1. By Pam Cohea From God’s Word to His Daughters
Time for God
By Pam Cohea
From God’s Word to His Daughters

3. House Family Job Children Health How Do I Spend Time? Shopping Yard TV
Reading
Computer
Yard
Shopping
Entertainment
Job TV
Children
Prayer
House
Bills
Husband
Bible Study
Health
Eating
Family
Time Belongs to God – Not Me.
Ecc 3:1-11
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…10 I have seen the tasks God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

4. How do I spend my time?
For what is your life? It is even a vapor (fog), that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. - James 4:14
Sometimes we act like time is ours. It is my time or my sacrifice of time. Time is God’s - not ours. We did not create time nor can we change one second of time. We can only change how we use each second and the attitude (heart) we choose for each second.
Note Slide 1

5. Living in god’s time with Him
1. Set my mind on Christ.
Col 3:1-3 Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”
James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
II Timothy 2:15 “Study to show yourself approved unto God…”
I Thessalonians 5:17 “…pray without ceasing…”

6. Set my mind on Christ
So how do I spend time so that I set my mind on Christ. Let’s try a little experiment. For the next minute empty your mind of everything. Try not to think of anything at all – to just be still. It is difficult to empty our mind completely for even a minute.
“Be still and know that I am God” is so powerful. Letting go of our will and thoughts long enough to seek God sets our mind so that we are putting Him first. Often we come to God without first seeking Him as our God - the creator of the universe. We don’t acknowledge him as our provider and savior. You see our daily quiet time is not just for us! John 4:23 reminds us that the Lord Himself desires our fellowship and delights in our worship. He longs for that one on one time with His child just as you long for that time with your child.
The ultimate purpose of spending time with God is to commune with God. We are made for relationship with God (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and so, in order to have fullness of joy and to be what God wants us to be, He needs to cultivate that relationship. We can’t have a relationship with God if we don’t know him. He can not grow us into His daughters if we don’t seek Him – actively seek Him through His Word. Why do we think He gave it to us? II Tim. 2:15 “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a daughter that doesn’t need to be ashamed.” When we study, then we will learn to have a heart for God’s things instead of our own. Our time will be spent in pleasing God because we love Him and loving others because God loves them.
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” The reason we must have time with God is because God asks us to. He wants us to want Him, and so He waits for us. The promise for us is sure that if we draw near to Him we can be sure that He will be there for us. He won’t run, He won’t hurt us, He won’t ignore us, He won’t abandon us, and He will listen. He is God and always has time for you, his daughter. He is the perfect friend and Father, and He always has all the time we could ever need. In addition, He has the power to effect change and truly impact our lives.
We draw near to God through His Word and through prayer. I Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing”. (16,18) It is this attitude or heart of prayer that stays with us throughout our day. It’s like taking Him with us were we go – to work, to the grocery store, to our homes… In this way we don’t have to make time for God – we live in His time with Him – right now!
Note Slide 2

7. Living in God’s time 2. God’s Will Becomes My Will
Eph 5: Carefully determine what pleases the Lord…So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
Psalm 16:11 says, “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

8. God’s will becomes my will
What pleases God? Is it doing all the right things? I believe doing good things are very important, but I also understand God cares more about why we do the things we do. If we start to think that life is merely about doing things for God rather than loving God Who does His work in and through us, then we will lose our joy and our first love. In Revelation 2 reveals how God felt about the church at Ephesus. “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” We can still go through the motions and “loose our first love.” God doesn’t need me to do anything for Him – He is God. He can use me and work through me. Life to the full is knowing God (John 17:3). This is what our heart longs for, and if we start replacing God with activities for God or any other idol, we will lose our joy and “our first love”. The beauty of an intimate walk with God is that we can know His will (1 Corinthians 2:16), we can have our joy made full (John 15:11), and we can expect our prayers to be answered when they are in His will (John 15:7).
It pleases God when He is first in our lives.
Note Slide 3

9. Our Way or God’s way

10. Jar story Our Way, or God’s?
Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Canning with my Grandmothers! The boys were always wanting to “help” and believed they could do just about anything. Brandon wanted to help open a jar in which the lid had been tightly screwed on. He was so sure that he could get it off. “I can do it” he said with such confidence. He struggled to screw the lid off the glass jar. I asked him to bring the jar to me so I could help him, but he resolutely tried to open it himself. The longer he tried the greater his frustration grew. When exhaustion overcame him, he finally decided to allow me to help. He then saw how easy it was for me. He could have avoided the frustration had he accepted my help. Too often, rather than seeking God’s help, we try our own methods to solve our problems — and we often end up frustrated or in tears. But God’s promise is before us: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” God has the solution to our problems.

