Time Matters

What are the things that matter?


* Time in God's presence

* Time with family

* Time with spouse

* Time with friends

* Time for quiet and just myself

* Taking care of myself physically and spiritually, which takes time.

All this on top of the required time we spend at work or school.

Basically how we use our time is what matters.

I've heard it said, "Look at someone's checkbook and you'll see their priorities." It's true, how we spend our money shows a lot about what we care about. How we spend our time is just as telling.

This Spring, as new life is just beginning, take a few moments to do a time inventory of your schedule. Does your calendar reflect what you believe to be your priorities? Some days we don't have much choice, but over a week or month's time, we should see a good reflection of what's important to us.

Time for my own inventory.

Here's to Your Success

Do you feel successful?

To answer that we need to know what success means to our individual life.

Off the top of my head, my answer is: I'd like to know I follow the plans God has for me and that I'm pleasing Him along the way. I'd like to use fiction writing and my interest in natural things to generate income. I'd like to earn enough money so that my husband and I could travel and visit family on a regular basis. I'd also like to be involved in our local community.

What does success look like to you?

Discovering your deepest, most valued goals takes time, time to think, ponder and pray. Here's where we Americans lock ourselves in a "no-success" closet. We rush through our day trying to check off as many things from our to-do list as possible. We rush through our meals, wishing food could be faster, then run to our evening activities. Finally we plop into bed and set the alarm to begin again.

If we don't schedule quiet time for prayer, meditation and just plain thinking, we'll never discover our real goals. Without this quiet time, we can't create either. It takes time to develop new ideas.

Try this exercise: Find a quiet place in the house where you won't be disturbed for at least 20 minutes. Sit comfortably. Breath slowly, allowing your breath to go deep into your abdomen. Think about the sounds around you for a moment. Now block out those sounds and think about your breath, slow and deep. Next focus your thoughts on an aspect of God's character, or on an idea you'd like to develop. Ask God to bless your thoughts and give you insight. Don't push your mind to hurry and come up with all the answers. Just relax. Breath. Ponder.

Once you decide what you really want, then you must make judgements about every opportunity that comes your way. This means saying "No." That one little word will enable your success more than any other single word or act. Read the last two sentences again. . . Ponder that!

You have to say "No" to everything that does not directly or indirectly feed your goals.

Another thing that increases creativity and productivity is allowing time for the basic necessities of life. We need to schedule time in our day to brush our teeth, bathe, clean house, organize our papers, pay the bills, check our emails, etc. (Be careful not to get sucked into Google search-land while on the computer. #1 Time-waster). These are the things that can bog us down and halt our creativity and thought life if we let them get out of control. And please don't forget sleep, water, and proper nutrition. Without these our brain doesn't function at optimal capacity.

It really is okay to take care of yourself.

So, to sum up:
1. Schedule time to pray and think. Use breathing exercises to help you relax and focus.
2. Decide on your goals
3. Say "No" to those things that don't fit in with your goals.
4. Keep up on the basics: neatness, cleanliness, exercise, drinking water, eating healthy food and sleeping.

Success isn't the biggest house with the most/best stuff in it. Success ins't working 60+ hours a week or even having the most prestigious title at the company. Success is accomplishing your own personal goals, while maintaining good relationships with those you love (first of all God), and enjoying good health along the way.

Why I Don't Worship Nature

Recently I received an inquiry from someone who had practiced Paganism. The person seemed to be seeking God sincerely, but was confused because of the overwhelming sense of God's presence outdoors, in nature. Paganism puts such an emphasis on nature, that it becomes God to those who practice it. I, too, feel God's presence when I'm out in nature, but I don't see it as a contradiction at all. Here's why...

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." ~Psalm 19:1 

Nature reveals God to us the way a painting reveals something about the artist. God created it all. It is His artwork, His handiwork. Therefore we learn about Him through nature. We sense His presence there. 

"...that which is known about God is evident...for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what was made..." ~Romans 1:19-20

It is a subtle trick of Satan to entice us to worship the creation rather than the Creator. God calls it idolatry. He made all this to draw our attention to Himself. He made it all for us. For example, what if a man gave his wife a beautiful new watch and she responded by speaking to the watch, saying, "Oh thank you, watch, for coming to me, for telling me the time. You are so wonderful, watch." How would he feel if she never even looked at him, but only worshiped the watch? This is a simple, human example, but I think it demonstrates how it is when we worship nature. God created all of it for our health, our pleasure, and also to draw us to Himself. It is no wonder we sense God in nature. 

By His Word God created everything that is. He simply spoke and it was. God also spoke to prophets long ago to reveal His plans and laws to the nation of Israel, and thus to the world. Then He revealed Himself most perfectly in Jesus, who is God's Word, the very expression of who He is.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being." ~John 1:1-3

"He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible...all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together..." ~Colossians 1:15-17

And one more. "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And [Jesus] is the radiance of [God's] glory and the exact representation of [God's] nature, and upholds all things by the word of His (Jesus') power..." ~Hebrews 1:1-3 

So let us seek God through nature, and seek Him through Jesus. Let us ask His Holy Spirit to lead us and we will find Him.

To God be the glory!

When Nature Groans

We're horrified by the multiple, natural disasters that hit Japan yesterday. We can't yet comprehend the devastation, death and long-term effects on that nation and many others as a result. Our minds reel to come up with a reason.

For this and so many natural eruptions in our world recently we want an answer. We want to assure ourselves that we are safe. Often, as Christians, we'd like to say that it's God's judgment on an ungodly nation. But can we say the United States is godly? Hardly.

It reminds me of something Jesus said when asked why certain people died in a tragic accident. They were really asking Jesus what those people did to deserve such a death. Jesus explained that they were asking the wrong question. They should've been asking why the tower hadn't fallen on them.

Today I'm thinking of the natural disasters that have been in the news in the last few years. Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes. These have happened all over the globe not missing our own nation.

Today I read a verse written by Daniel centuries ago describing his people and circumstances. See if it doesn't ring true with us today.

". . .all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth."

Daniel 9:13

We are all sinners. We all deserve God's wrath. But God loves all people and is not willing that any perish, according to the Bible (2 Peter 3:9). He is patient toward us, waiting for us to turn to Him in repentance. If we do, He has already made the way to give us forgiveness--Jesus, the One who took our death-sentence and then rose victoriously to life again.

Natural disasters can bring our attention to God. What better time to seek Him in prayer and evaluate our own lives. But it is for all of us. It is not for us to judge another nation or group of people. And it is not for us to expect that we will not suffer similar disasters.

We're told in the Bible that nature (creation) groans. That's what I keep thinking about when I hear the news. The earth is groaning. Here in Romans 8 we see the weight of sin causing man and nature to groan under its curse. But here we also see the hope waiting for us just ahead.

Let us pray for those suffering from the earth's groaning and let us examine ourselves, looking forward to the hope we have in Christ.

Romans 8:18-25:

   ¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

   ¹⁹For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

   ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

   ²¹that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

   ²²For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

   ²³And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

   ²⁴For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?

   ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.