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.”

Sapphira

Sapphira

“It’s All About the Secrets”

Scripture References: Acts 5:1-11

ABOUT HER

Read Acts 4:32-5:11

Why is this story in Scripture? 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 NKJV ”Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

• The wife of Ananias
• Agreed together with her husband to lie
• Fell down dead after her husband
• The Bible gives us no genealogical record of Ananias and Sapphira

Read about the atmosphere of the early church (Acts 4:33-35). This was after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and it was an intense time in church history of the initial working of the Holy Spirit.

HER FEARLESS MISTAKE: She was afraid the wrong way

Acts 5:1-11

(v. 1) “But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira…”

Here we see them trying to mimic someone else’s spiritual action without a personal heart connection.

“The action of Barnabas to sell all was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Now two other believers are actuated by the spirit of evil to pretend a similar surrender…….They wanted to give the impression that their all was on the altar, when it was not, and thus they became guilty of sacrilege in the attempt to obtain the reputation of saintliness with the reality of sacrifice.” -Herbert Lockyer, All the Women of the Bible

It is believed that they were professed believers and that this was an act of God’s discipline in the church.

“they were struck down in sanctifying discipline, rather than in an everlasting condemnation. And that they so died that we might learn so to live as not to die.” -Alexander Whyte

Their problem: They did not fear the Lord.

It is good to have a healthy fear (reverence) of God that reminds you of your place in comparison to His holiness, righteousness and the knowledge that He is all-powerful.

When is it good to be afraid? “Not all fear is unhealthy. Some of it qualifies as reverence. Maybe the apostle Paul felt the kind we’re discussing in 2 Corinthians 11:3. ‘I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.’ Look at is this we: We lock our doors at night to keep out intruders. Fear can be wise.” -Beth Moore, James Mercy Triumphs Judgement

The only way you can truly be a fearless woman of God is to fear the Lord!

Proverbs 29:25 NKJV “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.”

Luke 12:4-5 NKJV “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”

In the Greek this word for fear is “phobeo”

Webster’s definition of the english word “phobia” is “an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation”

How do you develop a healthy fear of the Lord? By regularly getting into God’s presence.

Hebrews 10:31 ESV “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

(Psalm 96:9 NKJV) “Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.”

(Psalm 114:7 NKJV) “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob”

HER HYPOCRISY: She kept the wrong secrets

Ananias and Sapphira cared more about the appearance of spirituality then the actuality of spirituality.

“Half of the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not.” -George MacDonald

Where you are, when you are, how you are is what you are! Be what you are. Don’t try to be. Just be.

“If you’re not somewhere yet in your spiritual walk, don’t pretend to be there.” -Karen Kyle

Matthew 6:1-4 ESV “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

It’s not so much about what we do as it is about how we do it.

One of the secrets of successful Christian living is the life of the secret heart.

Psalm 51:6 ESV “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”

(Psa 19:12 NKJV) “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.”

(Psa 90:8 NKJV) “You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.”

(Psa 91:1 NKJV) “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

(Ecc 12:14 NKJV) “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

(Dan 2:22 NKJV) “He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.”

Ask Yourself: What was it that kept them from seeing the severity of what they were doing? PRIDE

Pride will blind you.

“Pride opens the door to every other sin, for once we are more concerned with our reputation than our character, there is no end to the things we will do just to make ourselves ‘look good’ before others.” -Warren W. Wiersbe

Safeguard against deception: Get in agreement with the Lord through His Word first before being in agreement with someone else’s assessment, opinion or decision.

Read James 2:13-18

It’s one thing when one person is doing something wrong. It is another dynamic to agree together with someone to do something wrong.

SECRET: Here is a secret to NOT living as a hypocrite is to live from the heart.

Homework: Read Psalm 119 and highlight the word delight every time you see it.

HER DEATH: She died the wrong way

Bad death: Focus on the outside (appearance) will bring inner death (sin).

Good death: Focus on the inner (heart) will bring inner death (life).

Romans 8:13 NKJV “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Live on the inside (according to the flesh) -----> DEATH

Die on the inside (by the Spirit) -----> LIVE

(Romans 6:16, 21) “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ... What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.”

(Romans 6:23 NKJV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(Romans 7:5, 13 NKJV) “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. ... Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.”

Life Lesson

“The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart”

Discussion Questions:

1. What lie do you remember telling when you were a child? What happened?
2. Were Ananias and Sapphira required to sell the land and lay all the money at the apostles’ feet? What was their sin?
3. What do you learn about the fear of the Lord from this story? How will you apply this in your life today?