The seasons of our lives……….

It amazes me sometimes how God gives us the many seasons of our lives. Most times when we suspect it the least is when he blows in the season of change.

We have seasons with our kids; baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult. And with ourselves, just add middle age, elderly, old age. We have seasons in our jobs; new and exciting, moving up the ladder, plateau, looking forward to retirement, retirement. And we also have seasons in our walk with the Lord and in our church lives.

The bible talks about seasons in several places, the most familiar to all of us is in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. 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; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Daniel 2:21 – And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

Genesis 8:22 – While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Psalm 1:3 – Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Galatians 6:9 – And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

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

Seasons can mean such different things, to the farmer it’s time to grow or harvest. It can be a physical time in our lives, but more importantly it is a time in our spiritual lives. But it always comes with times of change.

As man, we tend not to do well with change, we generally resist it, we fight it, we don’t like it. But many times, God give us change to make us better. He does it according to His plan which is always good, even though it is so hard for us to see or understand. At times He will give us change that is very difficult, it will hurt for now, it will not be easy for now, but He knows that it will be good for us. It could be the loss of a loved one, but He will always guide us to new hope and life. It could be the loss of a job that we really liked, or we felt we were actually pretty good at; but in His grand plan, it was not the job He wanted us to do. It could be a financial loss which He may want to show us what it is like to live without or to live within our means, and to use the gifts from Him to further His works not ours. It could even be a physical move from our comfortable home and surroundings to a complete and strange new place, because in His season it’s time for us to do differently.

Friends, you see, seasons come in many shapes and forms. We may have a difficult time understanding or coping with them, but if we continue in the faith, if we continue to focus on the fact that it’s God’s plan, that he will never leave or forsake those who follow Him, those who believe in Jesus Christ, these new seasons will bring on new, exciting, and prosperous times for us. We need to continue to give the Father all the praise and glory for our changing seasons!

Father, I know you are all knowing, all powerful and that Your plan for us is always good and always on time. Please help me to understand these seasons of change, please help me be at peace with these seasons and give me the courage and strength to continue to follow You wherever you lead me with this new season. I will continue to praise You, I will continue to love You and I will go wherever You lead me! I pray all of this in the name of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

This week, I ask you to go forward in any of the new seasons in your life, knowing that the Father always love you and will always be with you to guide you through the next season of your life.

God’s peace be with you all!

The 4 a.m. wake up call …

I have to admit, that I’ve come to the conclusion and have accepted the fact that the Lord likes the hour of 4 a.m.! Once again He decided to wake me up at what I always thought was an un-Godly hour because he had plans for me, plans much different than mine. Mine would have involved at least another 2 hours of sleep, but apparently he had work he wanted me to do.

First he wanted me to finish what I started last night, and that was to complete and submit my application for admission to the Licensed Local Pastor program. I am praying that it will be accepted and that I can move forward on my calling to ministry. I ask for your prayers as I begin this step in my life.

Then he had me make contact with someone that’s been heavy on my heart for several years now. I pray that I used the words that He wanted and that it does open the doors to reconciliation.

And lastly, He said………..WRITE! So here I am writing and rambling a bit.

This week in church I had the privilege to lead service and bring the message, so today I thought I’d share the message I gave with all of you. Some of you have heard it already, so forgive me for repeating, but some of you haven’t.

The title of my message was Biblical 3’s.

As a born and raised Catholic, one of the things that we did not do was spend a lot of time reading the Bible or studying the Bible. When I first started reading the Bible, it began to occur to me there were a lot of 3’s appearing.

