(678) 999-8212
support@oxygenbuilder.com
Jesus came down from Heaven to give us life. The devil came to Earth to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Those who receive Jesus, have received many blessings from God because Jesus Died as the Lamb of God, who takes the sins of the world away. Let us take a look at five blessings we receive through faith in Jesus.
The Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) While in Adam, we all sinned and received death as a reward for our works. Then when we heard the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we received eternal life in Him. We did not do any works. It was a free gift of God. He sent His Son to die for us while we were still in our sins. God's Word says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God," (Ephesians 2:8)
We rebelled in the Garden. Because of that, in Adam, all die because of sin. On the other hand, in Jesus, all live because of righteousness. Sin is punishable by death and there is no escaping it. Unless our debts have been paid in full, we are still under the divine wrath and judgment of God. But because of Christ's sacrifice, we have been made right with God. Because of the shed blood of the Lamb of God we are now forgiven, Justified, Righteous, and Sanctified. God sent Jesus "as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed," (Romans 3:25)
While we were dead in our sins, we were enemies of God. We loved the world and everything in it. Our minds were darkened and we continually dwelt on evil thoughts. Even the best of us, when we came to see the holiness of God, knew how sinful we were. We did not want anything to do with God and we were self-sufficient. We would have never been able to stand in God's presence if it were not for the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. The Holy Bible says, "And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." (Romans 5:11)
Because of our disobedience, we lived under the wrath of God. We were literally in a quarrel with God. That would have been our demise if He had not sent Christ to come and mediate between us. The peace we have received with God is not just a cessation of enmity, but also a starting of a deep friendship since God can be either our worst enemy or our best friend. "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation," (Ephesians 2:14) "and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:20). In Romans 5:1, it is written "Therefore, having been justified by faith, [a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (Romans 5:1)
Almost every human being alive has something in their past that they just wished they had never done. For some, it is a one-time event. For others, it is something they did for years, even decades. The fact of the matter is, even just one sin will have us condemned to hellfires forever. And justly so. But God doesn't send His Spirit to condemn us, but to convict us of sin. Once you repent of your sins and plead the blood of Jesus, there is no longer any condemnation left against you or your past. It's gone. You've been handed a clean slate. And the grace to overcome any future sin and live a holy life in obedient submission to God. Jesus is forever pleading our case before the Father. Take heart. Be encouraged. Jesus is handling your case. The Bible says, "Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." (Romans 8:34)
Let us enjoy these blessings and thank God for them. We can always learn more by studying God's Word and by taking time to meditate what we read. If you'd like to know some more about Jesus, you can read this article.
If this article has blessed you, please like, subscribe, and share. Blessings!
Have you ever been through a rough patch in life, and it got so bad that you did not know whether or not you would make it through the night? Anywhere you turned was a dead end and it seemed as if the whole world was against you? Have you ever prayed for peace in the midst of the storm, but it never arrived? Well, today in this Psalm we will learn how King David received this peace and got through his ordeal.
To start with, the title of the Psalm gives us the setting. King David, his family, his officials, and his inner circle had been forced to flee because a coup d'etat had just taken place in the kingdom. His most trusted advisors turned against him. His soldiers deserted him. The mastermind behind the whole coup d'etat was Ahithophel the Gilonite, who conspired with Absalom, Kind David's firstborn. David had Ahithophel's son, Orion, mercilessly murdered to cover for his adulterous affair with his wife Bathsheba which resulted in Bathsheba becoming pregnant. Now it was Ahithophel's time for revenge. The final blow was that Absalom, his own flesh and blood, his first-born, was the leader of this treason. David was at the lowest point in his life.
David begins in verses 1-2 by stating the condition that he is in. He knows what the enemy is thinking and He lets God know it too. It's not that God doesn't know what David is going through, or what the enemy is saying about David's future, but David is having a discussion with his God, and pouring out his heart to him. "Lord," says David, "They are saying that You will not help me." The questions, I believe, that are lingering in David's heart are "Has God deserted me?" and "Will he not come through for me?"
King David clearly shows that he has humbled himself before God as he tells Zadok the priest to return with the Ark back to the Temple. He tells Zadok that if God finds favor with him, he will allow him to return to the city and worship him in the temple. But if God is not pleased with him, then he will graciously accept whatever punishment God gives him, including death, because God is good, and just, and merciful too. (2 Samuel 15:25-26).
