7-23-2016   Due Season for living in God's love

                           

                    The Season is Flowing                                       To Walk With Jesus       

This past Sunday Father gave me the following lesson to bring to our church's bible study

DUE SEASON

FOR LIVING GOD’S LOVE

And to come into a true love relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Lord we need to:           

Mark 12:29-30      Hear oh, Israel, the first of all the commandments is this ‘the Lord our God is one Lord.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, this is the first commandment.’

Mark 12:31      the second is like this ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself’.  No other commandment is greater than these.

The rest are an explanation!

1                      Truly loving God

Five things must be true for us to truly express our love for God:

We must believe that He is (Heb. 11:6 – Without faith it is impossible to please (God) for he who comes to God must believe that He is and He rewards those who diligently seek Him)

If we don't believe God exists, "is", the rest will never happen.

We must give our hearts to Him (Romans 10:9-10 – If you confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.  With the heart man believes unto righteousness and confession unto salvation is made with the mouth.)

If we haven't given our hearts to Him, whom are we loving?  And giving Him our hearts means the next three points:

We must seek Him (Matt. 6:33 – Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you & Matt. 7:7 – Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find knock and it shall be opened to you)

First and foremost we need to understand what the kingdom of God is and how His righteousness operates.  When we search, He'll show us.
Here I shared my high school girlfriend.  I was shy back in HS and this girl had taken a liking to me.  She worked in the school office so she had access to records and she searched out all that she could find out about me.  Then she approached me and asked if I would take  her to a school dance.  Point is, she wanted to know as much about me as she could before she even approached me.  God is asking us to do the same, the difference is we can spend a lifetime learning who He is.  The bible is our primary source for in it we find out about God's nature - what He likes, dislikes, is willing to do and what He expects and so forth.  He already knows us.  He would like us to get to know Him.  The best way to get facts about God is to study Him as my girlfriend did me.  We study the bible to show ourselves approved (2 Tim. 2:15) in that we come to know our Lord.

We must communicate with Him (Ephesians 6:18 – Praying always with all prayer (earnestly, worshiping God) and supplication (request) in the Spirit and watching with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.) (1Thess. 5:17 – pray without ceasing)

    

Getting to know Him means we have to start communicating with Him.  When we meet someone new, how can we get to know that person unless we communicate with them?  

We communicate with God through prayer as well as reading our bible - and He communicates with us via the same.  He also will speak to us through other Christians,, but we still need o know something about the bible so we can discern when things line up with God's nature/Word.  We can talk with God anytime or anywhere, taking a walk, driving our car, grocery shopping, lying in bed, etc. but Father appreciates our personal 'quiet time" when we are alone with Him and no other distractions.  He always hears us, but distractions often make it difficult for us to hear Him.  Even when reading our bible. Let me put it this way.  In the evening, the kids are in bed (if you have any), maybe the fireplace is lit and you and you spouse are sitting on the couch (or loveseat), arms around each other and you're feeling a bit 'cozy', would you appreciate an interruption?   Mom!  Dad!  Or even "bing bong" at the door.  Father would like the same type of time with each of us as well.  Quiet time is precious to Him and we should look forward to individual time with Him as well.  It is our time to talk with Him, I talk, He talks, He talks, I talk.  It is a two way street.  That's communication!

We must Worship Him (John 4:23-24 – … the time is coming and is even now when true worshipper shall worship Him in spirit and in truth for Father seeks such to worship Him.  God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.)

