if you can, take your time…

another way to use my choices wisely is to when you can decide to take your time.

now i understand that there are many decisions in life where we don’t have a lot of time to make a decision.  so i added an extra phrase for you: when you can take your time.  when you can’t, decide to take a breath. 

before you make a decision at least catch your breath, take a moment, whisper a prayer and then make your decision.  most of the bad decisions of my life are decisions i made when i was in a hurry.  i made them in haste.  i made them too quickly.  maybe i was in a bad mood.  i was flying by the seat of my pants.  most of those decisions have been poor decisions. 

i’ve watched people right on the edge of grief.  maybe a loved one has just died and they feel this compulsion to start making all these life-altering decisions.  sell the business, move cross-country, disinherit the children.  that’s not the time to make decisions.

when you can, decide to take your time.  we need to hear again the wisdom of the theologian songwriter, who penned these words “slow down.  you move too fast.  you’ve got to make the morning last.  skipping down the cobblestones.  do-do-do-do and feeling groovy!”

just a thought from the front porch…

one at a time…

the future, when you think about it, can really be overwhelming. it can get you down when you realize how it’s coming in at you. GOD designed the future to come at our lives in bite sized portions.  it comes in 24-hour segments, one day at a time.  it’s like the hour glass.  you flip it upside down and the sand goes through, but only one grain at a time.  that’s the way GOD intends for us to deal with our problems – one at a time.

you deal with one and then the next one comes along to deal with. [did you hear about the grandfather clock that had a nervous breakdown?  they took it to a psychiatrist and the grandfather clock said, “i have to tick-tock twice a second.  that’s 120 times a minute, 172,800 times a day, over 62 million times a year!  i can’t face it.  i’ll crack up.”  the psychiatrist said, “simple.  just worry about one tick at a time.”]

that’s the way GOD intended for us to live.  don’t worry.  it’s unreasonable, it’s unnatural, it’s unhelpful, it’s unnecessary, it’s unCHRISTian.  HE says, “i didn’t make you to be a worrywart.  instead, put ME first in every area of your life. live one day at a time.”

just a thought from the front porch…

how to deal with being lonely…

what do you do when you are lonely?  the first step is to utilize your time.

make the best of a bad situation.  resist the temptation to do nothing.  if life gives you a lemon, make lemonade.  make the most of what you’ve got.  loneliness tends to paralyze.  think of a creative way to take advantage of the situation.

paul who is in prison says in 2 timothy 4.13 (niv), when you come bring the cloak that i left with carpus at troas and bring my scrolls, especially the parchments.  paul says, “if i’m going to be alone, i might as well be comfortable.  bring my coat.”

now lonely people have a tendency to not take care of themselves. they don’t eat right.  they don’t exercise.  they don’t tend to take care of themselves.  he says, “bring my coat and bring my books.”  at least he will have no interruptions.  it will be study time.  he’ll make the best of a bad situation.

paul was not a scholar but an activist.  he was a people person. he would much rather be in the colosseum preaching.  he would much rather be traveling all over the mediterranean starting churches but he’s stuck in a prison, so he makes the best of the situation – he’ll study.  so as a result, we’ve got the new testament.  probably the only way GOD could get paul to sit still long enough to write the new testament was put him in jail.

step one is utilize your time.  you say, “what could i do now that would be difficult if other people are around?  what could i do in this time of loneliness that i could not do if there were other people here to bother me, to interrupt me?”  utilize your time.

just a thought from the front porch…

willing to wait for the dream…

what about the test of destruction?  what happens when it seems like the dream has been wiped out?  everything that you were building on to make this dream happen GOD knocked all the cards down.  what do you do then? 

you ask yourself the question, “am i willing to wait for the dream?”  then you ask, “how long?’  the answer is time to the test of destruction.  usually GOD’s dreams take some time to fulfill.  they’re not very often instantaneous things.  they take time to fulfill.  when it seems like there’s no possible way for this dream to happen in your life, GOD has you right where HE wants you.  that’s the very moment HE can show us it’s HIS dream done HIS way in HIS power and no other way.

if you’ve got a GOD-given dream it’s going to face tests.  guaranteed.  one of those greatest tests is really waiting for the dream. that time in between when you’ve had the dream, you’re excited about the dream, you’re building towards the dream, and the dream falls apart – waiting, waiting, waiting…

before we talk about joseph waiting for the dream in genesis 39, we’re skipping a chapter.

