Moving to Wholeness (Time)
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What do I want them to know? God’s ways with time
Why? God’s ways of time lead to health, wisdom, fruit
What do I want them to do? Living in God’s rhythm, Living with God’s Priorities/Commands, Living by the Spirit.
Why? God’s ways of time lead to health, wisdom, and fruit
We are started a new series called “Moving to Wholeness” We are doing a series to help people from God’s Word and testimony of how we can move to “wholeness” or another Word you can use is PEACE/SHALOM because the meaning of the Word SHALOM which is the HEBREW word for peace means at it’s root “to make whole”
That when you are WHOLE you have SHALOM
This is the opposite of what the word anxiety means, which means to be torn apart, and that is great word description of what it means to have anxiety....is that not how we have felt when we have felt?? TORN APART
yeah
This series is also address the pandemic that existed before the Covid pandemic
What is the pandemic that existed before the pandemic?
We are in a pandemic of anxiety and depression.
In 2019 how many people do you think percentage wise say they struggle with anxiety? 36% of Americans said they struggle with anxiety on some level…that’s high! and now in 2021 where do you think the number is at of Americans struggling with anxiety? 42% we jumped 6% during Covid.
the biggest jump was amongst teenagers it doubled
1/10 people were unhappy in 2020, 1/4 happy in 2021
ONE OF THE WAYS WE ARE GOING TO MOVE TO WHOLENESS what we are going to learn today how we do manage our time, our schedule in God’s way....GOD HAS A VIEW ON HOW YOU MANAGE YOUR TIME AND SCHEDULE.
God wants to show us how to live with God’s view of schedule and time
Why this is so important is because to live in God’s way always leads to WHOLENESS and living not in God’s way always leads to anxiety, destruction, lack of peace
ME/WE
Have you ever had a time in your life when you said “YES” to something you should have said “NO” to? You knew God said No, or your spouse said you shouldn’t do it…you knew it in your bones…and it wasn’t a bad thing, a sin thing, but it wasn’t good for you at the moment.
- Maybe it was a time that you said yes to getting together with a friend, but at this moment you needed to say because you had other things you needed to say yes to
Or it was a phone call or text message that someone sent you. And you knew you should not have picked up the phone because you had other things or you needed to say yes to
Or maybe it was work, work said again, can you stay later today…and you knew you needed to say no because there was other things you needed to say yes to
ANYBODY BEEN THERE?
The inverse is true....we said NO WHEN WE SHOULD HAVE SAID YES.
We said no to getting together with our friends, when we should have said yes.
No to work, when we should have said yes
No to church or Bible study or church gathering, when you should have said.
HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SAY YES when you should have said no? Or no when you should have said yes.
When we say yes to work when we should have said no or that phone call?....are we happy, I am so full of the Spirit, full of JOY, I am so glad I mad this decision!!
YOU FEEL ANGRY, MAD, BITTERNESS, RESENTMENT, REGRET (FOR NOT DOING THAT THING), BURNOUT “I can’t believe I am doing this, grrrr!!!” (we might not say it out loud) mad externally, mad internally, DUMB, STUPID “how can I be so stupid” “i wasted so much time”
Anybody with me?
Yah!
TENSION
What do we do with this?
How do we know when to say YES, when to say NO? Or for that matter what are we to do with our schedule?
Does God have something to say about this our time?
YES
Two scripture passages
The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Since we only live so long, God teach us to number our days, have a plan with our days so that we get a HEART WISDOM
WE ARE NOT TO LIVE DAY TO DAY, MOMENT TO MOMENT
We are to plan our days
We are to be intentional with our days
And not planning our time almost always leads to lack of peace, unplanned schedules almost leads to lack of peace, nothing planned for goodness
One of the reasons why is we do not plan our schedule someone else is often if we do not plan our time someone else will, work, family members (they mean well), friends, kids sports
We are a slave to them
NOT ONLY ARE WE TO NUMBER OUR DAYS WE ARE TO NUMBER THEM WITH WISDOM WHEN WE NUMBER OUR DAYS WE ARE TO MAKE THE BEST USE OF OUR TIME
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
The reality scripture points out for us is all have a commodity given to us and it is the commodity of time.
Each one of us is given the same amount daily, not life length
Each day we live
24 hours a day
168 hours in a week
What do we with our time, what are we to do with our time weekly that we live in God’s ways that leads us to a heart of wisdom, to wholeness, peace, health and we will see later FRUIT....because it is the whole ones, healthy people who produce fruit.
HOW DO WE NUMBER OUR DAYS, HOW DO WE WALK AND LIVE IN WISDOM?
