We have to be careful how we are using our time.

“¹⁵Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” – Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)

We are in a unique position as Christians. We are very aware of right and wrong. We are sons and daughters of God and are held to a different standard than the rest of the world. We are expected to be different and when not, the consequences seem to be more exaggerated.

When Christians are acting as Christians, there is no publicity, no one there to sing our praise, and certainly no one standing up for us. We have to be careful and put ourselves in situations that are pleasing to God. We have to avoid the situations where we might be seen negatively.

I recently was telling someone that they should continue doing what is right. This person is experiencing pushback and adversity as they work to do their work and that pushback is causing them some discomfort. That discomfort, I indicated to them is not for them, but for those that are not doing right and are feeling convicted. That conviction is causing them to lash out due to their own shortcomings.

We have to be looking to make good use of our time:

“¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” – Ephesians 5:17 (ESV)

When we are centered on the will of God, we are headed in the right direction.

Are you focused on God? Are you working to perform the will of God? What will it take for you to make “the best use of the time”?

I read in Galatians 4 this morning and the passage is titled “Sons and Heirs”. Here I was reminded that some of the statements that I make are actually true. I have long said that our sons, Bryson and Aarron, are slaves in our household. And the following verse indicates the same.

“¹I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything,” – Galatians 4:1 (ESV)

You see, the child, no matter the nobility of them are tasked with service as long as they are a child.

“²but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.” – Galatians 4:2 (ESV)

In other words, when the time comes, he graduates and is able to take advantage of the fullness of the household as his own.

In this world, we are the same in our life with Christ.

“⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” – Galatians 4:4-5 (ESV)

Thanks to Christ’s death, and our acceptance of salvation, we are adopted as sons and heirs of God and are able to take advantage of the fullness of the household as our own.

This is where we have to understand. We may be able to take advantage of our inheritance, however we still must be good stewards of that inheritance and continue to build it up each day through our work for our father in his business. I go over to the Gospel of Mark:

“¹⁵and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” – Mark 1:15 (ESV)

That last part, “repent and believe in the gospel”, is our message of truly following our Father, God. With our acceptance of salvation, we have reached the time of growing up and are no longer slaves to the world and are heirs with Jesus. Now we are responsible for living up to our inheritance.

Where are you in your understanding of your inheritance? Are you still working to maintain and grow it, or sitting back expecting others to serve you? There is a time to be and that time is now, what about for you?

What a way to start my study this morning.

“⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” – Romans 5:6 (ESV)

When I looked into this verse, I found many things starting with “we were still weak”. I understand weak to mean feeble and the opposite of strong, but here we are looking at the fact that we had no way of helping ourselves (and still do not). At the time of Christ’s death, we were in dire need of help. We were completely lost.

Secondly, I found that “Christ died for the ungodly”. Not for the righteous or even the good, but for the sinners of the world.

“⁷For on will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:7-8 (ESV)

And thirdly, Christ died “at the right time”. Not arbitrarily, not when convenient, not just because He was there (at that time), but purposefully “at the right time”. When we needed Him most.

We are sinners, no doubt. We are in dire need of a savior, for sure. The good thing is that Christ came and provided the safety and security we needed, already. We have a God that cared enough for us in this time that His son died “at the right time”. We are not righteous, and are not even good, but Christ died for us anyway.

When you think of your time, are you able to thank God for allowing Christ to die? Are you aware even that you are a sinner and don’t deserve the love that God has poured out? Are you able to look at Christ’s death as happening “at the right time” for us?

How many of us have heard that proverb: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”? We need time away from work in order to spice it up a bit. I admit that I do not spend enough time in the arena of fun. But, this morning I am referring to the opposite. It appears to me that by and large, we as a society lack a certain seriousness that is getting in the way of our relationship with God.

“¹¹Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself. ¹²Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.” – Hosea 10:11-112 (ESV)

God allows us to play, and enjoy. But it is when that is our only focus that things have gotten out of hand. We have to come back to the purpose God has for us. We have work to do. We are to prepare, and have we truly done that. Have we done the work of the farmer and plowed the fields to receive the seeds? Have we planted the seeds for God? Have we been watering those seeds with the Word of God? Have we fertilized the seeds with nourishment of God’s Love? Have we shined the light of Christ on the fields?

You see, we may feel like we have done the job, but have we really gotten to work, or are we simply pretending so that we can go play more. We will have to get back to work in the fields at some point, and that time is now. The fields are hard and filled with rocks. We have to work hard to get back to God’s plan.

Are you aware of the work that needs to be done? Have you been avoiding the field work in the interest of having fun? Are you prepared to get back to work? The time to work is now, are you aware?

The title of this study is a bit ambiguous I know. And even while I read and study, it remains to be.

“¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end…¹⁴I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor nothing taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. ¹⁵That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11, 14-15 (ESV)

But shouldn’t things be a bit ambiguous? In the world of business that I work in, without goals, it is difficult to be sure that we are accomplishing things. It is important to know where you are going, and more importantly, how you are going to get there.

With God, I admit to having a hard time knowing and accomplishing things when I am not privy to the full plan and find myself waiting to be instructed of what to do. How can I help if I don’t know where or how?

You know, maybe that is the point. God does not want us focusing on “the task”. He wants us focused on His work. We are to be doing His work at all times and when a specific task comes up, I presume we are to just be ready to jump into action.