genesis 38 is a soap opera chapter of the bible.  it’s the story of judah’s family, a son named er who was so evil before the LORD that he was killed.  he had a wife named tamar.  according to the custom of the day the second son onan was to marry this wife and he refused to do so.  he disobeyed GOD.  he died.  judah ignored tamar.  and tamar became so upset by this that she dressed up as a prostitute and she enticed judah.  she sinned.  judah sinned.  he went for her enticement.  she got pregnant with her father-in-law’s children.  this is the bible? 

two things:  first of all, amazingly judah, the son of jacob, eventually becomes the son through whom the line of david and then JESUS come.  amazing how GOD takes and uses even our sinful world and through HIS forgiveness and grace is able to be at work.  that never ceases to amaze me.  i wouldn’t have done it that way.  i would have chosen one of those other sons.  joseph would have been a good choice.  he was doing pretty well.  but GOD chose judah. 

but there’s another thing.  while all this is happening up in israel which is supposed to be the main place of GOD’s will being done, down in egypt there’s a boy named joseph and there’s a dream being molded.  when you and i look at the world around us or even what GOD’s people are doing, it doesn’t seem like what GOD wants to happen is happening in a place. but GOD’s still at work.  down in egypt he was doing something amazing as joseph was waiting on the dream.

just a thought from the front porch…

to live out GOD’s purpose…

you can have the greatest attitude and perspective in the world.  you can have the perfect plan for managing your time.  but if you’ve got the wrong purpose you’re headed in the wrong direction.  what’s the use of that? 

if i start to run a race and i start running in the wrong direction the faster i run the further than i’m getting from my goal.  some of you have been doing that.  running as fast as you can, working as hard as you can but there’s this sneaky feeling in the back of your mind – “i’m getting further and further from where i want to be in life.”  so what do we do when we feel that way?  we run faster!  hoping that somehow more energy is going to make it work. 

i invite you to just stop, stop the running for a moment to think, “am i going in the right direction?  maybe what i need is to turn around and start running in a different direction – the direction of GOD’s purpose.  GOD’s purpose is the purpose that’s going to last.

how do i know that i’m going in the right direction?  proverbs 19.21 (msg) talks about that, we humans keep brainstorming options and plans.  but GOD’s purpose prevails.  we’ve got lots of ideas.  some of you have an idea a day – some of you have an idea a minute, a second.  some of our ideas are going to work out and some of them aren’t.  but GOD’s purpose will always prevail.  so i can hook my life to GOD’s purpose, i’m going to hook my life to something that is going to last.  that’s the purpose that you and i were made to live for.  maybe the most important tool in time management is the single question, “GOD, what do you want me to do with my life today?”

have you ever seen the movie chariots of fire?  it’s about the olympic champion eric little who, as a believer in CHRIST, decided that he would run the race with GOD’s purpose in mind.  he eventually became a missionary to china – gave his life to the mission field in china.  but in that race that he ran and won in the olympics there is that famous phrase “GOD made me for a purpose but HE also made me fast and when i run i feel HIS pleasure.”  there’s a person who enjoyed GOD’s purpose in his life. 

that’s what i want.  i want to discover GOD’s purpose for my life, figure it out, run that race as hard as i can and then there’s the cheering crowd.  there’s my family there, my friends there, my rivals there, the entire nation – the entire world watching to cheer this moment when i live out GOD’s purpose for my life.

just a thought from the front porch…

they were important to JESUS…

there was no one better at balance than JESUS CHRIST.  JESUS knew how to balance HIS life.  HE knew how to not let people press HIM into their mold. 

one time JESUS was having busy day.  you may think JESUS wasn’t very busy.  HE lived 2000 years ago.  how busy could you be back then?  HE had three years to change eternity.  HE had a pretty big job to do in a short time.  JESUS had thousands of people crowding around HIM every day to be healed, to talk to HIM or listen to HIM teach.  when HE wanted to get away from the crowds HE had to get into a boat and go out in the middle of the sea.  that’s how busy HE was.  HE’s busier than any of us could ever imagine. 