It is onto that mercy that David throws himself. He makes no presumptions, but he throws himself entirely on the goodness and mercy of God. He prayed to God to spare the child born out of the adulterous affair with Bathsheba. God answered his pleas with an emphatic "No". When the child died, he made his peace with God. In Psalm 51, David outlines the process of repentance and restoration, and what he resolved to do upon being restored to God. Here he is again ready to accept any more punishment from God. Even though he is surrounded by numerous foes, both visible and invisible, he still has his confidence in God.
In Verses 3-4 David shows his confidence in the Lord and his complete and utter dependence upon Him. Even though David is vastly outnumbered, He calls God his shield and he calls out to God. And the God who hears the cry of His people responds. David knew that God heard his pleas. Things were still bleak, he was still on the run, it was dark and cold. He had been walking barefoot with his head covered because of the depth of his sorrow. The devil most probably had let his hell hounds loose on David's conscious too. But David was confident that God heard his cries. The Bible says that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. God commands us to humble ourselves in his sight and he will lift us up. (James 4:7-10). David humbled himself before God, and God lifted him up.
In verses 5-6 we can now understand why David was able to sleep peacefully. It was not the removal of the situation or an end to the conflict. The night of his life would still go on for the next few days. But David had repented, and cried out to God, looked nowhere else for help but from God, and humbled himself before Him. Therefore he could sleep in the midst of the storm. Even while he slept, he clearly acknowledges that it is God who sustains him and keeps him through the night. Waking or sleeping, David knows that he is in God's hands.
When David woke up from his sleep the next day, he was even more confident that God would fight on his behalf. Last night, God had answered his prayer and made Ahitphel's advice to naught. He had received guidance on how to preserve his life along with all who were with him. They had moved on to safety. The next day they mustered up their strength and organized for battle. David knows, that God is on his side and he asks only one request. "Please", he says, "for my sake be gentle with the young man Absalom." (2 Samuel 18:5)
In verse 7 David cries out to God to save him with expectation. He knows that God will come through for him. His enemies are going to be humiliated and utterly destroyed. God is on his side. In verse 8 he finishes off with a statement that shows us how he understands God.
Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah
Psalm 3:8
In the New Testament, thousands of years later, with a small band of disciples, Jesus would cross the Brook Kedron and go up to the Garden of Gethsemane, to pray and wrestle on our behalf. Even though it was a mighty battle that night, God got Him through it. Jesus knows what it is like to go through a battle. He can help us get through our battles and gain victory. Let us then take this lesson to heart and apply it to our lives, for God truly resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Let me know how God helped you through a storm in the comments below.
The devil's greatest weapons are lies and ignorance. With these, he not only manages to keep the masses fooled, but also inhibits the joy that rightfully belongs to us as Children of the Most High God. As Heaven's citizens we all have privileges and duties.
In Acts 22, when Paul was about to be interrogated by flogging , he asks an interesting question. "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" The fact that he was a Roman citizen, exempted him from being treated as a criminal without due process of the law. What's even more interesting is the centurions response upon confirming how he became a Roman citizen, "and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him." (Acts 22:24-29)
We should let this sink in for a moment. The apostle Paul was about to be mercilessly scourged by brutal Roman soldiers. He was falsely accused by his brethren who wanted nothing but his head. Alone and weary, surrounded by enemies, tied up to a whipping post, he casually asks the centurion "Can you do this to a Roman citizen?" All the Apostle Paul did was tell the centurion his identity. The rest was up to the authority of the Kingdom of Rome and its ability to uphold the privileges bestowed upon its citizens. Think about that for a moment. God's Word tells us,
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
John 1:12-13
and because of that we can confidently say
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,"
Philippians 3:20
The Lord God has become our God and our Father. We have been born again into His family. We are now citizens of Heaven. Therefore, we are entitled to the benefits and privileges available to Children of God.
Because of the Blood of Jesus, we enjoy forgiveness of sins and a clean conscience from our horrible acts and deeds (1 John 1:7, Hebrews 9:14). We have protection and provision (John 10:11-13, Matthew 6:25-34) health and peace (Deuteronomy 7:12-15, Proverbs 3:7-8, John 14:27-28) works and rewards (John 17:4, 2 Timothy 4:7-8) instruction and guidance (Psalm 32:8, John 16:13) access and audience (Ephesians 2:14-18, Hebrews 4:16) to name a few.