Living according to God’s created weekly rhythm for our lives
Living according to God’s greatest commandments (greatest priorities)
Living/walking by the Spirit
Living according to God’s created weekly rhythm for our lives
this is a little review from last week
“ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
God says to us 6 days you shall work (vocationally, on house projects, run errands, etc.) but on the 7th day you are to SABBATH (which means stop working) , delight, glorify God, stop working, for how long? 2 hours at church? No 24 hours
Sabbath is a day where we give glory to God, an act of liberation (I am not a slave to world), and where we get RENEWED (physically, emotionally, mentally, relationally)
God says to us work 6 days and rest the 7th.
God is saying you want wholeness, you want life, you want joy,
Work and rest for 24 hours.
let’s talk about work for a minute. Does that mean that the other 6 days all we do is work, from morning to 11pm (I can’t say evening)....
Is this what God had in mind for us? NO
In the ancient, before electricity especially in the winter time you could only work so long, because working by candle light is not supper easy.
Not only that, if we work from when we wake up to when we sleep we will have not time for GOD, FRIENDS, or FAMILY....is this what has in mind....sadly we have seen many pastors, Saints over WORK and as a result THEIR FAMILY GETS NEGLECTED AND THEY NEGLECT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITHD GOD
So how many hours should we work?
There is no number given in scripture of how many hours we are to work in a week, but we can see from history and phycology and the medical field is that the amount of hours that we should work, this includes house work, errands, on average over 6 days (there are going to be busy seasons at vocationally work and home work) is at most 8-9 hours a day. When we get over 55 hours a week. It has destructive affects on our MENTAL, EMTIONAL, PHYSCIAL, SPIRITUAL LIVES and we actually start to become counter productive, we will end up doing double work because we did work past our limits.
What God says to us we are to work 6 days, 50-55 hours a week including household work, and take a rest for 24 hours, Sabbath is a gift
WHEN WE REALIZE OUR CREATED RYTHMN WE ARE STARTING TO KNOW WHAT WE CAN SAY YES AND NO TOO.
NO, I CANNOT WORK ON THAT HOUSE PROJECT OR WORK BY DOING YARD WORK OR HOUSE WORK, because today is my Sabbath
OR YES I CAN DO WORK TODAY, OR HELP A FRIEND OUT WITH SOMETHING THEY ARE WOKING ON
THIS IS THE BEGINNING
I ALSO WANT TO TALK ABOUT ANOTHER THING THAT AFFECTS OUR WHOLENESS, THAT is apart of our rythmn that MANY AMERICANS ARE INCREASING SAYING NO TO, THAT AFFECTS ALL OF LIFE IF WE DO NOT GET ENOUGH OF IT.
What gift is this? Sleep
anybody get lack of sleep?
how do you feel?
Whole? Peaceful?
No you are edgy, foggy brain, irritable, anxious, depressed
Lack of sleep alone will lead you into ANXIETY and DEPRESSION
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Scripture says it is in vain that we rise up early and go to sleep late, working, working, working.
God gives us the gift of sleep
This again was no problem before electricity, Sun went down and people went to sleep. People would sleep 8-9 hours a nigh, even in 1942, and medical experts say adults need 7-8 hours of sleep.
But how many people in America get 7 hours a sleep today? Close to half…that means half of America is not getting enough sleep
One of the SPIRITUAL THINGS I HAVE TOLD SOME CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS SOMETIMES IS THE MOST SPIRITUAL THING YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW IS TAKE A NAP AND GO TO BED EARLY…THIS IS WHAT WE DO WITH OUR KIDS, RIGHT? THEY
YOU NEED TO SAY YES TO SLEEP FOR WHOLENESS…YOU DO NOT NEED TO BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL, BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL IS BURNING YOURSELF OUT
When we understand God’s created rhythm for our lives IT HELPS US SAY YES AND NO TO THINGS.....GIVES US A FRAMEWORK, these are God’s boundaries for my life
This is the starting point, structure, skeleton,
BUT HOW DO WE FILL IT OUT, WE HAVE SABBATH, WORK, SLEEP,
What do with the rest of the hours? DO WE HAVE FREEDOM FROM GOD’S VIEW TO DO WHATEVER WE WANT
WILL THAT LEAD TO WHOLENESS??
NO
BEFORE WE GET THERE, WHO MANY UNCLAIMED HOURS DO WE HAVE (if you do not have a new born)
How many hours do we have a week on average outside of SABBATH, WORK, SLEEP, EATING, CLEANING
40-50
No way!
But’s true for America
Where do we spend most of that time
2.5 social media
3 hours on TV
What do we do with these UNCLAIMED HOURS? ARE THERE TOP PRIORITIES THAT WE SHOULD HAVE and DO. WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR SCHEDULE? WHEN WE NUBMER OUR DAYS?
