IN SEASON & OUT OF SEASON; UP'S & DOWN'S OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

Greetings,
"And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they."   I Kings 20:22
"And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord."   I Kings 20:28

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."  II Timothy 4:2

Life is filled with ups and downs; ins and outs.  And to often people want it all one way or the other.  But this is not how it goes.   The spiritual life is much of the same.   Paul told Timothy to preach the Word, in season and out of season.   If any one knew of in and out of season, it was Paul.  but any Christian knows that at the apex of spiritual delight, joy and Spirit filled, Satan will find a way in to rob and steal the joy and bring them down from their mountain high experience in the Lord. 

In Pilgrim's Progress, Christian learned this time and again, there were several blessed spots, that he was almost content to settle down and enjoy.  but if he settled down, he would not journey, nor arrive to the Celestial City where his Savior was.   Let us understand that every season is for a purpose; but it is not the final purpose, its time to move on to the next.

Now in the above Scripture of I Kings, the king of Syria had come against Israel.  Yet their pride and ungodliness was an offence to the Lord.  But so was Ahab and Israel, yet God was intervening to deliver them from their hand.   Israel was sorely out-matched and should have been easily defeated.  However, God speaks and leads them to victory.  Yet, when the Syrians looked at why they lost the first battle, they concluded that it was because the Lord God was only a God of hills, but not of valleys.  We know this to be ridiculous, for He is God of all of the heavens and all of the eaerth.

And when they sought to have a second battle, God once again intervened for Israel and declared that because they had limited Him to only a God of the hills, He would show them Who He was.   God of all, God of hills and God of valleys.   And the final phrase in verse 28, 'that they may know that I am the Lord."   God would be glorified in this. 

Now brethren, we are very quick to assert that in "good" and "blessed" times God is present and near and has everything under control.   yet, when those moments of "bad" and seemingly 'unblessed' times that God is absent, not there.  but God is there for His children.  Too often in those moments that the Christian is describing that God has left, or withdrawn, they use the words of 'feeling' or 'emotions'.   Ah brethren, be careful with this!!  Satan would make much of us relying on our feelings rather the reality and facts of what God has said.

Has He not said? "Lo, I am with you even unto the end of the age";
Has He not said? "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
Has He not said? "if you abide in Me, I will abide in you"

There are numerous other verses of promises and directive that God gives us to understand that feelings may say we are left, or alone;  but the Word of God says, 'No, He is here'.  Now it may be a season like Jacob in the wilderness when he awoke and saw the heavenly vision and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." 

Reality vs. Emotions


Avoidance of Sin



Focus on God




Until,
Dan

Started:  April 24, 2019

Continued:

Finished: