His Time and Our Time Sunday, before our study began, I was talking to some teenagers about how they spend their "free" time and I asked them the following questions: 1. How much time did you spend watching TV this week?
2. How much time did spend reading magazines, books or other printed materials?
3. How much time did you spend on a Playstation, Nintendo or Computer Games?
4. How much time did you spend on the computer surfing the internet?
5. How much time did you spend listening to CD's/music or the radio?
6. How much time did you spend talking to your friends on the telephone or with Instant Messenger on the computer?
After we had discussed how long they had spent doing these things and after listening to some funny comments among them about what they had watched or who they had talked too and for how long, I asked them two more questions:
1. How many of you read your Bible each day this week?
2. How much time did you spend talking to God?
(After the first question you could have heard a pin drop. Total silence fell on the room; most of group dropped their heads as it became clear to them where the study would lead. Even more silence followed the second question with the exception of a few murmurs and light comments.)
Out of this group of teens there was only one that could say that she had read her Bible everyday and prayed. We then looked at how much time we had each spent doing the things of the world in the previous week and then at how much time we had spent doing things beneficial to the work of our Awesome God. The time we spent doing the things of the world far outweighed the time we had spent with God.
Each and everyday we spend hours on our personal entertainment time, but our time spent in the Word of God and in prayer pales greatly in comparison. The percentage is so lopsided that it is pitiful and embarrassing. Even the analysis of my own life gives me pause to re-evaluate my own priorities.
Our time should be no different from our finances. God gives us everything we have which includes our money and our time. In the word of God we learn that when asked what an appropriate amount might be for tithing and it is suggested that we begin at 10% but make no mistake, this tithe is an OFFERING and not some mandatory requirement of God. God does not NEED your money, or your time but He is your maker and to deny Him what is His to begin with would be selfish and greedy. Furthermore, there is no cap on how much you give. If God blesses you in a great way it is only fitting that you would honor His gift with a gift of your own showing Him your gratefulness for His provisions for your life.
In 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 we read:
6. Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9. As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."10. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11.You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 12. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Now, I know what you are thinking, "Give 10% of my time each day to God?"
Think of it like this: There are 1,440 minutes in each day 10% of your time each day would be 2 hours and 24 minutes. Can you give God 2 hours and 24 minutes a day for the 24 He gives to you? If that seems like more than you can offer why not start smaller and work your way up. Instead of 10%, how about 20 minutes, can you offer God 20 minutes of your day in exchange for the 24 hours He gives to you? In just 10 minutes each day you could read one chapter out of one of the books of the Bible. During that 10 minutes of time, you could throw in a couple of verses from the book of Proverbs as well. Then, before, after or at another time during the day, why not spend 10 minutes talking to your Heavenly Father in prayer? Talking to Him about your life and His will for your life. Talk to Him about your needs, wants and dreams. If you will do this, I promise that you will receive a blessing from it. If you don't study the Bible how will you ever be able to tell someone else about God? If you don't study it how will you know how to live your life properly? How will you know what a Christian is supposed do or believe? Do you know what you believe and finally, if you are not in communion with God through prayer how can you expect to recognize when He is speaking to you through your heart, your convictions and the circumstances that surround you?
The Bible is not an old book full of stories, fables, myths, or laws. The Holy Bible is our instruction manual, we need it and we are to live our lives by it.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 states: All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The Bible is "God-breathed." Read it, and use its teachings to guide your conduct and life.
You may be wondering, so what happened at the end of the class with the teenagers and so I will tell you what happened and encourage you to evaluate your own use of "free time" just as they did.
Each teen made a commitment to read at least one chapter a day out of the Bible and to read three verses from Proverbs each day.
How about you? If you have never truly studied the Word of God, I challenge you to start in the Book of John and allow it to take you on a fantastic journey through Jesus' life. I promise God will speak to you and inspire you if you seek Him and His ways through prayer and reading. Walk the roads with Jesus and His disciples as He ministers to others. Walk the road with Him to the cross. Walk the road with Him as He travels with you through your life. Through the words see in your mind what His followers and Jesus saw. Become a sponge and soak up as much as you can starting today.
Have a Great Day and until next time,
God Bless You!
<>< BRIAN <><
PRAYER - The Key As I was reading my Bible today and checking commentaries on the subject matter I came upon a interpretation that said: Prayer is the key that unlocks faith in our lives. How true this statement is. Without faith, prayer cannot work and unless we pray, our faith might as well be non-existent. Prayer is the key that will unlock the door to all great things of God.
Jesus replied," I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt....it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:21-22
Do you truly believe this? Is it true? As Christians we must believe everything written in the Holy Bible to be correct and without fault. So if we believe what the above scripture says, why don't we pray more often than we do?
