THE RIGHT TIME

John 7:6-8 – “Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”

 

Even though Jesus knew that He was already well equipped for His earthly mission, He said to His mother and brothers, “My time is not yet come” (John 2:4; 7:6). Assume Jesus was forced to go there, what would be our faith today? (John 7:2-9) His opponents planned to get rid of Him, but He knew that they could not touch Him as long as He followed the direction of the Spirit of God within Him. Assume Jesus was rushed by the emergency of others to turn water to wine – it would not have been possible for Him; He never acted outside the Father’s will. When Jesus was arrested and betrayed by Judas, He did not fight back but rather submitted to the will of the Father and said, ‘If it was not God’s time, you could not arrest Me.’ (Matthew 26) When it was time for Him to die for our sins, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your son…” (John 17:1).

 

This means there are two times – God’s time and man’s time. Which of these controls you?

When you are controlled by the power on the outside, you will looking to others for direction. If you are led by human nature, any time can be the right time.

 

·      If it is not God’s appointed time to be rich, and you get rich without God’s processing, that money will attract challenges that you will not be able to cope with, and it will become a burden to you.

·      If it is not God’s time to achieve something but you are led by personal ambition, that seeming success may soon turn to failure if you cannot manage it. Ambition does not wait for God’s time; vision does.

·      When it is not the right time for you to marry, you can make a costly mistake because the right time brings the right person.

 

 What a blessing to live a life arranged by God, because there is truly an appointed time for everything that has to do with us. It takes vision, patience, and character of God to wait for God’s appointed time.

 

GOD FIRST

18 April 2024

“Let’s take a lesson from David who was ready to be humiliated in his own eyes, so that God could be honoured. Ask yourself: Where does honouring God appear in your list of priorities? Do you thank Him for all that He has done in your life, all the way long? While men look at the outside, God looks at the motives of the heart. Instead of worrying about the opinion of others concerning you, let the motive of your heart each day be to honour God before yourself.”

THE SACRIFICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

6 April 2024

“There is no time to do what is right. We must set our heart to obey the Word of God, all the time. God’s kind of lifestyle calls us to do what is right in the sight of God at all times, even though it is contrary to what we naturally want to do. Choosing to do what is right is a great test to the flesh.

What is the sacrifice of righteousness? Choosing to do God’s will rather than our own. When our flesh says hate, God says love. It takes sacrificial love to love your enemy and to pray for them. These are the weapons of righteousness. This is the sacrifice that Jesus looks at and rewards. Even though that might not be a grand, or outward sacrifice, it is what Jesus values.”

LIFE ANEW

1 April 2024

“When we talk of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are talking of the rare opportunity He has given to all believers to experience a new beginning – a situation in which every dead area of our lives receives life anew.

We are dead to our past and alive to our future. Sin’s power over us is broken and we now put on Christ’s new life: we live in Him, move in Him and have our being in Him. Herein lies the significance of resurrection.”