Walking In Season

WALKING IN SEASON

Women’s Spring Tea Event

May 31, 2014

Calvary Chapel Grace Fellowship

Read Psalm 1

Psalm 1:3 NKJV “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”

“Success is...knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.” -John C. Maxwell, Your Road Map For Success

Walking in season will lead to walking seasoned. In order to be a “seasoned saint” you must learn to embrace the season you are in.

What are seasons?

In the Bible the Hebrew word for season is “eth” and it means time.

A Webster’s Dictionary definition described a season as “a time characterized by a particular circumstance or feature.”

Seasons were created by God! In the beginning God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years.” -Genesis 1:14 NKJV

Psalm 104:19 NKJV “He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows its going down.”

Jeremiah 5:24 NKJV “They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the LORD our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”

Seasons are all about time. They have a beginning and they have an end.

How do you live in season?

When you learn what the season you are in looks like and what it requires of you, it will help you embrace it.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

What are some things that define a season of life for a woman? (write it down)

Asking yourself these questions can help you define the particular season of life you are in:

1. What is my age?
2. Where do you live? (ex: state, country, apartment, home)
3. What are my top responsibilities in the home? (ex: paying bills, cleaning, yardwork)
4. Where am I financially? (ex: starting off, paying off debt, saving, giving)
5. Where am I spiritually? (ex: dry season, fruitful season, dark season, trialsome season, a season of breakthrough or deliverance?)
6. What are my immediate family responsibilities? (ex: newlywed, babies, teenagers, adult children, grandchildren, taking care of aging parents, family crisis or tragedy that demands your involvement)
7. What are your work or church responsibilities?

Why is it important to embrace your season?

• Your season is there to serve you (it has a purpose)
• You were not created for the season, the season was created for you.
  
  

When the appointed time came, Christ died on the cross. The “appointed time” served the purpose of Christ’s death on the cross before time even began Revelation 13:8 NKJV “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

Ephesians 1:4 NKJV “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,”

• Once the season is gone, you cannot get it back. We suffer the lack of lessons learned when we do not embrace the season we are in.
  
  

“God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t.” -C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

• It is God’s way (the better way)

Exodus 13:10 NKJV “You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.”

Psalm 143:8 NKJV “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.”

Proverbs 4:11 NKJV “I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths.”

Proverbs 9:6 NKJV “Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.”

Proverbs 13:15 NKJV “Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.”

• Living in season will bring you more rest with greater productivity which will bring you greater freedom and joy.

You are not getting ahead or staying behind. You are walking in the timetable God has appointed for you and you are living for Him in each moment.

“We work and we work and we work. Striving for what we already have. However, a filled calendar does not reflect a fulfilled life.” -Sharon Jaynes, A Sudden Glory

How do you embrace the season you are in?

Embracing seasons are difficult. Why? Because what we long and crave for transcends “living in season”.

Psalm 84:2 NKJV “My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”

“Our eternal souls were purposely fashioned for more than this world can spare.” -Beth Moore, James: Mercy Triumphs

After you have an idea of what your current season in life looks like you will have a greater ability to actually embrace it and live it out.

First, accept your season. Be good at it!

“Never underestimate the importance of simply being physically present in the place where God wants you.” -Warren W. Wiersbe

This is not a message about “doing more” it is about doing what you already have to do in your season well. Summer is coming up...do summer well! It is about taking control of our part of the season (being faithful with what we are given) and then leaving the results all up to God.

How do you prepare for your next season? Simply by embracing the one you are in. When you focus on the season you are in you are, in fact, preparing for the next one.

“Today’s tasks are preparation for tomorrow’s calling.” -Priscilla Shirer, Gideon

Matthew 6:33-34 ESV “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Leviticus 26:4 NKJV “then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” -God will give you what you need for each season

Deuteronomy 11:14 NKJV “then I will give you the rain for your land in its season”

Second, endure through the season. See it through to the end.

Galatians 6:9 ESV “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

• Stay connected to the Lord in your daily quiet time (or secret time as we now call it from our study on Sapphira).

God is interested in your connection to Him.

Leviticus 2:13 NKJV “And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.” -Let each season you are in make you more “seasoned”.

“Making a commitment to seek God every day does not put you in bondage -it brings you into the greatest freedom you can know in Jesus Christ.” -Kay Smith, The Privilege

“Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible. It wears us out by multiplying distractions and beats us down by destroying our solitude, where otherwise we might drink and renew our strength before going out to face the world again... ‘Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still’ is a wise and healing counsel, but how can it be followed in this day of the newspaper, the telephone, the radio and the television? These modern playthings, like pet tiger cubs, have grown so large and dangerous that they threaten to devour us all...No spot is now safe from the world’s intrusion.” -A.W. Tozer

• Cry out to God and seek to grow

Psalm 22:2 NKJV “O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent.”

