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Friday, February 24, 2023

Making My Time Count

In Colossians 4:5 I read, “Use your time in the best way you can.” (ICB).  Another translation says, “Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have.” (GNT)


To be used by God, there are a few steps I need to take. First, I need to get to know Jesus Christ. Then, I need to start using my time in view of eternity.


Time is my most precious resource. It’s far more important than money. I can always get more money, but I can’t get more time.


In this life, I only have a certain amount of time allotted to me. I can’t make time, I can’t borrow it, I can’t save it up, and or extend it. I can only use it. We all have the same amount of time every week: 168 hours. If I don’t learn to manage my time well, I cannot manage anything else in my life—because my time is my life.


How I use my time is one of the ways God tests me on Earth as I prepare for eternity. He’s watching to see how I manage my time now to determine what he’s going to have me do in eternity.


One of Satan’s strategies is to get me so busy doing unimportant things that I don’t have time for life’s important things, like preparing for eternity. Satan knows that he doesn’t have to get me to sin; if he can’t get me to be bad, he’ll just get me to be busy.


The Bible tells me exactly what I should be doing with my time in Acts 20:24: “My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus” (NLT).


God wants to use me—but he can only do that when I’m investing my time in the most important things. I’ve got to use my time in view of eternity. I’ve got to ask myself, “How much of what I’m spending my time on is going to count five or 10 years from now? How much is going to count in eternity?” Then I’ve got to refocus.


I need to use my time in view of eternity so God can see that I’m focused on the main thinghis purposes.

In summary, to be used by God, there are a few steps I need to take. First, I need to get to know Jesus Christ. Then, I need to start using my time in view of eternity. Time is my most precious resource. It’s far more important than money. I can always get more money, but I can’t get more time. I only have a certain amount of time allotted to me. If I don’t learn to manage my time well, I cannot manage anything else in my life—because my time is my life. How I use my time is one of the ways God tests me on Earth as I prepare for eternity. He’s watching to see how I manage my time now to determine what he’s going to have me do in eternity. One of Satan’s strategies is to get me so busy doing unimportant things that I don’t have time for life’s important things, like preparing for eternity. Satan knows that he doesn’t have to get me to sin; if he can’t get me to be bad, he’ll just get me to be busy. What should I do with my time? I should use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus”.  God wants to use mebut he can only do that when I’m investing my time in the most important things. I’ve got to use my time in view of eternity. I’ve got to ask myself, “How much of what I’m spending my time on is going to count five or 10 years from now? How much is going to count in eternity?” Then I’ve got to refocus. I need to use my time in view of eternity so God can see that I’m focused on the main thinghis purposes. 

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Contentment Is a Sign of Spiritual Maturity

In Ecclesiastes 6:9 I read, “It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else.” (GNT)


Instead of being regretful, I need to be grateful. Instead of complaining, I need to remember that everything is a gift from God.


The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4:7-8, “Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? So what’s the point of all this comparing and competing? You already have all you need” (The Message).


Envy always asks, “Why them? Why does he have better health? Why does that person have a job and spouse, and I have neither?”


Gratitude says, “Why me? Why do I get to drink clean water when so much of the world doesn’t? Why am I not under persecution? Why am I not thrown into prison for my faith?”


Envy is based on the myth that I must have more in order to be happier. But it’s just not true. Happiness is a choice. If I’m not happy now, I’m not going to be happy with more. I’m as happy as I choose to be.


Ecclesiastes 6:9 says, “It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else” (GNT). This is called contentment—and I need to learn it.


Why? Because by nature no one is content! It is not natural to be content. But it is mature to be content. Babies are discontented. Unless everything is going their way, they’re not satisfied. Maturity is learning to be content when things are not going my way. It’s better to be satisfied with what I have than to always want something more.


Let me clarify. Envy is not desire; desire is good. Envy is not ambition; ambition is good. I ought to be ambitious and work for good things in your life. Envy is not a dream; I ought to have a dream in my life. Envy is not setting goals; dreams, ambitions, goals, and desires are all things that God puts in me.


Envy is resenting other people who have something already and believing the lie that I can’t be happy until I get it too. Instead, learn to be grateful for who I am and what I have. It’s all a gift from God!

In summary, Instead of being regretful, I need to be grateful. Instead of complaining, I need to remember that everything is a gift from God. Isn’t everything I have and everything I am are gifts from God? So what’s the point of all this comparing and competing? I already have all I need. Envy asks, Why them? Gratitude says, Why me? Why do I get... Envy is based on the myth that I must have more in order to be happier. Happiness is a choice. I’m as happy as I choose to be. It is better to be satisfied with what I have than to be always wanting something else. This is called contentment. By nature no one is content! It is not natural. But it is mature. Maturity is learning to be content when things are not going my way. It’s better to be satisfied with what I have than to always want something more. Envy is not desire. Envy is not ambition. Envy is not a dream. Envy is not setting goals. Dreams, ambitions, goals, and desires are all things that God puts in me. Envy is resenting other people who have something already and believing the lie that I can’t be happy until I get it too. Instead, learn to be grateful for who I am and what I have. It’s all a gift from God! 