in the middle of one of those busy days some moms brought some children to see JESUS.  JESUS’ disciples were standing there.  they were feeling pretty important so they said, “JESUS doesn’t have time to see children.  HE’s got people to heal.  HE’s got sermons to preach.  this is not in our schedule for the day.”  JESUS overheard this and HE was angry.  HE said, don’t keep those children from coming to ME.  

it wasn’t important to the world, to HIS disciples, for HIM to see those children but it was important to JESUS.  HE didn’t let other people tell HIM what was important.  JESUS had the ability to understand that timing was more important than time.  and being at the right place at the right time to meet the need was really what was the most important thing in life.  JESUS often stopped and dealt with an immediate need.  but nothing could deter HIM from HIS ultimate goal.  HE had that balance about life.  HE’s the one to learn to have this balance of life from.

just a thought from the front porch…

balance schedule and relationships - discipline and flexibility…

i’ve got to balance schedule and relationships.  have you noticed that you can’t always schedule your relationships?  guys, you say, “i know i’ve got to talk with my wife.  ‘babe, 8:00 to 8:05 tonight we’re having a conversation!’”  you may as well schedule the argument in until 11:00.  you cannot schedule relationships.  they just sort of spill out all over.  they don’t work like we want them to.  sure we’ve got to get things done.  sometimes you’ve just got to buckle down and get things done.  but there are other times when you say, “let’s set that aside.  we need to talk.”  that’s a part of the balance.  it’s not always easy.  it’s not always simple.  but it is a key perspective in the way you manage your time. 

you have to balance discipline and flexibility.  you have to be disciplined to get the task done and stick to the schedule but you also have to be flexible when it doesn’t work out.

some of you are so disciplined about how every minute has to work.  you’re uptight all day long.  every single second has to work because you’ve got to get the most out of every day.  you’re going to live 20 years less because you’re getting the most out of every minute.  what kind of time management is that?  you need to be a little more flexible.  some of you are so flexible you’re a slave to other people’s schedule.  there are moments in your life when you need to say “no.  i can’t do that because this is what i’m supposed to be doing today.”  there’s a balance between the two. 

i love what james says about this balance in our lives.  james is writing to some people who were saying, “here’s what we’re going to do.  we’re going to go to this city, make that much money, create this business.  that is what we’re going to do!  that’s GOD’s plan for our lives.”  he writes in james 4.13-15 (tev), you don’t even know what your life tomorrow will be.  you’re like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears.  what you should say is this, if the LORD is willing then we will live and do this or that. 

i love the balance there.  he doesn’t say don’t make any plans, whatever is going to happen.  but on the other hand, you say it’s if it’s going to be it’s up to me and you plan it all.  if GOD is willing this is what i’m going to do.  that’s the balance of how this works.

just a thought from the front porch…

which one is it?...

in order to treat your time as a gift from GOD we not only need a right plan but also a right perspective, a right way of looking at things with the right plan.

now in this matter of managing your time there are conflicting messages such as, “you need to work but you also need to rest.”  which one is it?  or, “you need to have goals and plans but you need to leave it all in GOD’s hands.”  which one is it?  or, “you need to be totally focused, put all your energy on one thing but you need to be flexible at the same time.”  and these conflicts can be confusing except GOD has designed us so that it’s both.  there is a balance of how HE works things. 

ecclesiastes 3.1 (niv) says, there is time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.  GOD designed seasons in the way that HE works time.  you don’t always plant, you don’t always grow, you don’t always harvest.  there is a time for different things.  the same thing’s true in our lives.  there is a time for different things. 

so if i’m going to have the right perspective on my time then the key decision here is i will balance my life. 

realize that there are different seasons in your life.  someone has written “as a gift from GOD, time should be used playfully as well as energetically, big heartily and generously as well as carefully and thoughtfully, in people oriented as well as task oriented ways, with an eye to quality as well as quantity and a sense of wonder and adventure.”  that’s the balance of it. 

in the balance of work and rest you’re going to have to admit something about yourself.  you have to admit that there’s a love/hate relationship that most of us have with busyness.  we say on the one hand, i hate being so busy.  it’s terrible being so busy.”  we talk about it, we complain about it.  but there’s a part of us that loves busyness.  because busyness makes us feel important.  important people are busy people.  busy people are important people.  it makes us feel somehow that we are important.  and the love of that keeps us driving all the time when we don’t need to. 

