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Welcome. Please study Gods Word in our program called From House to House. We hope its a
blessing. The Word should exhort, comfort or build you up in the faith. We pray you
will not be just a listener, but it will be profitable in your life for the glory of God.
Ladies, thank you for being with us and we want to thank the Walkers for their wonderful
hospitality for making it possible to film in their beautiful home. Were continuing in
the series that we have call Times and Seasons described in Ecclesiastes 3 where there are
28 issues to consider. This is real living that people experience in a lifetime. We hope
it helps you in the natural and spiritual – because there are two sides of the presentation
of the Word here. You will see that the way the Word is set up as we read it in our first
lesson – but you see the positive and the negative, like a time to be born and a time
to die. Today is lesson 3, our lesson is on planting. Turn to Amplified, Ecclesiastes
3:1-2. Please read and prayerfully consider Ecclesiastes 3 and the descriptions of life
later. It says TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under
heaven. We are talking about timing in everything in your life; the season that this timing
will take place; having purpose in the seasons we go through and looking for purpose in the
seasons - because God doesnt operate in the realm of wasted motion. Today we want to focus
on Verse 2. A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up
what is planted. First consider natural planting. When you plant seed, the farmer knows when,
in his climate, a better time to do the planting of his seed. Theres a time and a season for
it. He knows by the weather, past experience of lost crops when is the best time to plant
depending on what hes growing. In order to have a harvest, its speaking about in life,
theres a time to work, to labor hard. Theres a time to be diligent and not waste this wonderful
opportunity when the season is right and its time to plant. This is investing in your future
and returns, especially young people –up into your middle-age years. Its a critical
time that you dont waste your days, your weeks, your months, dont let your years get away
or spend it in idle living. Theres not many returns later if the Lord should grant you
more years. Theres something about being young – were often deceived and think weve got
lots of time and somehow we cant picture were going to grow old. It happens so quickly you
can t believe it. The old-timers tell you that and you say Yeah, yeah. But when it happens,
youll say Boy, they were right! Pretty soon, your youth, strength, energy, health is beyond
you and youre working with the gleanings of whats left and making the best of that, hopefully.
There is a time and season to be ambitious in your life, your labor, your dreams, your
visions, and without that, youll be a wandering goose. The scripture has a lot to say about
us making the most of the time. In Ephesians it tells you to buy each opportunity because
weve got to redeem the time. The time is late. So compare Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 in the Amplified
with Proverbs 28:19. Its good common sense. He who cultivates his land will have plenty
of bread, but he who follows worthless people and pursuits will have poverty enough. That
is a fact. If the farmer cultivates his land he will have plenty of bread but if he spends
time with worthless people and pursuits poverty will become his company in time. This is referring
to being diligent, not wasteful with our opportunities. If you have goals, dont daydream or wish your
days away. But begin with what you have to work with. When youre faithful with a little,
Child of God, even in the natural – God can trust you with more. The scripture says
if God finds us faithful with earthly riches – He can trust us with eternal riches because
we are a good steward. Some people are not good stewards of opportunities, gifts, gleanings
from their labors – they are wasteful and they expect God to trust them with spiritual
riches. Thats ridiculous. God is a good manager. He wont trust individuals with eternal riches,
who are sloppy, careless and lack ambition in the natural. Often, we move from the natural
on up into the spiritual and this is important to take care of. If you till your land, the
scripture says, youll have bread and poverty wont overtake you. I definitely am not a farmer.
But whatever is your gift in your physical or mental labor, however you earn an income
– youve got to till the land. Youve got to work at it, invest your labor and sweat
and dont be afraid to get dirty. Then you can expect returns, plenty of bread and poverty
will not overtake you. A lot of people live in poverty because they wasted opportunities.
I know people that I love and they have wasted much of their life. Or what they gleaned from
their labor, they spent – there was no laying up in store, no preparation for when they
couldnt get enough work and so forth – just careless living. God does not approve of that.
