What am I doing?

I did some pretty dumb things this week:

Princeton

Honestly that was a hilarious mistake but have you ever done something that you thought was worthwhile or important even and later on you realize was a complete waste of time and dumb?

Do you know how many things I did at school during distance learning, how many packets I prepared and time I wasted doing things nobody used?

Have you ever done something like that?

I desire for what I do to matter and if it doesn’t matter I don’t want to work really hard at something that has no significance, how about you?

Spent a lot of time in relationships that looking back were not good?

Is it genuinely possible to waste time?

I think we already say there is.

Has God given us a way not to waste time? I believe he has

1 Thessalonians 5:1–25 (CSB)

1 About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

The end of time, you have lived through a pandemic, now a nuclear power is fighting a war in Europe something that has never happened in anyone’s lifetime because when the United States got nuclear weapons world war 2 was over, and whatever political party you don’t like did something stupid and crazy in one state or another. Also somebody posted something disgusting, weird or bizarre on the internet.

Thus the question, “Is this the end of days. Is God coming back.”

in my 30 plus years of understanding what is meant by the end of days or Jesus’s return, I never get so annoyed at such a question.

Here is the problem, why do you care so much about the exact day and time of Jesus return?

For what reason does it matter?

If I told you Jesus was coming back on April 2, 2061 at 1:33 pm Greenwich Mean Time what now changes in your life?

Will you follow Jesus less?

Will you trust in the Lord more?

What will you honestly do with your life?

If I told you Jesus was coming back on May 2, 2022 at 1:33 pm Greenwich Mean Time what now changes in your life?

Will you follow Jesus less?

Will you trust in the Lord more?

What will you honestly do with your life?

The answer should be no, no, and no change at all.

We are to live our lives with the reality that our lives can end at any moment and that we will have to account for the right now.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 CSB

3 When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

When a person says, “Peace and Security” what they are saying is I have nothing to worry about, everything is fine, I can do whatever I want.

If I feel like going on a bender, or doing stuff I will just apologize for later, no problem because there is Peace and Security. This is the exact opposite of the Fear of the Lord. This is the exact opposite of a relationship with God.

Jesus calls us to live a life of generosity, love and faith not laziness and waste.

Today, some of you might be here because your afraid that somehow your everyday life is going to go bad if you don’t give God respect or life is good and you want to keep it that way.

Jesus warns us that God is not about that.

Luke 12:16–19 CSB

16 Then he told them a parable: “A rich man’s land was very productive. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? 18 I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. 19 Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.” ’

He made enough, he thought, for a life of luxury and ease. A life of laziness and self-focus.

What happened next?

Luke 12:20–21 CSB

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’ 21 “That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

My wife told me a tragic story of a teacher who fought breast cancer. Fought it and beat it. Her husband and her planned a victory celebration and took a motorcycle ride and weekend away only to have their motorcycle hit killing them both on their vacation.

I didn’t know the woman but the focus of our lives is more than gaining stuff and making it possible for us to keep living. The focus of our lives is greater than our feelings. The focus of our lives is a relationship with God so clear, so purposeful, so chosen that we can look to the end of the world not an as end but as the arrival of our long awaited party!

So that either in times of plenty we see this as times God has allowed us to be generous. In times of hardship we can see that God has allowed us to see his hope.

4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.

Sadly, many of us have had our cars broken into or a thief take something from us. If you knew for a fact that you car was about to have the window broken and the radio stolen, wouldn’t you move the car? Or do something different?

That is the point of this verse. Since we know what Jesus is expecting us to do right now, today, at this time, than we do not need to live in fear of the unknown in the last day.

5 For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. 6 So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

Addiction isn’t new friends. Living selfishly isn’t new. We are not made to live Monday to Friday, Paycheck to Paycheck, party to television, Searching for the next purchase, the next relationship or the next drink to make us happy.

We are made for something that truly matters with great reward.

8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

What day do we belong to? We actually belong to the End of Days because we belong to the God who will allow it to come about. We also belong to the one who gave us the hope of the resurrection.

2 Corinthians 4:14 The Message

14 And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive.

Those who are followers of Jesus, not just with words but actual commitment and action, have nothing to fear, not the End of Days and not our death whichever come first. We don’t belong to these days, we are outside of these days.

Colossians 3:1–4 The Message

1 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 2 Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. 3 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. 4 When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

I am so excited by the actions of those of you who are living for God, living to store up treasures in heaven. What does that look like: several of you have taken meals to a family in need for several weeks. Some of you have reached out to friends and told them that Jesus loves them and shown them by your own real actions of going with them to court, to fill out forms, to pick up there stuff from bad places. Many of you have spent hard time listening to, reading and studying the Bible to know it better to live it out in your home, work, fun times, and whatever other time comes. Many of you a portion of your paychecks to the church regularly and even still bring other items like eggs for the kids and the easter egg hunt. Helen, Deborah, Rochelle and Lori have shared the Bible with the children in a way the kids can understand, move and enjoy. Helen is getting ready to have healing surgery so we need someone else to step up soon. I know one of you will answer what God is laying on your heart.

Be encouraged, my friends, God is doing tremendous things in our hearts but also through us in the lives of others. And no war, no plague, no recession, no change in government, not even death can stop the actions of God from happening.

11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

That is what I am doing with all of you know. Be encouraged.

I don’t say this in an empty way. Life for me is not easy right now. I can tell you of blessings but I can also tell you that at my other work in school I have not had all the people I need working fully, with full personnel, since August of this year. I am very far behind. It is hard for me to be creative, hard for me to teach my students, hard to get them everything they really need. Covid wrecked our ability to keep doing the job.

But you know what? While these hardships are true, God is with me and even the limits that I have in my life are another reason to turn to Him and realize He will bless me for another day. He will allow me to serve again tomorrow. He will provide and he will allow change.

Perhaps you are facing sickness right now. God is the healer, God is the provider and if you are a follower of Jesus I can promise you that no sickness can end in death. Oh you might have this body quit on you, but nothing can take away the healing that is in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus at the end of days

1 Corinthians 15:55–58 CSB

55 Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Be encouraged!!!!

Nothing can stop Jesus. Nothing can take away this victory. Yes we might have hardship but it is only preparation for the joy of the victory!!

Jesus is what we are to invest our time in.

Self-control, love, generosity, faith is what we are to spend out time doing.

Encouragement of the good that is from God! Focusing on the good, warning from the Bad

We live in a constant state of victory!

If you don’t know this encouragement, than I encourage you to ask Jesus into your heart today. To ask in prayer for God to take over your life. That you accept that he died on the cross for your sins. That you know he rose from the dead and you believe that when he returns you will rise, you will be with God forever in victory!

He who promised is faithful!

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.