Redeeming the Time

Lord, give me one moment in time, when I’m racing with destiny, and in that moment of time…  I shall see eternity.

Each brief and shining moment is precious.  All I have is this moment, this next step upon the Journey of Life.  Therefore let each step count for God’s eternity.  He has called me to walk moment by moment, step by step for one moment in time.  Each step is a vision of the eternal now to redeem the time in fellowship with Him.

We must keep the vision and the focus of why we’re here, what God has done, and what God is doing.  To remember not who we are but whose we are.

God has called us to make an impact as lights in a world of darkness.

Though the world slowly erodes, spiritual disciplines become ever increasingly important to men of God.  We must deliberately take hold of the freedom that God has given us in Christ to be set free from the bondage of the darkness of the world.

When we give up the struggle against the self, then we are free from the bondage of the sin nature.  Jesus said, “He who looses his life for my sake shall find it.”  To turn to Freedom in Christ, we must turn away from the bondage of self.

Jesus came not to raise the man of the flesh from the dead, rather he came that we may be born anew of the spirit of life in Christ.  He has called his men as His own possession:  He has called us to be a peculiar people, an holy nation, a royal priesthood.

Though we were not worthy in the flesh, his mercy by grace has made us a new man in him.  When we realize whose we are, there is no problem setting our affection on things above, not on things of the flesh.

Jesus came not only as Savior from sin, but also Lord of our lives.  Lord means owner.  It’s not about who we are but whose we are.  My life is no longer my own…   my life is hid with Christ in God.

The devil and the world’s politically correct will tell us that we are not holy…  that we have not been set apart for the purpose intended by the Designer.   The PC Police say that Men of God are not any different from the selfish world of Vanity Faire.  They say that we are intolerant and closed minded and not accepting of that which the World calls politically correct…  that we suffer from an attitude of discrimination.

However, holiness, a.k.a, sanctification starts with discrimination.  It means to separate.  That which separates truth from error is the Word of God.  The world calls good evil and evil good.  Without truth there is no meaning.  In a world of relativism, there is no meaning.  There is only meaning in the Truth.  The Word of God discriminates good from evil.

Jesus’ purpose was not to draw great multitudes and crowds.  Rather, he came to deliver the message and to be the message of Salvation.  He came to call the few to the narrow way through the narrow gate.  He came to call a few good men…  the remnant of this world who would be his disciplined followers…  his peculiar people…   his fishers of men.

Men of God are outliers from the world.  The darker the light the brighter the light shines.  Therefore…  be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Sanctification is separating ourselves from the darkness of the world by walking in the light, by not conforming to the darkness.

We must keep short accounts with God.  He gives us a window of opportunity moment by moment to set his spirit loose:  for it is God which worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure.  He has given us a window, a moment in time to know the power of his resurrection.  The message is to give diligence with urgency to call men from darkness unto light.  God’s hand honors the remnant of believing men of God who stand in the gap against the prevailing culture of this world.

Prayer unleashes the power of God in manifestation.  He has called us to be his emissaries to proclaim the gospel of truth.  Through God’s grace he has commissioned us to be the clarion call, the herald of the Truth of the Word.

He has not  called us to compromise to the culture…  to acquiesce and bow down to the politically correct powers of this world.  We have not been called to appeal to the majority.  Rather he called us to show others the narrow way…  Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

God has called us to redeem the time because the days are evil.  This is the “inconvenient truth” against the culture of the times.  Each moment in time we have a unique moment by moment opportunity to walk in fellowship with our Heavenly Father.

Luke 9.  Jesus said, “whom do ye say that I am?”  Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God.”  The context of this verse is about letting go of the affairs of this world.  It means walking away from the world’s problems by becoming a part of God’s solution…  to admit that of my own power I can do nothing.  To let go is to allow God to work in me to will and to do of His good pleasure…  to become a fearless-living man of faith.  Therefore, let go and let God…  Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee.

God has given us a window of opportunity for each brief and shining moment.  When the race has been run and God has called me home, may my epithet be, “he walked humbly with his Lord along the journey his master prepared for him.”  Not my will, but thine be done…

Your brother in Christ,

Michael

Life’s greatest blessings are often disguised in life’s greatest challenges.  God has a way of getting our attention by shocking us to confront our deep seated prejudices.  These cataclysmic events are often our “moment of truth.”

