don't waste your time: schedule it! - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

Today we're in a race, and our opponent is TIME - we are in a race against time. From the time you get up in the morning until the time you go to bed, it's either wasting time or redeeming the time. We do or don't do so many things and some of the things we do or don't do are a complete waste of time. There's a saying that's very common in England especially among the young ones, I Can't Be Bothered! When it's time to do something, many times our attitude towards it is, I Can't Be Bothered! I'll do it later! Procrastinating... postponing... delaying... do it later or tomorrow...

I am also a failure at redeeming the time. Most of my prayers either at the end of the day or early in the morning are, Lord, forgive me for wasting my time! Forgive me for wasting Your time! I love You, Lord, and I thank You for Your patience - and everything You gave me... but Lord, save me today from wasting my time! Save me from wasting Your time! ... - time and time again I repent for this, for wasting time... This doesn't mean that I "do nothing" or "do meaningless things", but that there's so much time that I just waste! And this brings me to,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Don't Waste Your Time: schedule it!

Let me put it this way: if you work with your boss in the same room, and he keeps an eye on you, or your manager checks in with you every once in a while... and then one day the manager is not in, would you still work / do the things you need to do in the same way, at the same speed, with the same diligence as if  the manager were there? That's the question I asked myself yesterday, and today when my manager was not in, I had to put it in practice! That's why I was praying even more today, Lord, save me from wasting time today! I give my work day to You! Lord, keep me focused! Be my diligence!

Again I say, this doesn't mean that I just do nothing when the manager is not there, but there's a temptation to chill a bit, to take things easy, to slow things down, to postpone some things, to have extended breaks... - there's a side of us that we don't discover or know we have until we're put in a special situation! So today, after having a time with the Lord in the morning, I got to this conclusion - DON'T WASTE TIME - SCHEDULE IT! So many things to take care of, so many customers, so many issues, website, blogs, products, updates, calls, orders, etc... Touching the Lord in the morning and consecrating the whole day to Him really helps - He keeps you going at it and being diligent, you just "co-operate" with His inner operating!

It is the same with our spiritual life. I was listening to the latest podcast at AgeTurners.com, the one concerning Scheduling our Time(1), and brother Ricky was sharing about the same thing. We may be touched by the Lord in the meetings, in the Poland camp, at the Students Training, or at other conferences / trainings / summer or winter schools, etc. We may consecrate ourselves to the Lord, and the Lord may touch us concerning having a time with Him in the morning, reading the Bible, being in the middle of the church life, preaching the gospel, having a companion, etc. But then school / work comes - and the school is indeed upon us now, at least for those in the high school, and the university starts pretty soon also - where things pile up, other people / things / schedules / meetings / classes demand for our attention!

It's time to STOP WASTING OUR TIME and start SCHEDULING OUR TIME! A very practical way to practice the things that the Lord has touched us with - and at the same time a good way to do anything worthwhile which can become a good habit - is to schedule that time into our daily routine! If we don't schedule the life practices it happens the same as when we don't schedule a time to study for school! You don't schedule it, you waste your time and don't do it! So I enjoyed these practical points concerning Scheduling the Life Practices daily:

• schedule a time early in the morning to spend with the Lord! Yes, we all want to spend time with the Lord, but SCHEDULE this time - the length of the time doesn't matter, the creating of the habit of touching Him first thing in the morning does! For this, you may need to go to bed a bit earlier so that you may have 5-10 time with the Lord in the morning!
• Schedule a time to read the Word of God! Put into your daily schedule a slot when you just Read The Bible! Get on the schedule - see www.readhisword.com for more info - and even get a companion to check up on you and to pursue with! 1 chapter of the Old Testament and 1 chapter of the New Testament is not much - but the reading time needs to be scheduled.
• Schedule a time for the gospel - if you can't go on the gospel weekly, at least pray with a companion for your friends and colleagues / workmates, and then set a time to speak to them! Don't leave it "when the Lord speaks to me and inspires me" - schedule a time to pray with your companion for your friends!
• Schedule your church life - don't go only to the young people's meetings / student meetings and the Table Meeting(which are VERY important for us), but also schedule to go to the prayer meeting! What about a service meeting - where you can serve practically with the saints, or serve with the younger ones / the children! Schedule it at least once a month to do this.

