Intentional Time

I do feel that I have a word on my heart and I am going to share that with you. I'm going to deliver what I feel the Lord has given me. And I want to read my text. First of all, I want to read the text up front. Psalm 16:1. Thou wil show me the paths of life. Would you read this part with me? In thy presence is fullness of joy and at his right hand pleasures forever more. In your presence, Lord, I find joy. Oh, hallelujah. Would you love the Lord once again in the name of Jesus?

Cross this room, Lord, right now that you speak to us. Speak that word, Lord, as you give it to us, Lord. Speak a word into each and every person in this building today. God, those that are online, God, I pray a special touch right now in their wherever they are in the name of Jesus Christ. Somebody say in Jesus name. In Jesus name, God bless you. You may find your seat. We have been studying and I'm not going to recap a whole lot.

I think that you know where we are, but we're at the altar of incense in our journey through the tabernacle. And that altar is one of those places I think that a lot of us we find ourselves stopping and hesitating on where we are and what's going on. Just a small recap in Exodus the 30th chapter we find the instructions that Moses is to give to Aaron that there is a certain place and a certain time to go there. Moses gives to Aaron says you go in the morning and you go in the evening and offer incense.

Time is something that is very uh precious in our day and time. How about you? How about saying that? It's very uh precious. It's something that each and every one of us and I would say this over the last five years uh we have seen a shift in in time and the way that we utilize time. Um we have we've had some rough times. Amen. And then we've had some things that came our way that decided to just scare our lives. And so I've seen this shift and you have as well. You've seen a shift in that.

And we utilize our time and it it it becomes precious to us. It becomes precious to the form of where we actually use it in a way that our world is set in such a fast pace that we have to cram so much into a minute and then we have to cram so much into an hour. And I I would say that those of you that work a public job, most of your jobs are set according to time. There are a lot of times that you have to do certain chores or certain task in your job. Can I get an amen? Amen.

And then in those times of setting that they give you, there are what we what we would call tack time. Anybody in the in the manufacturing business have anybody? There's some there, there's some there. Uh you know what tack time is? That particular time frame you you were to have a certain amount of things done in that particular time. Time is something that all of us we run out of, right?

Was interesting to find this and this was something that I came across a couple of days ago and as I am studying and and in Norway there is an island there and some of you probably already know where I'm headed with this.

There is an island in Norway that is call a time it in other words there's zero time no time zero as a matter of fact it's challenging to the people that go across the bridge onto that island they tell them that when you cross the bridge you're to leave your watches your clocks on the bridge They have 69 days of straight daylight. That's crazy.

As a matter of fact, people that visit there, they find it really shocking that they would go there and that all of these that that all of these people just seem to be doing as they please in the middle of what we would call nighttime. It's still daylight there. They may be bu mowing their lawn or they may be swimming in a lake. They just whatever time of the day they feel like doing it, they go and do it. But as I was looking at this, I began to think about it.

Really and truly, even though it is called no time zone, life is still based off of time. Everything that we do, we do because of time. Because time is one of those things that we we take and we get so busy in our lives that we're running real fast and we go and do all that we can do in that aotted time. The Now I want to ask somebody, what do you do on Saturdays? Now there's a lot of us that sometimes have to work, right? But what do you remember Saturday as being?

Maybe some of our old ones would say this because some of you, some of the young ones, it's just another day, right? But we would call Saturday that that rest day or that time down. Especially those of the those that go to church and are involved in church. Sundays is a work day. But Saturday would be one of those days that you catch up on chores. You and and there's some of you. How many of you mowed your lawn yesterday? Well, maybe you got somebody else to mow it.

We got somebody there that mowed their yard yesterday, but you did those things that you normally wouldn't get to do during the week. I lived beside this uh couple and they had actually retired several years before I actually moved in beside them. And I noticed that this uh this gentleman, he is he was well up in age, but he had his little riding lawnmower. And every Saturday morning, he's out mowing his grass. because that is the time he normally would do it.

And I had mentioned this even to my wife on a couple of occasions. I said, you know, he's got all the time in the world. He's got he's got day in day out, Monday through Friday. and he couldn't mow his grass then, but because of time and the way that he schedules himself, he set up and he did his lawn on Saturday morning when we were trying to sleep in. But we set ourselves on a time frame. We set ourselves on that frame.

