The Fourth Tip: Consider People

As girls, we are by nature, relational characters. Our world is primarily centered around our family and friends. Yet, we are often passive and receptive than we are intentional and purposeful in our relationships. We may allow people to drift in and out of our lives. We don’t usually stop to consider why we pursue a certain friendship or neglect another. Emotions and feelings often dictate the way we go about relationships.

Let's ask, "Do our relationships—the time we spend with our family and the friends we pursue—bring glory to God?"

Maybe you’re wondering, “How do I go about evaluating my relationships? What criteria do I use?” Thankfully, once again God’s Word provides clarity. We are exhorted to be intentional. Proverbs 12:26 tells us that: “The righteous should choose his friends carefully” (NKJV). So what kind of friends should we choose? Let’s briefly fly over Scripture to discover which friends (in addition to family, of course) should be on our list.

Note: All the following tips and descriptions were collected from the book “Shopping for Time.”

1. Friends who sharpen.
Our idea of a first-rate friend might be someone who’s easy to get along with, laughs at the same movie lines, shares our opinions on fashion and food, can finish our sentences, sticks by us in the rough going, and is free to hang out on a Friday night. Those are all great things, but in Scripture there is a friend quality of much greater value. Actually, it’s one we can’t afford to do without. The best kind of friend, according to Proverbs 27:17, is one who sharpens us as “iron sharpens iron” (NKJV). We need to have at least one—and preferably many—friends who inspire us to serve, provoke us to love, help us grow in godliness, correct us, strengthen our faith, and spur us on to passion for the Savior. So do any “sharpening” friends appear on your friends list? If not, we need to find some—and fast!

2. Friends who mentor.
As young women, we should ask ourselves: “Do I have a friend from whom I am learning some aspect of biblical womanhood?” If you have a godly mom, she’s to be your mentor. For the rest of us younger women, lets ask a mature woman in our church to teach us what she know about caring for the home, or glorifying God in the workplace, or walking in purity. A friend who mentors us deserves a prominent spot on our relationship list. Read through Titus 2:3-5 to get a better understanding

3. Friends who need friends.
It’s so easy, isn’t it, to get comfortable with our close friends, the gang, the group—dare we say it, the clique? While long time friends are a significant blessing from the Lord, we are also called to reach out to the new person. “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” exhorts Hebrews 13:1-2. Remember what it was like when you were new? To see other women chatting excitedly and to have no one to talk to? So let’s take a look around us: “Who is one new friend I should add to my list? And how can I reach out to her?”

4. Friends who need Salvation.
One of the ways we can make the best use of our time is by wise conduct around unbelievers. Often it is very easy for us to get consumed by our school, our work, or our responsibilities at home that we neglect the responsibility of evangelism. “Walk in wisdom toward others, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:5-6)

The Third Tip: Sit and Plan

Have you ever sat down and listed out your priorities? In this chapter from the book “Shopping for Time” the ladies offer some biblical counsel on the order our priorities should be set. Although your list may look slightly different, it’s important that your priorities come from God’s Word and not personal preferences. We should all have similar priorities stemming from our identity as Christian women, even though we may use other words of categories to describe them. As you walk through each season of life, there may be a few that you won’t be able to give as much attention to. What’s great about high school and single years is that (most of the time) we have more freedom to do some of the things I’m going to mention. When I say freedom, I’m simply talking about not being married or raising children. We are most certainly still to be submissive to our parents and honor their requests in the ways we spend our time.

So, here is the list. Take some time to look over it and think about how you’ve been doing with prioritizing your life.

-Grow in godliness. “While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8)
-Love my family. A woman’s main concern should be to love her family—Even as a young woman. Now is the time to prepare to be a wife and mother (Titus 2:4).
-Serve in the church. “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10)
-Fellowship with Christians. “As we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all our sin.” (1 John 1:7)
-Evangelize non-Christians. “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15)…. “Let each one who has received grace reach one who needs grace” –Steve Whitacre
-Attend to my work. “Work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23)
-Care for my physical health. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Application Questions:

Does my life reflect one of the World? Or am I striving to glorify God in everything I do? Do others see a heart reflecting the love of Christ in me? What is one area God is calling me to grow in godliness?

