ONLY GOD COULD MAKE OUR TIMES

I can never hear the lines in the old song called “Time In A Bottle” which Jim Croce made popular back in the 70’s  without realizing how true and profound the lyrics really are; then I always seem to wind up thinking about how we humans so often seem to miss the times that God has specifically set aside and appointed just for us to communicate with Him.  

Do you realize there are certain times that God has set aside just to come closer to us?

We can read in the scriptures of very specific times that God has chosen to step inside of time with us instead of simply looking on at us from eternity outside of time.   There is the weekly Sabbath; then there are the seven annual Sabbaths.

Pondering these facts; I always end up asking the same question:  Why is it that most of the world appears to have trouble understanding the significance of God’s Holy Days?

GOD HAS GIVEN US SPECIAL SEASONS IN TIME

There are very specific seasons that God has given to us, and there are very specific appointed times that He wishes for us to keep with Him.    When you have a Hebraic-thinking heart you can’t help but ponder such things.

Would you question celebrating Mother’s Day or Father’s Day?  

No!  I think not.

The whole wide world is fine with honoring their parents; and they should be, but what about a set aside time to honor The God and Father of All?  

Why are we so shy to honor God on His special set aside, appointed times?

When an awesome, and very busy, God sets aside special, sacred times; you would think that people would realize how important the matter is.  You would think they would be very eager to respond.

Wouldn’t you respond to your earthly father setting aside family time? 

Why not respond to God?

DO YOU EVER WONDER IF GOD THINKS “IF ONLY THEY WOULD….?”

Maybe you have a person that you love very much that you are always wishing would set aside more one-on-one time with you.  Perhaps you catch yourself thinking; If only they would just take a few vacations with you, or even just set aside a day here and there; or even an hour to spend time with you. 

Wouldn’t that make your life so much happier?

Unfortunately, we humans are often very faulty in the area of sharing our time, and we usually tend to take those that we love the most for granted. 

We do what the world expects right on schedule, and then we totally overlook those closest to us.  We casually overlook the ones that are right under our noses begging for us to give them just a few extra minutes. 

They want to plan special times with us; but we are just too busy with the other very ordinary things.  They even mark off time on their calendar days ahead; but we fail to respond.

GOD HAS SUCH A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THAN HUMANS

God isn’t like us though; He has that perfect ability to discern what is MOST important and to follow through in just the right time.  He thought of us even before time began and He thought about how He wished to set aside times specifically to commune individually and corporately with His people.

Do you realize that the lover of your soul did this just for you?

WILL YOU TOTALLY IGNORE GOD’S CAREFULLY PLANNED PROVISIONS TO SPEND TIMES WITH YOU?

Did you know that before you were born that God had appointments and times already set on His calendar to meet with you?

How have you responded so far?

Do you realize it is His desire to fulfill your every desire, as long as it conforms to His way of life, and He has it all planned out and scheduled on His sacred, eternal calendar?

GOD IS THE ONLY TRUE AND PERFECT SOUL MATE THAT EXISTS

Do you often feel you have trouble giving or receiving love?  Perhaps you have been looking for love in all the wrong places.  

If you want a REAL soul mate who knows exactly how you need to be loved and someone who will focus their total, undivided time and attention on you; I highly suggest you focus on your relationship with God. 

He made a plan just for you even before the beginning of time!  No human being will ever be able to say that about your relationship with them.

Do you believe in God?

IF YOU BELIEVE IN GOD; WHY WOULD YOU NOT CONSIDER THE THINGS HE HAS DONE?

If you are truly a believer; then you must consider the things He has done!  You must come to understand God’s pattern of times and seasons.  He did this (made appointed times) for your joy!  Be careful not to miss out on it.

So often we are believers in word only.  We “say” we believe; but when it comes down to the real nitty-gritty things of daily life, our actions just don’t follow through with our words. 

The place of this mistake which I think is most obvious and most prevalent in the today’s Christian community seems to be the total realization and carrying through with the whole concept of “appointed times.”

IT IS STRANGE; BUT NOT MANY PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THIS CONCEPT

Do you REALLY understand the concept of appointed times?  I hope you will read and consider the series of articles in my SEASONS column that are focused on this not often spoken of concept.

Maybe like many others, you might have over looked this aspect of Christian living; but the scriptures clearly spell out this particular subject in at least a million different places!  How could we possibly overlook it?

