This is the third and final installment regarding the use of your time. For those of you that received the first two messages, I’ve got great news for you. Those two messages cover the three foundations required for spiritual growth. The first message, part 1, addressed spending time alone with God in prayer and reading the Bible. The second message, part 2, addressed spending time in fellowship. I realize that there are many more aspects to Christian living, but I like to keep things simple.

This is simple: reading the Word, prayer, and fellowship. These three activities are foundational and will lead you down His “good, perfect, and pleasing will” if followed wholeheartedly.

This week I want to discuss time in general. The time that is not for the specific purpose of meeting with or serving God and/or His people.

When we have the strong conviction that our master and employer is the person of Jesus Christ, we do all things in an effort to please Him. Meditate on these verses:

Colossians 3: ¹⁷ And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
…
²² Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. ²³ Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. ²⁴ Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

Be the ambassador you are meant to be!

When our “regular work” is seen as a place of service where God has appointed us to be His ambassadors, it changes everything:

2 Corinthians 5: 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Even if you currently loathe your work, this new understanding of Divine appointment will change your attitude. I’m not saying that you will instantly love your work, but you will have found purpose in it, which makes a substantial difference.

Psalm 105: 4 “Search for the Lord and for his strength;  continually seek him.”

Don’t stop seeking Jesus

When you continually seek Him, your purpose and the work He gives you will become more and more clear but it takes time and commitment. Keep in mind that if you truly want to pursue those God-given desires that you have, continue asking Him to lead you in that direction. He will either take you there or change your desires altogether.

If you desire to be in “full-time” ministry act like you already are. God is not looking for “part-timers” anyway. God has put people in each of our lives that we can serve today. Do not wait for that “full-time” ministry position to miraculously appear if you are not already serving with a servants heart to begin with. God works on refining the servant’s heart first, then promotes His people and puts them to work at His perfect timing. Our ministry is right in front of our eyes and our primary and most obvious task is to abide in Him so that we can hear and know His voice.

John 6:29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

Believing in Jesus always comes first and after we’ve believed in Him over a period of time, we get assigned different tasks. Our hearts change because of our deepening relationship with Him, then we have the same burdens that He does such as for the sick and oppressed people, which leads to service. So then it’s no longer a service out of obligation, but out of pure desire and sincere burden.

Learn to be content

Philippians 4: 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

If we can learn this secret our lives and circumstances will be less and less important which will open us up to greater levels of service. At that point it is no longer about “my needs”, but about “their needs”.

I’ll leave you with this:

Matthew 6: ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Are you working full-time?

“God, you are wonderful. You’ve taken care of me in ways that I cannot even express. Thank you for your Word and all that it teaches me. Please change my heart and show me your ways, for I truly desire to serve you with all my heart. I choose to give you my best in my service to others and will strive to put you first in all areas of my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen”

Last time, in the post: “How Do You Spend Your Time? part 1“, we discussed giving God our best in regards to our time. I specifically addressed the “quiet time”, or “alone time” with Him. I believe that this “alone time” is the most important and primary element to obeying the greatest commandment:

Matthew 22:  37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

Ideally, it’s also best not to put a limit on this time. When I start reading His Word and I have to keep looking at my watch it becomes a great distraction and I’m not able to focus on what I’m reading. Just like listening to my wife and continually watching a ball game or checking my watch. If it’s disrespectful and dishonors my wife, isn’t it the same for God? Just because the Living God is invisible doesn’t mean we should treat Him any different than a person in the flesh. When we are spending time with Him, take it as seriously as being with someone you deeply respect.

This week I’d like to focus on not only the first but also the second commandment which should not be overlooked:

Matthew 22:  39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Reading the Bible and spending time alone with God is not enough

God has wired us for relationships and the process of spiritual growth is no different.

One practical reason is to learn from a mature believer, read this incredible account:

Acts 8: 30 …Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. [They read from Isaiah]…
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.

