Seasons: Beautiful in Its Own Time

Dr. J Gayle Gaymon

Description

This book is a look at the Book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3: 1-12, and how it applies to my life and the lives of Christian believer’s today. It answers how we should respond to the seasons in life.

Sujets

• Biblical
• Spiritual Growth
• Christian Living
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: iUniverse
• Date de parution: 23 mars 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781663234834
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Seasons: Beautiful in its Own Time

 
 
 
 
Dr. J Gayle Gaymon
 
 
 
 
 

 
SEASONS: BEAUTIFUL IN ITS OWN TIME
 
 
Copyright © 2014 Dr. J Gayle Gaymon.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
Author Credits: J Gayle Gaymon
 
 
 
iUniverse
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
ISBN: 978-1-6632-3482-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6632-3483-4 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022900512
 
 
 
 
iUniverse rev. date: 03/16/2023
 
Bible quotations marked AMP is from the Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation.
Bible quotations marked ESV are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.
Bible quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version HOLY BIBLE, King James Version, Cambridge Edition. Text Courtesy of www.BibleProtector.com .© 2013, Used by Permission.
Bible quotations marked NRSV if from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Bible quotations marked NIV is from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973,1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
GWT is The God’s Word Translation (GW) are an English translation of the Bible translated by the God’s Word to the Nations Society. Copyright 1995, by God’s Word to the Nations.
 
To Gail Trachtman Wright
 
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
A Time to be Born
Abraham and Sarah and Hagar
Jacob and Leah and Rachel
Elkanah and Penninah and Hannah
Hosea and Gomer
Zechariah and Elizabeth
Moses was Adopted
Esther was an Orphan
Somebody had to be Joseph
Finding your Purpose
A Time to Die
An Appointed Time to Die
The Resurrection of the Dead
God is Faithful
Chapter 2
A Time to Plant
El Shaddai (Lord God Almighy)
Jehovah Nachah (The Lord is My Guide)
A Time to Pluck Up What is Planted
Chapter 3
A Time to Kill
Jehovah ‘Anah Qara’ (The Lord will Answer Me when I Call Him)
Jehovah (Yah) `Anah Merchad (The Lord Answered Me and Set Me in a Large Place)
A Time to Heal
Chapter 4
A Time to Breakdown
A Time to Build Up
Chapter 5
A Time to Weep
I Wept Bitterly
A Time to Laugh
Chapter 6
A Time to Mourn
I Mourn Sorely
A Time to Dance
Jehovah Bacha De (The Lord who Chose Thee)
I Want to Dance Like David
Chapter 7
A Time to Throw Stones Away
A Time to Gather Stones Together
Chapter 8
A Time to Embrace
A Time to Welcome Strangers
A Time to Refrain from Embracing
Chapter 9
A Time to Seek
Check Out Your Mind
Suicide is Preventable
A Time to Lose
Nothing Just Happens
A Time for Justice
Wrongfully Convicted
Elohei Misphat (The God of Justice)
Chapter 10
A Time to Keep
A Measure of Faith
A Time to Throw Away
Chapter 11
A Time to Tear
The Lord Can Tear them Away
The Lord has Not Changed
A Time to Sew
Chapter 12
A Time to Keep Silence
A Time to Speak
Chapter 13
A Time to Love
A Time to Hate
Hate Evil in All its’ Forms
We Fight Against Powers, Principalities, and Evil Spirits
A Time for Forgiveness
Chapter 14
Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of the Armies of Israel)
A Time for War
Is there a Just War?
Jehovah Shalom (The Lord is our Peace)
Chapter 15
A Time to Serve
An Indecent Demand
God Put Eternity in My Heart
Chapter 16
“A Time to encourage, and a Time to be encouraged.”
The Plumb Line of Righteousness
Like Father; Like Son
God was my Only Father
Chapter 17
The Sin of Unbelief
Failure is not Final
Chapter 18
Free Indeed
Trans-Subharan Slave Trade
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Africa’s Slave Castles
Obedience is Better than Sacrifice
Wokeism, Feminism and the Cancel Culture
Critical Race Theory
Civil Right Martyrs
I am not Oppressed
Chapter 19
They Were all Valiant
You are not Alone
Chapter 20
There is no Monolithic Black Voice
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.
Identity Politics and Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter
Master of the Universe
Let no one Hinder your Purpose
Beautiful in its’ own Time
 
Glossary
Bibliography

CHAPTER 1
“For everything there is a season, and a time for ever matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1a, NRSV.
For everything there is a season. Change is the only constant in life. The seasons change, and the natural composition of the earth changes. Everything changes. However, God does not change, and the essence of life is change. 1
I have often wondered if I knew the ends of all things, if that would satisfy me, or if I would change and do things differently. If I knew the length of days of sorrow and joy, sadness and happiness, failure and success, suffering and satisfaction; would I be satisfied or would I change things. But I have learned one of the great lessons in life, as the Psalmist has instructed us to “number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” 2
How do you own the moment? Can you own time? The LORD Almighty through the” Prophet Isaiah, declared, “ I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say , ‘ My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” 3 The LORD knows the end of times because He is above time. El Shaddai, the “LORD God Almighty” exists independently of time. There are many prophecies in scriptures, conveyed long ago, that are not yet accomplished; but their fulfillment is a solemn oath that the best is yet to come.
History matters! Specifically, the captivity of the Jews, the Babylonian exile, and the return of the Jews from the exile; the incarnation and manifestation of Jesus Christ, His obedience and suffering; His resurrection and ascension and assembly to the right hand of God; His work of redemption; the out pouring of the Holy Spirit; and the spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles. Nothing just happens! It was all foretold in the Scriptures.
The LORD God Almighty will accomplish His will and His pleasure. We may conceive in our hearts our own plans, but it is the LORD’s purposes and plans that are ultimately achieved for Christian believers. 4 Moreover, the LORD even before creation was able to determine what was best for us, for His plans are higher than the heavens, and we are unable to conceive them. 5 The LORD God Almighty’s purposes and commands are judiciously formed. They are eternal and impermeable.
A TIME TO BE BORN
The natural order of things in all of life is that there is an appointed time and season for everything. There is a coupling of extremes that makes for natural the order. Birth and death, in the natural order of things, are beyond on control. With the exception of suicide, by any means, the natural order of the beginning and ending of all life comes to pass without human interference. 6 The lives of believer’s are choreographed by a higher authority. The time of your life is determined beforehand, by the LORD, when you put Him first. 7 While the LORD knows what we are going to be before it happens; at our very moment of birth and hour of death, we are still in the hands of the living God. Your successes and setbacks are known beforehand by the LORD. He forms, molds, and shapes your lives according to His perfect will. I believe that everyone that was born was born on purpose and with a purpose.
ABRAHAM AND SARAH AND HAGAR
Abraham was the tenth generation after Noah, born in the Babylonian city of Ur of the Chaldees. He was a faithful man and found favor with the LORD. The LORD promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. 8 He foretold that he would be a God to him and his descendants, and would give them the land of Canaan. 9 It was an unconditional covenant. Nothing was required of him because God granted him favor.
Abraham was seventy-five years old and without childre