Archives For Time

Jesus Meets Ebenezer Scrooge

Phil —  December 13, 2012 — 1 Comment

One of my favorite Christmastime stories is the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I am sure you are familiar with this story. Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas. But when he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future he becomes a changed man. He is transformed from one who despises Christmas to one who embodies the Christmas spirit.

We can attribute the change in Ebenezer Scrooge to a change in perspective. He saw the big picture. Before, his focus was centered on his momentary wealth. After, his focus is centered on his purpose in life.

Earlier today, I read this tweet from Rick Warren:

Memory connects us to the past. Dreaming connects us to the future. Alertness connects us to today. Worship connects us to God.

Like Ebenezer Scrooge, we often get caught up in our momentary concerns. We fail to look at the big picture. We are trapped in the past. We become a victim of our circumstance. Or we anxiously worry about the future. We see little beyond the moment in time that we have chosen to focus upon.

History is His Story. It is God’s story. The past, present, and future all belong to Him. The Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is God of every moment.

There are times to give attention to the past. There are times to give attention to the present. And there are times to give attention of the future. But in every situation it is always time to give attention to Jesus.

The big picture is not just about the past, the present, or the future. It is about Jesus. Jesus is not just the reason for the season, he is the reason for everything. Focusing on the past, present, and future may broaden our perspective to live with greater intentionality. But focusing on Jesus moves us into the realm of the divine and leads us to intimacy with God. It is where we experience fulfillment, joy, and contement. Don’t let your moments shape your view of Jesus. Let Jesus shape the view of your moments.

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Time and Motivation for Good Intentions

admin —  July 21, 2011 — Leave a comment

I have a lot of good intentions. But many of my good intentions never come to fruition. Maybe the reason my good intentions never come to fruition is because I never tell anyone about my good intentions. Therefore, I have no one holding me accountable.

If you have something on your mind worth doing make sure to tell someone else. Telling someone else is where good intentions cross the line from being good intentions to becoming goals.

I know I have a reluctance to share my good intentions because I know if I share my good intentions the secret will be out. If I share my good intentions I will need to follow through with more than just good thoughts. I will need to follow though with the right actions. It is sort of a scary thing because that means I might need to stop doing some of the things I am currently doing in order to do the thing you I just told someone else I was going to do going to do. That is a frightening prospect.

The truth is however, you are already doing too much. Most people could quit doing about half the things they are currently doing and no one would notice. What a freeing thought! You have more time to accomplish what is important to you than you realize.

God gave us 24 hours in a day. That is more than enough time to accomplish everything he gave you to do. If 24 hours is not enough time then it is highly likely you are doing more than God intended for you to do. If 24 hours is not enough time then you are working outside the will of God. If 24 hours is not enough time to do everything you need to do it is sort of saying God did not know what he was doing when he made the day to be a 24 hour period of time.

I was once told the most spiritual thing you can do is to take a nap. There is some truth in that. In the Bible the beginning of the day started at the end of the day. What I mean is that the day started at sunset. At sunset you would quit work, go home, relax, and then go to bed. These were the first things you did. When we start our day, we get up out of bed and get to work and then relax after a hard day of work. But when we begin the day at the end of the day we start by resting. It just changes the perspective. It is a way of putting faith in God. We know there is much to accomplish, but instead of jumping into our labors we rest in the arms of God, knowing he will help us accomplish everything he has set for us to do. It is a way of saying I will not accomplish my plans by working harder or longer, but by trusting in God and living in obedience to his will.

So back to my original thought. Don’t be afraid and tell someone else what you believe God has called you to do. Be bold. Be courageous. And then relax. Trust God. Know that he has given you everything you need to accomplish his will, including hours in a day.

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Wrap up and Ramp up

admin —  December 22, 2010 — 1 Comment

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? Luke 14:28

The year of 2010 is about to come to a close. It has been some year. No doubt it has been a year filled with both joys and sorrows along with setbacks and breakthroughs.

