If You're Too Busy To Spend Time With God, Then You're Simply Too Busy

In the world we live in today, it is very easy to get so incredibly caught up in all of the demands that culture places on us that we don't have any time to spend with God. However, the fact that so many things compete for every person's time isn't new to the world. Indeed, in Luke 10:38-42, we see the story of how two people responded to this same problem in two very different ways: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. ...

We see that after Jesus entered the home, He evidently started teaching, and Mary, Martha's sister, stopped what she was doing and listened to Jesus. It's important to realize that Mary didn't know Jesus was coming, and so it certainly wasn't her plan to stop what she was doing and sit at His feet, listening to Him. However, Mary considered hearing from God so important that she altered her schedule to spend time with God.

... But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" Here, we see that Martha responded very differently than her sister: she became really busy and caught up in what she was doing -- probably preparing a meal, cleaning the house, or something similar.

When Martha complained to Jesus about how Mary was using her time, Jesus responded: "Martha, Martha, ... you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

One sister was willing to drop everything in order to hear from God; the other was too busy with everyday life in order to spend time with God. Jesus makes it clear that the way Mary chose to use her time was better.

In your life, you need to be willing to use your time like Mary did. Don't let little things steal your time away from what's really important in life. You must realize that there is no lasting value to the "urgent" things many people often allow to interfere with what's truly important. It would not have mattered if Martha hadn't cleaned the house that day.

You need to be willing to let your schedule be altered if knowing God better requires it. Don't be like Martha and get so caught up in life's distractions that you miss Jesus.

You stand tallest on your knees

Prayer is powerful. In Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

When a child asks his or her parents for something, they will usually do almost anything just to answer the child's request. For example, if a baby starts crying for food, a good parent will drop everything in order to feed the little child.

When you ask your parents for something, they will probably be quite eager to help you. The Bible says that God is our heavenly Father—the best possible father. So, how much more do you think God is looking to answer your prayers?

Therefore, if you need to hear from God, "ask and it will be given to you."

James 5:16 says that "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." Then, James gives an example of the power of prayer: "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops" (James 5:17-18). That's amazing power. But what gave Elijah such power? Prayer.

It is no wonder that in Matthew 21:21, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done."

Prayer is powerful. When you have unwavering faith in God, He will answer your prayers. That's why you stand tallest on your knees.

Be a channel for God's blessings, not a reservoir

Have you ever wondered why God may not be blessing you as much as you think he should? It could be because you've become a reservoir for God's blessings, rather than a channel.

If you're simply accumulating more and more rather than giving what has been given to you, then God probably won't bless you. However, if you give away the things that God gives you, then you become a channel through which his blessings flow. He blesses you so that you can bless others.

That's exactly what God promised to Abram: "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2). God promised to bless Abram so that he could be a blessing to others.

If you use what you have to bless others, then God will probably bless you with more (so that you can bless others even more). The Bible describes that principle using language of sowing and reaping: you reap what you sow (Galatians 6:7-8).

Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 says, Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

These verses are a direct promise from God: If you will sow abundantly with a good (cheerful) attitude, then God will bless you. Why? So that you can bless others. Being a channel for God's blessings means passing them on to others.

This principle of sowing and reaping works in all areas of our life--not just money. You can bless others in ways that don't necessarily require money.

Decide to sow seeds of blessing aggressively, and you'll discover that God will provide a great abundance for you simply because you're a channel not a reservoir.

Nothing steals your joy like thinking, "I will enjoy my life when ..."

It's very tempting to think that happiness will come to me once I get something: "I would be happy if I just had a bigger house, another car, a better job, more money, a different wife, a nicer family, a new TV...." But such thoughts are very deceptive.

In truth, all those things we want actually make us miserable; we fight and quarrel about what we want, and then we're upset when we don't get it (see James 4:1-4). Don't get caught up in things that you want or need. Instead, you should not worry about getting what you need; rest assured your heavenly Father will take care of what you need (see Matthew 6:30-32).

It's foolish to make your enjoyment of life hinge upon anything. There will always be one more thing for you to acquire before you can "enjoy life." The more you have, the more you have to worry about, which makes life that much harder to enjoy.

Instead of expecting possessions or circumstances to give you joy, seek the only source of everlasting joy—Jesus. Jesus says he came to Earth "so that [you] may have the full measure of my joy within [you]" (John 17:13). Similarly, Jesus said, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete" (John 15:11).

Jesus offers to make our joy complete and to give us the full measure of his joy. Since Jesus is wholly God, His joy is complete and whole joy. That Jesus offers us such joy is astonishing.

Therefore, find your joy in God for in his presence is fullness of joy (see Psalm 16:11). Don't let your joy depend on getting all the things you want because there will always be more things that you don't have, and therefore there will always be more things that will prevent you from enjoying life. Let Jesus be your joy, rather than waiting to enjoy life "when...."

A mature Christian "preaches" with his or her life.

