The “NOW” Train!
The “NOW” Train…
Life Has NOT Stopped!
Just because you are a parent in full swing of “parenting” ….LIFE has NOT stopped for you!
Just because you are a single parent playing two roles of parenting and working to provide….LIFE has NOT stopped for you!
Just because you are a grand-parent now helping to raise your children’s kids….LIFE has NOT stopped for you!
Just because you are a care-giver to an elderly parent and it is consuming….LIFE has NOT stopped for you!
Just because you are a parent to a disabled spouse or child trying to make ends meet….LIFE has NOT stopped for you!
LISTEN….LIFE has NOT STOPPED Beloved….the question is then, are you going to get on the “NOW TRAIN”?
Like the Polar Express….it came when Christmas came and Christmas always comes!
SO DOES LIFE!
And…so does the “NOW”!
IF you spend your days pining over what might have been while doing what you have to do…then you miss the here and now! You beloved….are not “being in the moment” and definitely NOT on the “NOW” train!
The “NOW” train comes every moment of every single day that you are alive…so, are you still “standing at the station”? OR watching in some field at a distance?
Our Heavenly Father is the “NOW” God! HE IS! HE always has been and always will …..BE! The “key” word is BE! HE is called the Great I AM! NOT the great might be!
We being made in HIS image are called to be “NOW” people too!
ONE of the major keys to not “straying” in our hearts (mind, will and emotions) is to be in the NOW time….today, not yesterday or tomorrow… listen to this: Hebrews 3:7-15 AMPC
“7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as [happened] in the rebellion [of Israel] and their provocation and embitterment [of Me] in the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tried [My patience] and tested [My forbearance] and found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years.
10 And so I was provoked (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them.
11 Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest.
12 [Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God.
13 But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamor of his sin may play on him].
14 For we [c]have become fellows with Christ (the Messiah) and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation [in virtue of which we are believers] firm and unshaken to the end.
15 Then while it is [still] called Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [in the desert, when the people provoked and irritated and embittered God against them].”
What happens is we get caught up in the “cares of life” by “DOING” the things we must do while in the current situation or assignment we are in…but isn’t that the point…you may ask?
Yes…AND no!
Be faithful and do what you do as unto the LORD “23 Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men…” Colossians 3:23 AMP Indeed this IS the “way” we do it….however, to be “caught up” in the “cares of life” is to be so immersed you miss the “NOW” time!
This is a place of “learning to walk” the walk! The journey, where the “rubber meets the road” so to speak!
It is a place of “learning balance” why? Because the LORD is not asking that we stop “doing” life! And DOING life always includes Him and HE has plans FOR each one of us to give us a hope and future and not for our harm or destruction! Does that sound like a GOD who would press you down into mundane depressing circumstances without a “way out” of that depression or oppression? NO!!! IF we learn to “BE” by getting on the NOW TRAIN…we can …hold on…DO BOTH!
WHAT? Jesus, our primary example did! How do I know? He didn’t come to BE served but to serve an exemplified it throughout His earthly life and even to make sure the disciples which does include us who would read the BIBLE someday…HE did an extraordinary act by washing the disciples feet to emphasize what all HE had done by what HE was “DOING”! See John 13:3-17.
“28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 (see Mark 10:45 as well).
If we are “called” we choose to be “chosen” …few are “chosen” because few really “get this” whole concept of the “NOW” train!
Most of us believe that the “serving” part is all we do and that is only a portion of it. If we study and look at the life of JESUS while on earth, HE spent a lot of time with His Heavenly Father …alone! HE CHOSE to get off by Himself even when His life was consumed with leading, teaching, protecting, guiding and providing for His disciples not to mention the ministry aspect of healing/deliverance/ and preaching the “gospel” …meaning GOOD news! HE had a mission, an assignment and responsibilities even learned a trade while HE lived on earth!
OH but HE was/is the Son of God…yep indeed and guess what? YOU ARE TOO if you are a born again believer! Yes! Jesus slept, ate and had bodily functions like we humans He also had supernatural power that is given to each of His followers/disciples ones who have trusted and believed IN Him and received His Holy Spirit into them!
The real issue is that most don’t know it, oh….intellectually they “get it” but not really.
We have been given access to a supernatural ability to do everything we have been given to do! EVERYTHING!
In every aspect of our lives we have to “find the place” where that groove has been cut for us so we can “walk in it”! It is the place that the “NOW” train moves and we must get into it each and every day so we don’t miss life!
We are not called to be “sideline Christians” beloved!!! NO!
If we only pause each day and just shut up and listen, quieten our own souls (minds, wills and emotions) to listen to HIM…we WILL hear Him! THIS is where learning to prioritize comes in. WE have to understand the importance of this beloved ones.
