value, for Him.  Often I have not understood, but in spite of this my love for Him grew and just like a vine, it grew stronger and stronger through every trial.  The most loved chapters are not when everything went well.  The most important chapter’s titles are:  THE THORN, THE SORROW, THE NIGHT I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE AND LONELY DAYS.  Many more chapters like these formed the backbone or the spine of the book of my life and only He wrote it.  Not the enemy, not those who hate me, for nobody can take the book from the Author, THE BEGINNING of my life.  And only He can write the words of the last page…THE END. 

Ecclesiastes 3:14

14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

Jeremiah 29: 11 - 13

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

 

We are never to forget that our greatest purpose is to find Him and in finding Him, we will find His purpose in every season. 

TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON, AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER THE HEAVEN. (Eccl. 3: 1)

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