(Psalms 150:1-6 – Praise God in the sanctuary, firmament of His power, , for His mighty acts, because His excellence is great.   Praise Him with: the trumpet, stringed instruments, the harp, tambourines, dance and organs and the cymbals.  Everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Praise and worship!  There is no better way for us to express our love for Father by praising and thanking Him for all that does and has done for us.  We should be open, honest and sincere.  Worship begins with praise and thanksgiving but should move into a spiritual union with Him that only materializes as we focus on Him.  It's kinda like 'he looks into her eyes, she looks into his, then the 'look' moves a little deeper as they focus on each other and then BLAM!  They've embraced in that all loving kiss'.  I don't know that we can kiss God in the Spirit, but I do know that we an experience Him, His presence, in a way that nothing else can match.  Worshipping HIm is moving into a state where I know that He is 'my' God and at that moment nothing else matters.  It's just Father and me - nothing else!  Read Psalms 150 carefully.  In everything we say and do, talking, singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument, no matter what we do, we do unto the Lord - and He will inhabit what we do (Psalms 22:3)

2          The Vine

Jesus reveals to us the relationship He desires with us as He explains the "Vine" to His disciples.

The vine (John 15: 1 – 8 -Jesus is the true vine & we are His branches, we abide in Him for without Him we can do nothing, when we abide in Him we will bear fruit)

1)    I am the vine/Father is husbandman

4)    Abide in Me and I in you/cannot bear fruit unless you abide in Me

5)     Much fruit from abiding in Me/do nothing without Me

6)        Not abiding/cast out & burned

7)        Abide in Me/My words abide in you/ask & it shall be done

8)         Father glorified by fruit bearing/evidence of discipleship       

Abide in Him (John 15:9-10 – Father has loved Me and I love you, continue in My love.  When you keep My commandments, you abide in My love just as I have abided in Father’s love by abiding in His commandments)

9)          Father loved Me/I loved you/continue in My Love

10)      Keep My commandments/you abide in My love/I have kept Father’s love         and abide in Him.

11)      Said this so My joy remains in you/your joy might be full

We become His friends (John 15:14-15 – You are My friends when I do whatever I command you.  Therefore I don’t call you servants because a servant doesn’t know what his master does but I call you friends because I have shared everything that I’ve heard from My Father with you.

    

12)      My commandment “love each other as I have loved you

13)       No greater love than to give life for friends

14)       Obeying My command makes you My friends

15)       You are no longer servants/servant doesn’t know what his master    does/you are My friends/I’ve told you everything I’ve heard from Father

In case you missed it, Jesus wants us to be so one with HIm that people can't tell us apart.  We show our love towards God through showing our love for Him by keeping His commandments and what did Mark 12 tell us that those commandments were?  To love God and our neighbor.  As we love Jesus, we find that He returns that love by sharing everything He knows with us because we have become His 'friends'.  And, as we see, we are an extension of Jesus - He IS the vine and we ARE the branches living in and expressing His love to those around us so that all might be drawn to Him.

                        
3          Loving our neighbor

                And, of course, we continue to express our love for Jesus by sharing that love with those                     around us as He has demonstrated His love towards us.  We remember that when we love                     the least in the kingdom, we've loved Jesus (Matt. 25:40)

                Mark 12:31      the second is like this ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself’…

                Romans 15:2     Let each of us please his neighbor for his (neighbor’s) good to edify                                                (build up) him.

    Ephesians 6:18 - …   and watching with all perseverance and supplication for all                                                   the saints

We treat those around us as we would like to be treated because Jesus treats us with             respect and love and we do what Jesus did and those things which would edify those around us (1 Corinth. 14:26).  I know.  I know.  The passage only says 'church but when we treat all people with respect and do things for their good, we never know who will come into God's kingdom because of our kindness.  PTL

Father desires us to start living like we truly understand who He is and what our relationship should be.  This is the season to walk closer with God and start living for Him like we are serious about living for Him.  Father told me a long time ago that I can walk as close to Him as I dare.  As I age, I'm getting bolder and I find myself walking closer with HIm than I ever have before.  How close do you dare to walk with the Creator of all that is?
       

