"William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was a zealous minister of the gospel who devoted his life to meeting the physical and spiritual needs of others.
William Booth once observed, “It is the tendency of fire to go out. We have to continually add fuel to fire to keep it going.” William Booth understood that revival and being filled with God’s Spirit are not simply onetime events, but require a continual, focused effort on the part of every believer.
Just as physical fire requires fuel and oxygen so spiritual fire requires effort and time. One of Satan’s most effective tactics is to cut of the oxygen supply to our spiritual fire by filling our schedule with good things that are not the best things, with good things that eventually extinguish the fire.
Have you taken time today to stoke the spiritual embers of your own heart? If not, taking 10 minutes right now to stir up some fire could definitely redeem the time.
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"I remember as a child watching Gilligan’s Island when a robber landed on the island, pointed a gun at the wealthy Thurston Howl III, and said, “This is a stick up. It’s your money or your life.” When Mr. Howl didn’t respond, the robber asked what he was waiting on. Mr. Howl replied, “I’m still trying to decide.”
Since I haven’t owned a TV for the past 30 years, it’s been a long time since I saw that. So why do I still remember it? Maybe it’s because it captured, in a funny way, the dilemma we constantly face of choosing between our money and our life.
Every day, we make decisions about how much time we will exchange that day for money. Unfortunately, it’s easy to think like Mr. Howl and tilt toward the money.
But Jesus warned that no man can serve both God and money. When forced to choose between your money and your life, tilt toward life, and you’ll redeem the time.
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"A five-star day begins with a five-star morning. Here are five daily stars S T A R S to accomplish before breakfast:
S is Stirring Exercise. Your first assignment is to thoroughly wake up. Doing a few push-ups or jumping jacks tells your body that it is time to stop sleeping and start producing.
T is Talk with God. Get instructions from your Heavenly Father.
A is Actionable Reading. Read Scripture. Read a devotional book. Read anything that provides you with information you can take action on to be more effective that day.
R is Revelation Planning. Plan your day by using questions to reveal insights into God’s will. Planning is not inventing your own plan for the day, but detecting God’s plan with predetermined questions.
S is Snippets. Focus your thoughts by writing something short like a journal entry or encouraging note.
STARS. If you can’t remember them all, just ask me for a free copy so you can redeem the time.
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"Our family, which includes our 12 kids, likes to go camping. It’s an affordable vacation that makes great memories for everyone.
But truthfully, the camping experience itself is often not as enjoyable as the anticipation that it builds during the planning phase. Sleeping on the ground with bugs crawling on you and mosquitoes feeding on you is just not as comfortable as sleeping in an air conditioned bedroom. But it’s the anticipation of looking forward to a special event that makes us keep doing it.
Anticipation is powerful motivation. When we have nothing to anticipate, we have trouble getting up in the morning, staying focused through the day, and having the energy needed to accomplish our goals.
The long term viability of anticipation depends on the quality of the object being anticipated. For the Christian, anticipation involves waking up each morning excited about what God is going to do that day. When we train ourselves to think that way, we create a cycle of recurring anticipation that makes us redeem the time.
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