Time is money!

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…”
(Luke 16:10)

“I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?”
(John 3:12)

It seems the Lord was showing me that these verses can refer to how we manage and steward and understand TIME. He gives us TIME in this temporal world and watches to see how we will use it. And if we do well (according to His idea of “well”), then He is ready to entrust us with heavenly, eternal things!

Sometimes, when we experience God’s tangible Presence, Eternity invades our temporal reality and TIME seems to disappear, as it is overwhelmed and displaced by His eternal, infinite Glory. And as we experience Him like this, everything in our lives begins to be transformed. But if we want to experience this infusion, we need to approach and esteem temporal TIME rightly — by spending a lot of it on Him, being willing to lavish Him with one of the few types of CURRENCY that really impresses Him — our TIME.

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Never give up!

I was driving the other day and really wanted to hear from God.  I said to Him “God please speak to me!”  And immediately my eyes landed on this mural and I felt the Presence of God.

My dear brothers and sisters, don’t step back from the good PROMISES God has given you.  If you never quit, you never will lose!  Because in the fullness of time, He will fulfill what He has promised you!

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)

FORWARD AND UPWARD!

“Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

The enemy will do anything he can to keep us dwelling on the past — but Jesus is calling us FORWARD and UPWARD to our true destiny! And this destiny is often something we must fight for (in our thoughts and emotions) and choose daily. BUT IT IS SO WORTH IT!!!

You never quit, you never lose!

“And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists
and that He REWARDS those who EARNESTLY seek Him.”
(Hebrews 11:6)

Listen…

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
(James 1:19-20)

Now is a time when we should be unplugging from noise and tumult and knee-jerk reactions. Now is a time to be listening to the Spirit.  That, I believe, is the way of peace and revelation and true objectivity in this season.

Want the good stuff?

“The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.” (Matthew 13:44)
Want the good stuff? You gotta spend time digging. Casual seekers find very little.

Per-severe.

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.” (Hebrews 10:35-36)

This concept just keeps coming back to me.  To persevere.  And to persevere is often a severe action and heart focus and mindset.   In some ways, such a foreign word to our culture.  But absolutely necessary for spiritual victory.

There is no hope without prayer.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they CANNOT see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
(2 Corinthians 4:4)

This, my dear friends, is why we MUST PRAY. This is ultimately, and has always been, a SPIRITUAL BATTLE — and it can only be won in the Spirit. We can craft messages and art and be nice and work for justice and do many other good things and still accomplish very little, because only Holy Spirit can open the minds of the lost so that they have a chance to actually respond to our message.

“Finally, brothers, PRAY for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.” (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

Passion and Discipline

Godly passion and Spirit-led discipline make beautiful music together!  It is like point and counterpoint in a glorious symphony.  There are days that emotions betray us, and on those days, the infrastructure of wise, faithful, biblical discipline helps carry us through many valleys.  Spiritual disciplines include regular prayer times and bible study, and times of fasting, solitude, silence (not speaking) and quiet (no noise or electronic distractions).

True perspective…

“Men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do…” (1 Chronicles 12:32)

Such an INDESPENSABLE understanding — to understand the CONTEXT in which you and your family and nation and world are placed — and so, to know what to strategically do in any given situation and how to respond rightly to events. A matter worthy of time, effort and strenuous listening — even at times, a matter of life and death.