Everything Has Its Time

Ecclesiastes 3 : 1-13 NKJV

(1) “To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

(2) A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;

(3) A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;

(4) A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;

(5) A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;

(6) A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;

(7) A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;

(8) A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

(9) What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?

(10) I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.

(11) He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

(12) I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,

(13) and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.”

“Earthquakes!  Prison riots!  Economic pressures!  Divorce!  No jobs! Drugs!  Disease!  Death!  Pretty serious scene, isn’t it?  Yet that is the emotional environment in which we live.  No wonder someone has dubbed this the “aspirin age”.   Small wonder more of us are not throwing in the towel.

In spite of these bleak surroundings—or perhaps because of them—I firmly believe we need a good dose of Solomon’s counsel.  Listen to David’s wisest son:  “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken….All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast….A joyful heart is good medicine [the Hebrew says, ‘causes good healing’], but a broken spirit dries up the bones” (PROVERBS 15:13, 15; 17:22).

Have you begun to shrivel into a bitter, impatient, critical Christian?  The Lord tells us that the solution is simple:  “A joyful heart” is what we need….and if ever we needed it,…it is now.

By a sense of humor I mean that necessary ingredient of wit:  those humorous, enjoyable, and delightful expressions or thoughts that lift our spirits and lighten our day.  When we lose our ability to laugh—I mean really laugh—life’s oppressive assaults confine us to the dark dungeon of defeat.

Personally, I think a healthy sense of humor is determined by at least four abilities:

1.  The ability to laugh at our own mistakes.

2.  The ability to accept justified criticism—and get over it!

3.  The ability to interject (or at least enjoy) wholesome humor when surrounded by a tense, heated situation.

4.   The ability to control those statements that would be unfit—even though they maybe funny.

James M. Gray and William Houghton were two great, godly men of the Word.  Dr. Houghton writes of an occasion when he and Dr. Gray were praying together.  Dr. Gray, though getting up in years, was still interested in being an effective witness and expositor.  He concluded his prayer by saying: “And, Lord, keep me cheerful.  Keep me from becoming a cranky, old man!”

Let’s ask our understanding Father to remind us frequently of the necessity of a cheerful spirit and to give us an appreciation for laughter.

                                                                        Charles Swindoll
                                                                             Day by Day

Every thing we think, say, and/or do in the living of our lives is a choice. 
Every one of us is in total control of our own thoughts.  Consequently each of us is completely responsible for all of the choices we make.  Period!

No one can ever say that another person, an event or a circumstance was  ever responsible for any choice a person makes.  Before any choice you have ever made, gets made, it has to go across your “mental desk” and receive you own personal “stamp of approval.”  God gave man the exclusive control of his own thought process.  As such, only the influences one allows to enter his or her own mind can have any impact on the thoughts such a person will have.  It is your own mind…your brain…and you have the final say as to how you use it.

God’s Holy Word tells us in The Book of  John 10 :10  NKJV that He has come to the earth so as to give us all a much better and greater life than we would ever expect or imagine.  Scripture reads…Jesus is speaking:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

God’s Word says what it means and means what it says.  Joy, peace laughter, a sense of humor, and happiness are the result of good choices being made by the individual.  God tells us that we will reap that which we sow.  It is a spiritual law.  It applies equally to everyone….no exceptions!

So, we were all created by God, in His likeness.  He loves us so incredibly much that He gave His life for us….He died for us so that we may voluntarily choose to come back to Him by making the choice to believe  in Him and ask Him to come into our hearts and be our Lord and Savior.  That is a very good choice and it carries with it the assurance that we will live with God in Heaven throughout all eternity, subsequent to our physical death here on earth.

Good choices always produce good results.  The corollary to this fact is also true.  Bad choices only produce bad results.  You truly do reap that which you sow.

Happiness is a state of being that provides a joyful existence.  It carries with it broad smiles and a peaceful likable countenance.  A good and healthy sense of humor always accompanies the personality of a happy and grateful person.  Other human beings like to be around and associate with happy people.

Happy, joy-filled people attract other same-type folks because of another spiritual law that says…..you attract what you are ….not what you want.  Joy and happiness are contagious.  They both spread through a group of people like wild fire.  You cannot help but get caught up in the “fire” with them whenever you are around them.

The next time you are around a group of people in any given environment,…stop what you are doing and start observing the different kinds of people that you see.   

You can always spot a happy and joyous personality. Their biggest indicators are:   A big and beautiful continuous smile on their face; A constant and infectious giggly laughter flowing out of their mouth; A bright and sparkling pair of eyes dancingly focused on other people; An intense interest in the person with whom there are engaged in discussion; Warm, godly, uplifting, and edifying words of praise flowing across their lips directed towards other people; and lastly a sort of “loving glow” and “personal genuine warmth” projected from themselves directed to the person with whom they are speaking that makes that person feel as if they were the most important person in the entire room.   

I like to call this “The Jesus Effect”.  If you possess it, it is only because you have The Spirit of God alive and well and living within you.

Once you have the Spirit of the Lord in your heart, then and only then, can it freely flow out of you through your own thoughts, words and actions.  You are then, and only then, truly capable of loving another person as Christ has and does love you.

There are several special characteristics that all people who possess “The Jesus Effect” have in common.  They are:

A Loving and Serving and Giving Heart.
An ability to always put other people first before themselves.
A warm, kind, and edifying personality including word and deed.
A giving and forgiving countenance to all with whom they associate.

Are you such a person as has just been described?  Do you possess “The Jesus Effect”?

Well, allow me to tell you that such an indwelling does not come with your physical birth.  It can only come with your spiritual “rebirth.”  It can only come from being “Born Again.”

The real secret to living a life of success, no matter who you are, or where you are, or what your living circumstances are, you still must first be Born Again.  (See JOHN 3 : 3).

Once you accept Jesus Christ into your own heart and have Him as your Lord, Master and Savior, then and only then, can the power of The Holy Spirit come upon you and energize you with “The Jesus Effect.”  

Once that happens to you, you indeed will possess A Cheerful Heart.

God’s Greatest Blessings to all of you…….