“Getting Control of My Time”

‘Building My Life’ series Part 1 of 10 ~ Eph 5:15-17

God’s Word is Powerful, Relevant, and Life Changing!

 

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I love autopilots in aircraft, set & go… Building your life for Christ takes focused effort…  no autopilots for life…

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If we pay attention to a few key areas in our lives, we will grow spiritually. Ignore them and we become stunted

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This is the first of about six messages as we look at “Building my Life”… We will be looking at Getting control of my habits, my finances, my devotions, my thoughts, my relationships and today getting control of my time.

 

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We often make New Year’s resolutions promising to develop new habits or to eliminate some bad ones.

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How has 2007 been for you? Have you been building your life spiritually or find yourself drifting & unhappy.

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I believe all of us would love to get a better handle on our time. (This could be a 10 week series alone!)

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How can I get control of my time?  God is the forever Present I Am… Time was created by God in Gen 1:5

Psalms 90:4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

 

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You and I are creatures of time… calendars, watches, clocks, schedules are everywhere…

 

Time - a dimension in which events occur; a measuring system. (time the earth revolves is 24hrs/1 day… trip around sun is essentially 365 days/Jewish 360days or one year… broken into lunar months & seasons.. Genesis 1:14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years…)

Time Biblically – an opportunity or season, a space of time, a time of residence, to sojourn… (The time or occasion of one's living in a place as a foreigner… during the ‘first watch’/during ‘king David’s’ reign/Babylonian influence)

 

Time can be expressed as in the Past – the Present – or in the Future

Average Life expectancy in the U.S. is 77.8 years which is 933 months or 28,000 days or 672,000 hours or 40.3 million minutes!

 

Ephesians 5:15-17 15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

 

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“Careful how you live” – take heed, use extreme caution to walk in wisdom, an edifying & consistent lifestyle

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“Most of every opportunity” – to rescue, buy up, redeem the season/opportunity God allows in your life. (Time)

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Why should we make full use of our time?  “Days are evil” (malicious, diseased, devilish, wicked, hurtful)

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Not a human invention & not under human control… Western societies – 1/3 feel too busy all the time; 1/3 too busy some of the time, 1/3 about right…

 

 Realize Time is…

·         A Divine GIFT from God.

Psalms 139:16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

 

·         Extremely PRECIOUS & PERISHABLE.

Psalms 90:10 The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

 

·         Uniquely LIMITED in Duration.

James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

 

·         SPENDABLE to be used Wisely.

Psalms 90:12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

 

Who decides how you spend your time? YOU DO!

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It is the most precious of possessions... No one can take it from you. It is unstealable. You cannot draw on its future. It’s impossible to get into debt with time!

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Our days seem too short, too full & stressful – we need discernment to handle correctly.

 

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We shall never have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.

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Because time is limited, be very careful in your use of it. There are time robbers in the world!

 

Time Bandits…

·         Media

§  The average American watches 4 hours per day or 2 months non-stop viewing per year!

§  Parents have meaningful conversation with their children 38 minutes per week while the average child watches 1,680 minutes of TV per week! (44 times more TV than conversation with parents)  50% children 6-17 have a TV in their bedrooms (mostly unsupervised).

 

·         Possessions

§  “Time saving must have appliances” We often complicate our lives with “things”… robs of joy/peace

§  We have a built in desire to acquire more and more possessions. New & improved items… acquire the latest & greatest gadget that comes along. Along with possessions come more responsibility and choices which mean more stress and consequentially less time.

 

·         Personal Habits

§  That special television program, redundant news programs, Internet super information highway, computers, video games, IPods, cell phones, DVD, movies…  Living in a world bent on stealing your time… Laziness, indifference, procrastination, bad attitude, dwelling in your “moodiness”…

§  Yet time marches on, it can never be slowed or stopped by you — it is out of your control.

·         Over-commitment

§  Often we are so busy running and fulfilling our commitments to my spouse, children, work, church, leisure, etc while they slowly rob us of precious time.

§  God our Creator says be very careful how you live, use every opportunity (time) wisely.

§  Busyness can mask our true spiritual condition, a cover-up or it may build up the flesh (self)

§  Busyness may be saying “we’re important” “I’m achieving much”… yet I’m not happy –

 

Do you feel like you’re just spinning your wheels, not making any headway?

 

The 80/20 Principle: “80% of the result comes from 20% of activity”

·         Misuse time – we feel guilt, unfulfilled, empty… busyness of life – nervous tension, fatigue, emotional burnout

·         Mary & Martha Luke 10:38-42… Martha distracted in her many tasks… Mary sat at Jesus feet listening… high level of activity (Mary/Martha)… It’s difficult to maintain peace in a harried, pressure packed environment…   By the way, Jesus was NEVER in a hurry…

 

“Time is the deposit each one has in the bank of God, and no one knows the balance.” ~ Ralph Washington

 

 

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Eph 5 tells us to be very careful how you use the time you’re allotted… Rom 13 tells us to spiritually wake up!

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Because in an instant we can be standing before God to give an account…

 

Romans 13:11-12 11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

 

Building My Life - God loves you and has a wonderful plan for you!

 

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

 

Five Steps to Get Control of My Time:

  1. RESOLVE to do it… Attitude

·         Humbly get before the Lord in confession of sin and ask Him for His help in time management.

·         First and hardest part… to resolve to do it… it all begins in your mind… determine/decisively decide.

·         Oh well, God doesn’t care about me… my life stinks but someday things will turn around – defeated.

 

  1. ANALYSIS your situation… Honesty

·         Begin charting your everyday activities… time spent in morning, driving to/from work, leisure, etc

·         You must be brutally honest with yourself… is the one-eyed-monster robbing you? 

·         How’s my Bible reading (get your yellow sheets today) and prayer time? Church faithfulness?

 

  1. DEVISE a game plan… Strategize

·         I will begin 2008 by going to Bible studies every Wednesday night… read more Christ centered books

·         I will make time for the Lord in prayer & reading his Word & serving in ministries/building building…

·         I will get my Biblical priorities right in 2008: God – Family – Church – everything else…

 

  1. IMPLEMENT changes… Action

·         This is where the rubber meets the road… cautious of trying to implement 20 things…

·         Start with small attainable changes… it will encourage you to greater and greater achievements

·         It’ll take effort on your part… enemy will attempt to detour & discourage you

 

  1. PERSIST in your mind… Habits

·         Getting control started in the attitude of your mind… and this is where we return… persistence

·         Persistence is the ability to maintain action regardless of your feelings. You press on even when you feel like quitting… "Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of."

·         "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

·         "First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you."

·         “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” Dale Carnegie

 

Building my Life – Getting Control of Time…

 

Psalms 39:4 "LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. NLT

 

The Wisest use of Time is Preparation for Eternity.

 

2 Corinthians 6:2 For God says, "At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you." Indeed, God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation.

 

Prayer / Invitation

 

Welcome 2008!  (Pick up your Calendar & yellow Bible Reading Chart)