We also share in suffering with Christ, as we take up our cross and follow after Him. (Matthew 5:10-12, Luke 9:22-24, Acts 14:19-22, Romans 8:12-18, Philippians 3:10-12, Hebrews 12:1-3, 1 peter 3:12-17, 1 Peter 4:12-16, James 1:1-3). This is one way that God perfects our faith and conforms us into the image of Christ. We would benefit much from meditating on these scriptures. When the devil comes to attack next time, we will be prepared to use God's Word as a Sword of Truth, just like Jesus showed us in the wilderness.
Alongside the privileges, are the citizen's duties and responsibilities. While I am not intending to write an exhaustive list of privileges, duties, and responsibilities in this short blog post, I would like to make you aware of what we have at our disposal and what is expected of us.
To start off with, we must always remember that we are to act as Ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). We represent a Heavenly Kingdom to a worldly world. We represent the Kingdom of Light in a kingdom of darkness. Jesus said that we are light and salt to this world (Matthew 5:13). We are light to show the world the path to Jesus, and salt to stop the decay and corruption of the world.
Secondly, we should know the Law of our God. Ignorance of the law is not a defense that can be used before a judge. When I say this, I don't mean to be legalistic, or that salvation comes by works. Salvation is by faith alone, and that faith is in the finished work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the Cross He died on on Calvary. He died for my sins so that I may live with His Righteousness. But as a citizen, we must know the Law of God in order to be good citizens (Hosea 4:6). In order to serve properly and obey perfectly (Psalm 119:11). Since it is impossible to keep God's Law perfectly, the Holy Spirit was promised to us and given upon Jesus' ascension to Heaven (Ezekiel 36:25-32).
The other use of the Law is to show man of his utter hopelessness and drive us to God's Grace freely available in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:19-20). There is none righteous according to the Law, and we must tell the world that they are guilty of breaking the Law of God and will die in their sins if they do not repent.
Another duty of every Citizen of Heaven is to serve and obey. We serve and obey God with gladness in our heart (Deuteronomy 28:46-48, Psalm 100:1-3). Obedience was the life of Christ. Disobedience was the death of Adam. The battle rages on. Will we obey or will we rebel? We were created to do good works. We were created to obey God. While we were dead in our sins, we obeyed the prince of the power of the air as sons of disobedience. Now that we are alive in Christ, should we not obey our Heavenly Father? (Ephesians 2:1-3, 10)
Let us go about joyfully living our lives here on Earth equipped with these truths. Even though we are guests and pilgrims in this earth, we have enough provision to get us from here to Heaven. May God help us all.
Let me know in the comments other privileges and responsibilities that should be listed too.
The ultimate battle in this universe is the battle between good and evil. The war for obedience rages, as it did in the Garden of Eden. Though the enemy tries to lead us into disobedience, Jesus is still King over all. Will we obey God and submit to His Lordship, or will we let the devil take rule over us?
Nations rage against God and His rule and come up with their own laws to self-govern and mock God. Together they plot and conceive wicked plans to ensnare the righteous, spill their blood, and bring much trials upon them. Enraged they wave their fists against God and His anointed one. They strive to throw God's chains off of them. The reality of the matter is that those chains are Chains of Love (Hosea 11:4). Nations come and go, kingdoms rise and fall, kings are crowned and succeeded, but Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forevermore. Amen!
In Psalm 2:11-12, the Psalmist exhorts us to Serve the Lord, submit to Him, and take refuge in Him. This is the line of division between a life of blessedness and a life of brokenness.
The Lord has set Jesus as King in His Holy Hill. Likewise, we should crown Jesus as "King Jesus, Lord and Savior" of our life and obey Him with fear and trembling (Psalm 2:7). In addition, we should diligently study the Laws of God so that we may serve God with fear and trembling (Psalm 2:8). Only then can we confidently decree the decrees of the Lord with boldness. How can we tell others of the Laws of God, His ways, and His Love, if we don't even know them ourselves? Those that proclaim the decrees of God are truly children of God (Psalm 2:9). We are created to obey God, and to bring rebellious man back into a relationship of loving obedience (Ephesians 2:1-2, 11). That was what man lost in the Garden of Eden.
This is the hallmark sign of a true child of God: obedience. Those that disobey are not born of God. In fact, Jesus makes it quite clear that man has one of two fathers: God or the devil (John 8:38, 44). It is to these that God will truly say, "You are my son, you are my daughter" (Psalm 2:7).
