Divine Appointments! (Originally Published on January 18, 2014 – Now Edited with A Personal Touch!)
- bethelmin
- Apr 10
- 12 min read
Divine Appointments!
(Originally Published on January 18, 2014 – Now Edited with A Personal Touch!)
There are two Greek words used to describe time. They are “Chronos” and “Kairos.”
“Chronos” refers to ordered time, measured in seconds, minutes, and days, as the Earth rotates around the Sun.
“Kairos” is the time when God interrupts “Chronos” with His divine moment. It is God’s appointed time or season. From the New Testament, it is translated to mean “Appointed Time in the Purpose of God!” It also refers to “The Present Moment of God!”
Biblical Examples!
1) Abraham and Sarah: “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:14).
2) Joseph’s “Kairos” moments: Separation from his brothers; separation from Potiphar’s house; interpretation of the dreams of the baker and the butler of Pharaoh; interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh. Joseph’s final words to his brethren: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
3) Moses’ “Kairos” moments: As a baby, he did not cry for three months; separated from the palace to the wilderness of God; the burning bush experience; chosen as a leader to lead his people from Egypt to the Promised Land: “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid o1f the king’s command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:23-27).
4) Joshua’s Full “Kairos” Moment: “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.’ So, the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So, the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel” (Joshua 10:12-14).
5) King Hezekiah’s “Kairos” moment: “And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘What is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?’ Then Isaiah said, ‘This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?’ And Hezekiah answered, ‘It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten [a]degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.’ So, Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz” (II Kings 20:8-11).
6) Nineveh’s postponed judgment was a “Kairos” moment: “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them…Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:5, 10).
7) Jesus’ references to “Kairos” moments: “Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it’” (John 2:2-5). His brothers therefore said to Him, here is the dialogue between Jesus and His brothers in His home: “’Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing, for no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.’ For even His brothers did not believe in Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready’” (John 7:3-6).
8) Christ’s death was a “Kairos” moment: “For when we were still without strength, in due (right) time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
9) Fullness of Times: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him” (Ephesians 1:7-10).
Prayer Initiates “Kairos” Moments!
· Moses’s plea changed the heart of God: “’Turn from Your fierce wrath and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ‘So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Exodus 32:12-14).
· King Hezekiah spared from death: “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’’ Then he turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ‘Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly… ‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years’” (II Kings 20:1-3, 5-6).
· Nineveh’s repentance postponed God’s judgment for over 150 years: “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them…Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:5, 10).
· Mary intercedes for Jesus’ intervention: “Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it’” (John 2:2-5).
Watchfulness Keeps You in “Kairos” Moments!
· “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch, therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch” (Mark 13:32-27)!
· The Wise Virgins: “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight, a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then, all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:1-13).
· “Behold, I tell you a mystery (hidden truth): we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (I Corinthians 15:51-52).
The World is Ignorant of “Kairos!”
· “And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time” (Luke 12:55-56)?
· “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:43-44).
Souls Demand Us to Know “Kairos” Moments!
“See then that you walk circumspectly (carefully), not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:15-18). God rearranged my trip to Port of Spain, Trinidad, by a day so I could share Jesus with a flight attendant who gave her heart to the Lord, despite my sour attitude.
Humility Brings You Into “Kairos” Moments!
“Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober (self-controlled), be vigilant (watchful); because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:6-8).
Meditation on God’s Word Brings You Into “Kairos” Seasons!
· Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly (wicked), nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates (ponders by talking to himself) day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers (channels) of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:1-3).
· “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).
· “And he said to me, ‘Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand’” (Revelation 22:10).
God’s Servants Know Their “Kairos” Moments!
· Jesus: “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1).
· Paul: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (II Timothy 4:6-8).
Personal “Kairos” Moments!
· My mother did not want to have children, but she received the word from the Lord that she would be the mother of four sons (no daughters) and the first-born, me, would serve the Lord as God’s servant!
· I was 17 and dying of tuberculosis in a TB ward, quarantined away from the public in a sanatorium, but my grandmother prayed and pledged her life over mine. I received a miraculous healing on my tenth day of hospitalization!
· Once again, I was close to death when I was 19 years old, with bleeding and flared-up ulcers, but Jesus touched me when the doctors gave me up to die in 10 hours, and I was miraculously healed.
· I graduated at the top of my class as valedictorian but did not get a postgraduate college admission and wasted a whole year sitting at home without knowing that God would direct me the following year to Chennai for a different field of studies and to meet my precious Hema in that city who later became my wife!
· I had a powerful ministry in Bangalore where I was an officer for the government of India and witnessed so many healings, deliverances, and gathered over a thousand people for all-night prayer meetings, but God pushed me out of that place where people started looking at me (and not God) for all their needs. It was inconceivable, but my very successful ministry ended when God opened the door to the US for a graduate program in 1979.
· My mother’s vision, a “Kairos” moment with God’s intervention that settled marriage with my precious Hema in 1981.
· The word of the Birth of Elizabeth came to me in a flight back to the US on March 18, 1982, when I heard that the following year, by that time God would have blessed me with a daughter. I made the announcement (not Hema) upon my landing in New York, when John B and Hema received me at the airport!
· A year away from finishing my terminal degree at Penn State, God opened the door to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL, to accept a faculty position without a formal application for the job. I did not have permanent residency or citizenship in the US for the hiring, but they hired me anyway in 1984!
· After buying the first house with just 2 % down with FHA financing, God’s call to the ministry came on a Wednesday night after a service where Judson Carnwall spoke. Hema and I heard the same words of the Lord at the same time.
· On August 19, 2001, when we had a prayer meeting at home, I saw the vision of the clocks on the wall and God spoke to me for the building of the Prayer Center. In the same meeting, God spoke about the shaking with the loudness of the boom from our soil (not close to Florida) but far away with the enemies coming from Canada. That word was fulfilled on September 11, 2001. The Prayer Center land was purchased in 2005, the groundbreaking was in 2009, and the center was finished in 2014!
· Extension of Life – In June 2018, after a bad report of only 35 % ejection fraction of my heart, I was scheduled for a heart catheterization on June 28, 2018. In the ten days of waiting leading up to the procedure, one morning, the word of the Lord came to me: “I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS!” Those words set me free only to find out from Dr. Henderson after my procedure on June 28 that I did not require any major surgeries for the four blockages I had on my heart because my HEART HAD ALREADY DEVELOPED A SYSTEM OF ROBUST COLATERAL BYPASSES! Dr. Henderson acknowledged that the ‘Great ONE’ has provided me with the bypasses and that I still need to watch my diet and not to give up my daily exercises.
· Another Extension of Life – Never before did I end up in hospitals during all my ministry travels, but on October 21, 2023, I did in Quito, Ecuador, in emergency care, due to gastroenteritis and severe dehydration. When I came close to death by not being able to breathe, God once again touched me to spare my life from death!
The Difference Between “Chronos” and “Kairos!”
1) Regular Time Vs Appointed Time!
2) Life with Barren Seasons Vs Life with Fruitfulness!
3) Life of Days Vs Days of Life!
4) Life as a Tale Vs Life with A Purpose!
5) Life with No Change Vs Life Transformed!
6) Life Without God’s Influence Vs Life with God’s Intervention!
7) Life with No Goals Vs Life Reshaped by Divine Appointments!
8) Life with Wasted Time Vs Life with Redeemed Time!
9) Life Ends Vs Life Extended with Posterity and Legacy!
Prayer
“Heavenly Father, I love You and adore You. I yield my life in Your hands to lead me and direct me according to Your will and purpose with Your divine interventions and interruptions to keep me in Your course forever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!!”
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John Jeyaseelan
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