The power of prayer is absolutely limitless! Why don't we utilize it's full potential?
Jesus said, that if we have the proper amount of faith and doubt not, that we could cast a mountain into the ocean if we so desired. (Matt. 21:21)
God gave us an unlimited resource for His blessings and provisions and it's called prayer.
Jesus said, " You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." John 14:14
In this scripture, let me point out the key phrase Ask anything IN MY NAME, and I want to clarify that if we are praying for the things of this world that are not conducive to Gods perfect plan for our lives we may experience an inability to tap into that supernatural presence of God and our ability to experience His undeniable answer to our prayers. When we pray we must keep in mind that while God wants to bless our lives He may seem to ignore us when we ask for a mansion with a pool because we want what our neighbor has when in fact His answer to us is no, you don't need a mansion with a pool because if I provide for your every need up front you will not have reason to seek Me daily for your provision. In the Lord's prayer, when it says, Give us this day, our daily bread. This is so that we are in a perpetual position to seek God daily. He loves us and therefore He is constantly seeking time with us in prayer.
Fellow Christians let us awake! The Devil has blinded our eyes and dulled our senses. We need to realize that there is nothing the Devil dreads so much as prayer. His greatest concern is to keep us from praying. There is no force on earth more powerful than a believer on his/her knees! Satan loves to see us up to our eyeballs in work and all the other activities of life as long as we don't pray. The busier we are, the happier the Devil is.
I read a very wise statement recently and which said: "Satan laughs at our toiling, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray." There has never been a more true statement. Have you ever noticed that a lot of times when you attempt to pray, that some of the most distracting thoughts can find their way into your mind? Do you think that this happens by chance? The answer is no. Satan will throw anything and everything at us to keep us from praying to our Holy Father.
Let us never forget that the greatest thing we can do for God or man is to pray. We can accomplish far more by our prayers than by our actions or works. As children of God, if we would truly come together and pray, there would be no more killing of innocent babies around the world in abortion clinics. There would never be corruption in politics. There would be no way for an evil man like Saddam Hussien to control a whole country. If God's people would pray, the world would be much different than it is today.
Today I challenge you to come to God with clean hands and with a pure heart. I challenge you to get your prayer life kick started in the right direction. Commit at least a minimum of 15 minutes a day to focused prayer and as you go through your day pray without ceasing. If you will do this, I promise that you will see some fantastic results. When we pray God works. If you already pray 15 minutes a day bump it up and double the time you spend in pray and take notice of the difference in your life that it will make.
Please remember to pray for our Armed Forces. They are facing some very difficult times and it only stands to get worse.
If you ever have any prayer requests, please feel free to e-mail me and let me know about them, I am happy to be in prayer with you or to even post your request on my website.?
As always your prayers for me are greatly appreciated as I try to understand Gods will for my life and submit to His authority. Your prayers for me as I travel would also be a great blessing.
May God Bless You and Keep You!
<>< Brian <><
We Are Blessed
Isn't it interesting that we focus on what we don't have rather than on what we do have and on what is good in our life? Think about it. While we are frustrated over not being able to find the perfect outfit in our closet or that favorite shirt or jacket, there is someone out in the world that is thankful to just have any type of clothing to keep them warm. There are so many people around the world that have only one set of clothes to wear, where we may have 10, 20, or even a hundred different sets of clothing. We look out our window at the larger house of our neighbor, jealous that we don't possess that type of home, then you have people in every major city around the world that are just thankful to have a large box or a covey hole under a bridge to keep them out of the weather. We complain to the waitress that our food is too well-done or that our vegetables are a little cold, there are millions of people around the world that would just love to have a few scraps of bread and a glass of clean water.
Psalm 16:5,6 says, " Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." We are a blessed people, no matter what kind of situation we are in right now, we are blessed. There are millions of people around the world like the ones described above that would give anything just to have 2 or 3 percent of what you or I have. No matter what we are going through, there is always someone that is in a worse circumstance than we happen to be in right now. We need to be thankful for the "portion" that God has given us, there are many that don't have what we have.
I challenge you to do 2 things with me today:
1. Give to the needy. Maybe you have clothes sitting around that you never wear or that are too small or that are too big so why not take some of those clothes to a homeless shelter, Goodwill or even a needy family you may know of. Give them away and be a blessing to someone or go the extra mile and go buy something new from the store and share some of what God has blessed you with. Put together a care package of groceries either from your own pantry or from the grocery store and spread the blessings God has bestowed upon you. When you give to the less fortunate it is one way we are actually able to give to God.
