Our Calendar
Appointments
I am convinced you and I are unaware
Of the many appointments God makes for us each day
I don’t think we should over concern ourselves with what is on His calendar for us
As much as we should be concerned with being alert when is happens
To be ready
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15
An appointment takes time and energy
God has divine appointments for you today,
So
Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, Ephesians 5:15-16
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:5-6
As you prepare for your appointments
Don’t miss God’s divine appointments for you
Our Calendar
Appointments
At the end of every year,
we look for a new calendar.
Maybe it is something small
that sits on a desk.
Or, maybe large enough to write appointments
and special notes on particular days.
Many of us have moved from the
paper calendar to the digital calendar.
Your phone or computer keeps track of
special days like anniversaries and birthdays.
We can set those devises to let us
know an appointment is coming up.
Appointments are an arrangement to meet
someone at a particular time and place.
Some of us have more appointments
than others, but we all make appointments.
An appointment takes time and energy.
You have to work out a day and a time.
You have to work out a place.
And most of all a purpose.
How many times have you saw someone
you had not seen in a long time and said…
“We have to get together”,
and it never happened.
Appointments take time.
Sometimes others do not consider your time
important and don’t show or even bother
to notify you they will be late or not coming.
Even if you do not write down what
you are planning to do each day,
you are planning to do something.
It amazes me how many times I wake up
in the morning with plans on my mind…
And go to bed that night thinking my day did
not turn out anything like I thought it would.
The famous passage in Ecclesiastes 3 which says…
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven
14 things are mentioned where there is
a time for and their opposites…
Like a time to be born and a time to die
verse 2
Those are two appointments
I did not put on my calendar.
In Genesis 18:14, God makes an appointment
to meet Abraham and Sarah in a year.
The Israelites were to mark their calendars and
make appointments to celebrate feasts of the Lord.
Leviticus 23:2
Imagine all the work it took to make those feasts
the celebration God wanted to have with them.
The Book of Daniel speaks of Appointed
Times, events God has on His calendar.
Daniel 8:19; 11:27,29,35
Jesus tells us concerning His return…
"No one knows about that day or hour,
not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father.
Matthew 24:36
As you and I keep a calendar of
appointments and special days…
So does God.
In October of 2020, Sandy and I
were with my siblings for our annual get
together in the Great Smokey Mountains.
This year my brother changed locations
from the Gatlinburg area to Banner Elk.
Each day we did different things
based on what we felt like doing.
On October 21,2020, we made an appointment.
It was not written on our calendar
and decided within less than
18 hours, we would go to Blowing Rock.
We had been there the day before to stand on
Blowing Rock and take some photos.
But this time we were going to eat and shop.
At 1 o’clock we made a reservation to
eat and was told our wait would be one hour.
I took a short walk 4 or 5 stores away
to see what was there for Sandy to see.
Everyone including me had a mask on.
I heard a voice saying “Bill”.
I looked around and again I heard, “Bill”.
This happened a couple more times and
as I looked around wondering who was
calling my name, then I heard, “Bill Self”.
I knew someone was calling me.
Finally, the couple who were calling my
name came to me and pulled down their
masks and said it is Dave and Jane.
Dave and Jane live an hour from Blowing Rock and
decided that day to enjoy the shops at Blowing Rock.
Dave and Jane used to be a part of the church
I pastored until they moved 17 years ago.
Over the last 6 or more months, I had been
thinking of people who have blessed me.
Dave had a construction company and
allowed me to build my house under his
company and handled the workers comp
and other legal things under his company.
Our home we have lived in for 21 years
was made possible because of Dave.
As I prayed for Dave and Jane the last six months…
I had hope someday to see them again,
but I did not even know where they
lived or how they were doing.
But on October 21, 2020, at an exact second
around 1pm, God had an appointment for me.
It could not have been more clear
that God has a calendar.
Not just a calendar for world events…
But a calendar just for me.
To put Dave and Jane and Sandy and I
in the same place, at the exact time,
could not be chance.
It could only have been God
who set up this appointment.
I am convinced God has every day of
our lives set up with appointments.
Divine appointments working,
with my appointments.
When I go to the store with
one thing on my mind…
God has someone there who is on His mind.
If a tree falls in the forest,
it by chance falls to the north
or south or east or west.
Ecclesiastes 11:3
Chance happens to us all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11,12
But I also know…
In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
From one man he made every nation of men,
that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and he determined the times set for them
and the exact places where they should live.
God did this so that men would seek him
and perhaps reach out for him and find him,
though he is not far from each one of us.
'For in him we live and move and have our being.'
Acts 17:26-28
I am convinced you and I are unaware of
the many appoints God makes for us each day.
I don’t think we should over concern ourselves
with what is on His calendar for us…
As much as we should be concerned
with being alert when is happens…
To be ready.
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason
for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect
1 Peter 3:15
An appointment takes time and energy.
God has divine appointments for you today.
So…
Be very careful, then, how you live —
not as unwise but as wise, making
the most of every opportunity
Ephesians 5:15-16
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders;
make the most of every opportunity.
Let your conversation be always full of grace,
seasoned with salt, so that you
may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:5-6
As you prepare for your appointments…
Don’t miss God’s divine appointments for you.
Scripture Reading
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV
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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