The Second Tip: Sit Still

“What happens when we sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His voice? First, pause a moment and consider the stunning implication of this question. Because of His death on the cross for our sins, we have the privilege to sit at the feet of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace and to listen to Him (Isaiah 9:6).

As if it weren’t enough to bask in His presence, it is here that we receive grace to make the best use of out time. When we seek God through His Word and prayer, we glean wisdom for walking carefully. We obtain guidance for daily decisions. We find peace in the midst of life’s whirlwind. We are infused with strength to complete our tasks.

Wisdom. Guidance. Peace. Strength. We can’t successfully shop for time without them. And we’ll only find these essentials by sitting at Jesus’ feet. We certainly can’t manufacture them on our own.”

How has your devotional life been looking these days? Is it a joy and delight to sit at the Lord’s feet or do you view devotions as a chore? If you consider devotions as a chore, let me encourage you to ask the Lord to change your heart. If it’s your desire to grow in holiness then I can guarantee that the Lord (can) and will change your heart. The Bible say’s “Ask and you shall receive.” Take some time today to ask the Lord to change your heart!

The First Tip: Rise Early Pt. 2

Although I’m aware that as young ladies you probably don’t have many things to cater to in the morning such as getting up with happy little children (most of the time happy ;), cooking breakfast, getting your hubby’s lunch ready/sending him out the door for work, getting that first load of laundry started, etc. No, these things most likely aren’t taking up your attention in the morning. But, as I have learned and have experienced way too many times, there are many days when the alarm clock starts blaring oh so loudly that I’ll say, “This morning I’m tired so I’ll do my devotions during--------.” And sadly, I’ll get wrapped up into the many tasks a day can bring and completely forget about spending time with the Lord, and let me tell ya, most of the time you can tell by my attitude if I haven’t spent some precious time sitting at the Lord’s feet learning from Him (It’s not a good one!).

So, with that said, I am coming to you as a sister in Christ who has learned the hard way many times. I’m FULLY aware that getting out of bed in the morning is not always fun. Not only have I experienced much refreshment in my soul during my times with the Lord in the morning, but rising early has provided a little extra time to get a few things done that are difficult to do once a busy day is underway. Sometimes I even remember to eat breakfast :).

It takes hard work to get into a normal morning schedule. I have found that waking up at the same time every morning makes it much easier to get up if I’m not waking up at different times. Don’t forget to find an accountability partner to ask you how you’re doing (Mom’s are great!). The shopping for time ladies have once again provided some very helpful tips that I’ve turned to numerous times when it comes to rising early. I hope you find them helpful and be sure to try them out!

1. Set your alarm clock in a strategic location, preferably on the other side of the room from your bed.
2. Set your alarm for the same time every day.
3. Never, never, never hit the snooze button or lie back down to catch a few more winks. The second your alarm clock goes off is the most critical moment in rising early.
4. Proceed directly to the coffee pot or caffeinated drink of choice.
5. Be prepared to feel absolutely miserable for about ten to fifteen minutes. But the misery soon turns into pure gladness as you experience the delight of meeting with God and reap the benefits the rest of the day. Fifteen minutes of misery is certainly worth fifteen-plus hours of peace and productivity.
6. Remember, that our bodies eventually respond to a standard wake-up time. In other words, it gets easier.

The First Tip: Rise Early Pt. 1

Rising early is one of the most crucial things when it comes to time management. Why, you ask? Well, when we rise early time is provided to do things that you normally can’t do during the busyness of our days. Spending time with the Lord first thing in the morning helps us start our days off with our minds indulged in the word and our souls refreshed. Maybe you’re thinking “But why do I have to get up early to meet with God? What’s wrong with the afternoon or evening?”

The Shopping for Time writers answer this question:

They say, “Nothing. There is no law in the Bible that dictates when to have a quiet time. In fact, we are to meditate on God’s word day and night! However, there is biblical encouragement for rising early to seek the Savior. Consider the Psalmist who his prayer in the morning and then watches for an answer (Ps. 5:3). The Proverbs 31 woman is famous for rising “while it is yet night.” Finally, and most notably, Jesus Himself rose early to pray. Mark 1:35 records, “Rising early in the morning while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed’”

John Piper offers this advice, “I earnestly recommend that it be in the morning, unless there are some extenuating circumstances. Entering the day without a serious meeting with God, over his word and in prayer, is like entering the battle without tending to your weapons. The human heart does not replenish itself with sleep. The body does, but not the heart…We replenish our hearts not with sleep, but with the word of God and prayer.”

