Time

Blessed is He who has given me time.

He alone gave me the time to sit down and write this. He gave me time to come before His throne. He has given me time to endure the sufferings that have ultimately led me closer to Him. He has given me time to worship Him. He has given me time to be still. He alone gave me time to be patient and wait. He gave me time to heal. He gave me time so that I might come to know Him more. He gave me time to be loved. He gave me time to read His Word. He spent the time creating me knowing the time it would take Him to raise me.

How did Christ choose to use the time He had been given?

Fasted

Matthew 4:1-2 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Called for Repentance

Matthew 4:17 “From that time, Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Called His disciples

Matthew 4:19 “Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Taught, Preached and Healed

Matthew 4:23 “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.”

5:37 “let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.” For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”

5:42 “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”

5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”

Encouraged

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.”

Acknowledged Sin

5 vs. 22 “But I saw to you whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”

vs. 28 “But I say to you, that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Commanded the Spirits

8:29-32 “And suddenly they cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?’...So the demons begged Him, saying, ‘If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.’ And He said to them, ‘Go.’ So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whoe herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.”

Forgave those that sinned against His Father

9:2 “The behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.’”

Called His Disciples to Pray

9:36-38 “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

26:41 “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Gave His disciples power

10:1 “And when He called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.”

Warns about the Persecutions to come

10:18-20 “You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

Jesus fed His children

14:18-20 “He said, ‘Bring them to Me.’ Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and have the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.”

Jesus spent time alone with the Father

14:23 “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.”

26:39 “ He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’”

26:42 “O My father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

Mourned for Jerusalem

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Preached End Times

24:4 “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for al these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. They they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, (Matthew 11:6; Jesus’ words to John), will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Took the Lord’s Supper

26:26 “And as they were eating, Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit from the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom.’ And when they sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

I come to this part of the gospel, and my heart grieves because I know that everything He did up until this point, He did for me.

Christ was persecuted before men and the Father

27:27 “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.”

Up unto this point, Christ lived a life as testimony to how He calls us to live.

He died, that we may live and have eternal life

27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’”

27:50 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Isaiah 53:4

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.”

Christ’s life was to bring glory to the Father. In His perfect time, Christ was offered up as a sacrifice for us who are not able to carry the burden of our sins.

He made intercession for us.

Isaiah 53:10-12 “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin. He shall see His seed. He shall prolong His days. And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many. For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors (He became one of us), and He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” (speaking of the things that were revealed to His servant John, concerning the last days).

Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.”

How are you using the time you have been given?

With love.