“Giving God the first part of the day.”
Luke 5:16
HOW LONG IS MY LIFE SOURCE: “New Years - NOW IS THE HOUR!” by Melvin Newland, Minister, Central Christian Church, Brownsville, TX
A few years ago People Magazine:
? published an article entitled “Dead Ahead”
? telling about a new clock that keeps track of
? how much time you have left to live.
It calculates an average life span of:
? 75 years for men and 80 years for women.
? So you program your sex and age into the clock, and
? from then on it will tell you how much time you have left.
It sold for $99.95.
- think about it, how much time do you have left
- Thinking about the brevity of life can be startling
- Especially if you think in terms of living on borrowed time..
When you are young:
- you never think of time being limited
- as you get older
- you don’t want to think about time being limited
The Psalmist tells us to do - to number our days.
“So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 90:12 (ESV)
We are to value our time:
- not to have all the fun we can have
- but to gain a heart of wisdom
- that comes from God
In fact the Bible tells us not to:
? count on tomorrow because
? tomorrow may not come for you or for me.
? All we have is right now.
What are we going to do with the life we have remaining:
- it may be 10 minutes or less
- it may be many decades
- what are we going to do with those seconds, days, months and years?
As you may know already:
? this year ACC’s theme is “I surrender all”.
? Each of us likely have areas in our lives, that
? we could surrender more of to God.
Surrendering ALL to God:
- means putting Him first in everything everyday
- means God gets His way every time, not sporadically
- in a nutshell we decide to live out what we have already committed to
That is that:
“Jesus is Lord of my life….and I surrender ALL to Him”
Below is a list of the sermons be delivering over the next few weeks:
- with the intention of moving you closer to God
- to give God more and more territory in your life
- until WE have given God unrestricted control over us…
“God first” series
1. Give God the first part of every day.
2. Give God the first day of every week.
3. Give God the first word in every decision.
4. Give God the first portion of your income.
5. Give God the first place in your heart.
6. Give God’s Church the priority in your schedule.
7. Give God’s Son your first love.
“In everything you do, put God first, and
he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.”
Proverbs 3:6 (TLB)
There is no better way to start the day than with God:
There is something special about the morning:
Psalm 5:3
“O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”
Psalm 59:16
“But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”
Psalm 88:13
“But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.”
Psalm 143:8
“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”
We all have morning patterns:
- wake up, get up, make your bed, make coffee, get something to eat.
- watch the news, check Facebook,
- sounds about right?
- but what about God?
I’ll admit my morning routine:
- isn’t what it should be, but
- I’m improving,
I am committed to:
- seeking God in the morning
- reading scripture, praying, reading a devotion
- FIRST THING.
My routine is evolving:
- right now I read some from the Bible
- I have a prayer book I use.
- I listen to “Our daily bread” on my phone
- Sometimes I do journalling…working on it
It doesn’t take long:
- but God is blessing it
- As I draw nearer to God
- He is in fact drawing nearer to me…
Like everyone here, I am a work in progress.
Ask yourself…
Where does God fit into MY day?
- what time of day or night
- does God regularly get your full attention
- So that you can read, meditate, and pray?
Do you have time for God:
- He is your creator and provider
- He died on the cross for your sins
- He makes himself available 24/7/365
Do we have time for God?
Is there a place and time:
- where God can reach you
- to speak to you and you speak to Him?
We make time for people that are important:
- we speak with our spouse
- we share time with our friends
- we go to concerts to be entertained
We make time for people because it is required:
- you might have a job with difficult customers
- you might be a customer with a difficult cashier
- you make time for people you don’t even like
DO YOU make time for God?
- can he have a few minutes of your day
- can he get on your calendar once a day?
- for at least just a few minutes,
Objections to morning time with God:
- I’m not a morning person
- I don’t have time in the morning
I get it:
- we are tired
- we are busy
- we are frazzled
What if I told you that:
- time alone with God will renew your heart
- that it will bring you peace that passes understanding
- that it will help you handle the load of life…
Would it surprise you to know that:
- the average person spends 7 hours a day looking at screens
- this is above what is done at work
- it is almost an hour longer than ten years ago
- this is nearly a third of our lives watching Netflix and cat videos
Let me suggest this:
“Don’t find time for God, make time for Him”
- got to bed 15 minutes earlier
- get up 15 minutes earlier
If you don’t have 15 minutes for God:
- you are too busy
- your priorities are wrong
- give it a try for a week and you will see blessing upon blessings
- new peace and confidence from the Lord
“Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”
Psalm 34:8 (NIV)
I am going to us Jesus:
- God in the flesh
- Savior of the world
- who is perfect in all He has ever done
- as our example to follow…
Jesus made time alone with God a priority during His ministry:
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission.”
Hebrews 5:7
Even Jesus needed to pray:
- submitted to God
- even to the point of death on the cross
- for our sins, not His own sin
May I be so bold as to say:
- If Jesus needed time alone to pray
- YOU NEED TIME ALONE WITH GOD TOO
Mark 1:35 (ESV)
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
Luke 5:16 (NASB)
“But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness to pray.”
