Seasons of Life: Man’S Journey from the Garden to Glory

By Sandra M. Platt

While the physical aspects of life's journey can be easily seen, the spiritual are often more difficult to recognize and to navigate. In Seasons of Life: Man's Journey from the Garden to Glory, author Sandra M. Platt tells the story of one mans spiritual journey as he comes to understand his lost condition and begins his Christian life. Through the wooing of the Holy Spirit, he begins to acknowledge God and work in his life. Platt takes us from the barren wasteland of sin to repentance, where through faith he is born again into new life in Christ. We walk with Him through the seasons of sanctification and see the Lords hand carefully pruning, strengthening, and preparing him to bear fruit. The spiritual journey of Seasons of Life: Mans Journey from the Garden to Glory lights the way to the strait gate of salvation and beyond, giving courage to fight the good fight, and wisdom to navigate the narrow path. Gods word is illustrated through shared experiences, revealing biblical principles applicable to all. p>

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490884486

Sandra M. Platt

Sandra M. Platt—“Dee” to her friends—was born in Syracuse, New York. Since being saved in the spring of 1998, she has had a passion for God’s Word and a heart for soul-winning and discipleship. She and her husband, Jim, have three grown children and live in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Book preview

Seasons

of Life

Man’s Journey from the Garden to Glory

SANDRA M. PLATT

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Copyright © 2015 Sandra M. Platt.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8447-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8453-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8448-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015914355

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/26/2015

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 A Season of Separation

Chapter 2 Repentance: A Season of Turning

Chapter 3 The Hearing of Faith

Chapter 4 New Life in Christ

Chapter 5 A Season of Sanctification

Chapter 6 A Season of Pruning

Chapter 7 A Season of Fruitfulness

Chapter 8 A Season of Redemption

Chapter 9 A Season of Warning

Chapter 10 A Season of Judgment

Chapter 11 A Plea to the Reader

Dedication

To my husband Jim, for your love, patience,

and unending support and encouragement.

Preface

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

—ROMANS 10:17 KJV

T he road to salvation is often a winding and narrow one, filled with obstacles and distractions. Many weary travelers are lost along the way. Without the Holy Spirit to convict and lead and to illuminate God’s precious Word, none would find their way. It is my prayer that this small book, through the power of His Word, might shine a light to guide some home, and that those who have found the way of salvation through faith might be strengthened for God’s service.

Not all will walk the same paths described here, but all will walk some of them and hopefully will find encouragement from experiences shared. Though I could have included many more illustrations, I have, after much prayer and for the simplicity of the message, settled on these. There is so much of God’s wisdom abounding in His Word for every step of our way that this small book alone cannot possibly do the subject justice. I pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the hearts of the readers, creating faith where there is none and increasing the faith that already is. Our heavenly Father promises that His Word will not return void but will accomplish the thing whereunto it is sent.

In the style of the early Christian writers, Seasons of Life is written with a strong reliance upon the Holy Scriptures, desiring that the story of man’s journey to God be told not through the wisdom of man but through the wisdom and power of God’s Word. It is my prayerful desire to share the things that are freely given to us by God in His Word, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Dear reader, if God blesses you through the words of this book, please pass it along to another who might be encouraged by it as well. To God be the glory! Without Him this book is nothing, but through His almighty power, I pray that it may do a great work in all who read it.

Introduction

W hen he finally got her alone, he whispered quietly to her all the things she longed to hear. He knew that, as the weaker vessel, she would be more easily persuaded. Now this serpent, that old Devil, was more subtil than any beast of the field that the Lord God had made (Gen. 3:1). Eve listened intently as he wove his tale of deceit, describing to her the pleasures being withheld from her and the wealth of knowledge and power that could be hers if only she would take it. And the serpent said unto the woman, ‘Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil’ (Gen. 3:4).

Could it be true? she wondered. Was God keeping the best from them? It did look good, after all, and certainly it promised great wisdom. She had secretly eyed the fruit longingly for some time now. Every day it seemed to grow fairer than all the other fruits of the garden, richer in color and perfectly ripe. She imagined the juicy sweetness and all the wondrous powers it held, and soon she was no longer able to resist. She took and ate of the tree that God had commanded them not to eat of, and she gave it to her husband to eat also.

And the eyes of them both were opened, knowing good and evil, and they knew that they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. No longer perfect and stripped of the righteousness of God, they were ashamed of their nakedness, now blemished by sin. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden (Gen. 3:7–8). The serpent, they found, had been right; God had been withholding something from them, and now they had it all: guilt, shame, fear, and the ultimate penalty for their sin—spiritual death and separation from their Creator.

As God’s eyes were too pure to behold sin, Adam and Eve were no longer fit to be in His presence (Hab.1:13), and so the Lord covered their nakedness and shame with the skins of animals and drove them out of the garden. Adam was forced to leave behind the splendor of the garden and all of its plentiful provisions and to begin to till the ground and work for his food. His bread now came by his own sweat and no longer from the hand of God (Gen. 3:19). He set out into the world, trying to rebuild for himself the life he had once known.

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A Season of Separation

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,

and your sins have hid his face from you,

that he will not hear.

—ISAIAH 59:2

I n the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth and all living things. He created man and woman in His own image and placed them in the garden of Eden, where they enjoyed sweet fellowship with Him and favor above all other creations. He blessed them and told them to be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Gen.1:28). He gave them every herb-bearing seed and every fruit tree for food. God saw everything that He had made and that it was very good (Gen.1:29-31).

Desiring only obedience in return, the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that