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
YES and they are two top prioroties that influence all of our schedule not just the unclaimed hours
WHAT ARE THEY?
THERE ARE TWO TOP THINGS THAT INFLUENCE EVERYTHING
Let’s read what they are
2. LIVING BY GOD’S GREATEST COMMANDMENTS/PRIORITIES
The
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
God says to the two greatest things we are called to do is to LOVE GOD and LOVE others as we LOVE ourselves.
What God is saying to us when we look at our time, we look at our day, our week, as we number them.
We often don’t number them we live day by day, moment by moment.
WE ARE TO DO THESE FRIST, these are the BIG ROCKs, ROCKS THAT LEAD TO WHOLENESS....
OFTEN THE REASON WHY WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR GOD or LOVING OTHERS (TIME IS ONE THE WAYS WE SPELL LOVE) is because we do not plan to
God and others (family, friends) are down the list…We have work, kids sports, Netflix, social media ahead of it.
The two most important things we are to do is to, before WORK goes in there, create, plan space in your schedule
Love God
Love Other as we love ourselves (one of the ways people spell love is TIME)
One pastor said his rhythm was my mornings are for God, my workday activities are for ministry/work, my lunches or afternoons are for people, and my evenings are for my family.
There’s exceptions at times, these are not hard and face, but they are boundaries he puts up, so that when someone say hey can we hang out tonight, he says we can hang out at lunch or grab some afternoon coffee because my evening is for my family.
Another person I know put’s his phone on AWAY at 4:30 until the kids go to bed
What they were doing is creating a plan for their life to live into the greatest commandments with the two greatest priorities and when they did it gave them the freedom to say NO or YES.
GOD IS SAYING THE SAME THING TO US,
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SPEND TIME WITH GOD? NOT JUST SUNDAY
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SPEND TIME WITH OTHERS FAMILY
THIS IS FOR OUR WHOLENESS, THIS FOR JOY, LIVING IN GOD’S PRIORTIES
You are going to have to fight at times to keep this commandments and priorites
Your flesh, the world, and enemy are going to say c’mon man!
FIGHT FOR JOY, FIGHT WHOLENESS
We have the Created Rythmn framework, Greatest Commandments/Priorities, but what do we do with things not in
3. Living by the Spirit, where we listen and ask God what we should od
What do we do when someone asks to hang out or join this group or an opportunity comes along or should we make an exception today or this season to work late at work or on a home project?
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Listen and ask
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Pray to God
God what do you want me to do? This person asked to hang out or join this group or this opportunity came my way, God is this from you?
BIGGEST PLACES WHERE THIS QUESTION COMES UP IS WITH
FAMILY and FRIENDS, we are having a family party, which you love, but it’s been a SUPER busy week and your family needs to REST, and Holy Spirit you feel is saying say NO, knowing you might get some blow back.....Here’s the thing if people are not used to you saying NO…their opporating mode is to GET MAD, GUILT you (how could you)…throw a temper tantrum at times
Or a friend ask you to hang out and to do so means you have to say NO to watching your favorite show TV SHOW, but HOLY SPIRIT says go, and you go and what normally happens? If God says go, it was a great time, and you say in out loud or in your head I am so glad we hung out…my soul need this
WORK, to stay late or to go home
I have known people who quit their job to be WHOLE, the enemy says the money
WORLDLY PRESSURES
In youth ministry I saw this all the time with parents feeling the worldly pressure to have there kid in everything, travel ball, band, karate, soccer
And they are running ragged, this is not God’s plan
Pressure from WORLD and some KIDS
I remember one pastor in the summer when
TRUST THE LORD
Not everyone is going to like
Gal 1 says we are to be God pleasers not man pleasers
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Here’s the deal too.
What God wants for you isWHOLENESS
GOD IS SAYING TO US I HAVE CREATED FOR YOU WEEKLY RYTHMN, COMMANDMENTS/PRIORITIES, and GIVEN YOU THE SPIRIT to living WHOLE LIFE for of JOY, LIFE, and JOY.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The thief is trying to steal, kill, and destroy you and one of the ways is by robbing you of time....God has come to give us life, abuntant life, and that abundant life happens when we live with our TIME in HIS HANDS.
IF WE SAY YES TO SOMETHING GOD WANTS US TO SAY NO TO WE ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE PEACE
IF WE SAY NO TO SOMETHING GOD WANTS US TO SAY YES TO WE ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE PEACE
FIGHT FOR WHOLENESS AND PEACE, AGAINST FLESH, WORLD, ENEMY
WHERE SOME OF US RIGHT NOW GOD IS SAYING LET ME BE LORD OF YOUR LIFE WHICH ALSO MEANS LORD OF YOUR SCHEDULE.
WHEN YOU DO YOU WILL HAVE PEACE, WHOLENESS