• In the Old Testament:

God is omniscient, omnipotent, & omnipresent:
omniscient – is the capacity to know everything infinitely, In Latin, omnis means “all” and sciens means “knowing”.
omnipotent – is unlimited power.
omnipresent – the ability to be “present everywhere at the same time”

Noah had three sons (Gen 6:10) and Job had three daughters (Job 1:2; cf. 42:13);

Israelite men were required to appear before the Lord three times in a year: “Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles” (Deut 16:16)

In the instructions for making a burnt offering there are three types of animals that could be used: the bullock from the herd, the lamb or goat from the flock, and the turtle-dove or pigeon from among the fowl.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly;

• There are also some interesting occurances of 3’s in our every day life – coincidence? I don’t believe so…

The basis of all things, the atom, has 3 basic parts, proton, neutron & electron

The basic elements – earth, wind & fire 3 again

To survive we need 3 things – food, water, & air

Properties of matter – liquid, solid, gaseous i.e. steam, water & ice

Primary colors – red, blue & yellow

• In the New Testament:

The Trinity – Father, Son & Holy Spirit
It is the number of the Godhead, it stands for the triune God. It is formed by 1+1+1, but if the 1’s are multiplied, the result is still 1. So God is three in one and one in three.

When Jesus parents left Him behind, how many days did they have to search before they found Him? Three days.

When Jesus was driven into the wildness to be tempted of Satan, how many times did Satan tempt Him? Three times was Jesus temped by the devil.

Jesus answered Satan’s threefold temptation by citing three scriptural passages Matt 4:1-11).
Jesus raised three people from the dead. The only son of a widow from Nain [Luke:11-4]. The daughter of the religious leader Jairus [5:22-43]. Lazarus [John 11:1-44].

When Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed three times to His Father to remove this cup if at all possible, after the third time Jesus collected Himself and said not My will, but Thou will be done.

Jesus fell three times on his way to be crucified

Jesus was crucified the third hour [Mark 15:25].

When Jesus was crucified how many do we see being executed? Jesus and one on each side of him, bringing the total to three.

Three nails

At Jesus’ trial, how many times did Peter deny his Lord? He deny Him three times. Each denial was for one in the Trinity.

After His resurrection, how many times was Peter asked to confirm his love? Three times one for his denial of the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit.

Paul experienced three shipwrecks (2 Cor 11:28)

How long did Jesus ministry last? Three years.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 speaks of how “A threefold cord cannot quickly be torn in two.”

If you read Ecclesiastes 4:8-12, it discusses the struggles of a singular person, and the benefits of two people working/being together, but it ends with the single line above – “A threefold cord cannot quickly be torn in two” I believe this was telling us, that if any two of us keep the Lord, keep Christ, woven into the cord of our lives, we will be stronger and we will be closer and we will never be separated from each other or from him. It was showing us that we need to keep Christ in our lives or the things of the world will pull us apart. I used two young people in our church to illustrate this principal.

I also used another example. I had two items, side by side on the table with a cord between them. The items were touching. The cord represented God/Christ in the relationship. This represented, a relationship between two people, could be a husband and wife, mother/daughter, father/son, you and your job, whatever kind of relationship.
As with most new relationships, they start out really close, happy, fun, but as time goes on, the world starts to impose, we get busy, we get distracted, we get tired, and we may even forget that God/Christ is still present. This was represented by the items starting to get further and further apart. All this while stretching out the cord that binds them. If this goes on for too long, and the relationship drift too far apart and Christ is forgotten, the cord can become frayed or even snap, leaving the relationship broken. But there is good news here! The cord is Christ! If we keep Christ in our lives, if we keep Him as the center of the cord and if we start to elevate Him, what naturally happens? As the center of the cord (Christ) gets higher in our lives, the space between the items or the relationships, gets closer together! Christ brings our relationships back, He brings and keeps us close, He binds our lives with his love! We need to keep Him the center of our lives!

The relationship of 3, has also been illustrated with a triangle with Christ at the top and the husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend at the bottom points. If the husband and wife remain at the bottom without Christ, all they have is a straight line, and they usually are going in opposite directions. But, if the relationship has Christ as it’s focal point and they actively keep their relationship focused on Christ, the closer they move up the triangle toward Christ, the shorter the space between them and the closer they get to each other.

I know this may be harder to visualize without the actual demonstrations, but my main focus of the “3’s” was this. No matter what the relationship, be it husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, mother/daughter, father/son, you/work, etc. There is and should be a third party involved and that is Christ! If you keep Christ as the focus of your group of 3, you can never go wrong and you relationship will remain strong.

As in Romans 8:38 – For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to be, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Friends, may you welcome the third person into your relationships. May the joy and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen the bond in your relationships and may His presence be a visible sign to those you touch that He is present and He is in control.