the truth is, you’re important to GOD no matter if you’re busy or not.  you could have had the worst week in the world, you didn’t accomplish a thing this week but you’re just as important to GOD.  your importance doesn’t depend on your level of activity.  once you and i begin to realize that the grip of busyness can begin to be loosened in our lives.

the truth is busyness and laziness are just two ends of the spectrum.  the middle is using my time as a gift from GOD.  but on the end is using it for myself – business doing too much with my times: laziness, doing too little with my time.  but in both cases i’m selfishly using it just for me.  in the middle it’s a gift from GOD, used like HE says to use it.  i have to confess that in order to balance work and rest. 

just a thought from the front porch…

the benefits of a day of rest…

HE’s commanded us to take a day of rest each week. 

exodus 34.21 (ncv) talks about that, you must work for 6 days but on the seventh day you must rest.  even during the planting season and the harvest season. 

did you notice it said, even during the planting season and the harvest season?  the busiest time!  the time when you would say, “no, i don’t need to rest now.  i’ll do that later.”  in the busiest time you need to rest.

is there ever a week when you might need to skip a day off because of an emergency?  of course there is.  but when that becomes 2 weeks and 3 weeks and 4 weeks and 5 weeks you’re in trouble because GOD has designed us to need a day of rest.  you need to take a day off. 

·         do you need a business reason for that?  you’ll get more done if you take a day off.  your best ideas will always come a few days after a day off. 

·         do you need a health reason for that?  you’ll live longer by taking a day off.  study after study after study shows that. 

·         do you need a spiritual reason to take a day off?  you’ll develop your relationship with GOD and the people that are around you. 

that’s how GOD made us.  it’s that part of our schedule, that plan in our schedule.  HE said be sure you don’t miss this one.  it’s probably the most broken of the ten commandments, this day of rest that GOD wants us to take.

just a thought from the front porch…

sleep and your faith…

now in this scheduling and managing your time the bible tells us that GOD rested when HE made creation.  HE didn’t have to but HE wanted to give us an example of how important this is in our schedule.  so the key decision in our daily schedule and plan according to GOD is i will rest. 

i like what the bible says about our daily rest.  HE’s made us to need daily rest as well as take a day a week of rest.  psalm 127.2 (msg), it’s useless to rise early and go to bed late and work your worried fingers to the bone.  don’t you know HE enjoys giving rest to those HE loves.  in the idea of rest there is sleep.  did you know GOD enjoys watching you sleep? 

those of you who are parents of a five-year-old can believe that!  they get up, their motor starts running, it runs all day long till the very end of the day, they lay their head down on the bed and go to sleep.  you look at them and say, “they look so peaceful!”

at the end of the day, that’s what GOD says about you sometimes.  they’re so worried about so many things – look at them!  they look so peaceful!  GOD enjoys watching you sleep.  some of you are so worn out right now GOD would enjoy just watching you sleep right now.  take a nap! 

GOD enjoys watching us sleep.  i don’t know all the reasons HE made us to sleep every day but i know one.  when you sleep each day it’s a daily reminder that GOD is getting things done even when you’re not at work.  HE’s doing things in your mind, HE’s doing things in this world, HE’s doing things in your relationships, – even when you’re asleep HE is at work.  i need a daily reminder of that.  and sleep reminds me of that.  GOD has designed us that we’re to sleep daily.  and HE’s commanded us to take a day of rest each week. 

just a thought from the front porch…

our attitude, struggle and pain about time…

if i’m going to use my time as a gift i’ve got to have the right plan, the right schedule.  psalm 90.12 (nlt) talks about this, teach us to make the most of our time so we may grow in wisdom. 

and this is where we spend most of our energy on time management.  this is what hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of books are written about.  it’s pretty telling some of these titles.  they indicate some of our attitudes, struggles and pain for us about time. 

like the art of stress free productivity – wouldn’t it be great if it were stress free?  or 21 ways to get more done in less time – if that were seven ways i would get more done in less time.  the time trap – a classic on time management and how we feel about it.  7 day get organized program for overworked, overbooked, and overwhelmed people.  here’s a good one, the complete idiot’s guide to managing your time, 2^nd edition.  why do they need a second edition?  wouldn’t one be enough for “complete idiots”? 