11. God’s will becomes my will
And God has a will for you. Psalm 16:11 says, “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
We ask for “sky writing” or “wigi boards” – He gives us his letter. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
Often we tend to plan and then pray. Perhaps we have that upside down! We seek for God to give favor to our plans. We sometimes feel guilty going to God in prayer about our “little things” when we know that God is busy with famine.... We don’t want to waste His time. Sometimes we simply make a deal with God...if you will help me get the raise then I will contribute more…
I tell God what I am going to do
God responds
I beg for God to do it anyway - .to work it out
I humble myself
I go to God’s Word and seek His will in prayer
BETTER Pray and study God’s will for me and then plan.
Proverbs 16:1-4 We may make our plans, but God has the last word.
You may think everything you do is right, but the Lord judges your motives.
Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out.
A sweet friend of mine told me the story of an elder where she worshiped. He said that he woke up one morning with so much to do that he had to spend 4 hours in prayer before he could begin. When she asked him why he spent so much time in prayer when he had so much to do, he replied that he could not do the things with the right attitude or expect them to be accomplished in God’s way without His help. When we take time to be present with God, we don't increase the burdens of the day, we lessen them. When we pray, we don't add to the chaos, instead, we begin to find calmness and stability and wisdom. (Ocean Waves & Diver)
Note Slide 4

12. God’s will becomes my will
When God’s will becomes your will then get ready!
Matt 2 tells the story of Joseph and Mary going to unknown places with complete trust because God told them to go.
Abraham left everything he knew – family, friends, home - to follow God’s will for his life.
Paul went blindly to the place Jesus told him to go with a complete stranger.
It may mean changing your pew to help a single mother with her children or sitting by the bus kids who have only us to be their examples of love.
It may mean reaching out beyond our comfort zone to teach a class so that a teacher may rest a while from her labor.
It may mean making that visit to the hospital, nursing home, or prison.
It may mean being kind to and not avoiding that ornery person who God loves.
Let’s not be the person that always says
“I wish someone would…”
Let’s be that someone!
Note Slide 5

13. Living in god’s time
3. Live in the GRACE of God as His daughter right now.
II Cor 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy (steadfast love) and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
II Cor 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

14. Live in God’s grace - Jesus
God Made You – You. Galatians 6:2-5 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
These verses may seem a bit out of place when we are talking about living in God’s grace, but let’s consider a few things together. God did not make me – you, nor did he make you - me. I would love to smile like some of you or sing like some of you. He gave us each unique gifts that will serve his purpose and bring us ultimate joy. If I try to be you I will fail. (II Cor 10:12, 17,18) Comparing myself to others will always either make me feel inferior or give me the big head and God tells us it is foolish to do so. Instead God tells me to Love, serve out of that Love, work, be satisfied, and be responsible for me. You see His grace is sufficient for me. I live for Him and He lives through me. I am not that great by myself – not that important. But as a daughter of God living in His grace through Jesus Christ my savior, He can do through me what I can’t even imagine. He is the power of my life. When we beat ourselves up because we are not good enough…don’t love enough…don’t give enough…don’t know enough… then we are quitters .. and if we aren’t serving God then we are serving Satan. God said His grace is sufficient. He will and can do in us what we can’t do in and of ourselves. Sometimes I need to let go of my selfishness, let go of my negative thinking and simply get myself out of God’s way. Note Slide 6

15. Live in God’s Grace - Jesus
Galatians 12: 7-8 Paul prayed for God to remove the thorn in his flesh. He prayed 3 times. How many times do we pray for our thorns, our pains, our sorrows to be removed…
I have a child that is hurting…ill….lost
I have regret that haunts my living
I have a husband that is drinking…inconsiderate…lost
I have cancer…illness…pain…sorrow
You have prayed like Paul, perhaps more often, and God’s answer is the same – My grace is enough.
Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare His own son…”
Mark 14: We want God to “fix” it, take it away, make it better, heal, restore… Jesus prayed the same thing twice. Jesus prayed “let this cup pass from me – Your will be done”.
Surely if God did not spare His own Son for us– He will not take away the things, people… in our life that grow us into the servants we can be for Him.
Jesus never sinned – ever and yet He died for my sins. He took my sins to the cross so I could give my life to him and be buried with him in baptism to rise as a pure daughter of God – clothed in purity through Jesus – God’s grace. Jesus is our grace. We are given that gift and our hearts should reflect our thankfulness in our prayers, our actions, and our time. God loves me. God loves me. He has given me so much and even if he did not give me blessings on this Earth – if I lived so that I had to scratch a living from a dry desert in a Godless place - just the fact that Jesus died so I could spend forever with God should be enough to make us the most grateful ladies on the Earth. Oh how we are blessed – even in our trials of life to have God as our Father.
Prayer and Break for snacks