IT may mean for a season you have to get up WAY earlier which means getting to bed sooner! OR could mean staying up later and perhaps taking a nap in the day sometimes.
IF we don’t take care of our souls AND our bodies…then the temple Holy Spirit lives in is not so “holy” is it? NO! Holy means…set apart!
NOT common…we CAN live with pure hearts (minds, wills and emotions) and I have found that when I leave off certain things in my day and take time for HIM that somehow, like money that appears from nowhere just when I need it…so does time stretch out!
HE …..commands time! STOP limiting Him beloved because it hurts YOU!
Take back your life by not giving it away to useless things! Make the most of the time you have!
Where is this in the Word? Here ya go…
“16 making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.” Ephesians 5:16
Let’s look at that in more detail Ephesians 5:1-21 because it speaks of the entire course of action.
“5 Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]; 2 and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance. 3 But sexual immorality and all [moral] impurity [indecent, offensive behavior] or greed must not even be hinted at among you, as is proper among saints [for as believers our way of life, whether in public or in private, reflects the validity of our faith]. 4 Let there be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse [obscene or vulgar] joking, because such things are not appropriate [for believers]; but instead speak of your thankfulness [to God]. 5 For be sure of this: no immoral, impure, or greedy person—for that one is [in effect] an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God [for such a person places a higher value on something other than God].
6 Let no one deceive you with empty arguments [that encourage you to sin], for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience [those who habitually sin]. 7 So do not participate or even associate with them [in the rebelliousness of sin]. 8 For once you were darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [live as those who are native-born to the Light] 9 (for the fruit [the effect, the result] of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn [by experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [and letting your lifestyles be examples of what is most acceptable to Him—your behavior expressing gratitude to God for your salvation]. 11 Do not participate in the worthless and unproductive deeds of darkness, but instead expose them [by exemplifying personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character]; 12 for it is disgraceful even to mention the things that such people practice in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light [of God’s precepts], for it is light that makes everything visible. 14 For this reason He says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine [as dawn] upon you and give you light.”
15 Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], 16 making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and constantly guided by Him. 19 Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, [offering praise by] singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Look at verses 17-21 because it is telling us to stop being foolish and thoughtless as in just going about doing “whatever” or even caught up in things that really are not good but “time stealers”! ANYTHING that takes away and doesn’t add too (Godly) is a time stealer. That is called “theft”, WHO is the thief? The devil! If we are aligning with time stealing then that is alignment with darkness and that is in direct alignment with the devil!!
Instead be FILLED with Holy Spirit so that we can be guided by Him! Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is acts of worship to God and it affects our speech, thoughts and actions toward each other! ALWAYS giving thanks to God our Father….this creates a thankful heart and that always attracts the supernatural presence of our Heavenly Father where ANYTHING is possible!
Prioritize your day by asking HOLY SPIRIT to lead you and then sit down make a list if need be (I do, it helps the course of the day even if it doesn’t go exactly as it is written ON the list, it seems to always get done…and if not, don’t sweat it!) Learn to not “sweat the small stuff”! NOT even the “big stuff” because we can walk in the peace and assurance of our Heavenly Father that HE has “got this”!
WE just need to do what we are instructed to do which is DOING life and getting ON the NOW train!
“OH LORD, ‘Deal bountifully with me, That I may live and keep Your word [treasuring it and being guided by it day by day]. Open my eyes [to spiritual truth] so that I may behold wonderful things from Your instructions. Make me understand the way of Your precepts, so that I will meditate (focus my thoughts) on Your wonderful works. Remove from me the way of falsehood and unfaithfulness, and graciously grant me Your law (instructions). I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me. I cling tightly to Your testimonies; O Lord, do not put me to shame! I will run the way of Your commandments [with purpose], For You will give me a heart that is willing. Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, And I will [steadfastly] observe it to the end. Give me understanding [a teachable heart and the ability to learn], that I may keep Your law(instructions); and observe it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to dishonest gain and envy. Turn my eyes away from vanity [all those worldly, meaningless things that distract—let Your priorities be mine], and restore me [with renewed energy] in Your ways.
Establish Your word and confirm Your promise to Your servant, as that which produces [awe-inspired] reverence for You.’ In Jesus mighty name I pray…amen”
(Psalm 119 inspired)
Take this day beloved and pray this prayer with your whole heart in earnest and like a small child reaching up to their parent wanting to be held…reach up and worship Him!
Get on the “NOW” train making the most of the amazing days ahead beloved! NOW means….you are never “too late”!
Many blessings & much love,
Pastor Lori Lynn