The best way to do this is described by Jesus in Matthew 6:2-4 and He said: "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synogogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
In other words don't toot your own horn or draw attention to yourself by your giving. You could put these items in a box and leave them on the front porch of a family in need or send them by mail with no return address. It's not about receiving praise or personal thanks from the receiver, but about being a blessing to others. God will bless you for it, I promise, because the Word of God says He will. Did you know that most grocery stores and all Wal Mart locations offer gift cards? Consider mailing a blessing to someone today!
2. Stop to smell the roses and be thankful for the blessings of God. Wake up with a new vision, eyes that see the beauty and goodness of life, rather than eyes that filter happiness out. This new sight is easily obtained by calling out to God. Think on the things that God has blessed you with, and not on the possessions and things that you don't have. Sometimes I find myself wanting to throw a pity party and wanting to dwell on things that I don't have or on things that I have not acheived yet. We have to refrain from doing this, putting our full trust and faith in God. Rejoice for your salvation and mine for the God of the universe loves you and me!
Psalm 16:8 proclaims this: "I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."
When David said, " I will not be shaken," he was talking about the unique sense of security felt by believers. God does not exempt believers from the day-to-day circumstances of life. Believers and unbelievers alike experience pain, trouble, and failure at times. However, we as believers have the promise that God will see us through any situation we might face. We should try to become like David and try not to let this world and circumstances shake us. We stand upon a great Rock that is unmovable, that Rock being our Lord.
Be confident in your stance and be steadfast.
Have a Great New Year and God Bless You! <>< BRIAN<><
LOOK WITHIN
As I was doing my daily Bible reading and studying today, two verses of scripturespoke to me in a powerful way and I would like to share them with you. As I was reading in Hosea, the eighth chapter, I came to verses 12 and 13. They read:
"I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as alien. They offer sacrifices given to me and they eat the meat, but the Lord is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt." (Hosea 8:12-13)
As I read this I thought to myself how we take for granted the Word of God. If we look at verse 12 and read the words "things of my law", we see the things of God's law are magnalia Dei - the great things of God. They are things that proclaim the greatness of the law-maker, and things of great use and of great importance to us.
So many times we take for granted His Word, the Holy Bible. A lot of times we look at the writings of the Bible and think this doesn't apply to me today. We say and think to ourselves, "This stuff was written back thousands of years ago to a completely different culture, how could it possibly apply to me today?"
I learn each day that His Word, no matter what it is or where it is in the Bible, is relevant to our lives this very day. These words we're put down to stand the test of time, so that they could direct all the future generations to the "great things of God." The things that were written in these former ages were written for our learning, and are profitable for us.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says this: "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
You see, the Bible is not a collection of stories, fables, myths, or merely human ideas about God. Through the Holy Spirit, God revealed His plan to certain believers, who wrote down His message for His people, His people being every person that walks the face of this earth. God intended for us to read His instruction manual, the Holy Bible and to then put it to use in our faith and in our lives.
How it must grieve God to know that so many people each day take for granted His laws and precepts and that they (we) have let His word become as Hosea 8:12 says: "they regarded them as alien." Though the laws were written for them, Israel considered them "alien." We do the same thing today, Christians and Non-Christians. It is easy to listen to a sermon or read the Bible and think of all the people that should be listening or who should do what the passage teaches. The Israelites did this constantly, applying God's laws to others, but not to themselves. We as present day Christians, myself included, need to take a long look in the mirror. As we think of others who need to apply what we may be hearing or reading, we should check to see if the same application fits us as well. We need to apply these lessons to our own lives first because often our own faults are the very ones we see in others.
In the Non-Christians world, the Word of God is definitely "alien." The Ten Commandments are so ignored in our present age. As Christians we need to open our eyes like never before to the things that are going on right in front of us and in our surroundings. We have become numb! We can look at what comes into our homes through our televisions and see such contempt for God's laws and precepts that it is ridiculous. Television is so filled with things that are not of God, like adultery, killing and un-acceptable language and that is just naming a few. These detestable things are now common place in our lives and our children's lives because over the last 30 years we have closed our eyes and our mouths and have let God's laws and precepts become "alien" to the world and to ourselves. There is no doubt in my mind that the "last days" have definitely begun. We must preach God's Word now like never before through our speech, songs and our lifestyles. We need to let everyone that we come in contact with know, that we are different and that we are not the same as the world. We are "Christians" and we need to learn that as Christians we are to emulate Christ. We are not to conform to the world, but to reform it as God intended.