GOD WROTE THIS DOWN FOR US IN THE SCRIPTURES

I’m often baffled with the fact that otherwise very wise and devout Christians totally overlook this aspect of the Christian life.  Many do not seem to understand the concept of appointed times and seasons.

MY REASONS GET VERY INDIVIDUAL AND PERSONAL

If you are shaking your head and looking puzzled; let me explain a little further.  After all, this concept is probably one of the greatest factors of all in determining the root of all of my “seasonal” blog posts.

It is because of God’s clearly appointed times that I have, as a Christian believer who is filled with God’s Holy Spirit, learned that living seasonally within God’s defined seasons is one of the best kept secrets to finding happiness on this earth.

From the very beginning God thought of everything we needed to know and bundled them into  a weekly Sabbath and then added seven very special annual Holy Days and seasons.  Yet; it is such a paradox that the living, breathing, Church of God does not seem to recognize these days anymore.  There are a few exceptions; and there are a few “partial applications.”  But; I’m speaking to the WHOLE PICTURE here; and it has always puzzled me.

I’m not so sure why I get puzzled about this though when I think back and remember the parts and pieces of  my own journey toward a relationship with God.   I remember how I didn’t understand this concept of appointed times either.  This didn’t come to me until I had spent some very intensive times studying the scriptures and digging into the meaning of God’s Word.

GOD’S WORD NEVER RETURNS VOID

It doesn’t take anyone very long, once they begin reading through the scriptures in a chronological order, to discover that there are some holy days and some seasons written down in both the Old and New Testament writings that were observed by the Israelites whom God called out as a special people to form a pattern and examples for the formation of the Church. 

Then, there are also the examples of the disciples who followed Jesus and helped pave the way for all of us to find THE WAY.  I’m baffled and confused to know that Jesus and the disciples observed and kept many days that most of the Church just doesn’t observe today.  If they thought these days were important; shouldn’t we feel the same?

What happened to change this?  

Was it Jesus bringing salvation?

CHRIST DID NOT COME TO TAKE AWAY THE LAW; BUT TO FULFIL IT 

No, of course not; because He clearly states that He did not come to take away the law, but to fulfill it.  Jesus coming, living, dying and resurrecting simply UNDERLINED the importance of these sacred times.  

Christ also said “Remember Me” when you think of these things.  He WANTED us not to forget.  He wanted us to remember these special times that God has chosen and appointed to come closer.

SOME PIECES OF THE PUZZLE SEEM TO BE MISSING

 Even odder is the fact that the very members of God’s church, those who KNOW God and KNOW the scriptures,  don’t even seem to notice that this very evident concept of Christianity is totally missing and not even going on!  They don’t even realize they are missing out on a HUGE chunk of what it means to be living in The Kingdom of God on this earth.

It truly makes me sad, and I keep singing this sad, sad song over and over like a love-sick-songbird who longs for the whole wide world to understand their love for the Creator.   Like a little bird who knows for certain that they do SEE the Master; and they do KNOW the Father, and they Do have the filling of God’s Holy Spirit in their lives; but they haven’t yet started singing and dancing to the music!  

APPOINTED TIMES ARE ONE KEY TO EXPERIENCING THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST IN OUR LIVES

I want God’s Church and His people to have ALL of the fullness of God; and it simply isn’t possible without participating in God’s sacred, appointed times.

These sacred times and seasons are God’s gifts to the Ones that He loves.

Why would anyone refuse a gift from their lover?

So much of this reasoning and proof of God’s appointed times DOES gravitate all the way back to the time of creation, and then it moves through the Exodus, and then it is absorbed so beautifully into the WHOLE story of Jesus Christ being the Savior of the world. 

THE IRONY OF THESE MISSING PIECES

Every story of every Holy Day seems to shout off the pages that God has set aside certain appointed times  just for us (all believers) to spend with Him. 

 These appointed times prove and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ as Messiah, yet they are ironically mostly observed only by those who haven’t yet realized that He IS the Messiah.  

Those who know Him act as if they have never heard of such things, and those who don’t know Him are shouting the truth forth in a million little ways by observing the days that proclaim His majesty.

Go figure!  God did predict this in the scriptures too.  

How could it be possible that mankind does not yet, after thousands and thousands of years of the scriptures being intact and preserved under even the most severe circumstances and events; realize the facts involving God’s Annual Holy Days?

How could we get this one little subject so confused and mixed up?