7/8/2016    DUE SEASON/Proper Alignment

                  

I call this 'Due Season/Proper Alignment because we are currently in a season where Father is maturing His children.  That is He is in the process of helping us walk closer with Him than ever before. Drawing (those of us who will) into a relationship like what He had with Adam and Eve when He walked with them in the garden (Gen. 3:8)

The Hebrew (OT) word used for due is 'choq' (choke) and the Greek (NT) word is 'ideos'.  both words carry the connotation of 'due, appointed, accustomed or set'.  'nuff said?

The Hebrew has four words used for season but 'mowed' and 'zeman' cover the other two and carry the meaning of season, year, time or appointed (time).

two words are used in the Greek 'kairos' and 'kronos' both which are similar as they designate season, fixed time, convenient or particular (time).

The passages where each word is used clarifies why which word was chosen by the writers.

I have the privilege of presenting this word at church on Sunday and what I am presenting here is the basic gist of what will be said at that time
.

 The key verse is  Ecclesiastes 3:1(-8)  "To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven…"  Interesting that back in the '60's, the protest rock group the Byrds recorded a song based on this passage from the bible and it did well for them and I'll be using this recording with which to open the word on Sunday.

In talking about "Due Season/Proper Alignment" we need to keep six things in mind:

1                                  Who knows what God is going to do?   Romans 11:33-34    … For who has known the mind of the Lord?  Who has been His counsellor?... 

2                                  The Lord gives us understanding   2 Timothy 2:7     Consider what I say and the Lord give you understanding in all things.  And Acts 17:10-12 ... and they searched (the Bereans) the scriptures daily to see of those things were so.

3                                  The Holy Ghost reveals things to us.   1 Corinthians 2:9-10 …  But God has revealed them (all things) to us through His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God

4                                  Jesus doesn’t lie to us.   John 14:2    … If it were not so, I would have told you …

5                                  Jesus didn’t reveal everything before the resurrection.   John 16:12-15       I have things to tell you but you can’t bear them right now

                                    However when the Spirit of truth is come He will guide you into all truth …

                                    He shall glorify Me … He shall receive what I have and show it to you

Everything the Father has is mine and He shall take from what I have and show it to you.

6                                  Jesus did share more things before the ascension.   Acts 1:3 He showed             Himself alive with proof for forty days speaking about the kingdom of God.

                                    
And a seventh thing:  Ecclesiastes 3:1   To everything there is a season  

5 ½ years remain of a 7 year season which started 1/1/2015 according to many modern day prophets.

This is a time of growth and change for individuals and the church.

            A time set aside as we learn how to walk closer to our heavenly Father

            And for the church as that individual growth impacts the life of the body of Christ (the                         church).  I might add that I am experiencing personal growth in my own life like never before and that growth is accelerating. 

Now is the season when Father is preparing His children to be ready for the next season. 

Spiritual growth for His children

This is the time Father has set apart for all His children to draw closer to Him.  (John 17:20-21 – one with the Father thru Jesus)

            Not just ‘knowing’ who He is but

            Closer means to discover who God truly is,

What our relationship with Him should become and

not just 'learn' but then do it!  Because the Holy Ghost is alive and well within our hearts and we now live for Him. 

He is the one leading us down the pathways we need to go (Matt. 6:33 – seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness …)

(Matt. 7:14 – straight is the gate and narrow is the way to life …)

He is using new or various methods to accomplish this so individual approaches will be unique and inspiring (hopefully). (1 Corinth. 12:1-31 – we are all member of the body with different gifts and different talents).  Even though those talents may overlap, God has given each of us a unique of expressing that gift so no one is exactly alike.  We can expect new, different and exciting ways in which to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just to the lost, but to re-establish the church (in His love and in His will) as well.

Father gave me a word on the Watchman 9/24,26 & 30, 2014.  Unfortunately the posts only go back to 1/15, but in that word from 9/24 the 24^th  represents the Priesthood.  We are a royal priesthood before God Almighty designated to bring God’s redemption to the world, at His timing through creative works.  We will experience a break with tradition and Father will provide new methods of reaching the ‘lost’.