Many times we try to talk people into accepting Jesus, but yet we fail to show them Jesus; we don't act any differently than the rest of the world, even though we claim to be saved. The world isn't looking for talk; it wants walk. Therefore, we, as Christians, must live differently: stop telling, and start showing.

Matthew 7:20 tells us how to recognize truly mature Christians: "by their fruit." Stop worrying about the outward show that you put on in front of your friends, and start developing the Fruit of the Spirit in your inner life (see Galatians 5:22-23). Then once you have learned to be kind, gentle, peaceful and joyful even during difficult circumstances, non-Christians will see you and say to themselves, "I want what you've got." Then, you will be able to share Jesus with them effectively.

We need to develop the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Interestingly, the first Fruit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 is "love." Furthermore, in John 13:35, Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." In other words, love ought to be the trademark of every believer.

It is by living a life of love that you make the world hungry and thirsty for the joy, kindness, patience, peace, and stability that you have. The world isn't reading the Bible; they're reading Christians like you. And if they don't like what they see in you, they're not going to want what you've got—Jesus.

Before you can love others, you must receive God's love for yourself, because you cannot give away something you don't have

God deeply and intimately loves you! His love for you is unconditional—no strings attached, and there is nothing that you can do to get God not to love you. Indeed, Romans 8:38-39 says that there is nothing that can ever separate us from God's love. Knowing that God loves you is central to your understanding of the Gospel, for the entire Gospel is based on God's love (See John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:16, 1 John 4:9-10). The good news is that God hasn't withheld His love from us; instead, God has poured out his love into our hearts (Romans 5:5). But what do we do with that love? We know God loves us, but so what? What should we do with God's love? Give it away! Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:11). In other words, our response to the news of God's love for us needs to be to love others. Indeed, Jesus repeatedly commanded us to love others (See Matthew 5:43-47, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 6:27-35, John 13:34-35, John 15:12,17). However, it is impossible to love others unless you know, believe and receive God's love. 1 John 4:19 says, We love because he first loved us. In other words, we are able to love other people, because God first showed His love to us. If God hadn't shown His love to us, we would have no standard and no example on which to base our love for others. Similarly, 1 John 4:7 says, Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Here again, our ability to love one another is only because love comes from God. Think of your ability to love others like a glass of water. At first, the glass is empty. If you don't have any water in your glass, then you obviously can't give water to anyone else. But when you hold your glass under a faucet and let the water pour out into your glass, it will fill up. Then, once it is full, your glass will overflow, and you can let the water pour out to everyone around you. If you don't have love in you, then you can't give love to anyone else. Therefore, you must first receive God's love, before you can love one another.

Wisdom is to do now what you will be satisfied with later.

From a practical standpoint, wisdom is to do now what you will be satisfied with later. This means that if you know doing something will be very beneficial later, then you do it now even if you don't want to. The opposite is also true: a person who lacks wisdom will base his or her actions on what feels good right now instead of looking at the long-term picture.

For example, say you want to eat a snack, but you aren't hungry. You might say to yourself, "Well I know I shouldn't eat this, but ... ." And then you decide to keep eating even though you are full. Your actions followed your feelings instead of wisdom, and it's a decision that may lead to results you're not happy with later.

Clearly, wisdom requires using self-control to choose to do what is better. A wise person looks at the end results instead of focusing only on his or her immediate circumstances. In short, wisdom is to do now what you will be satisfied with later.

I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.

Obviously, we have no way of knowing what our future will be; however, as Christians, we know the one who knows--God.

We should not worry about the future, because our times are in His hands (Psalm 31:15). In other words, God will give you what you need when you need it.

Therefore, it is no surprise that Jesus repeatedly tells us not to worry: "Do not worry about tomorrow" (Matthew 6:34).

Again, Jesus emphasized that God loves and cares for us, and we therefore should not worry about our life: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:25-27).

Although you don't know what God has in store for you, be assured that He has a good plan for your life (see Romans 8:28). Because He has such a good plan for you, there is no need to worry about life. Although you don't know what tomorrow holds, you have the opportunity to know the one who holds tomorrow!

True worship should create God

Everyone worships. Some people worship money, possessions, popularity, prosperity, or other people. They may not sing worship songs to their bank account, but by the way they live they worship (i.e. give value to) their money.

Worship is not just singing songs in church; worship is a lifestyle that places value on its object. True worship of God means that the one worshiping is placing value on God and putting him at the center of life.

That's what Jesus was getting at when he said, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24).

Notice Jesus didn't say anything about singing "worship songs." To worship in spirit and in truth means that everything in your life is centered around God and guided by him -- that your choices reflect him, that your actions are directed by him, and that you words are filtered through him.

In short, true worship is such that the one worshiping should be so enveloped and surrounded in the presence (the spirit) of God.