The end of the year is an opportune time to sit back and to review the past year and to plan for the year ahead. It is good opportunity to ask yourself some tough questions about where you have been, where you are going, and where the Lord might be leading you. I would encourage to take some time to do this during your daily devotions sometime in the next week for a year end wrap up and a new year ramp up. Here are some questions you might consider asking yourself. This list is by no means a comprehensive list.

Ask yourself about your relationship with the Lord. Have I grown closer or further away from the Lord during this past year? Why? What spiritual discipline are I going to seek to grow in this year? Prayer? Scripture memorization? Journaling? Worship? Serving? And what is my specific plan to grow in that discipline?

Ask yourself about your finances. Are there any debts I am carrying? Do I have a plan to pay that debt off in the next year? Are there any unnecessary expenses I can trim from my budget to simply my life and give me opportunity better serve my Lord?

Ask yourself about your relationships. Is there anyone I need to ask forgiveness from? Is there anyone I need to forgive? How is my marriage? Is there more I can do to better encourage my spouse? Do I have a plan to help enrich my marriage? Have I scheduled vacation time away from work to focus on my family?

Ask yourself about your physical fitness. How much do I weigh? Am I ok with that? What can I do to get where I need to be? Am I getting adequate exercise? How can I make my physical fitness more of a priority?

Ask what is in your hand. When Moses encountered the Lord at the burning bush, Moses doubted his ability and his calling. God then asked Moses a question. The question was: “what is that in your hand?” It was a shepherds staff. God would use that staff to accomplish great things through Moses. You also have special gifts which God has put in your life. Ask what has God given me as a special skill or talent? How might I better use that gift for his glory and kingdom purposes? Is there some new ability I might strive to learn or master in the next year? Maybe it is playing a musical instrument. Maybe it is sewing. Maybe it is photography. Maybe it is writing. Maybe it is wood-working.

Then set your goals and write out our plan. Winston Churchill is credited with saying: Failing to plan is planning to fail. Many of us have our bucket list of “someday” items. But if we never plan, that someday will never come.

I do want to offer you a word of caution. Don’t try to do it all at once. Many of us over-estimate what we can do in the short term, but under-estimate what we can do over a longer period of time. We will often bite off more than we can chew and give up in frustration after a short time. You might have several different areas in your life in which you are hoping to be a better steward. Don’t try to take them all at once. Focus on one or two. Maybe this year you want to focus on finances and spiritual disciplines. Work on mastering those two areas of your life before you move on to focusing in other areas.

Finally, recognize that unless the Lord builds the house, it builders labor in vain. (Psalm 127:1) It is important we do it God’s way and not our way. If we do it our way, our plans are destined to fail. But if we do it God’s way and trust in his supply we cannot go wrong. So let’s make 2011 to be a year all for Him!

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New Message Series on Sunday

admin —  November 4, 2010 — Leave a comment

Spinning-Plates.gif

Do you ever feel like that spinning plates guy?  You have got a dozen or so plates spinning on the end sticks all at the same time.  It doesn’t take much for one of those plates to come off its stick and for it all to come crashing down.  This is a common feeling among many.  Many of us feel as if life is spinning out of control.  We feel like we got too much going on.  We know we need to slow down, but we don’t know how.

Jesus said he came that we might have life to the full (see John 10:10).  Yet, it seems like the only thing our life is full of is activity.  The activities we find ourselves involved us leave us less than fulfilled.  There has got to be a better way!

On Sunday, I will begin a new message series on Stewardship.  Stewardship is about more than giving money to the church.  Stewardship is about the choices we make in life to manage our life’s resources.  These resources include our time, our money, our health, our relationships, and our planet.  It often seems things like money and time are on short supply.

During this message series we will talk about making wise and godly choices.  It is about making time for the things that are most important.  It is about investing wisely in that which is lasting.  It is about finding energy to accomplish our calling and fulfill our destiny.  Ultimately, it is about living that full and abundant life Jesus has come to give us.  I hope you will consider making the time to join us for what I believe to be an important message.

Have a great week!

 

 

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