It’s Time to Make Time for God
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Tax Time - Joke… man couldn’t sleep so he woke up and called the IRS office… I can’t sleep so I am sending you a $150. If I can’t go back to sleep I’ll send you the rest.
Intro
Week 3 of 4 part series of it’s time… The whole series is aimed at getting us going in 2024
I want you to live your best life possible because the 2nd coming of Jesus is closer than you think it is.
If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting.
Many of us expected life to turn out better than it has. We have high hopes, but poor habits. How can we change that? We can do what John the Baptis said in Matt 3:2
2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
Repent means to change your direction. Jesus came alongside people who were going the wrong direction and urged them to change directions.
The problem is that many of us have the wrong King. We need a new King. We need to make Jesus king of our lives.
We need more in 24
We need more in 24
We need more of God in 2024 so it’s time to make room for more of God in our lives. Most of you have made some type of commitment to the Lord, but have you given Him permission to go into all the areas of your life? Until you do that, he can’t do His best work in your life.
Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.
People are always trying to find something other than God to make us happy.
Party
Relationships - If I have the right friends… or if i marry the right person…
If I can just have kids, Ill be happy.
If can have the right job, I’ll be happy.
If I have just a little more money, I’ll be happy.
11 But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. 12 The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. 13 We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. 14 Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!
Romans 13:11–14 (MSG) 11 But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God.
Sometimes you just get busy and it happens, we forget about the Lord.
12 The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed.
Night refers tot the evil days we are in. Dawn is the 2nd coming of Jesus. Paul is telling us to put away the actions and the attitudes of darkness, and be a light in the dark world.
Let God finish the work he began in you.
13 We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight.
God is concerned about attitudes as much as he is or actions.
14 Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!
Paul is telling you and me to get to doing what Jesus ordained for us to do. We are to go all in with Jesus and clothes ourselves with deeds of the light, which is godly living.
The moment you put God in the center of your life, you will have great joy.
The moment you put God in the center of your life, you will have great joy.
Most of you and many who are listening, are great people, but many need to put God at the center of your lives.
So how do we make time for God in our lives.
1. It’s time to take control of my schedule.
1. It’s time to take control of my schedule.
This is where many mess up. Too many people today are trying to do too much. You are trying to burn the candle at both ends. My candle burns at both ends… That’s not true. If you are burning your candle at both ends, you’re not too bright.
6 And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”
When you fill up your schedule and there is no margin, you cannot be effective. You will not have peace in your life.
We have to establish our priorities and schedule them. If it’s important, put it on your calendar. It’s time.
16 This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’
Get to bed on time so you can get up on time to put God first in your day.
First 15
First 15
5 minutes in the Bible
5 minutes in the Bible
5 minutes in Worship
5 minutes in Worship
5 minutes in Prayer
5 minutes in Prayer
Devotionals - First 15 app - pray first app
2. It’s time to control what I allow into my mind and body.
2. It’s time to control what I allow into my mind and body.
We filter our water and our air, but too many people don’t filter what they allow into their minds and bodies. If you don’t have a filter, or a gate on your eyes &your ears, harmful things are going to get through to your mind and your spirit. What you allow into your mind will either help you or hurt you.
movies - music - alcohol - prescriptions - porn
21 Days of Fasting some of those helps.
We need to pull away from anything that’s ungodly - anything that does not move us closer to the Lord. Not everything we need to pull away from has to be bad; it’s just not good for me or you. Look what Paul says in 1 CO 10:23
23 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.
Not everything is beneficial because it’s not right for you.
Paul goes on to say for you not to use your freedom in a way that will hurt someone else. Look at 1 CO 10:24
24 Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
Paul is saying that we are to monitor our behavior so that we don’t hurt others. You may think it’s ok to have a drink, but someone else, someone who is in recovery, or struggling with an addiction, sees you with a drink and they fall back into their addiction. Paul concludes this discussion with 1 CO 10:32-33
32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. 33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.