You see, the eunuch needed instruction (verse 31) and he was obviously eager to learn. God called Philip to meet him so that he could understand and come to know God in the flesh, Jesus. I don’t know how many times that I thought I understood a passage only to find out that I had no understanding when talking to a mature believer. God was gracious enough to put people, mature believers, in my life that I can discuss the scriptures with regularly and this keeps me on a good path. They do not know everything, but they typically understand things more than me. They have been invaluable to my growth.

We teach each other

Colossians 3: 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

I experience this every week on our Bible Team calls, with the exception of singing. The idea is that the individual reads the Bible, God will reveal a truth or make it plain to the reader, then they will share that truth with their brother or sister (in Christ) and there can be an even exchange between two people regarding what they have been reading and what they received from it. Two people will read the same verse, yet have two different perspectives of it, this is very dynamic and is exciting. In effect, everyone is a teacher and/or counselor in some aspect.

Proverbs 27: 17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

As the believer continues to grow, with the acquired knowledge comes responsibility:

Luke 12: 48 But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.

I know that this is a general concept, but it certainly applies to wisdom and knowledge gained. You may be just starting out in studying the Scriptures and not much is required of you. Your assignment is to continue learning (Josh. 1:8). As the learning progresses there is a time to apply it or teach it.

Personal/informal beats impersonal/formal every time

Maybe it’s not teaching in a formal sense, but when discussing the Scriptures with others, this knowledge can be shared to encourage and equip the saints. I believe just like we love God through the investment/offering of our time, we also love each other by giving our time. This blesses the teacher even more than the student:

Acts 20: 35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Another element of these special, godly relationships, other than getting to know God, is getting to know each other. In that process, we learn about each other’s fears, weaknesses, strengths, desires, and backgrounds. This is true fellowship where we can build each other up and pray for each other. These relationships become safe havens where we can discuss things that we can’t share with most other people. Formal Bible studies are great, but I find these types of meetings to be much more fruitful and enjoyable. Where we not only discuss the Bible and what we learn but about each other.

Very small, intimate meetings are essential

If you are not enjoying a relationship or a meeting time with a small group or an individual then you are missing out on a most crucial element of being a believer. Where else can we exercise this command:

Galatians 6: ² Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

Let’s face it, we all have baggage from abusive relationships, heretical doctrines, past mistakes, etc. These essential relationships which should be regular Divine Appointments are where we truly develop into mature believers, in combination of course, with our “alone time”. These meetings, which God sets up, should be taken as seriously as any meeting scheduled with a client or your boss. If we are truly seeking to please God, we should treat this time as serious as any other time.

Without Discipleship, our service will dry up

I am convinced that this time, spent in regular fellowship, is more important than time spent in ministry. This is where we get our bearings, restoration, and encouragement. If we miss out on this time, then any time in ministry or service becomes less and less effective. The more time in this intimate fellowship the more driven we become to minister to others and that’s the way it should be. The disciples hung out with Jesus and spent time learning about the Kingdom of God before they started ministering to others. Even beyond the three years of Christ’s ministry, the fellowship never stopped.

Here is a great verse that illustrates this beautifully:

Acts 2: 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

If you have no one to spend this time with, feel free to get on our call on Monday evenings. Details are on the theBibleTeam.com. I realize that it is over the phone and we focus mostly on Bible Reading, but it would be a start and for those of you that are isolated, it’s a great start.

Will you spend time with others?

“Dear Lord, I praise your name. Thank you for leading me. Lord, please guide me to the person or small group that you want me to be involved with. Open my heart so that I can receive new friends and see opportunities for friendship. Help me to balance my schedule to that I can figure out how to make the time for fellowship and change my heart in the process. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Let’s talk about time, our most precious commodity. In my last message, “Are You Being Careful?”,  we discussed being careful when it comes to obeying God. When it comes to being a disciple of our risen Lord, if we take the calling seriously, we choose to be more careful when it comes to following Him.

This message will help you learn to be more careful.

The time we decide to spend with God, whether it be reading His Word or praying, it should never be considered “spare time”. I’m sure you know about spare time. That’s time not already allocated. The time in between meetings, maybe the time after eating and before returning to work. Maybe it’s time before going to bed.