The response from God towards those who serve Him with fear and trembling is truly a blessing. God says, "Ask me and I will answer". Please note, God is not saying "Ask anything of me". Rather, it is "Ask according to my will, and I will answer". If we are filled with the Word of God, we will know how to pray. On top of that, God will guide us in prayer too (Psalm 2:8).
What will we choose today? Blessedness or brokenness? Those who have raged against God are no more and God still reigns undisputed upon His throne. Let us come and humble ourselves before God and kiss His ring, and He will accept us today.
Sin has put humanity into a sad state. The corrupt desires of human nature relentlessly drive us to sin. Add to that eyes that have been set loose to soak in all and you have a recipe for disaster. Although our eyes are very important organs for us, we succumb to lust by seeing through them. Overcoming lust is a of huge importance for the spiritual well-being of a Christian. Jesus said, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light." (Matthew 6:22) What you look at, dwell on, gaze intently on, will in turn affect your life.
For this very reason Jesus Christ warned us, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell." (Matthew 5:29) This is a serious commandment, to say the least. It shows us the strictness with which we must take watch over our body. It also carries an ominous warning for those who won't heed the warning. Jesus didn’t mince His words with regards to this topic. Therefore we should all take careful heed to this warning.
We all remember the superman in the Bible, a Judge of old named Samson. God had many plans for him, but alas, Samson did not know how to control himself. It appears he had neither fear of the Lord or much common sense. You all know the story of how he went after women whom the Lord specifically forbid to marry. His parents pleaded with him but he would hear nothing of it.
God finally gouged out his eyes to help save him, to help him overcome his lust, but he remained blind to his problem until his last breath. I believe he died spiritually blind too. His last prayer to God was, "O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” (Judges 16:28)
Samson wasn’t sorry for his sins, or for disgracing God. All those years he held a grudge against the Philistines because they took out his eyes. All the time that he was grinding flour for them, he didn’t repent and turn back to God. He could have been a Judge of Israel and put the land to rest, but he spent most of his days just grinding flour for the enemy. Many of us can relate to this as we have fallen into addiction in some form or another. Like Samson we " went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines." (Judges 14:1) And there we were bitten by the venomous poison of the snake.
The writer of Hebrews commends us to look intently to the “beginner and perfecter” of our faith, Jesus Christ. Watch his life unfold through the Gospels with searching eyes and emulate Him in word and deed. Then you will become victorious. For anyone who has come to Jesus has not stayed the same. They have partaken of the life that is in Him. We will truly live a blessed life, both in this world and in the world to come. No longer will we be an easy target for sin for we are not going "down to Timnah" or "seeing one of their daughters". Although this is not the "be all, end all" way to completely overcome lust, we will be well on our journey to overcoming lust. It's by the grace of God that we completely overcome lust.
May God help us to take diligent care to what we look at!
Blessedness is what everyone on this earth wants. Some want material blessings. Others would be just fine with wealth. Others would be absolutely thrilled for the blessing of good health. And then there are those of us who would like to be blessed with God's blessings. But just what exactly is blessedness?
In Psalms 1, King David shows us who a blessed person is, how a person may be truly blessed, and what the advantages of this type of blessing are.
He begins by contrasting the blessed man with the ungodly, the sinner, and the scoffer. The blessed man's one defining characteristic is that "his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night."
When we understand that the natural man, in his fallen state, cannot delight in the law of the Lord, we will begin to appreciate how blessed that man is who can truly delight in the Law of the Lord. Consequently, the Apostle Paul said, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:7) He also once said, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24) You are a truly blessed person if you are able to run after God with all your heart and all your strength and all your mind.
Blessedness is being able to be wholly inclined towards God. The blessed man's one preoccupying thought is God and His Holy Law. His "delight is in the law of the Lord," and he "meditates on His law day and night." (Psalm 1:2).
Whatever we focus on in our mind and in our Spirit will begin to manifest itself in our day-to-day lives. What peace we will enjoy! What happiness! God created us to have communion and fellowship with Him. Therefore, when we can live accordingly, we will be truly blessed.
This man will be "...like a tree planted by streams of water,..." (Psalm 1:3), always bearing fruit and never fearing drought. Whatever he does will come to fruition. No botched plans, or failed endeavors. He will have success in all his ways and all his paths. The evil person will be uprooted and shaken. (Psalm 1:4).