Paul always acted in a manner that would help someone come to know Jesus. Some here have some habits, that on the surface might seem ok, or at least are legal, but you will never be where God wants you or have the life you long for with those habits.
Here is a verse we can pray during the 21 Days of Fasting and Prayer.
4 Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong.
Let me ask, what is the Holy Spirit telling you right now? Listen: Sometimes God will not speak to us because we have not listened to what he has already told us to do. When we seek God’s guidance, he doesn’t answer us as an option. When he gives us a direction, he expects us to follow him.
3. It’s time to organize my finances around give, save, live.
3. It’s time to organize my finances around give, save, live.
We need to organize our finances around God’s principles. Your life and your money will be better if you do things God’s way. When you get this part of your life lined up with God, you will find yourself closer to him than ever before.
Andrew Carnagie - How did you become the wealthiest man in the country? Easy. tithe 10%; Save 10%, live on 80%
Does, God need our money? NO. But money is a thermometer that shows where our hearts are. Look at Matt 6:21
21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
God knows that where we spend our money is where our hearts are. He knows our hearts are also reflected in our calendars. Our hearts are where we spend our time and our money. Your finances and your time will be better if you line up with what God says to do.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.
This may be a surprise to some, but God owns everything and has given us what we have to manage for him. So he says give me back the first and the best. We are doing this when we do the 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. We are giving him the first of the year.
4. It’s time to live my life intentionally.
4. It’s time to live my life intentionally.
You will not get where you want to be in life without some disciplines or habits in your life. I have heard people say that they are aa product of their circumstances. That’s not true.
You are not a product of your circumstances. You are a product of your disciplines.
You are not a product of your circumstances. You are a product of your disciplines.
4 A farmer who is too lazy to plough his fields at the right time will have nothing to harvest.
Lazy people don’t have daily disciplines. People may want what you have but they are not willing to do what you do. You may see somone and wish that you had that kind of life, but you have to be willing to do what they did to get that life. We have to live our lives with disciplines that guide us toward what God wants for us.
John Maxwell
Rule of 5
Rule of 5
1. Spend time with God in Prayer
1. Spend time with God in Prayer
2. Read and Study God’s Word
2. Read and Study God’s Word
3. Love those closest to me.
3. Love those closest to me.
4. Make a difference in someone’s life.
4. Make a difference in someone’s life.
5. Take care of myself.
5. Take care of myself.
When you adopt disciplines like those, you end up with a life of success.
12 Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.
So how to we live an intentional life?
3 Keys
3 Keys
1. I must know my purpose.
1. I must know my purpose.
You must have a purpose that drives you, a vision for your life. If you have no why, you will have no way. When you know your purpose, you live differently.
16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
God has a plan and a purpose for each one of you.
2. I must have a plan.
2. I must have a plan.
Take control of your calendar. Some of you need to get a calendar. If something is important, you will put it on your calendar.
Maybe you want to grow closer to God this year. How will you do that?
Maybe you want to stop smoking, drinking or gambling. How will you do that?
Maybe you want to stop worrying. How will you do that?
24 An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.
3. I must have accountability.
3. I must have accountability.
This is where most people mess up. You cannot do this alone. You cannot beat an addiction, or a stronghold alone.
Working out - if you have a partner, you will be more regular.
If going to the club after work is an issue, make a different plan. Fill the empty time with something.
9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
MLK said,
Faith is taking a step when you don’t see the whole staircase.
Faith is taking a step when you don’t see the whole staircase.
It’s time to get moving.
It’s time to take control of my schedule.
It’s time to control what I allow into my mind and body.
It’s time to organize my finances around give, save, live
It’s time to live my life intentionally.
Rule of 5 - spend time with God in prayer; Study God’s Word; Love those closest to me; Make a difference in someone’s life’ take care of myself.
Keys
Know my purpose
have a plan
have accountability