WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1
Scripture: Acts 1:6-8

Acts 1:6-8 says, “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” The disciples were asking about a specific chronos that revealed Jesus as King. The answer Jesus gave in verse 7 was, “It is not for you to know times/chronoi or seasons/kairoi which the Father has put in His own authority.” The Greek word for “authority” here is ex-oo-see-ah, and it is the word for, ‘The governmental authority of God.’ The government of God has ordained chronos seasons and kairos visitations. Chronos refers to a period of time that has a set beginning and set ending. Kairos, however, is a season that is not measured by a clock or calendar. One of the things that we understand from this passage is that the disciples were specifically asking to know about God’s unfolding prophetic plan. They were asking what season they were in. Jesus’ answer was, “You are asking about something that is way beyond the scope of your lives. Instead, focus on what God has ordained for your lifetime.” They were about to receive power when the Holy Spirit would come upon them because they had a job to do – they were to witness. There is a distinct aspect of knowing the Lord that includes the times and seasons that will unfold in each of our lives. It is possible to know the Savior and be completely ignorant about the times and seasons that will unfold ahead of us. Part of knowing God is the deep awareness of the times and seasons that will impact us while we live on the earth. It is one thing to know the Lord and it is another to comprehend His times and seasons so we can achieve our maximum fruit. If we know the times and seasons, we can fully realize our ordained participation. Knowing the Lord by times and seasons is all about the fruit we will have in eternity. Every believer who knows the Lord by times and seasons maximizes their eternal fruitfulness.