Sermon By: Duayne Thompson (Written By: Amy Adams)
1 Chronicles 12:32 says, “From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do- 200 chief, with all their relatives under their command.” The most important thing you need to know is knowing the times that we live in. God does everything in a season and a time. God does not change. He’s always holy, He’s always pure, and He’s always righteous.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
There are 4 words you need to understand: Kronos is Greek and it means the passing of time. It’s chronological. Kairos is Greek for an appointment or appointed time. Hereaus is Greek word that means an exact moment in time. Finally, pleroma means the fullness or fulfillment of time.
My season isn’t your season. The great thing about God is that He can make us all different and be living together in different seasons of all kinds. Suppose you have an appointment of some kind, you wake up in kronos and are heading for kairos. There’s still waiting when you get there and when that door opens, you have to go right through it because that’s the exact moment in time (hereaus) you’re supposed to go through. When it’s done, you experience pleuras because the thing you had to do is done.
Life moves in seasons. The key to life is to recognize what season you’re in. If you don’t know the season, you won’t know the purpose of the season. To find purpose in the season of your life, you need to know you have appointments with God for certain things to happen. There are even appointed times for you to meet people. You have a hereaus (exact moment in time) for the door to open and you have to go through it and finish it (pleuras). There are certain things in life in the natural where you can understand when your season is over. The problem with most people is that they want to stay in that season.
When you’re in certain seasons, there’s a gracing and an anointing that you have to do in order to finish them. The hard part after going through the door and experiencing the fullness of that season is something that we all hate: God does a divine shift. What is a divine shift? It is when God is shaping you and shifting you into your next season. What He’s going to do is remake your vessel. You were so faithful in the last season, God has to crush you a little bit in order to shape you for the next season.
When you start questioning things God has spoken to you, think about God and what He told Ananias to do. Ananias was hesitant about going to pray for Saul to get his sight back because of all the Christians Saul had killed and imprisoned but he went and prayed for him anyway. Saul was a chosen vessel. He was making him from a Christian killer to a person who brought people to Christ. Afterwards, Saul became Paul. It does not feel good when God crushes us. Some of us are harder header than others and end up having to go through a harder process.
The definition of purpose is the reason why someone exists. Most people don’t know why they exist. We all have a purpose. Everyone has a God purpose and a kingdom purpose. EVERYTHING has a purpose. If you’re breathing, you still have purpose.
4 Facts about Purpose:
- If you don’t know the purpose of a thing, misuse is inevitable.
- Only the creator of a thing understands the purpose and potential of the thing.
- Just because it serves the purpose, doesn’t mean that’s what it was created to do.
- The true value of things are only understood by knowing its purpose.
Some of us are not doing what we’re supposed to be doing and we haven’t even tapped into our purpose. A phone used to be just a phone. We have to learn the potential of what a phone can do nowadays. Inside of a phone is a whole world and misuse is probable if we don’t know the potential inside of it. Just like a phone, there are seasons of development where our potential is increased to the point where there’s almost no limit to what we can do.
“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
Ephesians 1:11
Inheritance is a designated or assigned allotment. What God gives you is not what He gives me. Predestination is an allotment that is predetermined ahead of time. In Him, we have an allotment that was predetermined. He takes those things and uses them to establish your purpose to bring about His will for your life.
“And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28
All things, good or bad, work towards His purpose. If you’re not in compliance with His purpose, bad is going to be tough. He’s trying to reveal His purpose to you. He’s trying to reveal your spiritual purpose for the kingdom of God.
God does not change His mind for what He created you to be. There’s a difference between “on purpose” and “for purpose.” There are people’s purposes, there are Satan’s purposes, and there are God’s purposes and you’re following one of them. God is leading everything to His purpose. God uses what others do on purpose for His purpose. It’s not comfortable and it doesn’t feel good. He gave us free will. Why do we have freedom of choice? Because God is love and we have to choose to love Him. We are different than angels; if they do bad, God kicks them out. We’re made in His image and He gave us the ability to choose.
