Spending Time

Haggai01.04 
“Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?”


Haggai had a message from the LORD challenging the children of Israel not to be so focused on the building of their own homes, but instead spend their time & money on the Temple of the LORD.

Is this true of us today? 

Paul tells us...Ephesians03.17
“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”


If He is dwelling within us, & no more in the Temple, then we should spend more time developing our spiritual walk with Him! We make sure that we have plenty of time watching TV, at work, exercising (well some of us don't!), eating, etc. But we don't spend enough time building our relationship with the One who saved our souls from going to Hell.

NO TIME FOR THE BIBLE? Taken from “Back To The Bible” Woodrow Kroll pp168-169

Not having enough time to read the Bible is ridiculous. Time is a set quantity. It doesn’t increase or decrease because we all have exactly the same amount of time. We all have 60 seconds in every minute, 60 minutes in every hour, 24 hours in every day. Time may fly, but it doesn’t change. How is it then that some people have time to read the Bible, & others don’t?

∙Did you know that you can read about half the books of the Bible in less than 45 minutes each?

∙You can read many of them in less than 20 minutes.

∙It has been demonstrated that you can read the entire Bible, the Old & New Testaments, from Ge01.01∙Re22.21, all 66 books & 1189 chapters, in less than 71 hours. So when was the last time that you read through the Bible?

The issue is not time; the issue is priority. Some people see reading the Bible as a priority in their life, while others don’t. How much time we take to read our Bible depends on how valuable we think that time will be spent. We will only do what we think is necessary. We will spend as much time reading God’s Word as we deem profitable to us personally. If we see the Bible as being of little value, we will place little value on reading it. If we believe it is of great value, then we will spend a lot of time in it.

If you haven't spent time with Him today, can I challenge you to do so now?

Ps63 | Pursuing Hard After God

Psalms63.01-11 
“1 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. 4 So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. 6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, 7 For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. 9 But those who seek my life to destroy it, Will go into the depths of the earth. 10 They will be delivered over to the power of the sword; They will be a prey for foxes. 11 But the king will rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him will glory, For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.”

David wrote this Psalm when he was in the wilderness of Judah. But being pursued by an enemy, exiled in a desert didn't keep David from praising God.

Psalms63.01
"O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry &weary land where there is no water."

The Hebrew word for "earnestly" here is "shachar" which means "to be up early at an task with earnestness". Do we seek God right away & earnestly?

Psalms63.03-06 
“3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. 4 So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. 6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches,”

What to do when God keeps you up all night? Praise Him. Remember all that He has done for you. Instead of staying up all night worrying, Praise Him! Praising God is the natural expression of a heart that meditates on God through the night.


Psalms63.07 
“For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.”

David recognizes that God is & has been his help in this time. He is our protector & under His wings we are safe & we can, even being pursued by an enemy, still sing for joy!


Psalms63.08
"My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me."

The Hebrew word that is used for "clings" is "dabaq" which not only means to "cling or adhere" but it also means "to pursue hard after, to follow close".

We are to pursue hard after God & cling onto Him. Don't let go, for He will never let go of You!