Searching As Found In Ecclesiastes

Welcome and I know “we all search’ and have many questions at different times in our lives.  I stated three questions that I faced in my life many times.  I will give thoughts, advice and hopefully answers to these and many more as we take this journey.  

I am not going into an “in depth” study of this book.  Many books have been written by theologians and I could not compete if I wanted to.  But I have told my Father, “I want to know your heart, see through your eyes and share your thoughts to your Precious Sons and Daughters who are in the middle of the battle”.  

We want to move forward and pick up the tools for this day and time.  It might not be a sling, a lamp or jar, a harp, a lunch, or a rod but God is still speaking to us giving us direction and guidance for our assignment.  May I speak, Oh Lord to your servants and those who have and are walking in their calling “for their such a time as this and place as today”.  

Ecclesiastes 1, is a summary of “vanity of life”, meaningless and there has to be more.

Two things I learned in the beginning of this study:

1.   True satisfaction comes from doing God’s purpose for our life.

2.   We can know what is right but still not act on our knowledge.

Solomon did not heed his own advice, but he wrote this book filled with practical wisdom and spiritual wisdom.  

Verse 8:  No matter how much we see or hear, we are never satisfied. 

LEARNING TIPS:  

1.   TODAY PEOPLE ARE STILL SEARCHING AND HURTING.

·      Solomon says and knows life without God is without true enjoyment and meaning.

·      There are many circumstances, sometimes beyond our control, which snatch away possessions and meaning to what we have accumulated.

·      Everywhere we look today people are searching just as Solomon was searching.

2.   TODAY, WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP OTHERS IN THEIR SEARCH?

·      As a pastor, in the beginning of our ministry, I thought, “We are here, our church is here, come see us, we have your answers” (which we do) but I learned people are not running to see us!  We must reach out to people, meet them at their point of need and let people know we truly care where they are.  Many have never been to a church and will not wake up ready to get out of bed and go to this building on the corner.  “I don’t know anybody, I do not know what happens there and why would I need to go”?

·      I must understand their questions before I can give answers.

·      I grew up in church and to the world we live in, we are speaking a “foreign language” to some who know nothing about God or his plan.  We have to begin at the basics!

·      Maybe they need food for their babies before they can receive the wonderful spiritual food for their souls.  They must see someone who cares on earth before they can believe there is a God in heaven who cares.

·      I want to emphasize, we do not do this alone; we have the Holy Spirit working with us in each step.

3.    ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO PREPARE YOU AS YOU HAVE THE KEY TO REACH THEIR PREPARED HEART.

·      The message is always the same, but we have to continually change our methods.

·      I thought we all did everything basically the same but found out, what He asks me to do maybe be different than what He ask you to do to reach your community/village.

·      When we began our ministry over fifty years ago, everything was so different including “how people thought of God and the church”.  There was very little technology as we have today.  We printed our bulletins the old-fashioned way, one by one.  Now our smallest children know how to use a cell phone, get on the internet and even teach us “the older generation” what to do when we get lost. 

·      What are the needs of those in my world?  I feel I have to learn more to “know the seasons” but Greater is He in me to be ready for the task. 

·      The cure for emptiness and searching is to center on God!!!!!

·      We must hear His instructions on what and how to do continually.

4.    REMEMBER:  WHAT HE SAYS TO DO, WE DO IN HIS POWER AND STRENGTH AND HE MULTIPLIES AND GIVES THE RESULTS. I ask you before our Father these questions:

·      Do I understand how people are searching?

·      Am I learning to meet their needs and be there as “Jesus in clothes”?

·      Am I confident that I can hear His words to me, giving me new “keys” to reach the hurting and lost in my “world” that God has given me?

Stay tuned for more TIPS on the Leaders Help Desk…

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