I have to relax and just take things as God brings them. Continue to press on doing God’s work and when he has a specific task for me, he will reveal it and I have to be ready to leap into action.

What about you? Have you been approaching God’s work as though you have a task to do? Are you looking to check things off the service list? Will you allow God to just reveal in His time?

God’s Timing is perfect.

What does that mean for me and how I approach daily life?

“¹For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV)

I am not very fond of this verse as I have been in one of those seasons that are not a lot of fun. I have been wondering why, and I will admit that I have begun to wonder, what is God’s purpose for allowing me to be here?

This morning I have gotten some help, as God led me to this passage. In the commentary from my NIV Bible: “The danger is to doubt or resent God’s timing. This can lead to despair, rebellion, or moving ahead without his advice.”

I cannot give up or blame God for being here. I have to continue to press on knowing that he will reveal his plan when the right “season” is there for me. As the commentary in my NIV Bible indicated: the problems I have before me “should not be barriers to believing in him, but rather opportunities to discover that, without God, life’s problems have no lasting solutions!”

I am here because God wants me to be to learn something or perform something for Him. It is not fun to be here, but God never promised fun and greatness in the journey, on as a reward for doing His work.

What season are you in? Are you able to see that there is a season for everything that God has for you? Are you able to know and embrace God’s perfect timing for everything?

I struggle with God’s timing. I know that God will deliver us in His time according to His plan. Where I struggle is that I continue to look for His deliverance and in my perception it does not come.

I want to be clear in that I do not believe that God has abandoned me, nor do I think that He is punishing me for something that I may or may not be aware. What I do believe is that I am simply not seeing Him and that is causing me to struggle.

“⁷The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

⁸The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.” – Psalm 121:7-8 (ESV)

As I read this passage this morning, I was reminded that God is watching over us and “keeping” us. Protecting us. Whether I am “seeing” Him is not the important part, because He is there and I have to know it.

The structure of the verses are also something to look at. I have quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV) although I also study using the New International Version (NIV). Notice the ESV structure and where the breaks are. This gives me more than say just the words. Verse 7 gives us what God will keep, and verse 8 indicates “The Lord will keep”. So no matter the situation, or the “time” God will keep me and “keep” all together. What a comfort and certainly something I can and should continue to remember as I struggle with “simply seeing” the Lord work and “keep” me.

Are you struggling to “simply see” God? What about recognizing that He is working? Will you know and take comfort in the Lord’s keeping you, all the time?

When is it that we reach out to God?

“⁶Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.” – Psalm 32:6 (ESV)

What is “at a time”? I believe that refers to always. God is always there for us. He may not always answer, but He is always hearing and accepting our prayer.

Why is it that we reach out to God?

“⁷You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” – Psalm 32:7 (ESV)

God is our refuge. Arms to jump in like a child. Hide our face in to get away. Place to go when there is no other.

I know that I expect great things from God. I look for the overt signs of “deliverance” and struggle when I can’t see them. I search for the way out and miss the opportunity to just “hide” with God.

There is always time to reach out to God. He is always there to listen and take us through whatever we are dealing with. We come to Him in times of prosperity and in times of deficiency. We come to Him as our place of comfort.

Have you forgotten that God is there to listen? Are you expecting expeditious answers to your questions? Are you remembering that it is always time to come to God?

I have been on a journey over the last few years searching to understand my Kingdom Purpose and to this point, I am still searching and feel as though I will be searching for a while longer.

But, what if my time is now?

“¹³Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, ‘Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’” – Esther 4:13-14 (ESV)

Esther was in a position to do something and her reluctance was evident. Mordecai challenged her to take a look at her position and the opportunity she had to decide whether or not to act. He tells her that it is indeed her choice to either be a part of the solution or perish with the rest as she sits idle.

Am I not in a similar situation? Maybe not to the certain gravity of the destruction of my people, but I have a choice to be active as opposed to passively allowing indecision.

I still search for my Kingdom Purpose, but I will admit that maybe I have been a bit passive. I may have been letting things take over me as opposed to taking a stand and “fighting” for my position. Maybe my time is now to make a decision to get in the game or sit on the sidelines.

What have you been avoiding that you would maybe be better served to act now? What if your time to take a stand is now? God has a purpose for you, what if that time is now?

How often have you found yourself in a verbal standoff about a subject or topic and that standoff leads to an argument that never ends?

Is it really worth it?

“³It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling.” – Proverbs 20:3 (ESV)

Well according to God’s Word, NOPE! We find ourselves in situations that are less than optimal for us to be in as Christians and the direction we have from God is to simply walk away.

“Keep aloof” or “avoid” here looks to mean stay away from those situations where we have nothing to gain. We have more important things to worry about than involving ourselves in matters that are trivial. When we are seen “acting out”, it is perceived by those that witness that we are a certain way. I would rather be seen as someone who walked away from something than in a negative light.

I think of “fights” that happen in school, on the playground, in the sporting event. We generally do not see who started things, but we certainly see who finishes them. The one that retaliates is the one that gets caught. Whether the second person was defending themselves or not, they are the one that is held accountable due to their overt retaliation.

Wouldn’t it make sense then to just walk away? What is gained by fighting back? What more honor is there in avoiding the strife?