When the doctors told Travis’ father that his son was born, at that moment in time, he was the world’s proudest father.  This moment, however, was short-lived.  Upon hearing the doctor’s next sentence, “Do you know what Down’s syndrome is?,” he was plunged into the depth of despair.  Since then, Travis’ father has learned the meaning of unconditional love.  Travis was raised in a loving Christian home and has grown to become a godly young man with an irrepressible enthusiasm for life.  Travis’ infectious “joi de vivre” has touched many lives, especially at Angel’s Stadium where he works as a greeter.  Travis has become one of the greatest joys of of his father’s life.

Life’s catastrophes are God’s “come to Jesus” moments…  Come to Jesus, and live.

By God’s divine design, Christianity cannot spread without persecution.  We must be broken by confronting our own ego-centric and “churchianity-centric” position that is diametrically opposed to Christ.  Our flesh cries out against the pain of persecution and, and the “humiliation” of scoffers who ridicule men of God in the public square.  These are the scoffers of the world’s politically correct culture who sit in the seat of the scornful.   Jesus said, “blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven.”

It’s difficult for us to know our own hearts.  The carnal man in the mirror often deceives us.  We must look into the mirror of the Word of God in order to see our true spiritual selves…  Christ in us the hope of Glory.  I have seen the enemy in the flesh, and he is me.

1Peter 1:4 – 7

…  your Father has begotten you to a lively hope…  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perished, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honors and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

 

In life’s cataclysmic moments, my question to God is, “why have you given me this trial, this challenge?”  This is life’s teachable moment when God will break my heart.  Only when my heart is broken, can God intervene to mend my broken heart.  At that moment the Lord’s power to heal is made manifest in my brokenness.

In the midst of the turmoil and confusion of the world, where is the clarity, where is the path of righteousness, how do we align our collective moral compass to true north?

Trials and suffering are inevitable.  The     question is not whether we will be faced with trials, the question is, “how will you respond in the face of the challenge?”

The things of this world are fleeting…  they will take wing and fly away.

However, ye have an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.

 

Therefore set your affection on things above not on things of the earth…  for where your treasure is there will your heart be also.

 

Each day we have a challenge to trust God who has made us a steward over that which he has committed to our keeping.  Therefore, we must keep “a light touch” on the things of this world.  All I have is thine…  take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord to thee.

 

A wise man said that a million wild horses cannot drag me away.  Power must be broken, bridled, trained, harnessed, and controlled to accomplish the master’s purpose.  We, like wild horses, must be broken in order to serve him…  only upon submission, do we allow God to will and to do of his good pleasure in us and through us.

 

Trials are given to develop the fruit of the spirit.  God sends the unloving into our lives to teach us to love unconditionally…  to model his love to others.  In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.

 

In the pain and pressure of trial and tribulation, his purpose, his perfection, is made manifest in our imperfection.  For tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.

 

God’s purpose is to shape us into the image of Christ through trial and tribulation…  through the heat and pressure of conforming to his mold, … we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of The Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even by the spirit of The Lord.

 

Our prayer is not “God deliver me from the storm,” but rather, “God deliver me through the storm.”  My weakness is made perfect in your strength… thy grace is sufficient for me.

 

Jesus called us not for the comfort and convenience of the pleasures of this world.  Rather he called us to endure hardness as a good soldier in service to our Commander in Chief.

 

Through the  heat of the battle and the pain of the trial, God’s men emerge as men of integrity, character and grace.  God is teaching us to suppress our will, our need for praise, prestige, accolades and approbation.  He allows trial and tribulation to allow us to confront humility…  It’s not about me, it’s about Him.  It’s not who we are, but rather, whose we are.

 

God is teaching us to become single minded.  Through the trials, my prayer is, “God what are you teaching me through this?”  In my flesh I can do nothing.  Our joy is in The Lord…  for me to live (in the spirit) is Christ, to die (to the flesh) is gain.

 

Men long for significance.  Significance is meaning.  What’s it all about?  What is the meaning and the significance of life?…  As Shakspeare said, “life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”  As Solomon said, “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”  Vanity is emptiness…  Without God there is no faith, no joy, no hope…  no significance to life.

 

Words are messages that convey meaning and significance.  We are called to be both the messengers and the message.  What is the significance of the message of your life?  What is the meaning of your life?  The meaning and significance of life is our Lord Jesus Christ.  In him we live and move and have our being.  He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”  All things were created by him and for him.  What do you need to discover meaning and significance of this life?   All I need is thee…  Take my life and let it be consecrated.  Jesus Christ is the Word, the message made flesh.  He is the significance, the meaning, the message of life.