Ephesians 5:16-17
Remember the Tyranny of the Urgent booklet from a few years back? Charles Hummel wrote this essay and his thesis is that all of us complain that there is not enough time in a day. He went on to make the observation that the greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important. Never enough time was his secondary thesis. The tyranny of the urgent means that we are letting things that are not important crowd out the important. That means that important goals like God goals, family goals or spiritual goals are usually taking a back seat to things that are not significant in light of eternity.
1. If you want a God-closeness relationship in 2010, you’ll need daily time in His Word. If you are new to reading God’s Word, some suggestions might be helpful. Take time daily just going slowly through the NT. Read a chapter or two; it will take you about a year. Another option: daily read the OT and NT in one year. If you choose this option, you will find several great Bible programs to facilitate this on your computer. If you do not have a computer, A Daily Walk, The Navigators, and Tabletalk by R. C. Sproul, all have programs that will allow you to order their books. All of these three basically monthly booklets encourage you to read them and read the Scriptures to give you insight and applications for each day. They are great tools!
2. The second suggestion for biblical goal setting in 2010 is daily time in prayer—focused time in reading and seeking God for who He is, not what we think we need. Putting God in His rightful place allows us to gain a better perspective on what we truly need.
3. Set family goals—meals together, prayer time together, worship time together, and play time together. Family means time with those whom God has placed in our lives by His design and for His glory.
4. Remember the great statement by Michelangelo? He observed, “The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”
5. The last idea of goal-setting is important. What if God wants you to take training in discipleship/counseling through Rod and Staff in the New Year 2010? How could training help you to help others in a deeper way to find the joy of loving God and serving Him, and helping to serve others? Pray and ask Him. Tell us if He tells you; go for it in 2010! Let God be the focus, so that He can get all the glory. Thanks so much.
“Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.” -Ephesians 5:15-17
God bless,
Woody
One of my favorite verses in all the Bible is Genesis 50:20. Joseph tells his brother, who had sold him into Egyptian slavery, “You meant this for evil, God meant it for good, for the saving of many souls.
“Good coming out of bad.”
That thought, “good coming out of bad,” was the message of the first Christmas.
Since the introduction of sin into the human race in Genesis 3, with Adam and Eve humanity has been in a “bad” straight. The first people on earth had sinned—and they needed to be rescued. God did just that.
He sent His Son on a mission of mercy to earth. He is the transcendent “Good.” He lived, died and rose from the dead, and now offers the ultimate “good” to any who will choose Him and His salvation—from “bad” to “good.”
I was reminded of another good that came from bad in the life of the great poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He had a son wounded in the civil war, lost his first wife Mary after only four years of marriage.
Twelve years after Mary’s death he married Frances (Fanny) Appleton. They had six children, including the son wounded in the civil war.
In 1861 Fanny was in the family library and caught fire from a match that dropped onto her dress. She died the next day.
From this bad and sad incident came the normal and expected grief.
But on December 25, 1864 Longfellow brought the “good” out of the “bad.” He wrote the world-famous poem, “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.”
I’ll print the poem, but please read the fourth stanza. This is great theology. This truth is for today. This is for you and me.
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play.
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of Peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of Peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair, I bowed my head:
'There is no peace on earth,' I said,
'For hate is strong and mocks the song,
Of Peace on earth, good will to men.'
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep;
'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With Peace on earth, good will to men.’
Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Let God bring “good” out of your “bad.” He is in the business of Change.
Listen to what Psalm 22:25-26 says: “Here in this great gathering for worship I have discovered this praise-life. And I'll do what I promised right here in front of the God-worshipers. Down-and-outers sit at GOD's table and eat their fill. Everyone on the hunt for God is here, praising him. ‘Live it up, from head to toe. Don't ever quit!’”
The beginning of Psalm 22 is about the vivid suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. It is prophetic about Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection—the Gospel. We look back and thank God. The people who read or heard Psalm 22 looked forward to the meaning of God’s fulfillment of His promise.
There are over 300 references to the Messiah being fulfilled in Jesus.
Peter Stones, in his book, Science Speaks, says the probabilities of a man fulfilling eight of the prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power—which is 100,000,000,000,000,000. Imagine the figure for all 332 prophecies being fulfilled by Jesus. That is 1 in 840, with 97 zeroes after it. Call that amazing!!
But God did it! Why? So we could celebrate Christmas? Yes, but not just say “Merry Christmas.” Rather, it is to say “Merry Christmas and I pray you know the Savior and His love for you!!”
C. S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, said “You must make a choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool. You can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.”
I choose the latter!
“Merry Christmas! And do you know Him as your Savior? If so, sing or read Psalm 22:25-26 again.
God bless,
Woody
It was Oxford Dictionary’s staff that chose the word of the year that would reflect the “ethos” and high-tech (read this on Facebook and Twitter) world that is rapidly changing.
“Unfriend” won the battle over other words like “hashtag”, a symbol (#) used on Twitter posts; “birther”, meaning conspiracy theorists challenging President Barack Obama’s U.S. birth certificate; and “intexicated”, people distracted by texting while driving.
“Unfriend” means “to delete someone as a friend on Facebook or other networking sites.”
As I reflected on this word “unfriend”, let me give you several observations:
➢ People are removed easily on a phone or computer – but not by God. Paul, in Romans 11, tells us about Israel rejecting their Messiah, but that allowed the non-Jewish person to have this wonderful salvation and relationship with God (cf. Romans 11:15). Paul says also in Romans 11 when a Jewish person comes to know their Messiah, it will be as if “going from death to life.”
➢ Have you ever thought how it must feel to be rejected? At this wonderful season of Christmas, the gospel of Jesus Christ tells us – NO, you are not rejected (Romans 11:1).
➢ My last observation of “unfriend” is this: why not take the next twenty days and think of an “unfriend” – someone you know who needs a letter, card, visit, friendly cup of coffee, etc. and for their sake and God’s, remind them “You matter to God and to me.”
Proverbs 18:21 ESV, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”
Thank you “FRIEND”!