Before I go any further, I want to make this clear. The decision to pray or read the Bible during spare time is ALWAYS a good decision, that is a precious use of any extra minutes to get caught up or to pray for a friend, or call a friend to reach out. That will keep us in touch with what really matters. What I am getting at is on a regular basis, schedule time with God, time that is not “left over”.

God desires our best

Gen 4: ³ When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, ⁵but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

Why didn’t God accept Cain and his gift? I think that the difference is “Cain presented some of his crops” where “Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock” There was clearly nothing special about Cain’s gift, lackluster “some of his crops”. While Abel brought the “best”.

In the Old Testament…

Leviticus 23: ¹² On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb a year old without defect

And in the New Testament…

Romans 12: ¹ And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

This verse reminds me to put Him first. Not only with the “first fruits” of my wages or profit, but also with my time.

The purpose of this message is to discuss the “quiet time” or “God time” as Jesus modeled:

Luke 5: 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

So if we strive to be like Jesus, let’s learn from this. Where do you think He got His power? And where do you think He got His direction? This is where the action happens. You can only live your life at work, or around family so long before needing to tap into the One that gives us strength and direction. When you daily decide to give Him your most precious gift, which is time, that is what leads to true change.

Never equate time with money.

This belief drastically devalues time. Try telling the life-long workaholic on his deathbed “Time is money, gotta go!” How ridiculous! This idea is one of our cultures greatest lies. Try telling a child that time is money as they wait alone for their mom and dad to come home from work. My point is that time is something we can never get back and until we understand that, life will leave us short changed. For those of you that find yourselves out of work, take this extra, most precious commodity to seek God. For you’d be much better off finding God than just another job that will consume your time. After all, if we are to work at anything:

Luke 13: 24 “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.

and to keep things in perspective:

Matthew 6: ²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

²⁵ “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

God, I really want to know you more

I could never tell you how much time you should spend alone with God. I can tell you a little about my daily time and maybe that will help. When I set out to read through the Bible on January 1, 2007, I did not have a good relationship with God at the time, but that was my desire. Along with trying to read every day, I would start with prayers such as “God, I really want to know you more”, which I still pray, and I would also pray, “God, please reveal yourself to me in your Word today.”

So for me, the Bible reading came first, along with my desire to seek Him. So my prayer life at the beginning was not much to speak of, but my reading kept me in touch with Him and eventually my prayer life began to develop. I have no set amount of time per day, but after seeking Him for a length of time, it is much easier for me to spend quality time with Him daily.

Daily quiet time doesn’t happen overnight.

Please do not compare yourself to me. But consider what you can do and pray that God will lead you in meeting with Him on a daily basis. This is where you will encounter spiritual warfare, this is the LAST thing the devil wants you to do. You’ll think of everything else you could be doing when you want to meet with God. At first, it might feel weird and you might not know what to say to God other than asking Him to take care of your current needs, which is fine. It might also feel like it is out of obligation as if you “have to do it”. But if you want to get to know Him, you do “have to”. There is no other way around it.

Have you ever had a relative or maybe a friend that at first you did not know them real well, and you didn’t know what to say and you did not feel comfortable around them? But later after hanging out with them and getting to know them better, you really enjoyed the time? God is no different. My life is a testimony that we really can get to know God personally. It used to be that I prayed most times just because I knew I needed to pray, but more recently I pray because I strongly desire to pray.

As pleaded from King David, the one who was “a man after God’s own heart”

1 Chronicles 16: 11
“Search for the Lord and for his strength;
continually seek him.”

It is my prayer that you’ll take God as serious as King David did.

Will you make time for God?

“Dear God, I realize that I haven’t been spending the time with you as I probably should, please forgive me. Lead me to spend more time with you. It is my desire to get to know you more. Thank you for your Word and helping me to understand where my priorities should be. Thank you for your patience with me. In Jesus name, Amen.

My last message, part 1 regarding distractions, ended on a serious note. A topic of utmost importance, remember “There is only one thing worth being concerned about“? It is directly related to how distractions, innocent or not, can affect our walk with Jesus.