Wrath and love fuse on the Cross

God is a just and righteous God, perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4). God, therefore, cannot let imperfect, sinful humans into his presence. In his justice, God gives every person the fairly penalty for his or her sin--eternal separation from the holy God.

God is also a God of wrath -- holy wrath against sin. Romans 1:18 says, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. That wrath is against all who have sinned.

However, God is also a loving God (1 John 4:8). Indeed, God demonstrated his self-giving love for us by sending Jesus Christ to die for us (Romans 5:8)

These two keys attributes of God -- holy wrath and love -- fuse on the Cross. For that's where God shows his love satisfying his holy wrath in order to provide a path for sinful humans to know the holy God.

Exam.....Exam

It is so funny...I currently suppose to prepare myself for moral paper and other examination paper which is coming tomorrow and the following week. But I feel like I dun have the intiative to study, even worse is that especially this semester I dont feel like going for classes. I feel a bit lazy, but still need to attend as all the classes required attendance signature. Hahaha........Hope tomorrow paper and all the other examination paper goes well.........Pray hard and study hard and smart......GOD, PLEASE BLESS ME ALL THE TIME OF MY EXAMINATION..........

Long long time

It has been a long time, i havent been writing a blog. I didnt have enough time to even go inside the blog... I doesnt know what is the reason....but each time i enter in the blog, i feel like i have so much to say...but couldnt express it out. Maybe I not good in expressing the feeling in the blog, as i didnt have the intend to write a blog o a diary when I was young. However, I m trying my best to learn to write a blog to express my feeling no matter it is happy blog or a sad ones.

How stupid of myself

What is happenin to me le............i suppose to have understand all d concepts and formula to sit OM subject final paper. However i spent too much time on section A which is a compulsory part. Then when comes to d section B, there are not much time left to do 2 long question. I wondering whether can i pass today's OM paper....I even can be tricked by d question.

busy busy school semester life

this is my most terrifying week for me and coming few weeks ..... there are lots of assignment and midterm to handle and complete. even worse is this week (week 7, y2s3), there are three midterm exam. then by week 8, i need to complete all the assignment and presentation as the submission is by week 9 where 2 assignment to be hand up on monday and other 2 on friday. one presentation on week 8 thursday and the other on week 9 thursday.... I totally goin to be crazy....arrrrggghhh.

so so happy during this V Day

14 Feb 2008, Thurs
I will never forget about these date and day as i am very very happy. Eventhough i didnt celebrate with an opposite side, however i still celebrate with my housemates (Sheena, Elaine, Jing Chen and Rob). I been playing bowling with them, where d guys compete with d gals. V played 2 games, where d gals win. The most happy is I managed to get 2 strikes for d gals team. Mayb someone may consider it is not fair as three gals against two guys but all of us are happy. The most embracing thing happen to me is tat in one of my turn, i supposed to throw my ball, however before i managed to throw, the ball dropped. Everyone is laughing at me however i dun mind as today is V Day. Everyone should be happy. HAPPY VALENTINE DAY. ALWAYS REMEMBER THESE MOMENT.

late...late...lazy

i am wondering is it everyone is lazy to do a job....it seems like most of the people like to do their jobs last minutes....well, dont say about other...I myself also one of the kind who like to do job last minutes. Even worse is that i feel like this semester (Y2S3), i am very lazy to attend class as all the class are regarding about theory which i dont know how to describe. However luckily i still have good friends that can help me once a while where they can help me sign my attendance. I really need to appreciate them. I wondering how to appreciate them. Well, this really need to think which makes me tired of thinking

is it ok?

i m totally very very confused...i have been thinking so much tis days since the sad incident happen to me which makes me cant forgot wat had happen to me (25 Jan 2008). i will be remember it forever in my heart. Eventhough i had accepted her apologize, but i cant stop thinking wat she had said to me....it is hurting my feeling. i know it is my wrong to do such inappropriate attitude, however i regretted. I feel guilty for wat had happen...But which human is totally perfect till never do anything wrong? but the word tat she said to me, i will never forget it. however she is my classmates...and i need to face her till i graduated. how can i never communicate with my friend...i totally dont know how to deal with such problem....HAIH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

confused, tired and stress

Sometimes, i feel like letting go of my position as class representative....however after thinking for quite some times, i dont feel like letting go as i like the position so much as i like to help my friends. But i feel like i am not been appreciated by my classmates for what i have done for them for these two years...Comin these mid of the year, i will b in year 3 which is my final year and a stressful year. I dont noe whether to let go or continuing to hold this position til i graduated...God, please help me...i m really blank at these moment. I need guide.

Empty...empty...empty

i wandering what is happening to me nowadays. I suddenly dun have the incentives to study or revise for my final. God oh God.....Can tell me why i couldn't study. I could see all my friends study hard to score for their final however i couldn't do that ESPECIALLY now as i am worry about my english paper result which have the high failure rate in the university over the semesters. Besides that, my business finance paper which cause me a big headache.