Jesus prayed:
- at His baptism
- before choosing the 12 disciples
- Prior to walking on water
- before raising Lazarus from the dead
- and on and on….
Jesus prayed and we MUST follow His example of meeting with God:
Jesus established a pattern of time alone with the FATHER:
1. as the 1st priority
2. Deliberately
3. Alone and isolated
4. He was consistent in this pattern
That is the pattern of Jesus and the pattern we must follow.
There is no better way to start the day than with God.
Time with God is to be….
1. First priority
Everyday we make thousands of decisions:
- most unconsciously or out of habit
- we get to decide what our lives look like
- based on what we determine is important to us
Obviously, here I am talking about:
- surrendering ALL to God
- about submitting to God
- about making Him our 1st priority
“Don’t let the urgent take the place of the important in your life.”
– Charles E. Hummel, Tyranny of the Urgent
Take a few minutes and evaluate your situation:
- are you where you want to be in your walk with the Lord?
- are you growing up in your faith?
- are you closer to God now than you were last year?
Someone once said:
“If you don’t like your life, get up and change it.”
God sent Jesus to the CROSS:
- and wants a relationship with you
- wants to hear you and be heard by you
- wants to bless you and make you a blessing
I would hate to get to the gates of heaven:
- and explain to God
- how I had time for everything else
- but limited time for HIM
If we do not make God 1st, there is a strong chance He will be last. ?
If we want a different outcome we need to make different choices.
There is no better way to start the day than with God.
Time with God is to be….
2. Deliberate
Deliberate means “done consciously and intentionally.”
Everything worthwhile is done with deliberate steps:
? If you want to bake a cake you need a recipe to follow
? If you want to take a trip you need directions to follow
? If you want to lose weight you need a diet plan to follow
? If you plan to build a house, you need building plans to follow
If it is important we do it intentionally:
- if work starts at 8 AM and is 30 minutes away
- you make sure you start the car at 7:10
- you make sure you are dressed by 7
- you set and alarm and get up at 5:30 for coffee and hygiene
- it is all deliberate…based on the desired result of being on time to work
If time with God is important to us:
- we will make an intentional plan
- write out your disciplines (pray, Bible, journal, study)
- put it on the calendar if you need to
- set a regular time of the day
- decide where you will meet with God
Time with God needs to be deliberate:
- you won’t accidentally pray…it must be intentional
- you won’t accidentally read your Bible….it must be intentional
- you won’t meditate on God’s word…it must be intention
There is no better way to start the day than with God.
Time with God is to be….
3. Isolated (not to say you can’t pray in a crowd)
If I want to have a serious conversation with someone:
- I don’t want any distractions
- I want to give all my attention to the other person
- I don’t want interruptions
- I want their attention and I intend to give my attention to the other person
Shouldn’t that be the same with God???
- can God get all of our attention?
- turn of the phone, shut out the noise
- make Him our singular focus for a time?
The pattern of Jesus.
- was to get away and be alone and be with God the Father
- to have one on one time
Ken Boa in His book “Life in the Presence of God” writes
“Solitude has always been one of the most fundamental spiritual disciplines, because it moves us away, for a time, from the lures and aspirations of the world, into the presence of the Father.”
Everyone seems to be busy all the time:
- we complain about it
- but some of us never have a quiet moment
- to think and reflect on anything
- we jump from one thing to another asap
How will we hear from God:
- if we never take a period of time
- and sit and listen and pray
- how can we surrender to God’s will if we never seek His presence?
There is no better way to start the day than with God.
Time with God is to be….
4. Consistent
Luke 5:16 (NASB)
“But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness to pray.”
Positive growth is only possible with consistency:
- there are no exceptional athletes who are reckless in diet and training.
- they commit to regular training and nutrition
- they don’t sit on the couch all week eating pizza and expect to win
To grow in a relationship with a person:
- you talk and share the days events
- you listen and hear the other person’s views and desires
- but you can’t expect to do that once a year and be close
The more time you spend in a relationship, the closer you can become…
- How much effort are you putting into
- your personal relationship with God?
Do we desire to be nearer to God:
- then time with Him must be regular
- If it is important, we will make it happen
- is it important to you to draw nearer to God?
You can make it happen!
Invitation:
We need to come to Jesus:
- because we have a SIN problem and a DEATH problem
- and Jesus solved them both
Have you heard the GOOD NEWS?
- Jesus died on the cross
- to forgive your sins
- so that one day you could be with Him in heaven
If you were to die right now:
- do you know for certain
- without any doubt that you would go to heaven?
Do you know that:
- the only thing on this planet that God wants
- is that the people here would
- one day be with Him in heaven?
Do you want that?
- to trade your sorrows, sins, disappointment
- for joy, hope and certainty of heaven?
Does that sound good to you?
- then come forward now
- and commit to living for Jesus
Response to the gospel…
Let us pray
Credit: I got some ideas from Jerry Paul