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Spend Your Life Getting Ready for Eternity

In Ephesians 1:4-5 I read, Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us . . . His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us.” (TLB)


To get ready to be used by God, the first thing I need to do is understand the purpose of my life.


The Bible makes God’s purpose for you very clear in today’s verse. “Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us . . . His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us” (Ephesians 1:4-5 TLB).


God made me to be part of his family. He made me so he could have a relationship with meto love me and to be loved in return. But there’s only one way to become part of God’s family: through faith in Jesus Christ.


Not only does God want me to be part of his family but he also wants me to spend eternity with him. Ephesians 1:10 says, “This was his purpose: that when the time is ripe he will gather us all together . . . to be with him in Christ forever” (TLB). God’s purpose is, first, that I become part of his family and, next, that I get to know him. Then he wants me to spend all of eternity with him.


History is moving toward a climax. One day God will gather everyone who’s put their faith in him, and they will live together with him in heaven.    


Life here on Earth is preparation for eternity. The Bible says that God has “set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV). That means I was made to last forever. I was made for eternity. Every human being is going to live forever in one of two places: with God in heaven or apart from God in hell.


God didn’t create me just for the 80 or 90 or however many years I have on this planet. God has long-range plans for my life. So, what is life on Earth about? It is preparation for eternity. In other words, God is more interested in preparing me for eternity than he is in simply making me happy here and now. Of course, he loves me and wants me to be happybut not at the expense of my preparation for eternity.


Life is a dress rehearsal; it’s the warm-up act for the big event. I need to get prepared for eternity by getting to know God, becoming more like Jesus, and letting God use me to fulfill his purpose on Earth.

In summary, God chose me to be his very own through what Christ would do for me. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt me into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for me. So to get ready to be used by God, the first thing I need to do is understand the purpose of my life. God made me to be part of his family. He made me so he could have a relationship with me, to love me and to be loved in return. There’s only one way to become part of God’s family and it’s through faith in Jesus Christ. God’s purpose is, first, that I become part of his family and, next, that I get to know him. Then he wants me to spend all of eternity with him. One day God will gather everyone who’s put their faith in him, and we will live together with him in heaven.  Life here on Earth is preparation for eternity and I was made to last forever. Every human being is going to live forever in one of two places: with God in heaven or apart from God in hell. God has long-range plans for my life. So, what is life on Earth about? It is preparation for eternity. God is more interested in preparing me for eternity than he is in simply making me happy here and now. He loves me and wants me to be happybut not at the expense of my preparation for eternity. Life is a dress rehearsal. I need to get prepared for eternity by getting to know God, becoming more like Jesus, and letting God use me to fulfill his purpose on Earth. 

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Do I Have a Shortage or a Surplus Mindset?

In Psalm 23:5-6 I read, “My cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.” (NIV)


Is my life overflowing? Like most people, it may be overflowingbut not with goodness. I tend to overbook my calendar, overspend my money, overload my emotions, overwork my body, overcrowd my days, and overvalue the approval of others. As a result, I can wind up overstressed, overanxious, and overwhelmed! I may be far from experiencing the goodness of God.


Why do I let myself get overextended? Often the fear of missing out motivates me to do more. But the truth is I’m not missing out on anything when I rest in the goodness and provision of God.            


God wants to move me from being overwhelmed to overflowing. He wants to meet all my needsand he can! First, I need to recognize two fundamentally different approaches to life that either keep me from God’s abundance or bring me into God’s abundance: a shortage mindset and a surplus mindset.


With a shortage mindset, I constantly think, “I don’t have enough time. I don’t have enough money. I don’t have enough energy. I don’t have enough contacts, opportunities, knowledge, education, or whatever.” It’s the sense that I’m always a day late and a dollar short. A shortage mindset focuses on my limited resources, and the result is an overwhelmed life.


A surplus mindset focuses on God’s limitless resources, and the result is an overflowing life.


Have I ever worried that the person breathing next to me is stealing my air? Of course not. You know that God created more than enough air for everybody to have all the air we need.


The Bible includes words like abundance, plentiful, abounding, and bountiful to describe what God has to offer me. God has more than enough to meet all my needs and everybody else’s needs at the same time.


Jesus said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (John 10:10 The Message).


I don’t have to worry about running short of anything, because God is the source of my life. He wants to fill me with an endless supply of his goodness, joy, blessing, hope, and peace, so I’m able to say, “My cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:5-6 NIV).

In summary, Is my life overflowing? Like most it may be overflowing—but not with goodness. Why do I let myself get overextended? Often the fear of missing out motivates me to do more. But the truth is I’m not missing out on anything when I rest in the goodness and provision of God. God wants to move me from being overwhelmed to overflowing. He wants to meet all my needsand he can! I need to recognize two fundamentally different approaches: a shortage mindset and a surplus mindset. With a shortage mindset, I think, “I don’t have enough”. I’m always a day late and a dollar short. A shortage mindset focuses on my limited resources, and the result is an overwhelmed life. A surplus mindset focuses on God’s limitless resources, and the result is an overflowing life. Know that God created more than enough air for everybody to have all the air we need. God has more than enough to meet all my needs and everybody else’s needs at the same time. I don’t have to worry about running short, because God is the source. He wants to fill me with an endless supply, so I’m able to say, “My cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”.