The blessedness of the blessed man is the fact that he will live on in eternity, beyond this life, with his Lord. He delighted in His Law while here on earth and he will delight in His presence in the coming life. God will watch over that man and protect him till he finally comes home and meets him face-to-face.
May the Lord grant us this life!
Q: What practical steps can you take to increase the quality and quantity of time you spend both in God's Word and with God in prayer? Let me know in the comments below.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
If I were to ask any of you, when was the last meal you ate, it would not take long for you to pinpoint an exact time and location. If we were to skip a meal, our body would tell us immediately. If we skipped two meals, our body would really start to complain. What's interesting is that we would always be able to identify what the problem is automatically, without the need to consult a friend or physician. However, if I were to ask you when was the last time you read your Bible, most of us would have a very difficult time answering that question.
The reason for this is because we are not as in tune with our inner man (Romans 7:22–23) as we are with our physical body. We have spent so many years eating both consistently and at a regular time. We notice when a meal time has gone by, but no food was taken. The truth is, it should have been like this with the reading of our Bibles, which is spiritual food for the inner man. We all remember what sustained the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years, right? Manna. Jesus Christ told us that He is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). And when Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, what was Jesus' response? "Many shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) Natural food sustains the natural man. Spiritual food sustains the spiritual man (1 Peter 2:2-10; Hebrews 5:12-6:3). Imagine the problems we could overcome, just by setting aside a time to regularly feast on Holy Scriptures.
When we eat food, we usually take a small bite, then chew it in our mouths and swallow it. Once the food is in our stomachs, it is churned, broken down, digested and converted into minerals and nutrients that can be absorbed by our body.
This is a great example of how we should approach reading and studying our Bible. We take small portions and ponder on them for a while. We ask ourselves questions like, "What did I just read?", "What does it mean?" and "What does it mean to me?" to help us thoroughly understand what we just read. Then we meditate on what God is teaching us by His Holy Spirit and let Him minister the truths into our lives. After that, we take time to pray so that we can, by the Spirit of God, be transformed into the image of Christ by letting God's Holy Words take effect in our lives.
This year I've set a goal to read through the whole Bible at least once. I will also be reading at least 5 chapters from the Psalms every week. In fact, I plan on memorizing as much of the Psalms as I can throughout this year. This will greatly increase my prayer life and praise and worship time. I will also try to memorize the Gospel of John and one Epistle from the New Testament. I know it sounds like a lot, but I'm determined to feed on good food, in order to grow in godliness.
If you would like to find a good Bible reading plan, Tim Challies, who is a prolific blogger, avid reader, Pastor, and Speaker has a great article on how to begin a Bible reading habit here:
There are also links on this page that lead to other websites that provide Bible reading plans that you can use. You should bookmark his website as there is a lot that you can learn from him. It's biblically balanced, thought-provoking and easy to read at the same time.
Another place you can look for Bible reading plans are at the Ligonier website found here:
https://www.ligonier.org/blog/bible-reading-plans/
and from the Bible Class Material website found here:
https://www.bibleclassmaterial.com/Catalog/Mark%20Roberts/BibleReadingSchedule.htm
Ready for the challenge? Let me know in the comments below.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1)
God's greatest gift to man was that of His Only Begotten Son. That truth in itself should warm our hearts and fill us with joy. Do you know why He came? He came to save His people from their sins. Imagine that! We would have never broken free from sins dominion over us, not in a million years, yet Jesus came to save us from sins' cruel governance. When the Angel Gabriel was sent to Joseph, he told him to call the name of the child Jesus, for He would save His people from their sins (Mat. 1:21).
Jesus came to restore the image of God in us. He came to open the way back to the Father. Because of what He did for us, we now have direct access to God our Father. He came with the purpose to redeem us from Satan's evil clutches and present us holy and pure before God. We originally belonged to God, until the Fall, but on the Cross Christ Jesus bought us with His own blood and set us all free!
Free from the bondage of sin, free from fear, free from our body of sin.
I have received a lot of presents in my life, but I have yet to receive a present that I know will have a dramatic and life-changing impact both in this world and in the world to come. Our entire worldview changed because of the gift God gave us.