God honors diligence. Lets look at Amplified, Psalms 128: 1-2. It speaks of us eating the
fruit of our labor. God wants us to do that. It says, BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, to be
envied) is everyone who fears, reveres, and worships the Lord, who walks in His ways and
lives according to His commandments. For you shall eat [the fruit] of the labor of your
hands; happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) shall you be, and it shall be well with you.
God says that person is going to be happy. Theres a contentment that comes for those
who fear the Lord and worship Him –they will be able to eat the fruit and God wants
you to enjoy the fruit of your labor. He didnt intend it to be like sand sifting through
your fingers. Some people, no matter how much they make, they spend more. They have no practicality;
tomorrow it might be like my mom used to say of my fathers way of living, feast today and
tomorrow famine. Chicken today – feathers tomorrow. Gods going to look at your diligence
in the natural and He knows if you are diligent – youll be diligent in the spiritual as
well. You are entitled to enjoy and eat the fruit of your labor, so that you can be happy
and envied – with Gods blessings and approval on your life – that others can see the wonderful
testimony to His glory. The children of God on the work force should shine, stand out
as best employees in any company as having a plus dimension. They should be a curiosity
as why their work is blessed. They should be coveted by employers as choice employees.
Im afraid, in many instances, thats not the case. Lets shine in our natural labor. God
would have it that way. We are His ambassadors. K.J. Proverbs 31:27, speaks especially to
women, taken from the Virtuous Woman setting. She looketh well to the ways of her household,
and eateth not the bread of idleness. So to God idleness, instead of doing something worthwhile,
to Him its like eating the bread of idleness, feeding on idle things, things that have no
value - you are never going to reap the dividends off it. But it says, a virtuous woman wont
do that – she refuses to eat the bread of idleness. You that get to stay home while
your husbands work. If youre spending a lot of time in front of the TV or listening to
the radio, letting things go, the well-being of your family and care of the household or
your personal groooming, your health and your parents – God is not pleased. This is sin
because we miss the mark. Thats what sin means, missing the mark, like the archer who bends
his bow and shoots the arrow at the target. Sin means to going right or left, high or
low and missing the mark. We can be sinning if we are carelessly living – carelessly
wasting our minutes, days, hours. We need a plan. Its a good thing – the night before
you go and lay your head on the pillow, that you have somewhat of an idea of what you are
going to accomplish the next day, God willing, unless God changes the plan, be flexible to
that . You need some idea of what you will accomplish in days, in weeks, a month and long-range goals for a year. If
you dont plan, you will live aimlessly and not be content. You are going to be frustrated
and disappointed and not feel fulfilled because so soon life gets away from you like the scriptures
we have read. The virtuous woman, with the virtue of Christ flowing through her is not
going to eat the bread of idleness. Theres such an opportunity for us women to waste
time and energy. Do you waste it on the phone? Oh my, right, ladies? Im not saying dont use the phone but examine your
time and your life. Because we are going to plant so that we can have a harvest and reap.
But youve got to do the labor and take advantage of the opportunity when you do that. Some
New Testament teaching on this ambitious subject is, Amplified, II Thessalonians 3: 7-12. The
Lord anointed Paul to write to the church of Thessalonica. It says, For you yourselves
know how it is necessary to imitate our example, for we were not disorderly or shirking of
duty when we were with you [we were not idle]. Nor did we eat anyone s bread without paying
for it, but with toil and struggle we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden
or impose on any of you [for our support]. [It was] not because we do not have a right
[to such support], but [we wished] to make ourselves an example for you to follow. For
while we were yet with you, we gave you this rule and charge: If anyone will not work,
neither let him eat. Take your pencil and mark this one. This charge to New Testament
believers: if a persons not willing to work than neither should they eat. Its amazing
the people that dont want to work but they want somebody to feed them. Do we have self-respect?
If we have self-respect and respect for our family, we are going to be diligent. With
a lack of respect, you have a sense of entitlement. Im concerned that especially for our younger
generation theres an attitude of entitlement. So much has been given to them and without
any cost to them that they have an attitude that they deserve it. Its owed to them. Why
not? They should have everything while they are young. I laugh at some of the young brides.