Time goes by ANYWAYS, so why not make use of it and redeeming it(Eph. 5:12) - by practically Scheduling our time?!? Don't "overschedule" by putting all these into your daily routine and then giving up after the first week. But pray and fellowship with the Lord about all these, and schedule them one by one! Start with the morning time, then the daily reading of the Word, then the gospel time, then the church life... If we schedule the life practices with the Lord and we fellowship with our companions, this will eventually have a beneficial impact on our studies, our work life, our relationships, etc. 

.... So even at work, when my boss is not around, I can still schedule the things I need to do, the main items I need to take care of, etc(it works, and it's effective!). And then after work / school / uni - don't just "let it be how it goes", don't just "chill", but slot in the reading of the Bible, the reading of the ministry, spiritual books, the exercise, meeting with the saints, spending time with the Lord, taking care of your finances, cleaning, sports, etc. Even writing on the blog - for the Lord and with the Lord - can be a "life practice". I need to learn to redeem the time - by scheduling it! Lord, save me from wasting my time and Your time!

Treasuring the Morning Revival Time with the Lord - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

This particular matter is in no way "special" or particular for a normal believer in Christ, since every morning, a normal Christian wakes up a bit earlier to spend time with the Lord! Right? O Lord Jesus, make us this kind of normal believers! This really should be normal - the first thing in the morning to contact the Lord, spend time with Him, enjoy Him, read the Word, pray to the Lord, pray over the Word... - just open to Him to enjoy Him!

It has become something of a habit to me - going through the training in FTTL (which I warmly recommend everyone!), then being in the church life, working, having responsibilities, serving with the young people and with the students, serving in the church life, being in the brothers' house - to have morning revival every morning. I treasure the Holy Word for Morning Revival and we recently went through The Crucial Elements of the Bible, the Central Line of the Bible, the Crystallization-Study of Isaiah, and now we are in the Crystallization-Study of the Psalms. Wow, every morning praying over the verses in the Bible - even while dressing up, brushing my teeth, cleaning, fixing a small breakfast, or... on the way to the bus! This brings me to today's topic of,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Treasuring the Morning Revival with the Lord

As I was saying before, by the Lord's mercy and NOT from myself, somehow every morning I have a time with the Lord(it has been built up in the past 10 years!) - and I treasure it! Why bring it up now today? Well... last week we were in, The Excellency of Christ(as seen in Psalms 8), and this week we're getting into Psalms 15 and 16, so this morning I was excited about it: YES, a new week, a new topic, new Psalms....

BUT - there's always a BUT, right? - I don't know how this happened, but I realized that I need to do two important and urgent things before I left for work! Many times things happen - urgent things, important things, things that demand our attention - right when it's time to have morning revival! Most mornings you feel fresh and ready - especially after breakfast or after shower, but when you come to have morning revival, it's almost as if you're either too tired to do it, or too busy to do it. It's late, so you need to get going with the day - get a "fast food morning revival": a "doughnut pray-reading of the Word" and a "sip of reading the morning revival", "wiping our mouth with an Amen, Lord!" then run off to the things of the day!

O Lord Jesus... why do we need to have morning revival? Why do we need to be revived every morning? Or, to quote many young people I am around, Why do I HAVE TO have morning revival? When you're on your own, setting some time aside in the morning to wake up a bit earlier and spend time with the Lord - you pay a price you pay to meet your Beloved Lord Jesus! The Lord is so real, fresh, and living in the morning for you to touch Him! His mercies are new, and His compassions never fail(Lam. 3:22-23)! The Word of God which we read and pray over in the morning is a source of supply for the whole day! The portions in the Word and in the ministry which we enjoy in the morning time are being deposited into us and become a constant supply for the day, the week, and for our whole life.