THERE IS ALWAYS THE SAME REASON; WHENEVER GOD’S PEOPLE GET CONFUSED

I can come up with only one good answer.  It is because of the great deception.  The maker and creator of the great deception who is named Satan  has a plan also for our times and our seasons.  His plan started much later than God’s because God had to create him first; so at first (before Satan existed) it wasn’t so very hard to understand appointed times; since there was no one to plot and distract with untruth.

ADAM AND EVE AND THEIR CHILDREN UNDERSTOOD APPOINTED TIMES

People were not always deceived.

For times beyond our conception and understanding, Lucifer served God as an angelic being and worshipped Him properly.  But there arose within Lucifer a desire to be higher than God. 

Such things often happen. 

They happen to mankind almost every day.  

Someone will start out worshipping God, then God’s way goes against their own thinking and suddenly instead of submitting to God and trusting Him as being all-powerful, all loving, and all sustaining; that being decides to make his own decisions within his own will instead of trusting the fact that God’s will is always the best and higher than any other thinking.

THE OLD VERY EFFECTIVE TOOL OF YELLING “LEGALISM”

Is that legalistic?

Please don’t fall for that old line from Satan!

No, my friend; that is FAITH.  

It is faith that keeps us trusting God and seeking more and more His ways over our own.

Sadly, many lose faith.

That happened to Lucifer.  He lost his faith.  

Lucifer turned into his own god and persuaded one-third of the angels of heaven to do the same.  Deceivers love company.  They always try to pull others along with them.  It helps them to believe their own lies. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT DECEPTION

The great deception began that very moment, and it has been going on ever since.  It is still happening, even inside our own seasons and times, but we have the choice to walk away from it.  

We have the choice to act in the truth.

 God had to cast Lucifer out of heaven because of his rebellion.  He wanted to change things and rearrange God’s original order.  That sure sounds familiar.  I think that may also be part of the reason men no longer observe God’s holy days.

THE BEGINNING OF HUMAN CONTENTION

It wasn’t a hard thing for God to cast Lucifer out of heaven when he became so rebellious, because God had all of the rest of eternal life to think about; but I’ll bet it broke God’s heart to see one of the first and finest of His creation turn to evil.  Lucifer had no power to match the One Of All Power.  He and his demons fell to the earth with a huge loud thump, and we have all had to contend with them ever since.

God places importance on people’s names; and for that reason He chose to change Lucifer’s name to Satan.  He was no longer “the cherub that covered” but he was now known by the meaning of his new name which in Hebrew means:  “the adversary.”  Or you could go further and say “one who plots and opposes, one who obstructs.”

It all started way back when, and the plotting and opposition against God is still going on with Satan and the demons who fell with him.  He has been given permission to enter our times and seasons; but He is still under the authority of God.  Just as he did with Jesus, Satan’s primary purpose on this earth is to test us.  Hence the world is full of trials and temptations.  We must ever keep Jesus and His example before us.

CHRIST IS OUR EXAMPLE FOR OVERCOMING EVIL

Will we pass the times of testing and be delivered into the seasons of our life’s destiny?

One thing Satan LOVES to do is to confuse people into not understanding the holy, sacred, times that God specifically set aside to spend with the people of His own family.

Satan knows that if you can divide; you can conquer.  That process is all he cares about.  He wants to divide the family of God however and whenever possible so that his way will prevail over God’s way.  Satan is still out there trying to be god.  Guess what?  It is impossible.  He will never make it happen; but he doesn’t want to give up or give in.  He will try everything to get his way with us.

Shame on any of us believers who allow such a thing to happen.  We must be open to learning and living out the truth of God.

HAVE YOU PONDERED THE TRUE HOLY TIMES OF GOD?

Because of Satan’s scheming and plotting, most of us have made the mistake of thinking there are only two holy times of the year; Christmas and Easter. 

Guess what though; if you read your bible from cover to cover you will not find one mention of either of these two man-made words in the scriptures.  What you will find is a constant, consistent pattern of seven holy days and seasons that God appointed and set aside at the beginning of time.  They are emphasized in the Exodus,  There are seven all together.

These seven holy, appointed times of God are what I have come to believe to be “the key that turns the door to understanding how God wants and designed for mankind to live, worship and love.”  

These are the holy days that I so love to write about.  

These are some of the things that I look forward to sharing with you when we speak of times and seasons.  

NOTE TO THE READER:  This is one of a series of articles on “appointed times” and “seasons.”  If you enjoyed reading this you might also enjoy reading these:  https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/holidays-and-holy-days/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/seasons-why-place-so-much-emphasis-on-seasons/,