May 14, 2005

• Pastor Don’s Friday Bible study.

  
  

  A question was asked: How can the Bible help with concerns of Time Management?

  
  

  This is the classic passage that talks about time management.

  
  

  Luke 10:38-42 (38)”Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. (39)And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. (40)But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’ (41)And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. (42)But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.’”

  
  

  We are all willful and judgemental. This passage does not tell us not to do work, but it does tell us how to do it.

  
  

  How do you establish priorities. Life has more for you to do than you have time to do it.

  
  

  Pastor Don’s father told him, “Your mind will stress you to death.” You have to be careful that your mind doesn’t distract you, you must take your thoughts captive. 2 Cor. 10: 4. You need to make it  a lifestyle to not do anything unles you thought about it and prayed about it. If you don’t take time to take the problems to God, God doesn’t stand a chance to get a word in edgewise. We must give God a chance to help put order in our lives.

  
  

  We usually operate under different levels of distraction.

  
  

  Primary distraction: permit the need to direct the day without consulting the Holy Spirt.

  
  

  Secondary distraction: your mate or someone in the house will set your agenda for the day. And often your spouse will set your agenda without thinking about it or praying about it.

  
  

  Third distracted – You have Bible time, then a phone call or mail comes, and someone else ends up directing your day.

  
  

  God wants us not to be distracted, He wants to put order in our life.

  
  

  When false necessities determine what we do, it leads to emotional imbalance.

  
  

  False priorities.

  
  

  In verse 39 above, Mary sat at Jesus feet and heard His word. Martha decided to cook a big meal and entertain the most popular man in all of Judea. She wanted to do it grandly.

  
  

  Mary felt, He’s here and I want to hear Him.
  Martha felt, He’s here and I want to serve Him.

  
  

  There is nothing wrong with wanting to serve Jesus, but Martha did not ask Jesus what HE wanted. Maybe Jesus would have wanted to visit with Martha and Mary, and have a light snack later. Pastor Don asked us if we have ever travelled a long way to visit a relative, to find out that they had an incredible schedule made up for us. At 3 we go here, 5 we go there, 8 we go here, 9 there is a party for you, 10… etc. When all you wanted to do was to chill out, relax, and visit with your friends.

  
  

  Jesus probably would have wanted both of them sitting and being with Him.

  
  

  Most of us lead our lives on presumption. Most marriages fall apart because of presumption. People think, “If you really loved me you would…….(fill in the blank)”. But they don’t tell the spouse what it is they want or need. Sometimes the spouse does things that they think will please their mate, but the mate has other ideas of what would make them happy.

  
  

  The best thing for a marriage is for both people to talk and list their needs. To do this before they become a problem.

  
  

  Martha made a decision in verse 40. She was DISTRACTED with much serving, serving that no one asked her to do.  Her distraction caused everything to have her attention EXCEPT what was the most important, namely listening to Jesus.

  
  

  When distraction becomes the attraction yo are done.

  
  

  You need to list your priorities or end up at the end of the week more distracted.

  
  

  Pastor Don told us he keeps longterm and daily lists. And he is careful to honor what God told him to do because often life will steal your goals if you let it.

  
  

  Another quote that some have in their offices is: “The lack of planning on your part is not an emergency on my part.”

  
  

  If people do not plan well, they come to a point where they are harried, they feel a sense of emergency, and then they try to make another person come and help them, when the problem is that they did not plan effectively.

  
  

  Jesus was very firm with Martha when Martha said in effect, Jesus don’t you care that I am slaving away, and Mary is lounging at your feet. She was judgemental, directive, presumptuous, and thinking God (Jesus) was not aware of her problem, her sister’s ‘slaking’ , and wants Jesus to do something, basically she wants Him to tell Mary to get up and work too.

  
  

  Verse 41. Jesus tells Martha you are worried about many things, and these things are not important right now.

  
  

  Martha was worried and troubled about things in her own making, and His criticism was not what she wanted to hear. Usually people who are poor time managers drag other people down.

  
  

  We can presume that if Martha was busy and happy, Jesus’s response would have been different. Her heart would have been in a different place regarding her service.

  
  

  Pastor Don had us laughing when he pointed out that if Jesus had not spoken so seriously with Martha, Martha would have had a very negative outcome. And he imitated some of the self-talk she might have had. “I worked my hands to the bone making this soufle that did not fall and He didn’t even take a bite of it, I cooked the chicken and the duck, and killed the fatted calf, but Jesus only ate a piece of bread and cheese. He didn’t praise all my hard work, just kept on talking and eating. If He thinks I am ever going to do this again, He, can forget it….”

  
  

  Verse 42. One thing is needed, Jesus tells Martha, you figure it out. Spend time with God.

  
  

  Your accomplishments are secondary to your inner man. If you can’t do it with peace, you shouldn’t be doing it.

  
  

  We then looked at John 11, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Remember, Jesus got the message but didn’t show up until Lazarus was already in the tomb for 4 days. Martha went out to meet Jesus, and Mary stayed sitting in the house mourning.

  
  

  Martha was still letting her personality direct her. She went to Jesus and complained about how, had he arrived when she sent for Him, then the outcome would have been different.

  
  

  Sometimes we excuse our negative behaviors by saying, “Well, this is jsut the way I am.”

  
  

  But the I AM ain’t working for you, so it needs to be changed. You can change through Christ. If you are a worrier who worries all the time, you need to try and control that. The only way to effectively change this is with the help of Christ.

  
  

  John 11:21 Martha says, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.“

  
  

  When people die, or bad things happen, often the first words out of people’s mouths is , where were you God? I fasted, I prayed, I did…. and you did not do what I wanted you to do. If you did what I told you to do, I wouldn’t be this worried or distressed.

  
  

  John 11:23, Jesus tells her her brother will rise again.

  
  

  Verse 24 Martha says, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

  
  

  but here Martha is contradicting herself because at verse 22 she said, But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

  
  

  If she really believed that statement in verse 22, then she would have been able to believe that Jesus could raise her brother from the dead. But she is thinking in the flesh, and once a person was dead four days they did not rise again, but she is limiting Jesus’ power by her unbelief.

  
  

  She then does not answer Jesus question of belief when he said in verse 25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this.“

  
  

  In verse 27 Martha says, “Yes Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is come into the world.”

  
  

  Sometimes when a prayer seems not to be answered it is not that God doesn’t want to answer our prayer, but that we have shortened His hand with our prayer. God can do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can imagine, but we put a limit on what God can do by not asking big.

  
  

  For example, Lord heal this ache and pain, instead of Lord make me walk in total health from my head to my toes.

  
  

  In a similar way to what she did when she entertained Jesus in her house, she should have asked Jesus what He could do with Lazarus (or in her house asking Jesus what He wanted her to do).

  
  

  If you really have faith, you would never be distressed. We all fall short on faith.

  
  

  If you are distracted and worried, you are out of God’s will.

  
  

  Heather’s note: Boy can I relate to the above teaching. So often I short change God in the business of my life, and still end up wondering where the day has gone. I often shorten Christ’s hand because I tend not to reach out and ask, or ask for way too small things.

  
  

  Heather

  
  

   

  
  

   

  • 9:43 am
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