This is a season for growth and change as Father brings His children into proper alignment.

That means ‘living in His love’ by keeping His commandments (John 14:15). 

Coming to grips with the fact that He (Jesus) is the vine and we are His branches (John 15:1-12).  We are an extension of Jesus and as He could do nothing without the Father, we an do nothing without Him.

This is the time which He has appointed, the DUE SEASON, for these things to be so. (Jer. 5:24 – former and latter rain appointed for harvest) (James 5:7 – husbandman waits patiently for early and latter rain).  Father is preparing for the harvest and we are a part of the latter rain (outpouring of the Holy Ghost).

The early or former rain prepares the ground for planting providing water for germination and growth.  The latter rain gives the fruit a greater fullness ripening it for harvest (This is where we are today-ripening, not ripened but ripening).  Father is preparing to 'harvest' us as products of this season so we can go out and plant and harvest for Him in the next.

Spiritual growth corresponds to our maturing to our fullest (potential) becoming ready to serve or ‘live for’ our Lord.

We are reading our bible thereby enriching our minds.  Studying to show ourselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15) and continually renewing our minds (Roman 12:2)

We are seeking a more potent and effective prayer life whereby we enhance our relationship with Father and our impact on man.  We build ourselves in faith, praying in the Holy Ghost (Jude 20) remembering that the effectual, fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16)

We become bolder to share what Father gives us so others may come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  (Ephesians 6:19)

And in so doing we find ourselves coming into “proper alignment’ in a relationship which Father desires to have with us, as He walked in the garden with Adam & Eve in the cool of the evening (Gen. 3:8)

Father’s desire for us to realize who He really is, beyond a shadow of any doubt and what our relationship with Him should become.  (Jer. 24:7 – I will give them a heart to know Me, they shall be My People and I shall be their God and they shall come back to Me with their whole heart)

He desires children who love Him and do not doubt and believe that He is (Hebrews 11:6) and who obey His voice, we tell the Lord to speak for we are listening .   (1 Samuel 3:9-10)

This is the time appointed for preparation of what may be the most exciting time mankind has ever known.  ( to everything there is a season)

This is our DUE SEASON to come back into PROPER ALIGNMENT into His will so He can accomplish His will in and through our lives here on planet earth.

Will we conquer the world?  Not according to the book of Revelation

Can we impact that part of the world Father gives each one of us?  Most assuredly and that’s what He expects us to do.  We each have a realm or sphere of influence, small or great, and Father expects us to be the best witness for Jesus within that realm, obedient in actions and speaking boldly the things of God to those whom the Lord sets before us.

Father said to share one parting thought here and that is a quote from the 'Beatitudes' in Matthew 5 particularly verse 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!"  (The exclamation point is my addition)

Again this is our DUE SEASON, now is the time to act and come into PROPER ALIGNMENT with the Father.  It is our time  to truly come to know Him and live for Him.  That He is our God and there is no doubt in our hearts or our minds that He is our Lord.  He is bringing us into a deeper, fuller relationship with Him as He prepares us this season so we can be ready to minister in the next season.

Amen.

                                                           COMING EVENT:
                                                      "PROPER ALIGNMENT"

                                                    

                                                        Wellspring of Life FWC 

                                                    Summer conference/workshops.

Where:          Clarion Hotel/Roadway Inn
                       Entrance E (designated on corner of building)
                       901 Dual Highway (Rte. 40)
                       Hagerstown, Md. 21740

When:             7/15/2016      6:00 PM    Registration
                                              7:00 PM     Praise & Worship
                         7/16/2016     8:00 AM    Registration
                                               9:00 AM    Morning Glory
                                              10:30 AM   Workshops begin

Healing, deliverance, prayer, praise dance and worship!  This event is the place to be to learn how to get into proper alignment with the Word of God and enable you to break free and go forth in all that God has called YOU to do!
                                               
Come bask in the glory of the Lord!

PS:  Lunch is provided