And it's all because we PAY THE PRICE to wake up a bit earlier to spend time with the Lord. Or maybe on the way to the bus stop to go to school / work, you call on the name of the Lord + on the bus you read some verses / the morning revival. Or while you're on the tube as a small sardine compacted with the others around you - they read the newspapers or listen to music, but you inwardly call and outwardly read and re-read the Word / the morning revival. Or maybe you go for a walk or a run, and you open to the Lord, converse with Him, take some verses and muse + pray over, digesting them and chewing on them.

Or maybe... - it's up to you: you can experiment, try, and invent your own way in your own time, your own schedule, to touch the Lord! It is so important to touch the Lord first thing in the morning that you will treasure your time with Him more than your apportioned food! Yes, you're physically hungry, but you're more hungry and more eager to enjoy the Lord than to have some breakfast! Or maybe you have the morning revival / the Bible right by the cereal bowl / "the full English Breakfast" / your breakfast dish, and as you eat(physically), you really eat(spiritually)!

Coming back to this morning, even though usually I set aside 20-25 minutes of pray-reading the Word, musing on it, reading the portions, reading them again, praying over the main points, reading the outline, etc - however the Lord guides me - this morning I only had 5-10 minutes with the Lord! I was distracted - I took care of "those two urgent things", and time was up - I had to go to work! Then I realized - I need MORE of the Lord! Ooooo.... I need more of Christ! More FOOD! More of the Word! So on my way to work I continued to pray over the Word... at work I re-read the portion really quick... and something really precious came out -

Who may sojourn in God’s tent? Who may dwell with God on His holy mountain? Only Christ is qualified!

How precious it is that we can have a time with the Lord in the morning! I am learning every day to treasure my time with Him. Maybe even wake up earlier, spend more quality time with the Lord. Don't wait for inspiration, and don't wait even to "go to your desk to the morning revival book or the Bible" - start with the shower! Call on the Lord's name in the shower, ask Him to cleanse you with His blood and wash you in His Word just as the shower washes away anything of the old.... As you brush your teeth, why not muse on and pray within, Lord, what about my speaking? Sanctify and purify my speaking to others! You need to wash your hands - Lord, cleanse my doings and my deeds, sanctify my living! ... - there are so many little things you need to do in the morning, and you can enjoy the Lord / pray / do them with the Lord! O, Lord, our time with You in the morning!

Wearing my, Christians On Campus T-shirt Today - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

This may not mean much to some people, and it is definitely not "an item of the faith" or something that everyone should practice or else.... No, this is just my recent experience with this. The United Kingdom, and Western Europe in general, is not just in "open rebellion against God", but many people hate everything that is Christian while at the same time they declare themselves to be atheists.

If you try to talk to someone on the street about the Lord, you get looked at, rejected, talked back despisingly, ridiculed, and even hated. The Muslims have more effect or impact on the society than Christianity. Someone from the USA recently, after going out with the saints to speak to people about the Lord, asked, "WHY are people here so rude? If you don't want to hear about this, just say NO THANKS, but don't be so RUDE!" People are not afraid to show their real feeling towards God / Christians...

What I have been impressed with while being in Western Europe / the UK, among other things, is that people don't feel shy to express themselves, to express how they feel, even if this means being almost naked, staying up late on streets, drinking, putting on a lot of make-up, trying to copy all the latest fashion or pop stars, having lots of tatooes or piercings, etc. One of the main things they do is they WEAR stuff - some wear simple stuff, others more bright colours, some classy, while others wear all kinds of T-shirts with all kinds of inscriptions / slogans. Sometimes just by reading what those T-shirts are saying you are defiled and filled with death - and young people wear them, recommend them, and boast with them! This is why I'm now coming to,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Wearing my Christians On Campus T-Shirt!