Joseph had a dream of where God was taking him. But, his dreams got him in trouble. However, God took what they did to him on purpose (throwing him into a pit, selling him into slavery) and used their purpose to promote His purpose on getting him into the palace. Find who’s purpose you’re following. Daniel purposed in his heart that he wouldn’t eat the kings meat and wouldn’t stop praying. Stubbornness and rebellion can be godly but you have to do it at the right time in the right way. Sometimes when you’re doing God’s purpose, people will do things to you on purpose, like attack, slander, and threaten you. You will not like some of the things you have to go through.
They killed Jesus on purpose. Their purpose was different and it was to try and erase Him. Religion has killed too many people and has taken them away from God. Religion is dying because we’re going to kill it with the new outpouring. Some people are going to talk bad about it and will not change. The new outpouring will not fit in your religious structure. The purpose of God is to move us forward. God used the blood of Jesus to wash away our sins, ALL of our sins. God took the purpose of killing Jesus and made it into eternal life. He took His death and turned it into victory.
Don’t pray to get out of it, but pray to get through it. Satan has a purpose: to steal, kill, and destroy. Satan is out to kill your spirit. He’s out to kill your love, compassion, forgiveness, (fruit of the Spirit) etc. People are going to try and discredit you and try to take your purpose. He will put people and things in your path that rub you the wrong way. He will try and put people in your way that will try and change you. Jesus says you have to love your enemies and forgive 70 X 7. Forgiveness is not for them. It’s for you. You can’t carry hurt and pain other people have done to you into the next season. If you carry it into the next season, you’ll destroy people in the same way again. Suppose you’re driving in traffic and someone cuts you off. What’s the first thought that goes through your mind? For most people, it’s not something very godly. When you take that into every aspect of life, you know when someone does something on purpose to you, they meant to do it. Your mind gets flooded with all of these thoughts and you start meditating on what they’ve done to you in your mind. That’s where Satan comes in. Satan attacks us with thoughts. The only weapon Satan can use against you is your thoughts. The only way he can get it in you or around you is with the way you think. After he gets you to believe a thought, his goal is to attack you and get you to stay in that place. Then he tries to get us to self destruct.
People choose to be in addiction, and the thoughts from the devil reinforce it. The people believe the lie and turn to something. There are a lot of other addictions besides porn, alcohol and drugs. People go looking for something to make them feel better because you’re depressed. Physical sickness can be a cause of stress. You’re in fear and it’s all because you didn’t see His purpose. You’re stuck in a season because you haven’t learned the purpose of what you need to go through. If you’re not doing anything to change that, prayer is not going to change anything. You have to work His word. Satan tries to cause you to remain there but God takes all of that and turns it around into His purpose. He doesn’t take it if you don’t give it.
“He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgement, because for every matter there is a time and judgement, though the misery of man increases greatly.”
Ecclesiastes 8:5-6
There is a timing for everything. Every season has a timing but the timing in every season is different. When you finally give up and come to the end of yourself, then hereaus comes. You have to know the timing of your season. Timing is based on your learning. You can speed up your season the quicker you learn your purpose and start to understand why these things are happening but when you keep questioning things, it’s like putting the brakes on it. Judgement means to judge the value of a thing. Appraisal means to know the value of why you’re going through that season. For every person and every season is timing and value. We have to know the timing and know the value of that timing. God knows every decision we’ll ever make, but God makes us a way out and pulls some purpose out of it.
When you’re in pursuit of purpose, you’ll be shocked when you see the evidence of His goodness all around you and then you’ll start seeing His promises. Why did God create you? What is the specific reason He created you? At the end of every season, the purpose changes. When you start to see the purpose of this season, things will start getting easier. God says it’s not a gift from me if you have to pay for it. Identify the purpose of this season and seek first the kingdom purpose and all these things will be given to you.
Rise Of The Pheonix 