there’s a book called how to live on 24 hours a day.  i guess that’s a good idea!  however, somebody read that title and thought “i can top that!”  so a title came out how to live on 26 hours a day.  squeezing 2 more hours out of every day, as if that’s possible.  somebody read that and thought, i can top that!  there’s a book out the 48-hour day.  pretty soon there will be the 98-hour day.  see where this is headed?

but all those titles miss the point.  the point is GOD has given us enough time to do what HE wants done in this world?  24 hours is quite enough to do what HE has given me to do in this world.

now we are attracted to these kind of titles because this is a place of pain for most of us.  we struggle to keep up with what’s going on, to maintain peace in the midst of all the activity, to take pleasure in the work that we’re doing.  we’re frustrated because we’re not getting enough done, we feel guilty because we’re not doing the right thing – we wish we could spend more time with our family or more time with GOD.  and we feel anxious about the fact that our goals are never going to be reached.  we struggle with these feelings constantly. 

there is a reason why scheduling books, program, ipads are top sellers all the time.  we are desperate people in search of solution in our lives.  we look at ourselves and think, my life is a mess but at least i have an ipad.  like that’s really going to solve everything.  it doesn’t.  we need a plan.  and that plan certainly includes scheduling and managing your time. 

just a thought from the front porch…

we’ve been given enough…

let me ask you, do you think GOD is stingy?  obviously the sunday school answer, the right answer is no, GOD is not stingy.  but in the back of our minds we have at one time or another thought GOD is stingy.  here’s how we think it: “GOD, you’re a great GOD.  but if only you’d give me little more.  if only you would give me a little more time.  if only you would give me a little more money.  a lot more money!  if only you would give me different talents than the talents that i have.  i would have a great life.”

what we’re really thinking is, “GOD, you didn’t give me enough to have the great life i know i could have!”  when the truth is, GOD has given us enough.  HE’s given us enough time, HE’s given us enough money, HE’s given us the right talents to have the great life that HE has planned for us.  only in america could we be surrounded by so much and think somehow that the secret to happiness is having more.  it’s not having more.  it’s learning to use as a gift the things that GOD has given to us.  the secret is using the gifts that i’ve been given.  we’re surrounded by these gifts that GOD has given. 

john 1.16 (msg), we all live off HIS generous bounty, gift after gift after gift.  that’s what GOD does in our life.  not that any of us have a perfect life, not that any of us don’t have struggles in our life or some times of lack in our life.  but everything that we have, every good thing that comes into our lives is a gift of GOD.  and they keep coming.  gift after gift after gift.  they come to all of us.

JESUS said in matthew 5.45 (msg), this is what GOD does.  HE gives HIS best.  the sun to warm, the rain to nourish, to everyone regardless, the good and the bad.  you don’t have to be a good person.  you don’t have to go to church in order to benefit from GOD’s gifts.  everybody gets the gift of time.  everybody gets the gift of talents and resources.  the question is how do you use those gifts.  do you use them just on yourself, selfishly.  or do you use them as gifts of GOD and truly begin to enjoy them?

just a thought from the front porch…

a very valuable gift…

time is a very valuable gift from GOD.  HE gives each one of us 24 hours in a day and 1,440 minutes in a day and 86,400 seconds in a day and 168 hours in a week. time is a gift. 

but for the most part we treat time more as a commodity than a gift.  time as a commodity is it’s something to be saved, it’s something to be earned, it is something to be invested.  but time is a gift.  it is something to be treasured.  it is something to be used for GOD’s glory.  it is something to be enjoyed.  the truth is every second of life that you and i have is a gift, given to us by GOD. 

three definitions of time management.  see which one best fits maybe the way you’ve been managing your time.

1.  time management is the art of squeezing more out of every hour of each day.  for a lot of people that’s all that it is.  but that’s not enough.