Christians On Campus at UC Berkeley -
similar to the T-shirt I wore today 

I walk about in London, travelling to work, to meet saints, visiting, sight-seeing, etc, but I very rarely see anyone wearing anything that has a "Christian message / text" on it. Rather, the heavy metal, skull bones, rock inscriptions, and all kinds of dark and weird writings can be seen on people that look relatively normal. Just like Lot(2 Pet. 2:8, For that righteous man, who settled down among them, in seeing and hearing tormented his righteous soul day after day with their lawless works), my spirit has no rest, and you are stirred up within...

The only ones that wear something related to God are either pastors, evangelists, street-preachers, ... and they are mainly older ones. If they are young and wearing something Christian-related, it is so "cool" and complex that you "have to think about it"... - there's no life, divine life, that you receive from reading something like that....

Even us as lovers of the Lord many times have no problem wearing what's sold "on Oxford Street" in Next, Topshop, Accessorize, Burton, Halfords, JJB sports, JD Sports, House of Fraser, French Connection, Topman, Uniqlo, Gap, Banana Republic, Primark, etc, - even in the meetings! So when I went to the gym these past few months I gladly wore my Poland Camp T-shirts - The Birthright, The Nazarites, the Testimony of Jesus, The Spirit, And The Rock Was Christ, etc. Though it's just a "piece of clothing", I felt like it sanctified me, separated me, and kept me.... People would look at me, some trying to read the writing, some were curious what's written / what's that, while others turning their head from me... but I believe there's something of the Word that's infused!

Actually this week I was wearing The Testimony of Jesus Poland camp T-shirt and someone approached me and said, Nice T-Shirt! After I conversed with him it turns out he's a brother and he's looking for fellowship with believers - since he has a hectic schedule at work! I have been praying and I am praying + enjoying the Lord at the gym, and may the Lord continue to sanctify the environment we're in even in this way! We don't know who is seeking, but we can be a testimony! I'm looking forward to meet this brother soon!

But today as I went to the brothers mtg I wore my Christians on Campus T-shirt(I received it as a gift, Christians on Campus at the University of Oklahoma), and I really really felt people looking at me. Who would wear a T-shirt with the word Christians on it? I felt the people stare at me as I was walking, but this only encouraged me to pray and continue enjoying the Lord. Even in this simple way, wearing something with the Word of God inscribed on it, we can preach the gospel! I may not have the courage to go speak to a stranger on the street, but I can wear something that gives him Christ! If someone is hungry, he knows where to go and get some real spiritual food! I would feel people's looks and pray for them as I was walking...

Again I say, this is not to "promote" this, even though it would be good - as the brothers have advised in some conferences - to have some T-shirts or jackets / jumpers with "O Lord Jesus!" or "Taste and see that the Lord is good", or another call to salvation and drinking... But I realized that even what I wear can preach the gospel, or at least can be an entrance to the gospel! Yes, people will stare at you, but some also will look and smile approvingly - this is how you know where the believers are! And if there are seeking ones, they will come to you - or you will see them being ready to talk to you!

Praise the Lord for the Christians on the campus! Praise the Lord for the Poland camp and the T-shirts we receive there! Praise the Lord for all the saints who are consecrated to the Lord and know how to and can design some clothing / inscriptions on clothing - with God's economy! There are so many who wear the "SUPERDRY" stuff (what is THAT all about?) but WHO wears something that tells people about God's economy? How will people hear or see or know about God becoming a man? How will man know that he needs to repent? ... This is why I love this series of Students Testimonies, Christian Students on Campus facebook fan pages / web pages collection, or Christians with a blog online - compilation of links. If we don't speak, WHO will speak?

.... Lord, what about the things I wear? Lord, make my living the preaching of the gospel, expressing You even without words! Make us living testimonies, Lord, and sanctify the things we wear! Save us from wearing what the world wears - save us from BEING like them even in this! O LORD! We open to You even in this matter...

going shopping with the Lord - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

I hope this blog doesn't become something "cheesy" or worse, a "bragging about what I do". It's not about WHAT I do or we do, it's about - in case you didn't notice - involving the Lord Jesus, the living Person within us, in everything we are and we do! The truth is that the Lord is a living person, and a Christian is one who not just "believes in God", but one who lives in an organic union with the Lord, consulting Him in everything. The Apostle Paul even said that it wasn't him who was living anymore but Christ living in him(Gal. 2:20). Christ is in us, Christ lives in us, and we live with Christ - we even live Christ. ... or at least we learn to!