16. Living in God’s time 4. The seconds of my days are opportunities.
Col 3:12-17 Therefore, as God’s chosen (daughters), holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive… put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…and be thankful… And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Eph 5:16 …making the most of every opportunity…

17. Seconds are opportunities
This is all about attitude – all about our heart for God. It is doing even the everyday things of our life like cooking for our family, running kids here and there, cleaning house (yes – cleaning house) with a grateful heart to God. So often we are not grateful – our complaining may be open or in our heart – But God knows. We have opportunities – A busy mom had the opportunity because her husband asked several families to eat at their home and begin a bible study. She fussed over the meal, the house, the time… When the company had arrived the Father asked his little daughter to ask God to bless the food. She looked at her Dad and said “ I don’t know what to say.” Dad told her to just think about what her mom would say. “Dear God” began the girl, “why in the world did we invite all these people to eat with us?”
James 2: Works are the evidence of our faith. Hearing, faith, repentance, baptism, grace, works – are all part of a beautifully woven tapestry. You can’t have one part without the other or it won’t be complete – we won’t be complete. Our works without the right heart are incomplete. The Pharisees didn’t understand. Opportunities were created by them and for them. Jesus ate with those that the Pharisees would have nothing to do with – the adulterers, the poor, the alcoholics, drug addicts, murderers, thieves, liars, gossips, selfish people like…us. He loved them. He healed many. But he was not as kind to the self righteous – those who came to the temple daily, followed the law, prayed and judged others – who by their acts somehow felt they earned the “right” to be righteous. But they were tombs – their many words and works were empty because their hearts were focused on themselves and not on God. Our opportunities to shine for God will happen when we are not focused on ourselves BUT rather on God and others.
Note Slide 8

18. Time with god
Do you remember a special meal you ate with, say, your boyfriend or fiancée or husband? I imagine it was the best meal you ever ate! You remembered it for days afterward – remembered it with joy and pleasure. But what if you didn’t eat anything the next day – or the day after that? What if you said, “Well, I’ve eaten as much as I could possibly eat and had as much joy as I could ever feel – so, I don’t ever need to eat again or have another meal with the one I love.” You know that very soon you would begin to feel weak and sickly, and if you didn’t eat again you would become malnourished and eventually die. The life that shines through to the world and to our Father will be the one that we feed the most.

19. Family Meals – being with the people you love.
I have a wedding ring that my sweet husband placed on my finger as a symbol of his love. I treasure it. What is your treasure? Is it popularity or money or a fine house or beauty, prestigious husband, your children OR is it God. The Word tells me that where my treasure is – my heart will be also. And we can not be the daughters of our King and not put Him first. We can not be the wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, or friends that will light the path for those we love to God unless God is our first choice in everything in our life. He will not take second place in our lives not second place to our husbands, our children, our family, our friends, our pleasures, or our desires. HE is our GOD, our creator, our destiny if we so choose. But He must be first – our greatest treasure. When our priorities are in place our thoughts, words and actions can be transformed – our hearts transformed - so that others can see God.

20. Forces inside & out
“Be not conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2
There are two forces in our lives – outside, being conformed to the world, and within, being transformed. How we react to these two forces will determine how we act in this world and where we will spend eternity – our forever TIME.

21. Frog Story
How often do we question “the whys”, we doubt God’s power, we allow the world – Satan to slowly remove our armor. We are in the water and it is getting warmer and warmer. Sometimes we even realize we are cooking in Satan’s Frog Soup, but then guilt or pride or just plain weariness keeps us from jumping out. But God still loves us – he is reaching for us and all we have to do is His will. He loved the Israelites and had a plan for them. His desire for his people has always been the same. It is true today for me.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
God has the power to transform me from within – every second of every day as I take Him with me.

22. Packing My Day
Ephesians 5:15-16 Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but
as wise, making the most of every opportunity…
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, sister, in view of God’s mercy, to offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God for this is your spiritual act of worship.

