Time Management 101

As a husband and father budgeting money is very important.  If you plan to have a roof over your head and food in your stomach you need to learn how to budget your cash.  Now take on the responsibility of housing and feeding a wife and kids and the responsibility starts feeling quite heavy.  Most today seem to just fall into a mold and work within it; no thought required. You go to school because you have to. You find a major in college because you have to.  You answer the question "What do I want to be when I grow up"... well, because you have to.  You go to work and collect a pay check because it's just what you're supposed to do. Then everyone looks for an escape because there life seems empty and without purpose. The escape often being sports, entertainment, alcohol, sex, travel, etc.  Empty and purposeless... 

We need to wake up!  Get up and budget your time. Make a chart of your week; like a budget. Where are you spending your time and energy?  Is it important... if not get rid of it and use the time more wisely. Does what you spend your time on have eternal value?  Isn't this what the purpose of the Sabbath was all about.  "Pre-determine to set the first day of the week with the Lord". But we always fill the days with self and forget all about Him... What has more value; our will or God's? 

Listen to the determination in Psalm 119:15-16

119:15  "I will meditate on Thy precepts... I will (implied) regard Thy ways"

119:16 "I shall delight in Thy statutes; I shall not forget Thy word"

Are you this determined to spend time with God?  Is He important enough that you make room for Him in your daily schedule?  What would happen if God did an audit of how you used your time rather than your money?  One day He will...

-scott

Psalm 119:9-16 Third Read...

Take a look at verses 119: 9-16.  Find where it applies to these daily character traits:

1. Daily Routine / Walk / Everyday life

2. Heart / motives / desires

3. Mind / thoughts

4. Speech / Conversations

5. Attitude

6. Intentions / Goals

7. Will / priorities 

Question: (I want some comments / answers) How does studying about Jesus and reading the gospel of John apply to the areas listed above? How does reading about the women at the well in John 4 apply to my attitude, my thought life, my daily routine?  How does the conversation Jesus has with the pharisees throughout chapter 5 apply to my daily goals and priorities? Or any part of John... How does it apply to me today in the areas highlighted in Psalm 119?

Read...Think... and lets talk about this.

-scott

Psalm 119:9-16 Second Read...

Anything we do usually has a reason.  Why do it if you have no purpose? Why do we study, learn, practice, work... everything seems to have an end goal.  (This is why I'm not a big fan of video games; 'what's the purpose'? What am I going to get out of spending hours on this thing other than making it to the next level?) Read every other line in 119:9-16 and you'll see the 'purpose' for it all...

119:9 = To keep your way pure...

119:10 = To not wander from God's commandments...

119:11 = That I may not sin...

119:12 = To learn more about Him...

119:13 = To be able to speak more about Him...

119:14 = To be able to treasure Him more...

119:15-16 = To not forget Him...

And don't miss this - 119:10,11 = The work is done in the heart that shapes the outer actions and thought life.

Don't just focus on 'doing Christian things as the goal' -  focus on developing a heart that treasures Christ more than anything this world has to offer. 

-scott

Psalm 119:9-16 First Full Read...

Full read means I was stuck on Psalm 119:9 for a few days and this is the first time I've read the 'entire'  next section 119: 9-16...

I've had to travel the past several days. Meetings in Atlanta, Miami, and Orlando not leaving much time for 'alone time' with the Lord. But a blessed time none the less...

I've been reading through the Gospel of John preparing to teach it in Sunday school... those reading times gave me a lot to think about while driving to Atlanta, and from Miami to Orlando. I meditated on Chapters 4 and 5 and was almost brought to tears going down the highway. My heart was so overwhelmed with the idea that Jesus sought out the most desperate and was waiting for them. That Jesus is all about revealing Himself to those who seek Him...and the more I have sought; the more He has revealed.  I can't explain in a few paragraphs the joy I have had meditating on these passages.  I actually couldn't wait to get on the airplane so I could have a few hours to read again... I was hungry for more! 

This morning I read Psalm 119:9-16... check this out!

119:10 "With all my heart I have sought Thee"

119:11 "Thy Word I have treasured in my heart"

119:12 "Blessed art Thou, O Lord; Teach me..."

119:15  "I will meditate on Thy precepts..."

119:16 "I shall delight in Thy statutes; I shall not forget Thy word"

In an airport there are all kinds of snacks, magazines, books, ipods, etc... things to help pass the time on a plane. The same is true about life.  Things to listen to while driving, things to read on the couch, things to watch at night on TV, the internet, cell phones, etc... Stuff to cloud your mind with other meaningless stuff.  Why not fill your mind with the Word of God... trust me, you will have a lot to think about.  It's like a well within you that springs up and out and never stops... and it's never meaningless!

You know, come to think of it... I have had more alone time with Him than I had ever thought possible this weekend.

119:14  "I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, as much as in all riches"

One more thing... I never noticed the first temptation either. My mind was too busy to notice.

Funny how that works.

119:11 "Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee."

-scott

John 4

I'm not really "studying" this yet... but as I'm reading through John here are a few observations:

(1:17) Grace and Truth were realized through Jesus.

>What should be the testimony of the lives of those who proclaim to be His? Do others see Grace and Truth manifested in and through you?

(1:38) "What do you seek"

>Do we even seek?  What are you looking for in Jesus; what do you want from Him?

(2:16) "Stop making My Father's house a house of merchandise"

>Today His house is inside us. (" Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit") -Is it all about stuff and "Christian merchandise"

>He is consumed with zeal for His house... think about that!!  To the point that He'll turn everything over in your life to purify it.

(2:23-25) Jesus doesn't need a fan club!

(4:6) He was sitting by the well...

> Do you put yourself in odd circumstances for the sake of the gospel... Do you put yourself in a position to share with others? Do you make yourself available to be used by God... or are you to busy looking for food and clothing?

(4:14) Do you have a well springing up & out of you full of life (His life). 

>You would know it if you did... this would be quite obvious to you and those around you getting wet by your life ( His life in you) splashing out on them...

(4:22) Do you truly know Whom you worship?

>If you knew Him...you would worship Him. It would be a natural reaction...

 

(4:34) Is your food to do His will and accomplish His work?  

>Or are you to busy with your own... 

(4:35) Lift up your eyes and look on the fields.

>Look around you!! He has placed you where He wants you.  Look for all the opportunity He has given you; it may be right in front of you. 

(4:38) ...always be aware that you may have entered an area that someone else has labored in.

(4:41) ...many more believed because of His word.

>Read the Bible... don't just look at circumstances and experiences.  Jesus has much to say if we would just take the time to open the scriptures and listen to Him!

(4:46-54)  This Jesus is more than just a man!  

>He's God in the flesh... John's conclusion in the first chapter of John...

This is good stuff....and we have 17 more chapters to go!  

Trust me...it's better than your favorite TV show.  What would happen if we went after Christ with the same intensity that an athlete goes through trying to make the Olympics.  Isn't it all they think about day and night from about the age of 6.  They shape their entire existence and effort around one goal... a shiny thing hanging around the neck. Applause and fame... endorsements and celebrity. What would happen if you shaped your entire life around one goal... knowing Him?  (Read Philippians 2:1-16)

I'm not trying to see how many people I can convict with this... This is God's finger in my own nose. This is Him "making my way pure" (Psalm 119:9) ... I just thought I would share the love.

-scott