God bless you all!

R.I.P. Carl…

This is going to be hard, but the Lord and the Holy Spirit put it on my heart to say a few words about my big brother Carl.

Most of you know that I’m the baby in the family. There were 12 years between Ted and I and almost 2 more to Carl and 2 more to Ester Jean. Ester Jean often jokes that a lot of people don’t even know her or I because we are the 1st and last, but most people knew Carl and Ted!

They weren’t just brothers, they were best friends. I don’t know all the stories of when they were kids, I’ve heard a lot of them but I’m sure there are many that none of us actually know about!

One that I do remember and have heard often is one of the many Sundays spent at the Hafer farm. It seems like Carl, Ted, Paul, Russell and a few others liked to have home made rodeos with the cattle and horses. Many times riding the farm horses bareback. Now, of course this wasn’t with Pap Pap’s blessing, so sometimes Pap Pap knew, sometimes he didn’t. Now I want you to hold on to that memory while I try and make it through the rest of this.

Ester Jean, oh how he loved to tease you! And then again, Ted and I helped egg him on, since you were the only girl in the family! We always had to tell you to stand up in pictures so we could see you, even though we all knew you were doing the best you could! I remember hearing about all the summer vacations with Dad and Mom and the three of you. The fights in the backseat, the toys and shoes out the window, the fights over who had to sit in the middle and Ted’s hand stuck under the backrest of Dad’s seat! The adventures you had and the memories they made! But all kidding aside, he truly loved you and always enjoyed time with you and Stan.

Carl had many loves in his life, he loved his sports and excelled at them, leading to his induction next month into the Williamson Athletic Hall of Fame. He loved his vocation, police work, going to Washington, D.C. to join the force there until he was old enough to enter the Pennsylvania State Police where he and Ted served together, until he retired as a Corporal. He loved the outdoors, fishing, hunting, camping, trips to the cabin and trips to mountains in Colorado. I will always cherish the memories of my three trips to Colorado and our getaways to North Michigan Reservoir at a time in my life when I needed it most. Those trips allowed me to reconnect and build a bond with my brother that bridged our age difference.

Most importantly he loved and cherished his wife and family. Joann, you and Carl have been an example to us all. You’ve shown us and taught us how to truly love and take care of each other. You’ve shown us the importance of a strong family bond and a strong faith. You were truly the love of his life, you could see it whenever the two of you were together. I’ll never forget what the two of you told me when JoAnn and I got married, you said move away, that way you learn to live together, you have to depend on each other and work things out together because it’s too far away for anyone to run home. It is great advice and I’ve shared that with others as they started their life together.
Joe and Lance, your dad always was so proud of the two of you. He was always there and he made sure you grew to be great men. Joe, you’ve always had your dad’s mischievous and adventurous streak, the times sneaking into spots to fish, the adventures of you and Dean. Lance you have your dad’s love of nature and the beauty found there; so much so that it became your profession. His example and legacy will live on in the two of you and your families.

Scot and Alexandra; you two were his pride. He beamed talking about the two of you. Scot, we always heard stories of the fishing trips, your sports endeavors and anything else you got into! You definitely carried thru your Pap Pap with the adventures and antics! Alexandra, you were his sunshine, he love you so much and always talked about his beautiful granddaughter. Just remember he is and always will be with you.

Mom and Dad, he, like the rest of us, always was there, even when he was away, he would always check to see how you were doing and if there was anything he could do. He made the trip home so that we all could be together again, he made sure he was here to help, and he made sure that they were at all of our family get togethers, from dinners at Ted’s, picnics at his house, trips to Ester Jean’s and Christmas at our house, the Hafer Christmas party and the Hafer Reunion. Family was together again and as important as ever. Even though you all were stubborn and ornery with each other love was always there.

The stories he could tell………..Big Stan, Bob, Stan, Dean…I’m sure there a many stories of events at the cabin! And we all know how Carl could weave a story, the fish and the deer would grow from one telling to the next! And the stories we heard about you guys, he’d have us all rolling!

In Ecclesiastes 3: verse 1 we are told: There is a time for everything, and in verse 4 we are told; a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Now is our time to weep and mourn, but we must not forget to take the time to laugh and to dance, Carl would have wanted this and this is what the Lord wants for us also.