It's such a privilege to converse with the Lord, turn to Him, and go about your daily life doing things here and there, meeting people and talking to them, and at the same time be one with the Lord! In the previous posts I was describing how I realized that I can take a nice walk, we can enjoy the Lord at the Table Meeting, we can go to the gym, we can go through the Bible and read it according to a schedule, we can provide proper customer service, redeem the time at lunch, update our phone contacts, leave the carnival, play football with the brothers, and get some rest - TOGETHER WITH THE LORD! Yes, you can do all these in yourself, with your friends / family, etc, but you can be One With The Lord in this! So....

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Going Shopping With The Lord!

For some people shopping is something they hate, and for others is something they are addicted to(or even therapeutic for them!). No matter in which camp you are, you NEED to do some shopping - at least for the basic things you need like food, drink, hygiene stuff, clothes, etc.... Sometimes you just DON'T HAVE MONEY, and so whether you would like to or not like to, you can't really go shopping (unless you do some window shopping and basically desiring the things on the display... - which is not that good). But once you get some money, unless you are a strong-willed person, it is so easy to just spend....(or at least that's just me).

When I was in Romania I used to earn my own money - when I started working and taking care of myself - I used them mainly for the basic needs, and the rest were for the church life, the saints, and... not much left actually. In the UK though, and in the Western Europe / USA / Modern Countries - with no reference to how much or little I earn right now - almost every salary can allow you to live a decent life and even think of more commodities or things you don't really need for your day-to-day living, but are "auxiliary", extra things. These things can become something that occupy you and enslave you, taking your time...

Anyways, coming back to shopping - I went shopping today, since I have built up a small shopping list already... and I was praying on the way, Lord, You know me! You know that "I think I need this and that" and I buy things which I eventually don't need or use! O, Lord, be with me! ... I had to buy two specific kinds of things: food and some pieces of clothing. I started with the clothing and as I was walking in the Marks and Spencer and looking at these new modern sweaters, shirts, trousers, jumpers, jackets... even though I knew I had what I need, there was a thought, What if you just get this one? You may need it later! You never know... and the one you have is a bit "old", it doesn't look as nice as this one!

I have to admit, both in the clothes department and in the food store I had to spend some time walking around and contacting the Lord! O Lord, I don't know myself and I'm afraid of myself - what decisions I may take and what things I may buy APART from You! I need You, Lord! You tell me, is this particular item what I need? .... Guess what, there was no "voice from heaven" talking to me or telling me to get this or not get that... but there was a sense of peace and life within! It's so small, so tender, that even putting something in the shopping basket can quench it...

I am learning. I want to learn this. I mostly fail, and I mainly learn - hopefully - through lots of failures and mistakes. But it all starts with my being - personally, in my private time with the Lord, on my own, where no one can see me or know what I'm doing. There and then, I need to turn to the Lord and build up a habit of contacting Him in everything. I want to build up this habit to such an extent that "I don't even need to ask Him - I just KNOW" because of the sense of life and peace within! It starts in my personal time and it goes on in the things I do - since what I do is an expression of what I am! In everything, everywhere, with whomever is there, and in any situation...

The real meaning of the things we do or we go through is not just accomplishing something or gaining something, but doing everything in oneness with the Lord. Having His smile while sleeping, waking up, taking a shower, brushing our teeth, having breakfast or skipping breakfast, at work, at school, with the workmates or the classmates, on our own, at lunch time, in our free time, in our busy schedule - we want His Smile! When the Lord within us is happy, we are happy! When we have LIFE and PEACE, we REALLY LIVE! We need to fight for this - watch for this - so that we may remain in this sweet touch with the Lord... - even until He comes!