Today most of the world is celebrating Christmas Day, as the day that Christ was born. On this day, we exchange gifts and wish each other well. Our moods are festive and merry and we want to spend this time with those whom we hold dear and love. Usually, we go to a church service and think about Christ Jesus, and God, and the Love that we were showered with, in the form of a helpless babe. Though he looked helpless, His birth struck leaders with terror. Christ's birth set in motion the heavens and the earth. The Wise men were guided to His manger by a star. In Heaven, the Angels readied themselves to sing "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (Luke 2:14) On Earth, a census was taken which moved all people (Luke 2:1-7).
As I was wondering what I should write about this Christmas season, a thought occurred to me: "This was God's gift to man, what should our gift to God be?" And the answer was obvious. I mean, God didn't hold anything back when He designed our Salvation. He gave us His One and Only Son as an atonement for our sins. He died so we could live. Then why shouldn't we live for Him?
Now don't get me wrong, I know that we have already given our lives to Christ (hopefully) and that we are following Him as His disciples and all. What I am talking about is a conscious act of presenting ourselves as living sacrifices upon God's altar as a gift.
In order to do so, we would have to consciously stand before God and declare with our mouths that we are totally and completely His from now on. We need to get up on our cross for the last time. We need to give up our lives willingly. His desires are our desires, His way is our way, His truth is our truth, His plans are our plans. On this Earth, we live for Him and we die for Him.
This would be the best gift that anyone could ever give to God. Let us ponder upon this during this season of giving. This decision will have an impact on our life here on Earth and in the coming life.
Thanks for stopping by and reading. Please let me know what you think in the comments section below. Please share the article if you have been touched by it.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We began this series with godly time management tips to manage our time effectively by studying the story of Creation from Genesis 1. If you missed that article you can read it here. Today we will finish off this series with two more tips that at first, might seem counter-intuitive, but are actually essential to effectively manage our time.
This might sound counterproductive, but it is actually an excellent way to manage time. We all know how tired we feel when we have a particularly long day. When we wake the next morning we are groggy, tired and lazy. We then might proceed to chug down many cups of coffee to get us up and running again. On days like these, it will be extremely difficult to be able to make much good use of our time. We will be pushing tasks aside and checking them off for 'some other day' or 'when we feel better'.
God, however, doesn't need rest nor does He get tired. (Isa. 40:28-31) He neither sleeps nor slumbers. (Psa. 121:3-4) Then why does He stop creating in the evenings? It's to give us an example to follow. We all need the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep to let our body rest well and perform routine maintenance tasks on itself. That way, we will wake up fresh and energized to tackle the new day. If you manage to get to bed early, you will have a better chance at rising up early too.
Use your evenings to wind down from a busy day. Spend some of it with family, use some to analyze your day. Remember to also spend some time with God in prayer and in His Word then eventually go to sleep for much-needed rest.
At the end of each day of creation, God would analyze what He had done that day and see if it was good (Gen. 1:4, 1:10, 1:12, 1:18, 1:21, 1:25). Finally, He stepped back to take a look at all He had done in six days and declared that it was "very good!" (Gen. 1:31).
In the same fashion, we should analyze how we spent our time and see what was "good" use of our time and what was "bad" use of our time or just wasted time. That way we will get better at planning our days and using our time more effectively. Don't forget, doing a lot does not necessarily mean that we have managed our time effectively. It is doing what is important that is the best use of time.
Spending time with God also looks like a weird way to manage time. But believe me, time spent with the Author of Time is well managed time. It is an investment that will pay dividends both in this life and in the life to come.
On the seventh day of Creation, God rested from all His work and set the day apart from the other days in which He worked by Blessing it. (Gen. 2:1-3). He gave this day to man so that man could enjoy it with Him. So that we could rest from the busy life schedules we have and spend it with family. So that we can worship God, the Creator of the Heavens and of the Earth, and get to know Him through His Holy Word and through the teachings of Jesus, to bask in His presence and to hear Him speak to you. This is the best use of time that I can think of!
During this time we can lay all our plans out before Him and he will show us which ones are the best use of our times, which ones should be carried out at a later stage and which ones should be dropped of the list. Wouldn't it be better to actually travel a road with a guide that knows every nuance in the road? I firmly believe so. Nothing would make us happier than to spend time with God.
By spending time with God, we will get to know the perfect plans He has for our lives and then be able to focus our efforts accordingly. Isn't that wonderful?
If we were to achieve to only save 10 minutes every day, at the end of the year, we would have an extra two and a half days. If we saved an hour every day, we would have 2 weeks at the end of the year! Imagine what good use you can put that to!