Listen to these words – they are from a song titled – Praise You In This Storm – by Casting Crowns and they are so fitting for us right now:

I was sure by now, God, You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it’s still raining.
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
“I’m with you”
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

And I’ll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I’ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

We really need to remember this, that the Lord IS with us,
In Romans 8:28 – we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

In Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

To complete the story, in the beginning I spoke about the rodeo’s at the farm, well, once Carl and Joann moved back and got settled, Carl began to look around and check out places that needed help with farm work but more exactly horses. I may not be totally accurate on all the details, but I believe Uncle Paul told him that the lady that owned Pap Pap’s old farm needed help with the horses. Wouldn’t you know that Carl got to complete the circle. He was back on the farm, doing what he loved to do, ride and take care of the horses.

Carl was a very good man, a great husband, son, father, uncle, brother, friend. He is one of the few people I have ever know that truly got to live their life the way they wanted, the way they were destined to and to be able to say to us, I am satisfied, I got to live my life with no regrets and I am happy. What a message to all of us.

A few months ago, I changed the ringtone on my phone so that I had one exactly for Carl. I downloaded Toby Keith’s – Should Have Been a Cowboy. Every time Carl called me I knew immediately it was him. When the Lord comes back with that triumphant entry to round us up in those final days, HE has one more great cowboy to help with the roundup! That song’s just never going to be the same for me. I’m so going to miss you big brother.

Spring forward, fall back …

As we head into the fall of the year and especially this weekend when we are reminded by this phrase to set our clocks back 1 hour (fall back), it made me look at this phrase in a little different way.

In the fall as the days grow shorter, the leaves turn all the different colors, the flowers fade and the long winter days are soon upon us, I think it can also represent the cycle of our spiritual lives sometimes.  I’m asking you to look at this short little catch phrase in a different perspective today.

Spring forward, fall back…

I’ll reverse it for my illustration.

Fall, we have our seasons where we “fall back” to our old ways; we start to wither and fade a little, just like the leaves on the trees and the flowers in our gardens.  We may not be walking the path that He wants for us or being the examples of Jesus that we are called to be.  Not only is this leading us to a cold winter time in our spiritual journey, but there is also another “fall back” time here.  It is a time when we really need to “fall back” to Jesus!  When we have these challenging times, when we realize that we are slipping in our walk with the Lord, this is when we need to “fall back” on Him!  He tells us that he will never leave us or abandon us.  No matter what we do or how bad we think we’ve been.  If in our hearts we turn back to Him, and ask our heartfelt forgiveness, He is there to take us back.  He will carry us through our Fall and long, cold Winter, and will lead us to that glorious Spring!

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation… 2 Peter 3:15

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. Deuteronomy 4:31

Spring, life is renewed, the leaves are turning green, the flowers are starting to grow, the days are getting longer and warmer, the snow is melting, it’s exciting and rejuvenating for us.  It reminds me of the Easter season!

He’s Alive! He has risen!  Our Lord and Savior has conquered death and redeemed us with His blood.  We have emerged from the dark, cold “winter” of Satan’s power over us and our sins to be re-born, washed clean by the blood of Jesus!  What a wonderful “spring”.  We are excited, and we “spring forward” to spread the Good News and to fulfill His  plans for us!

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:6-10

And any writing in regard to seasons would be remiss to leave out this passage:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,  a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,  a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,  a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,  a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,  a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.  What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the
hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.  That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil–this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment–wickedness was there, in the place of justice–wickedness was there.  I thought in my heart, “God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed.” I also thought, “As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.
Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless.  All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”  So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?  Ecclesiastes 3

So, next Spring, when you once again hear the phrase “Spring forward, Fall back”, I hope this little message gives you another meaning than just resetting your clock. I hope it reminds you of the joy we all can have if we Spring forward with the joy of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that fills you with a renewed purpose in your Christian walk, and may it also remind you that no matter what, you can always “Fall back” on Jesus, He’s waiting with open arms to take you in!

May God bless you with a very blessed week, filled with all the peace and joy of a life in Christ!