I I want to I want to shift this just for a moment and just ask you how many you find yourself running out of time in the challenge that you do in the challenges that you have during the week. We run out of time because we schedule too much at one time. We overched. How many of you ever done that, brother Sam? I saw your hand go up.

You put you put something on the schedule and you think that you've got time to do this and you put this on there and it's not long until you put this on there and then you have run completely out of time in this day. Time is something that all of us need to find as precious. I want to ask you a question today.

How many of you, and these are all questions I think that every one of us can find ourselves falling short in sometimes, but how many of you have found it that you have wasted your day on something and then you turned around and the day was gone and you realized that it could have been better? Moses is given instructions on how to how this what we call and let's reconstruct that as we've got we've got the outer chambers. We got the inner chambers.

We got this is the holy place and you've got the shoebread on one side. You've got the candlesticks on another and you have the altar of incense. before the veil. You have the altar of incense here before you. And I'm I've said this in this in this series before, but there's a lot of times that we try to get there and we've wasted a lot of time. I have setting before you today and probably some of you are asking what in the world is he doing have sitting here? Anybody know what this is? It's a paper plate.

I'm sure that some of you drank out of these this morning. But why why are these things necessary? Because we are people that consume. We consume our foods and we consume those things that we have. And and so we have all of these utensils. And then on this side you will find a little different setting. This side we've got a charger that's here. We have a plate, dinner plate. On top of that, we have the napkin laying in there. Thank you, Katie Beth. We have what we would call the bread plate.

We have our utensils that we're going to use for our dinner. We've got salad spoons and s our salad forks. And then we have dessert forks. And we've got the glasses that set here, one for water and one for our main beverage. We've got candles. Now, some of you would say this. You would say, I have. I use these. But I want to ask you the question, why would you use these? What what are the reasons behind using these versus that? Why why would you go to the table and and pull this out?

Because you know time is precious, right? And we have focused our life around those things concerning time because even with this in the dishwashers that we have today still we it consumes our time consumes the things that we're to do. But this here, I can walk to a trash can and I can just toss it in the trash can and we're through. I'm through with it. All of these things. This to me is more consuming. It's consuming my life and and all that I do. And I I'm talking to you in a real world here.

This I find this just easier. This is easy for me. Why? Because it's just it's just those things that I I can consume and throw away and go. Well, that there that's work. I don't know if you noticed or not, but as as my daughter came out here and helped me today, and didn't take her long to set the table, did it? But over here, everything has been placed in order. Everything is put in its place. It's got a place for it.

I I I bring this to you today because I want you to understand that it is important that we take and intentionally make time. We intentionally set time up for our meeting place. We're talking about this place right here. I intentionally make sure that I put it right. Why? Because it's something that that you and the Lord are going to meet. This is where the priest would meet the Lord. And the Lord begins to talk and he begins to talk to the Lord about how great God is.

Now, I don't know about you, but some of us we would we would say this works. This works. But the truth be told, our busy world and all that we do in our busy world, we need to make sure and not pass some things up. We need to make sure that we have made time for the Lord. Make sure that everything is in its place. Because you remember us talking about how that the tabernacle is created and everything is put in its place. Moses has given instructions on how things are just to be.

And if you were not careful with the things that you're doing of God, then you could end up in trouble with God. I bring this to you today because I want you to understand in our busy world, in our busy culture, don't let this replace that. Don't let this be be something that replaces that. You see, we can set this right here up and we can set this scene up. And you see, this creates an atmosphere this right here. Thank you for brother Don for creating the atmosphere of worship in this place. God was in this room.

He is in this room, but he he is here for you and I. He is here for us to commune with him, but we've got to set the stage, so to speak. We've got to make sure that everything is in its place. We've got to make sure that we're doing it for him. You see, I could say this sometimes. You and the Lord need to talk and Yeah, Lord, it's everything's good. Everything is good. Or you can take that moment. You can turn around.

And I'd asked Brother Josh to set me some mood music, but he he was going to set me some mood music because here's the thing. We can set an atmosphere for God to to enter. You You see what this does? What this does is this this tells me how you feel of God. This tells me how you feel about the presence of God. As I I know this we live in a busy world and we can just go ahead and do this right here and and it be done.