Psalm 16:7 NKJV “I will bless the LORD who have given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons.”

Third, look ahead of the season. Set your gaze beyond it.

• Be heavenly minded

Colossians 3:2 KJV “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Matthew 6:19-20 NKJV "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

1 Peter 1:3-5 NKJV “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

• Move on

Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

“Those who keep looking back at their failures will never win the race set before them.” -Kay Arthur, As Silver Refined

Do not feel pressure. Don’t worry! We never will “arrive” until we arrive in heaven and in glory.

“Failure in the past does not nullify purpose in the future.” -Charles Swindoll, Hope in Hurtful Times

“En route to maturity, we all spill our milk, say things we shouldn’t, and at time, don’t act our age.” -Charles Swindoll, Hope in Hurtful Times

REST -Matthew 11:28 NKJV "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

There will be a GRAND FINALE!

1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 NKJV “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”

• Acknowledge God’s sovereignty in every season. He has supreme authority.
• Acts 1:7 NKJV “And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.’” -We need to be okay with the unknown and walk by FAITH.
• Dan 2:21 NKJV “And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”
• God’s watchful eye is on you in your season.
  
  

“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading”. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

• Seasons change but Jesus stays the same.
• Hebrews 13:8 NKJV “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
• Our work in the gospel also stays the same.

2 Timothy 4:2 NKJV “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”

Isaiah 40:8 NKJV “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever."

• Learn the secret.
• Philippians 4:11-13 NKJV “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
• Let your seasons make you “seasoned” -Colossians 4:6 NKJV “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

GOD IS MORE THAN OUR SEASON

Psalm 4:7 NKJV “You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

The Syrophoenician Woman

Scripture References: Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30

ABOUT HER

• She was a Canaanite from the region of Tyre and Sidon
• She was a mother with a demon-possessed daughter
• She was desperate for help from Jesus

HER OUTER WOMAN

Read Matthew 15:21-28

Culturally

• Non-Jewish, a Gentile
• “Mark tells us that the woman of Canaan was Syrophoenician by race -the Phoenicians having merged with Syria. Later, the little country was taken over by the Greeks, and consequently by culture and language she was a Greek. The Greek is also identified with Gentile (see Romans 1:16).” -Frances Vander Velde, Women of the Bible

Functionally

• She approaches Jesus the way the Jews did “Have mercy on me, Son of David” (Matt 9:27 -the two blind men, Matt 12:23 -demon oppressed man healed, Matt 20:20 -blind men)
• “The Syrophoenician woman was a mixture of several races and a true Gentile (see Mark 7:26 for her nationality). She had no claim on Jesus as the Son of David, and when she addressed Him as such, He answered her not a word.” -J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary
• Remember the Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus, King of the Jews. When Jesus responds to the disciples saying, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” he is causing her to face this fact while at the same time testing her faith. Jesus ministered to everyone differently.

“Because of all we know of Christ’s love and compassion, we cannot believe that He meant to ignore altogether her cry for help. Often the problem of unanswered prayer is acute, but He who ever hears the pleas of those who seek Him always answers prayer in His own best way. Perhaps with this Gentile mother, His repulse was meant to try her faith, which proved to be a faith accepting no rebuff.” -Herbert Lockyer, All the Women of the Bible

How do you respond to God’s apparent silence? David in Psalm 35:22 ESV responded this way, “You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me!”

TALK TO THE LORD!

Jesus is always quiet on purpose. Do you presume it to be a bad thing? It is wise to wait on the Lord for the revealing of His purposes and plans while seeking Him earnestly when He appears to be silent and not to assume the worst or give way to vain imagination.