By rising early we can secure much needed refreshment for our souls.

Tomorrow we’ll cover pt. 2 on the importance of rising early.

"Because the Days Are Evil"

“Every day we relate to a world full of sinners, each with their own unique temptations. Not to mention the reality of Satan’s attacks. But in truth we look no further than our very own hearts wherein sin still wages war. We live in a fallen world. In fact Matthew 6 reminds us that each day brings its own set of troubles. We are continually exposed to evil. Therefore, it is imperative that we choose only the best opportunities each season has to offer, because we never know what trouble is waiting for us today—or tomorrow. The reality of evil is not to produce fear but rather to inspire carefulness. It is to provoke us to live wisely—to encourage us to buy up the best deals in each and every season.”

So there you have it. Ephesians 5:15-16 offers us some wise counsel about how we should walk and what we should "look out" for. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin to go through the five wonderful tips on becoming wise shoppers of time provided by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters.

Stay tuned for…

1. Rise Early
2. Sit Still
3. Sit and plan
4. Consider people
5. Plan to depend

A Time for Every Season

“Think back five years ago. Wasn’t your life different from the way it is now? Maybe you weren’t even a Christian at that time? Even if you don’t feel as if your life is dramatically different, change has occurred. You’ve probably walked through relational changes, experienced physical changes, learned new skills, or developed new interests. Undoubtedly your life is different then the way it was five years ago. And the same will be true five years from now. That’s because our lives are made up of changing seasons.

Ecclesiastes 3:1- “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

New seasons will be rolling in for the rest of our lives—each with their own unique joys and challenges. In fact, just about the time we adjust to our present season, it’s time to bring on a new one.

We must understand the reality of our changing seasons if we want to “look carefully how we walk” and “make the best use of our time,” for the best deals vary from season to season. Last year’s great bargain might be this year’s foolish purchase. And while we must walk with open eyes and make wise choices in each season, our comfort is this—God orders the seasons of our lives. Even the most difficult ones.”

Look Carefully How You Walk

Before we dive into the five tips on time management, I would like to spend a couple days studying the verse out of Ephesians that tells us how to become wise shoppers of time….Once again I am pulling a lot of helpful incite out of the book, “Shopping for Time.” If you haven’t had a chance to read this book, I highly recommend it! It isn’t just for your mom or older sister to read. It applies to you as well and you’ll be glad you read it!

Ephesians 5:15-16- "Look carefully then how you walk, not at unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.”

First, let’s look at what this verse is commanding of us. “Look carefully” is a very clear and sobering command. This verse is telling us not to run through our days with no routines. We shouldn’t just let life happen and try to deal with the results, as they happen. We should not allow one day to simply flow into the next.

“We must develop keen eyes. We must evaluate our present manner of living and consider how to prepare for the future. We must walk circumspectly (to look around with caution) through each and every day.”

This verse is commanding us to look up and seek guidance from God’s Word. “This is how we are to be intentional, purposeful, and as this verse says, wise in the way we walk. Scripture makes it clear that there is no third option. We are either wise or unwise. Smart or foolish. And of course, none of us wants to be a fool!”

“Making the best use of the time”

The phrase “making the best,” means to “buy up, rescue from loss, or improve” the use of time. “This means choosing not to do a thousand other things. It means saying no to a lot of enticing options. Here’s where it gets tricky. Obviously we don’t want the ‘bad deals’ to keep us from what is truly valuable. We don’t want sinful pursuits to deter us from what is God glorifying. But, it’s often the good things such as a ministry opportunity, a relational pursuit, a money-making venture, a leisure activity, or a hobby that hinder us from making the best choices. It’s frequently these good things that distract us from the best things.”