2.  time management is the art of being less stressed about the pressures of everyday life.  although it’s great to be less stressed that is not the only object of time management.

i want to present to you a third definition:

3.  time management is the art of treasuring and using my days as gifts of GOD.

if during these few minutes together here on the porch you could make one small step in that direction, our time will not have been wasted.  realize, if you could take one step in the direction of saying, “my time is a gift,” it may be the most counter cultural decision you make in your life.  everything in our culture pushes in the opposite direction.  time uses you.  you’ve got to get everything you can out of it.  but if you could take one small step in the direction of saying, “it’s a gift given by GOD.  i’m grateful for it.  i want to use it in a different way.  i want to enjoy it in a different way.”  you may never feel more like a salmon swimming upstream but you may never make a decision that makes greater impact on your life and heart.   

just a thought from the front porch…

that’s what love is all about…

all the money in the world can’t replace your time with your wife, your husband, your kids, those you love.  whenever you give your time you’re making a sacrifice of your life because your time is your life.  but that’s what love is all about, it’s about sacrifice.  sacrifice is the essence of love. 

ephesians 5.2 (nlt), live a life filled with love following the example of CHRIST who loved you and gave HIMself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. 

if it isn’t a sacrifice, it’s not real love.  you may call it that but it’s not.  if it isn’t a sacrifice, it’s not real love.  you can give without loving but you cannot love – legitimately love – without giving.  love is the essence of sacrifice.  love means giving up – giving up my ambitions, giving up my preferences, giving up my likes, giving up my particular thing that i think is fun, giving up my energy, giving up my time for the benefit of somebody else.  that's what love is.  giving up my time and my preferences for the benefit of someone else.  it’s a sacrifice.

many of you are in time-starved relationships.  you live in the same home but you’re passing each other by day and by night like ships with a goodbye kiss here and there and your relationship is shriveling.  it’s shrinking.  it’s drying up for lack of attention. 

a lot of things can rob a relationship.  work can rob a relationship.  activity can rob a relationship.  too much church involvement or ministry can rob a relationship.  hobbies.  fun things that you like to do on your own can rob a relationship.  tv can rob a relationship.  computers can rob a relationship. 

somebody says, “how can i have more time for those i love?”  turn off the tv and unplug the computer.  i'm not saying get rid of them.  i'm just saying limit them.  the average american now watches tv and/or works or plays on the computer an average of five to six hours a day.  that’s over 30 hours a week.  that’s 1,560 hours a year.  let me put that in perspective.  one thousand five hundred sixty hours a year is the equivalent of spending 97 days straight at 16 hours a day watching tv or playing or working on the computer.  that’s bound to hurt a relationship. 

just a thought from the front porch…

the most desired gift of love…

GOD’s first law of relationships is the best use of life is love.  the second is the best expression of love is time

you spell love, time.  1 john 3.18 (Gw) says, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.  if you say you love but you’re not showing any time, you’re just kidding yourself. 

guys, what is the most desired gift of love?  diamonds?  wrong answer!  roses?  no.  chocolate?  fat chance! 

the most desired gift of love is focused attention.  i want to see your eyes, your ears.  i want you to give me your time.  i want to talk.  i want to listen.  i want to commune.  i want to fellowship.  i want you!  focused attention.  the greatest gift you can give anybody is your time.  it’s the most precious and the most desired gift, because your time is your life. 

time is your most precious commodity.  you only have a certain amount of it.  you can always get more money but you cannot get more time.  every time you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you will never get back.  that’s why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.  you can’t get it back.  your time is your life. 

JESUS taught that the essence of relationship is not what we do for each other, and the essence of relationship is not what we give each other, the presents we buy and give.  you can do that without having a relationship.  the essence of a relationship is how much we give of ourselves to each other.  that’s what a relationship is all about.  giving yourself.  the greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of self. 

guys, as men, we just don't get this so much of the time.  i can’t tell you how many guys have said to me, “i don’t understand it.  i provide for my family.  they have everything they need.  what more could they want?”  they want you!  your eyes, your ears, your time, your attention, your presence, your focus.  they want you.  nothing can take the place of time.  nothing.  not clothes.  not candy.  not vacations.  not a big house.  not money.  nothing can take the place of your time.  the greatest, the best use of life is love.  and the greatest, the best expression of love is time.  nothing can compensate for it.  listen, we spend all our time working ourselves to death trying to get money to buy things for our kids and kids don't need things.  kids need parents who spend time with them.  i want to say to you young couples.  if you’re not going to raise them, don't have them! 

just a thought from the front porch…