Friday, October 22, 2010

September 2010

Fall – a season that brings the end of a hot summer.  Cool breezes, crops harvested.  Yet it is also the beginning of the end for many plants.  Fall is when leaves begin to turn colors – beautiful, vibrant colors.  But after the colors fade, the leaves fall to the ground.  From the perspective of the leaf, this is a tragedy.  Life is over.  But we are able to see from a larger perspective.  We can see that because the leaves fall and the tree rests during the winter, storing up nutrients, new leaves will be ready to bud and burst forth in the spring.  Yes, fall leads to winter – often cold, dark, dreary.  But fall also leads to spring. 

Whatever season you are in right now, it is leading to a spring.  Realistically, every season also leads to fall – it’s a circle that goes on and on and on.  We can see the glass half full and see how everything is leading toward spring and new life, or we can see the glass as half empty and dread the coming falls and winters of our lives.  God is here with us in each season, desiring to teach us more about Him, drawing us closer to Him, showering more and more blessings upon us.  But we must look up, to the sky, rather than down to the ground where the leaves will find their final resting places. 

This fall, as you see leaves changing colors, remember God’s promises to you.

Leviticus 26:3-5 (New International Version)

 3 " 'If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

Deuteronomy 11:13-15 (New International Version)

 13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul- 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

Galatians 6:9 (New International Version)

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Season in the Bible: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 
Immortalized in song and poetry, this passage teaches that there's a time and place for everything. On the one hand it's a sobering reminder that nothing lasts forever; but it's also encouraging to know that difficult times will eventually but inevitably be followed by times of peace. God is in control of it all. 
1 There is a time for everything, 
       and a season for every activity under heaven:
 2 a time to be born and a time to die, 
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, 
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, 
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

 6 a time to search and a time to give up, 
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, 
       a time to be silent and a time to speak,

 8 a time to love and a time to hate, 
       a time for war and a time for peace.




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