HOW NOT TO RESPOND WHEN THE LORD IS SILENT:

1. Don’t make stuff up (lose touch with reality, create a false peace)
1. Nehemiah 6:8 ESV “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”
2. Deuteronomy 29:18-19 NLT “...so that no root among you bears bitter and poisonous fruit. Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin!
3. “Worry is nothing less than the misuse of your imagination.” -Ed Foreman
2. Don’t lean on your own understanding (Coming up with your own conclusions)
1. Proverbs 3:5 ESV “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
2. “Always beware when you can reasonably account to yourself for the action you are about to take, because the source of such clear reasoning is the enthroning of human understanding.” -Oswald Chambers, Our Portrait in Genesis
3. Don’t be wise in your own eyes (Allowing pride to be your guide)
1. Proverbs 3:7a ESV “Be not wise in your own eyes.”
2. Jeremiah 17:9 NIV “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
3. “Unless we get hurt right out of every deception about ourselves, the word of God is not having its way with us.” -Oswald Chambers
4. “Pride is the hidden cause behind destroyed relationships, stunted spiritual growth, and thwarted emotional healing.” -Priscilla Shirer, Gideon
4. Don’t go out alone (Doing your own thing)
1. Isaiah 52:12 ESV “For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

HOW TO RESPOND WHEN THE LORD WHEN HE IS SILENT:

1. Wait for the Lord’s revelation (Do not make a presumption)
1. Philippians 4:5 NKJV “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand”
2. Philippians 4:8a NKJV “Finally, brothers, whatever is true...think about these things.”
2. Acknowledge God’s ways in the situation (state the facts of what you DO know)
1. 2 Corinthians 1:20 NKJV “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
2. “I claim the fulfillment of God’s promises, and rightly, but that is only the human side; the Divine side is that through the promises I recognize God’s claim on me.” -Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
3. Seek wisdom from the scripture you DON’T already have (search the facts of what you DON’T know)
1. Proverbs 2:2 NKJV “So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;”
2. Proverbs 3:13 NKJV “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding;”
4. Do things God’s way (Don’t go forward alone, without God)
1. Galatians 5:25 NIV “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
2. Galatians 5:25 NLT “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
3. “Extended times of prayer are not meant to change God’s mind but to align our thinking with His. Jesus never set His agenda and then asked God to bless it. He only did what the Father told Him to do (John 5:19).” -Sharon Jaynes, A Sudden Glory

What she had going against her was: her race (Canaanite), her gender (woman), the disciples (pushing her away), Jesus Himself was silent

• In her place one would most likely sink away brokenhearted and discouraged.
• “Before you’re tempted to wearily cast aside your jersey and quit, keep in mind our team wins.” -Beth Moore, Daniel
• What are things that come against you in your pursuit of God that you need to acknowledge and deal with. We all have them. Write these things down. Don’t let life pass by and miss out on the purposes of God for your life!

“Jesus was drawing out from her an understanding that would be helpful not only to her in this situation specifically but to us in all generations historically.” -Pastor Jon Courson

HER INNER WOMAN

After Jesus addressed her religious “talk” and responded to the disciples after His silence this woman crying out to Him, we see her respond from the heart saying in verse 25, “Lord, help me.”

Then Jesus goes a level deeper in her heart with his response in verse 26! The Jews referred to the Gentiles as dogs “kyon” and Jesus used a derivative of the word dog “kynarion” meaning “little dog” with the meaning of a pet.  In my opinion he used a softer term of the word to speak more respectfully to her.

“Jesus was saying, ‘It isn’t reasonable for the children to be starving when the pet dogs are being fed’” -Pastor Jon Courson

Then came her response! She had a humble response and did not allow PRIDE to hinder her intimacy with Jesus. Jesus goes back and forth with us to draw us OUT. He desires interaction with us, for us to be enlightened in the truth, to know what we believe and why. Read Ephesians 1:15-23

What was Jesus teaching the disciples? This woman could not come to Him as a Jew, but she could come to Him by faith.

“Now our Lord leaves the land of Israel for the first time during His public ministry. This is interesting because He came to Israel as her King. When He sent His disciples out, He instructed them to go into the cities of Israel but not beyond her boundaries. Then the Lord was rejected by Israel, and there arose a conflict. The breaking point between Jesus and the religious rulers came only a few verses ago. What happens? Jesus Himself steps over the boundaries of Israel and lays down another great principle. He will now receive the Gentiles.” -J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary

FAITH: Read Romans 4:1-25 and Galatians 3:21-29

“Many women were ardent followers of Jesus during His earthly ministry, but he said only of this one distressed mother, ‘Woman, great is thy faith.’” -Frances Vander Velde, Women of the Bible

Life Lesson

Persevere in your requests for the Lord. Have a breakthrough!

This woman had a breakthrough with Jesus! What did it take? What did it require of her?

Face resistance, stay in God’s presence, persist dialogue with Jesus, maintain a heart of humility (confessing what we don’t deserve), receive what Jesus gives us by faith

Discussion Questions:

1. In what areas do we tend to “give up” in with God in prayer? If we quit, what are we possibly missing out on?
2. What most impressed you about this woman?
3. What is a desire or request that you want to ask God for (that you feel comfortable sharing)?