Here are two more examples of distractions,  with different outcomes…

King Saul was distracted by the enemy

1 Samuel 13: ⁸ Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. ⁹ So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.

King Saul’s distraction was the enemy’s attack and seeing his men slip away. He allowed the enemy to pressure him into doing something in haste yet he was told to wait:

1 Samuel 10: 8 I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions.”

What was the result?

1 Samuel 13: ¹³ “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you.

This was the beginning of the end for King Saul, he never recovered from this.

Peter focuses on the distractions

Matthew 14: 29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. 31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

This distraction was the wind and waves. He was worried, just as King Saul was.

Can you relate? Not walking on water, of course, but being in circumstances that seem overwhelming and terrifying. I can’t think of a better illustration than Peter taking his eyes off Jesus and beginning to sink. This led him to cry out “Save me, Lord!”.  Do you see that God uses cares and worries to draw us closer to Him?

What does the Bible have to say?

This is my all time favorite verse for dealing with worries and concerns. Because if we can learn to give these matters over to the Lord quickly, the less distracting they’ll become. The fear can linger, so just keep praying and giving it over to the Lord. Meditate on this verse, memorize it, and it will serve you well.

Philippians 4: ⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

When you develop the daily habit of spending time with Jesus it’s easier to focus on Jesus. His Words are fresh in your mind and this will help you survive any storm you face.

Be in prayer. Stay in the Word. Join those that love Jesus.

“Dear Lord I praise your name. Thank you for being patient with me. I am easily distracted. Please forgive me for not focusing on you more. You are my Rock and my Provider, I will continue to serve and seek You. Please help keep my mind on you throughout the day. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Have you considered lately how committed you are to knowing God?

The last post, when discussing “Seeking God”, I mentioned one of my favorite verses:

Matthew 6: 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

This verse always reminds me what to focus on. The problem is that I start getting caught up in my daily affairs and other matters of lesser importance start clouding everything.

This week I want to discuss what we can do to keep focusing on God and serving Him.

How committed are you to following God? Is God your most important relationship? If you said yes, then please listen carefully.

Luke 14: 25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.

Have you realized just how committed Jesus wants us to be to Him?

What does it take to grow any relationship? Doesn’t it take time, communication and attentiveness at the very least? If a man expects to have a good marriage, won’t he at least talk to his wife or spend time with her every day? Of course the more a man knows about his wife, the more he knows how to love and please her. The difference with God is that we can’t interact with Him in the same way. I can ask my wife what she wants to eat or where she’d like to go and she’ll tell me. With God it isn’t quite the same, is it? So how do we get to know God more?

I once watched a video that was a biography of our second president, John Adams. The author was recollecting reading through his letters and memoirs and said that he got to know John Adams. I thought that was profound, the idea that well over 200 years ago someone put his thoughts, wishes, plans and ideas on paper and we can know that person today.

Is it any different with God’s Word? In order to know God is there any other way of knowing Him outside of the only Book He ever authored?

If God is our most important relationship, in what ways and how often are we setting time aside for Him? If a man only spends a few hours twice a week with his wife, how do you think that relationship is going? Consider these verses:

Psalm 1: 2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
      meditating on it day and night.

 Joshua 1: 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

Just imagine how committed King David and Joshua must have been to share these promises.

It makes sense, the same principles that it takes to have a good marriage also applies to improving our relationship with God. If a man doesn’t “make time” for his wife, what will he get in return?

Likewise, what can we expect when we fail to “make time” with God?

Are you committed?

If you are one of the many professed Christians out there that are not reading the Bible and praying daily, I have two ideas:

Pray this prayer: “God, I have taken your Word for granted, please forgive me. I’ve allowed other activities to take precedence in my life and they are not nearly as important as spending time with you and getting to know you better. Today I commit to reading your Word daily and I need your help. Please help me to plan my days so that you get the best time of the day so that I am alert. Thank you in advance for sustaining me through this month and for teaching me new things. In Jesus’ name, amen.“

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