We must learn to manage our time or else, whether we like it or not, someone else will control it for us. Then we will quickly resent the fact that we are living according to someone else's schedule, but will be unable to do anything about it. Making wise decisions today will save us from a lot of heartaches tomorrow.
Remember, time is linear. Once it's gone, it's gone. My high school director used to say, "Don't waste time, or time will waste you." How true!
I hope you enjoyed this article on time management. If you haven't read part one of this article please click here.
I read somewhere that we lose minutes before we lose hours, and we lose days before we lose weeks. Unless we learn time management principles early, we will struggle later in life.
In life, we budget and manage our money wisely because it is a limited resource. Then it should be logical that we should also manage our time, as it is even more scarce than money. Once time is gone, it's gone. Period.
Every single person in this world has the same 24 hour period within which they can do all the duties and activities that they want to or must perform, and then the next day the slate is wiped clean and a new 24 hour period is given to them. There's absolutely no going back to see if they can make better use of their time. Time traveling is a thing of Sci-Fi movies and useless fantasies.
Then how is it that we can manage our time effectively?
We've all read the story of creation in the Book of Genesis. Today we'll be looking at 5 lessons on time management we can learn from God's work in Genesis Chapter 1.
God's end goal was to create man in the likeness and image of the Godhead. But before that, he created all the rest of creation in order for Earth to be ready to accommodate man. Man was to have dominion on Earth and be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:27-28). Yet we see God preparing all that is necessary before creating man. It is obvious that God has a plan.
Likewise, in our lives, it is always good to have goals and a plan that details how we will achieve those goals. Otherwise, we will not make good use of the time that we have allotted to us every day. What do you want to accomplish in the next 5 years? 10 years? or maybe just the next year? Write your goal (or goals) down on paper and then break your goal (or goals) into days, weeks, months, quarters, etc... so that you can see how best to use your time in order to achieve your goal.
Make a To-Do list and fill it with activities that you want to accomplish. Take your To-Do list before the Lord in prayer and ask for wisdom to know which items on the list are important. The Bible says that there are many plans in a man's heart, but it is the will of the Lord that will be accomplished (Pro. 16:1). We need to work smarter, not harder in order to use our time more effectively.
You might have set out to accomplish a lot of goals, but quite frankly, we are limited human beings and we cannot accomplish everything we wish to accomplish all the time. Besides, trying to accomplish too much will just stress us out and then we might have health issues to deal with. This, in turn, will rob us of the time we have in which we could have been productive. If your burden goes beyond your limit, you will crash and burn. There is no joy in that, for sure.
God divided His work into six days. Now mind you, He could have just snapped His fingers and waved His hands and everything would have come into existence, but He chose to take it one day at a time (Gen 1:5, 1:8, 1:13, 1:19, 1:23, 1:31). We can accomplish a lot more just by chunking our tasks than by trying to accomplish everything in one big lump.
For instance, let us assume that you want to write a blog post of five paragraphs. If you cannot write it all down in one sitting, then break it down into just a paragraph a day or maybe even a couple of sentences now and then until you eventually have all five paragraphs written down. Then you will have both achieved your goal and managed your time effectively.
There are twelve hours in the day. What? Only 12 hours? I thought you said there are 24 hours? Well yes, day and night total 24 hours. We usually have only twelve hours in which we can effectively work in (Gen. 1:3-5). After that it starts to get dark, we get tired, we lose focus, and so on. You get the picture. Jesus Himself said, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" (John 11:9-10)
This means that we should get up early and get a head start on the day. Christ rose up early and He had a very successful ministry (Mark 1:35). The Proverbs 31 woman was an early riser (Pro. 31:15). There are also numerous studies that correlate waking up early with success (Forbes.com/benefits-of-early-risers).
The benefits of having an early morning devotion cannot be stressed enough. Just being able to get out of bed and begin with prayer and praise and handing your day over to God will have a positive impact on how your day will go. The Psalmist David says, 'Early will I seek You'. (Psa. 63, Psa. 5:3)
Besides, wouldn't it be great to actually see the sun rising instead of opening our eyes to realize that the sun had sneaked high up into the sky unnoticed?
Since there are only 12 hours in the day, plan your day accordingly. If you have to decline certain events and activities, do so. Focus on what is important. You will not arrive at your destination by taking every detour on your path.
What other time management tips have you learned from God's Holy Word or from life? Leave a comment in the comment section to share with us. Thank you!