As I read verse 13, it talks about how the Israelites offered their sacrifices to God and how He was not pleased with them. The people's sacrifices had become mere rituals, and God refused to accept them. We have rituals too - attending church, praying before meals and celebrating Christian holidays to name a few. How many times have you gone to church out of habit? How about praying over a meal? As Christmas approaches, we as Christians have many rituals. I challenge you to make sure that this Christmas, you and all the people that surround you - your family, friends and other peers, hear the Christmas story and truly understand what Christmas is all about. It's not about a white-bearded fat man dressed in a red suit, presents, a party or a family get-together. It is about a baby that was born into this world, so that you and I could have a relationship with our Heavenly Father and that we could have Salvation and atonement for our many sins. He was born for one reason, to die for you and me.
Rituals give us security in a changing world. Because they are repeated often, they can drive God's lessons deep within us. But rituals can be abused. We need to beware when we find ourselves observing a religious ritual for any of the following reasons:
(1) to gain community approval
(2) to earn God's favor
(3) to make up for bad behavior
(4) to avoid the risk of doing something different
(5) to substitute for personal relationships.
We should think about why we do these rituals and what are the motives behind our rituals, offerings and sacrifices. God didn't want the Israelrites' rituals, He wanted their hearts. That is all God wants from us as well, He wants our hearts. As we live our lives and go through our rituals, we must remember this: Our focus needs to be on God, and we need to perform every act with sincere devotion to him and in his name. Have a Great Christmas and God Bless each and every one of you.
<>< BRIAN <><
Heart For Children...
Imagine this: Our God sits upon His throne in heaven and He looks down upon the earth choosing how He will facilitate the blessings of His children and He looks into your life and sees a place where you can be charitable in a way you have not done before and with just the mere thought of this provision for His children He touches your heart with a hint of compassion.
This is exactly what happened to me. I was going about my merry way and God reached down from heaven and touched my heart with compassion for a child I had never met. Now, don't get me wrong, I have always had a big heart for children, especially children with special needs. It breaks my heart every time I see or hear about a child that is hurting, handicapped, terminally ill, a child that has been mistreated, abused or just in some kind of pain. I have always been grieved at the plight of the less fortunate.
A few months ago I attended the Gospel Music Associations "Seminar in the Rockies" in Estes Park, CO. While I was there I was introduced to a ministry called: "Compassion International." I was very impressed by the things that this organization had accomplished and is continuing to accomplish all around the world. One particular day while I was there in Colorado, a representative from Compassion approached me about the possibility of becoming an Advocate Sponsor and musical partner with their organization.
I took some information about the program back to my room and then back home to Mississippi with me. I read their materials and did some research and spent time on my knees in prayer considering Gods purpose for bringing this consideration into my heart. God began to speak to me every time I would look at the brochure or even think about Compassion International.
Finally, I took the first step, one evening while home alone God selected a frail young girl in Columbia, South America and placed her on my heart. All I had to do was listen for Him to tell me who she was and so I began to pour over the profiles of the children Compassion presented to me and I found Maria. She is 6 years old and has polio, she is crippled in one foot and one hand. She lives in a single parent home with her Mom and 2 other siblings.
Through my sponsorship Maria will be taken care of in many ways, but the most important way is this: Maria will be told about Jesus Christ! Just with my decision to make this first step as a child sponsor God began to confirm for me that He was indeed leading me to partner with Compassion and get more involved in their outreach. The thing that drew me to Compassion more than anything is this: Compassion ensures that every child hears the gospel and has the opportunity to trust in Jesus. They will lead these children into a lifestyle of faith by connecting them with a local church, engaging them in Bible study, and by modeling God's love through the Christian staff of Compassion International. They concern themselves first about the spiritual well being of the child and then they address things like health, medical care, food , and education.
Jesus loves children; it must grieve Him to know that millions of the world's children today face a lifetime of suffering and hardship. They receive no education, they suffer from poor health, and worst of all, many of them will never have the opportunity to learn about the God that loves them so very much.
Jesus said:
"Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5
Though I want to, I can not sponsor every child Compassion lends for sponsorship, but I can do my best to tell others about Compassion International and I can pray that others would heed the call to lend a hand of charity and compassion and join me in the effort. Even if all a person is able to offer is prayer what mightier source of strength and power is there? By telling my audiences about Compassion and the children of Compassion, I pray they will hear and feel Jesus tugging at their hearts to help this effort provide for these beautiful children God's own making.
There is only one thing better than going to heaven, that's to take somebody with you! Through the sponsorship of a child, consider this: You may be helping pave the path that child will follow to the gates of heaven.
I leave you with this thought and a few verses of scripture:
One definition of a Christian is this: "A Christian is a person who makes it easier for other people to believe in God."
Please pray about becoming a sponsor through Compassion and help a child somewhere in this world, come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and change their life eternally. Proverbs 19:17 - He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done. Proverbs 11:25 - A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Have a Great Day and God Bless You !
<>< BRIAN <><
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