What Time Is It? | Seven Reason Why You Must Value Time

Sunday, February 28, 2010 Bryan Hudson 0 Comments

EPH 5:15, 14 Therefore He says: “ Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16) redeeming the time [Kairos], because the days are evil. 17) Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Colossians 4:5 (NKJV) Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. (NIV) 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
Opportunity defined: A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.
Leonard Ravenhill said, “The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity.”
What is Time? Time is the interval between the eternal past and the eternal future which has been given to redeem and restore God’s creation.
Understand Chronos and Kairos time. Chronos is sequential time by the clock. Kairos is the opportunity, occasion, season or set time of divine purpose
Seven Reason Why You Must Value Time
  1. Time is holy (Redeem it). It is the gift of God. God’s uses time. Gen 8:22 “While the earth remains,Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.” Revelation 22:10, And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
  2. Time is a covenant because we act together based on it. Covenant is a mutually binding association based on love and trust.
  3. Time cannot be recovered because it only moves in one direction will not stop until Jesus returns. 
  4. Time is the opportunity, occasion, season or set time of divine purpose (Kairos).Time shows our attention to details. Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” Time sets in motion the purposes of God in the earth: Luke 9:51, Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. The devil looks for opportunities to work against us. Luke 4:13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
  5. Time needs a plan: Definition of Plan: “A method of doing something that is worked out usually in some detail before it is begun and that may be written down in some form” Jesus operated with plans and purpose. He was very sensitive to His Father’s direction. MAR 1:35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. 36] And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. 37] When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” 38] But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.” JOH 12:27 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
  6. Time is the only way to seize an opportunity: 1 Peter 5:6, Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
  7. Time will run out. John 9:4, I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.



The Value of Wisdom: Proverbs 2:1-7

Friday, February 26, 2010 Bryan Hudson 0 Comments

Proverbs 2:1, My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,  2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,  And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,  And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;  He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.
  

In my Bible, the subhead to Proverbs Chapter 2 read, "The Value of Wisdom." This text came to my attention while in meditation and prayer in an area in which I am seeking wisdom. It has been my long time practice to ask God for wisdom more than anything else. Proverbs could have been named "The Book of Wisdom" because of its many admonitions and instructions regarding wisdom.

Wisdom is defined: "The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise; The soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of such experience, knowledge, and good judgment."

I think of wisdom as, "Knowledge and understanding applied to gain clarity on the best course of action to take."

Wisdom, discernment, knowledge and understanding all come from God. There are obviously natural instances of these virtues, but we are more interested in the spiritual frameworks for wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Proverbs offers that framework.

Proverbs 2:1-5 establishes the importance of having a passion for words from God and man regarding of wisdom, knowledge, discernment, and understanding. We must apply our hearts to this pursuit as one would seek hidden treasure. I remember that one of the first instructions we received as new students of John Herron Art Institute was to discard all our dim 60 watt light sources. We needed to purchase 100 watt and greater light sources so that we could clearly see color hue and values.

This is good instruction for believers today. We need more of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ!

Verse 7a: "He stores up sound wisdom for the upright.."  Wisdom is a resource, not just something we gain in the "spur of the moment." Like a sound financial investment, wisdom grows in value as additional deposits of knowledge and understanding are added.  The "upright" are entitled to make withdrawals from the wisdom resource as needed. 1 Corinthians 1:30 states that "Christ is made unto us wisdom…" We don't need to accept confusion or bewilderment when wisdom has been stored up for our benefit.

Verse 7b: "He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;" People often complain about attacks and intrusions into their lives. We sometimes fall into snares that look like imbalanced alliances, exposure to sin, and misapplied expeditures of time and energy. Wisdom is a shield crafted by God. This shield can provide another layer of divine protection, IF we have the good sense to stay behind it.

God is faithful. But sometimes we are not. 100% of my unwarranted vulnerability results from my failure to access wisdom, and then stand behind the shield provided by the same.

Next Post: Proverbs 2:8-9

The Law of Change

Sunday, February 21, 2010 Bryan Hudson 0 Comments


Matt. 21:28, "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29" 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. [change] 30"Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. [no change] 31"Which of the two did what his father wanted?"  "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Sometimes, people who claim to know God have the most difficulty changing. Why is this? It may be because we presume that our relationship with Him is so profound that we have somehow been elevated to a changeless state. Be careful that you do not start thinking that you don’t have to change. 

Someone once stated “The only constant in life is change.” Like many other common statements in life, when held up to the light of the word of God, this statement is not as obvious as it seems.

When viewed through the lens of the Word of God, change has a significant definition.

The fact is this: There is good change and bad change. There is change that you need and change that you don’t need. There are things the must change and things that must not change. Sometimes change is genuine and sometimes change is staged.

Definition of change verb | Make or become different; make or become a different substance entirely; transform; alter; take or use another instead of; move from one to another; remove (something dirty or faulty) and replace it with another of the same kind; The substitution of one thing for another.

In our text, Jesus shares a parable about two sons. These two sons look amazingly like us and everyday people. I’ll call them Billy and Bob. When asked to go work in the vineyard, Billy said “No,” but later changed his mind and went. Bob said “Yes,” but did not go.

Billy changed and Bob did not.

Why did Billy change his mind? He changed his mind because he recognized that he had a responsibility and an obligation to his father. He respected and loved his father, more than his own unwillingness to work. Billy also recognized that working in the vineyard was a part of his purpose for that season in his life.

Why did Bob say he would go and did not? It was Bob was a lazy liar. Bob represents one of the worse aspects of human nature. Not only does Bob not change, he tries to give the impression that he is faithful and committed. Bob is the kind of person that will waste your time, money and energy because, based on what he said, you prepare for him, but he doesn’t show up.

Jesus uses this parable to admonish His own Jewish people who think there history and heritage somehow gives them an inroad to God ahead of others. The fact is that all people, Jews and Gentiles, people from Christians homes and people who are not from Christians homes, must CHANGE in order to follow God.

In reality, what Billy did was REPENT. We know it because he changed his mind. The word repent literally means to “change one’s mind” and turn and go in another direction.

If you are going to change for the better, you are going to have to do a lot of repenting. I’m not talking about repenting of sin like sinners, but repenting of disobedience, like disciples.

Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

Change occurs when we experience a convergence of three factors:
1)  Our willingness to go in a new way
2)  The light of God’s knowledge
3)  Death of the old way
The Law of Change: Everyone and everything that is short of God’s standard of perfection must change. God’s perfection provides us a firm foundation for change. We continue to grow and change until Jesus returns.
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