Shopping for Time

After much prayer and consideration, I would like to start going through five very helpful tips on time management provided from the book, “Shopping for Time” by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters. But first, let’s talk about what it looks like to shop for time.

We don’t often manage the time God has granted us on this earth with the same intentionality or skill that we bring to shopping. Let’s think for a minute:

-Do you plan ahead to maximize your fruitfulness each day, or do you simply let life happen?
-Do you make choices based on scriptures or on what feels good at the moment?
-Do you strategize to use your talents to bless your family and church, or do your employ them for your own personal fulfillment?
-Do you evaluate in light of biblical priorities, or do you do whatever it takes to get ahead?
-Do you consider whom God would have you serve, or do you try to please everyone all the time?

“While we constantly—almost unconsciously– plan, evaluate strategize, and make wise choices when shopping, we often neglect to do so with the most important matters of our lives. As a result we often miss out on the best deals life has to offer and end up paying big time in guilt, anxiety, and a lack of confidence that we’re really doing the will of God.”

Why don’t you take some time to look over and answer the above questions? They were very challenging to me!

Check back tomorrow for more on shopping for time!

Posting will resume on Thursday...Sorry for the delay!

Home-Sweet-Home

Proverbs 14:1- “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.”

Proverbs 24:3-4- “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Proverbs 31:27- “She looks well to the way of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

Titus 2:3-5- “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands so that the word of God may not be reviled.”

Like the instruction in Titus 2 said, women are to teach one another how to take care of their homes. So, if you need help, go get it. Ask for it. Whether that assistance comes from your mom or someone else, seek help in this vital area of being a woman after God’s own heart.

“Let me encourage each of you to embrace your mother’s domestic teaching. Allow her to probe your heart and direct your affection toward the home. And take it one step further. Appoint yourself as your mom’s homemaking assistant. In addition to your assigned chores, be on the lookout for practical ways you can shoulder more of her homemaking responsibilities. In doing so, you will not only receive vital training for your future mission, but you will honor God by expressing your femininity today.” –Carolyn Mahaney

In conclusion, let me leave you with these words from John Angell James:

“My young friends, let your constant aim, and at the same time your earnest prayer, that your may first of all understand your mission, and then fully prepare for it, and hereafter as successfully fulfill it.”

Becoming Keeper's of The Home

“Girls often spend years of intensive study for other professions and yet are completely unprepared to assume the career of homemaking. Young women tend to assume that homemaking doesn’t require any advanced skills or preparation. It’s similar to what a sixth grader might think about a test concerning sixth grade material: What’s there to study? But the truth is that homemaking involves so much more than just cleaning a house. The commands to love, follow, and help a husband, to raise children for the glory of God, and to manage a home encompasses a vast responsibility. Homemaking requires an extremely diverse array of skills—everything from management abilities, to knowledge of health and nutrition, to interior decorating capabilities, to childhood maker, then you must study these subjects and many more. For the majority of you who may be married someday, you will be called to support a husband and together to lead and train your children in godliness. And your home is to be a place from which the gospel goes forth. So homemaking is a career that demands considerable expertise, may encompass decades of our lives, and has the potential to spread the gospel to our families, churches, and communities, and future generations. Now that’s a career preparing for, wouldn’t you say?” -Carolyn Mahaney

Girls, now is the time to take action! Learning to become a keeper of the home will not happen over night. So let’s consider some ways we can:

1. Ask your mom to help you. In fact, there is instruction in scripture out of Titus 2 that older women (your mom) are to train up the younger women (us), and our job as daughters is to receive their training and apply it to our lives.

2. Ask how you can help your mom? What are things she’s needing help with around the house (apart from your normal household chores)? Dinner prep, vacuuming, dusting, laundry? Help with your little siblings? Ask her if you can take on more tasks around the house! Don’t wait for her to ask you! Does she constantly have to be on your case about the state of your bedroom? If so, let me encourage you to plan some time every day to tidy it up! Over many years it has become a joy to help my mom with daily tasks. Anything from cooking with her to organizing/decorating an entire room. These are wonderful times to talk about anything!

Of course it is not wrong to study for another career, in addition to preparing for homemaking. However, the point is that we must not pursue another career to the neglect of training to be a homemaker. God has called us to be keepers of the home.