Date:
Monday,
July 20, 2015
Chapters: Ecclesiastes 1-4
Message Title: More Is Less Without God
Hello My Friend,
The Book of Ecclesiastes is the twenty-first book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains twelve chapters. The timeline is approximately 977 BC. The author of the book is King Solomon and it was first written to the Jews, but it is addressed to all believers. The purpose of the book provides a description of the quest for life apart from God, to prove that no matter how much one has, is vanity (worthless) and vexation (distressing) of the spirit if God is not apart of life. “For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.” - Ecclesiastes 2:26.
King Solomon was brought up by King David, a man known as the apple of God's eye. He was taught to love the Lord His God, with all his heart, mind, and soul. Solomon did very well in the beginning, because he loved God he prospered, and not only became the wisest, but the richest man in the world. The word Ecclesiastes means, the preacher, he wrote this book in his old age after realizing all the mistakes he made, the most valuable lesson he learned was that too much of anything is a vexation of the spirit.
“What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” - Ecclesiastes 1:3,4,8-10,16-18.
While we may think that the things of today are the newest and best or worse, it is nothing that God has not already seen. I always say the difference between now and then is technology, we get a little more smarter over the years, but less gets done because the flesh is never satisfied. Solely working for the pleasures of this world will never satisfy us, the more we get, the more we want, and this is what Solomon is talking about.
“I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.” - Ecclesiastes 2:1-3,13-16.
You know the saying, “The less you know the better.” When we start to learn things it causes stress because we have to work harder to get the same result. I know there are some things I learned that I would be better off not knowing, they haven't made my life any easier nor increased my riches, all I got was vanity and vexation of the spirit myself. We are all going to die one day and none of the wisdom or possessions we own are coming with us, so we must learn to be content with what God has given us. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” - Hebrews 13:5,6.
The truth is, the more we do without God, the more we seek the things of the world, the more we seek the things of the world, the less grateful we are of what we already have. True happiness is not found in as much as we can possess while we are here, the richest person on earth knows this, but they will never admit it because they fear losing the things that they have. True happiness comes from realizing that God is the source of everything that we possess, and thanking Him for it. “What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” - Ecclesiastes 3:9-13.
Yes, the more we work, the more we are going to reap the benefits of our labor, but we must not forget that God is our source for everything. Just as He increases our wealth and earthly possessions by walking with Him, He can decrease them if we lag behind, forget about Him, and we may lose everything. It's not about what we get here on earth that we need to be concerned with, it's what we are doing to get it, we must build everything on His foundation or it will crumble eventually. “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” - Matthew 7:24-27.
There is a say, “Many hands make light work”. While we do need knowledge, and to make an effort to work, we must not lose our dependence on God. We need Him to get us through everything, even when things are going well. We also need to learn to depend on others once in a while, Solomon realized that we cannot do everything ourselves, and many hands do make light work. “Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” - Ecclesiastes 4:4,8-10.
If we are not building that career upon the foundation of Christ, it will fail, if we do not a build marriage or any other relationship upon the foundation of Christ, it will fail. It's not an insult, it's just that we were not made to carry so much weight all on our own, and if we fall we have no one to help us. Christ is the strength of every Christian, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, if we do anything in our own strength we will always fail. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” - 1 Corinthians 3:11-14.
Today's Prayer: God, As much as I try to do everything with Your Son guiding me I know I fail miserably at it. Sometimes I think I can handle it on my own and that You do not want to deal with such petty things, but I know You want to be in every part of my life, even when I am doing simple chores. Lord, give me Your power, strength, and guidance, help me to build everything upon Your foundation so I cannot fall. If I do fall keep me looking to You and for the blessings that come from my experience. Let me use my knowledge to glorify You so I will not grow to hate the things I love to do and they are not a vexation on my spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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Chapters: Ecclesiastes 1-4
Message Title: More Is Less Without God
Hello My Friend,
The Book of Ecclesiastes is the twenty-first book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains twelve chapters. The timeline is approximately 977 BC. The author of the book is King Solomon and it was first written to the Jews, but it is addressed to all believers. The purpose of the book provides a description of the quest for life apart from God, to prove that no matter how much one has, is vanity (worthless) and vexation (distressing) of the spirit if God is not apart of life. “For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.” - Ecclesiastes 2:26.
King Solomon was brought up by King David, a man known as the apple of God's eye. He was taught to love the Lord His God, with all his heart, mind, and soul. Solomon did very well in the beginning, because he loved God he prospered, and not only became the wisest, but the richest man in the world. The word Ecclesiastes means, the preacher, he wrote this book in his old age after realizing all the mistakes he made, the most valuable lesson he learned was that too much of anything is a vexation of the spirit.
“What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” - Ecclesiastes 1:3,4,8-10,16-18.
While we may think that the things of today are the newest and best or worse, it is nothing that God has not already seen. I always say the difference between now and then is technology, we get a little more smarter over the years, but less gets done because the flesh is never satisfied. Solely working for the pleasures of this world will never satisfy us, the more we get, the more we want, and this is what Solomon is talking about.
“I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.” - Ecclesiastes 2:1-3,13-16.
You know the saying, “The less you know the better.” When we start to learn things it causes stress because we have to work harder to get the same result. I know there are some things I learned that I would be better off not knowing, they haven't made my life any easier nor increased my riches, all I got was vanity and vexation of the spirit myself. We are all going to die one day and none of the wisdom or possessions we own are coming with us, so we must learn to be content with what God has given us. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” - Hebrews 13:5,6.
The truth is, the more we do without God, the more we seek the things of the world, the more we seek the things of the world, the less grateful we are of what we already have. True happiness is not found in as much as we can possess while we are here, the richest person on earth knows this, but they will never admit it because they fear losing the things that they have. True happiness comes from realizing that God is the source of everything that we possess, and thanking Him for it. “What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” - Ecclesiastes 3:9-13.
Yes, the more we work, the more we are going to reap the benefits of our labor, but we must not forget that God is our source for everything. Just as He increases our wealth and earthly possessions by walking with Him, He can decrease them if we lag behind, forget about Him, and we may lose everything. It's not about what we get here on earth that we need to be concerned with, it's what we are doing to get it, we must build everything on His foundation or it will crumble eventually. “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” - Matthew 7:24-27.
There is a say, “Many hands make light work”. While we do need knowledge, and to make an effort to work, we must not lose our dependence on God. We need Him to get us through everything, even when things are going well. We also need to learn to depend on others once in a while, Solomon realized that we cannot do everything ourselves, and many hands do make light work. “Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” - Ecclesiastes 4:4,8-10.
If we are not building that career upon the foundation of Christ, it will fail, if we do not a build marriage or any other relationship upon the foundation of Christ, it will fail. It's not an insult, it's just that we were not made to carry so much weight all on our own, and if we fall we have no one to help us. Christ is the strength of every Christian, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, if we do anything in our own strength we will always fail. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” - 1 Corinthians 3:11-14.
Today's Prayer: God, As much as I try to do everything with Your Son guiding me I know I fail miserably at it. Sometimes I think I can handle it on my own and that You do not want to deal with such petty things, but I know You want to be in every part of my life, even when I am doing simple chores. Lord, give me Your power, strength, and guidance, help me to build everything upon Your foundation so I cannot fall. If I do fall keep me looking to You and for the blessings that come from my experience. Let me use my knowledge to glorify You so I will not grow to hate the things I love to do and they are not a vexation on my spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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