UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES

UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES  Today I want to talk about understanding times and seasons. Understand times and seasons is vital in your journey of fruitfulness and productivity, as God develops your and internal virtues and character to glorify Him eternally and be a blessing to others. Time in Greek encapsulates two related concepts Chronos and Kairos. While Chronos tracks the relentless, linear passing of seconds and hours, Kairos captures that singular, opportune moment where timing meets opportunity to create a life-changing turning point. ReadingLuke 19:41-44 (NKJV) Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”Jeremiah 28: 1-3 And it happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, 2 “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. Jeremiah 29:10-11 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. i.          WHY YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE TIMES·       God has a plan and purpose; He works with us through times and seasons—through divine providence and the choices we make— Esther 4:14 Luke 19:41-44 o   Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they did not know times = WARNINGo   Destroyed 40 years later by Romans  Jeremiah 28: 1-3 Jeremiah 29:10-11 o   False prophecy Hananiah the son of Azur—only in 2 years!o   Voice of God through Jeremiah—70 years  ·       Time is in His hands, meaning we need wisdom and understanding of times  Ecclesiastes 3:11·       Missing God’s timing can harm you and bring disaster in your life; we make mistakes when we operate out of our times and seasons because there is time for everything—Ishmael type mistakes—Genesis 16; Immature end or termination— Sauls’s reign in1 Samuel 13, 1 Samuel 15:22ii.          IDENTIFYING THE SIGNS SHIFTING SEASONS·       Sudden changes in environment, relationships—people live-king Uzziah died, Moses left, Elijah is leaving, attitudes change— Jacob in Gen 31:5 “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me has changed”·       Confusion and restlessness, dissatisfaction—wildernesses  ·       Call to sacrifice—relocate, material and time—Abraham in Genesis Chapters 12-22  ·       Discernment—Sons of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32:iii.          WHAT TO DO IN YOUR SEASONS OF WAITING ·       Watch and pray, seek God—Jer 29:12,13