23. With these scriptures and thoughts in mind, let’s imagine we’re handed a suitcase. This suitcase represents 24 hours of our lives. Open case – 24 hours – all the same 60 minutes each hour – all the same. 24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86,400 seconds, all the same. Can be emptied only one second at a time. As we empty it of time, we fill it with deeds, all written in God’s Book of Life. Day 1 Awake early. Quiet time, write in prayer journal and read in my letter from God. This helps me keep my focus and I love this time with God. I think of the things I need to accomplish today. I get dressed and fix my face. It makes me feel better and I really want to look my best for Ron. I make my bed and then get the boys up so they can get ready and make their beds before breakfast. We sit down together, pray and visit for a few minutes while we eat. Everyone takes their dishes to the sink and so clean up is easy. We head to school and I tell the guys I love them and hope they have a great day. And they tell me the same – Cool. After school Weldon comes to my classroom and gets his homework while I finish and prepare for the next day at class. On the way home, the boys and I stop by the Nursing Home to visit with Sudie, my grandmother, and several others. We don’t stay long, but everyone seems to enjoy the time together. The boys really love to go to the rooms and visit – it could be that there always seems to be some treats in it for them, but they truly love their “little old people”. I love how kind the boys are with them. We stop at store and pick up some nails Ron needs to repair the fence. I fix a quick supper while Ron and Weldon repair the fence and Brandon works on a research paper for school. We pray and eat and visit for a while. Ron takes Brandon to the gym while Weldon and I finish the dishes. Then we join them to watch Brandon play basketball. We visit for a bit – talking about the game. We have a short devotional time, pray, get ready for bed. I smile and thank God for a perfect day.

24. Now, the second day has all of the same ingredients as the first day
Now, the second day has all of the same ingredients as the first day. Everything is exactly the same except me and because I am different, everyone else in my day reacts differently, too.
Day 2
Awake early. But I go back to sleep because I stayed up and finished that book that was so good until 12. What was it about? Oh well it doesn’t matter. No Quiet time today.
Good grief, why don’t those boys take some responsibility and get up on their own. I bought them an alarm clock last year. “ Get up right now – your late and I’m not telling you again. Hurry up you don’t have time to make the beds – just get in here and eat a granola bar or something.
What a mess. Don’t you guys know how to clean up after yourselves? What do you think I am – your slave!!
We head to school and I tell the guys to hurry or they are going to be tardy for school. I wish they wouldn’t be so unkind to each other in the car. Stop your fussing boys – just be quiet both of you!
After school Weldon comes to my classroom and I tell him we have to hurry because I have to go to the store and get some shopping done for supper – should have had it done, but didn’t get time yesterday. Why are we always in such a rush!!
Come on boys we have to stop and see Sudie or she will be mad at us and we’ll never hear the end of how we never come to see her. The boys go in but seem to be in a bad mood and don’t go visit the other rooms. Oh well, I don’t blame them sometimes the smell just gets to me too.
We get home and Ron asks about the nails I was supposed to pick up for him. Can you imagine the nerve of that guy asking me to pick up nails when he knows how busy I am. Next time he’ll know he better get them himself!
I fix a quick supper and yell at the boys to get their chores and homework before the game.
Ron takes Brandon to the gym and I throw the dishes in the sink. Then we join them to watch Brandon play basketball.
When we get back the boys still have some homework, what were they doing. I finally tell them to go to bed! Ron heads to bed rather silently. Well, if he just knew everything I had to do during the day he would be kinder. I think I’ll just read my new novel for a while – I deserve some time for myself. I finally crawl into bed and relax.
I thought this day would never end. As I drift off to sleep, I hear click. I sit up quickly. I know what that sound is, I’ve heard it before. “Please, God, don’t close my suitcase just yet. There are so many things about this day that I would like to change. Things I’ve said and things I’ve left undone! “I’m sorry, my child,” a voice answers. “Once a suitcase is closed, it is locked forever and nothing in it can ever be changed.”
“Oh God,” I cry: “What have I done?”
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do. Here is another suitcase. See if you can do a little better job packing it this time!”

25. How we spend our minutes, how we spend our hours, and how we spend our days is how we are spending our lives.
The things that consume so much of our time are not separate from our time with God. He desires quiet time with us but He also wants to go with us – be with us throughout our days, our minutes, our seconds. It is our attitude of gratitude, our trust in God to help us calm our storms that speaks volumes to those around us. We may be the only picture of God some people see because we are hidden with Jesus in God. Our seconds then must be lived in His will so that we can truly live – forever with Him.
Our actions are the reflection of our heart. A heart that desires to live in God’s time where our minds are set on Him, our wills are bent to His, our souls are washed in His grace. And our lives reflect our faith so that we can live as His daughters and become His light to the world.