What they think they need and are going to have – or else. And I think of my generation
– the way we improvised for things we couldnt afford. I could tell you some very practical
things Dave and I did in the early days of our marriage, but we survived. When we got
new appliances oh, did we appreciate them. I took care of them the very best I can. In
fact, the Lord blessed my appliances – some lasted thirty-two years. I just recently replaced
some things because I knew what it was to have to improvise and substitute. I wasnt
going to get everything top-notch in my younger years. And young people, dont have an attitude
that you are entitled to everything. Be willing to work with what is available and God will
bless your work and God will give you increase and Hell see that you are a profitable and
faithful servant and He can trust you with more. You may look at some servants of God
and say Why do they have so much, are so blessed? We dont know what they went through to get
there. Its possible they proved themselves in times of need, hardship and sacrifice.
I know in our life, we sacrificed in the natural in order to have our home and to furnish our
home. It wasnt handed to us, but we found it rewarding and worthwhile as it has paid
off. This is the principle this scripture encourages us to live by. Lets go back to
verse 8 in Thessalonians, it says, nor did we eat anyone s bread without paying for it,
but with toil and struggle we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden or
impose on any of you [for our support]. [It was] not because we do not have a right [to
such support], but [we wished] to make ourselves an example for you to follow. For while we
were yet with you, we gave you this rule and charge: If anyone will not work, neither let
him eat. Indeed, we hear that some among you are disorderly [that they are passing their
lives in idleness, neglectful of duty], being busy with other people s affairs instead of
their own and doing no work. Now we charge and exhort such persons [as ministers in Him
exhorting those] in the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) that they work in quietness
and earn their own food and other necessities. I would stay clear of people who have a sense
of entitlement. You know these people, they are full of excuses, excuses. The ridiculous
excuses people come up with – why they didn t work – it was my child s birthday or I
said I was sick. People come up with anything to get out of working. Sometimes that happens
because their parents gave them everything without requiring them to at least participate
in the household. Ecclesiastes 11:4, Amplified, lets see what it says about excuses. He who
observes the wind [and waits for all conditions to be favorable] will not sow, and he who
regards the clouds will not reap. They go out and look and they say Oh, its windy – I
think Ill wait until the day is perfect and then Ill sow my seed. Or they see clouds in
the sky and say Oh, it might rain so they dont plant. They are not planting so they
are not going to reap. Some people live looking for other peoples sympathy for their laziness
to feed them, or to give them a handout. Im compassionate for the genuinely needy. But
I find it hard to be compassionate on those that are lazy. Amplified, Psalms 128:3 says
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house; your children
shall be like olive plants round about your table. Do you know that in your children,
you are planting. Theres a time to plant, the scripture says. Thats what we started
with, right? Theres a time and season to plant. When I was raising my girl, I was planting
continually the seeds of the principles of God into her life and now Im blessed to see
her passing that on to my grand-daughter. Theres a season for the planting. Dont let
that season pass you and fail to plant because your children are to be like olive plants
round your table. In K.J. Proverbs 31: 16 it says that a virtuous woman considers a
field, buys it and with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. Three stages: Spiritually
–talking about spiritual planting now. What is your field or calling from God? Youve got
to buy it. That means you pay the price of dedication. With the fruit of your hands plant
a vineyard in your field; not somebody elses. Get in your own field God has called you to.
See it as a vineyard, plant it and look forward to harvest. Amplified, I Corinthians 3:6 Paul
said, planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was making it grow and [He] gave
the increase. In Amplified, Ecclesiastes 11:6, it warns us about sowing. In the morning sow
your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hands, for you know not which shall prosper,
whether this or that, or whether both alike will be good. In the morning of your life,
while young, sow your seed. And as you grow older – in the evening hours of your life
continue to plant your seed because God says you dont know which one is going to bring
forth the most for you. Yes, in Lamentations 3:27, it says its good for a man to bear the
yoke in his youth. It is good when youth realize thats a time to take responsibility. Carry
it. Thats good. Sow your seed when you are young and when you are old. Plant and you
will have a harvest, as God blesses it. Be with us next time. Our lesson will be
on
To Pluck Up.