We can get it done and and and we can have church and we can run the aisles and we can do all the things and push all the buttons. But there comes a time when we need to worship. There comes a time when it is we sit down at the table and say, "Lord, I need to talk to you." You see, this is not this is not rushed right here. This is not rushed. Why? Because they're probably going to bring me some bread out. Especially you go to What about them bread sticks? Thank you, brother Josh.

But you bring me some bread sticks out. Now guys, I'm going to tell you this is this is one of the best ways you can treat your wife. Yeah. Why? Because there's no rushing through this. There's no rushing through this. You sat down there and the bread comes out. I I don't know about you, but there has been times that I've gone to these nice restaurants and I get in there and I get my bread and you know what I'm waiting on? Where's the food at? Where's the food? Little too much there, fella.

But I asked, "Where's where's the main course?" "No, slow down. Slow down." Why? Because this is time with the Lord. This is time that I sat with he and I. We sat alone and and and as you understand the priest is the only one in here. We could have said it. Lights are dimmed. I don't know about you, but you you can take it during the rush hour of the day and you go into a restaurant and guess what they have playing and what kind of tempo they got set.

Uh, it's just there's a science to this is they they put the beat high and and and and then turn it up. Why? Because they want you to hurry up and get out so they can get somebody else in there, right? And and the truth is is is sometimes we get that way and that becomes a part of our life and so we treat God that same way. You know what? There's some of you that are sitting here looking at your clock saying, "You know what?

Pastor Sloan was up there quite a bit cutting up." And we did a lot of lot of running around here. And if that guy gets up there and talks like he did last week, I looked at the clock last week and I was like, "Oh Lord." But that that's the way we get. Why? because we're based off of time. We think that we've got to get through this and we've got to make sure that all these things are put together and we get to the place that God I just want to be with you, God. I want to be in your presence.

I I want to be in your presence. I I want y I want some things I want some things to to change in my life. I want some things I I I I want some things to change in my heart. I want some things I I need to be in your throne room, Lord Jesus. I need to be with you, Lord Jesus. Can you do it with this or can you do it with this? God, I I want to be in your throne room. I want to be with you, Lord.

I want to be I want to create that atmosphere that that you come in and you and I sit alone and just you and I commune, you and I talk and and and I can I can understand because what this does is if I'm with God this way, when I leave that environment, that fullness of joy floods my soul. When I leave that type of environment, I don't know about you, but I've been here before and I left empty. All it was was just just a a few chips and a sandwich. That's all it was. But when I leave here, I've had time to digest.

I've had time to to think through. I've had time to to allow God to work on me and allow God to do some things in me. You see, this is not something that you just run through. This is not something that you just rush through. Worship is something that comes from the heart. And sometimes it takes me a little bit longer. You'll have to excuse me for a moment, but I'm going to stay a little longer with the Lord. Yeah, I'm not going to rush this because I need to be with him.

Creating that atmosphere in that throne room. creating that atmosphere of worship. Jesus, he told his disciples one time they came to him and said, "Lord, what is it? Can you teach us how to pray?" And I I've often times wondered about how that they had been with him and they did not understand that. But I I think their importance was is they want to know how to commune. They wanted to know how to talk to him. They wanted to know how to visit with the Lord.

You see, they could have asked, they could have said, "Lord, teach us, teach us to be smart and teach us how that you how that you make a living and teach us how that you do the miracles. Teach us those things." But they asked the question, teach us to pray. Jesus goes through and he says, "When you pray, you say,"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come." Notice that everything that he's teaching them is is coming from a commune that's coming from a time of just them and the Lord.

and he's teaching them how to pray. I am reminded of the scripture in Matthew the 26th chapter verse 6-9. There is a woman there and I'm sorry media. I I I'm sorry. I just this was something that came to me back there so I'm putting it in here. But this woman, she finds out that Jesus is is visiting a certain house of Simon the leopard. And the scripture says that this woman brought this alabaster box. This alabaster box of precious ointment. Notice the scripture says it is of a precious ointment.

It is it is something that is precious. She comes behind Jesus. We find that in the setting she comes in. The scripture says that she breaks this box and she begins to pour it on his feet and wash his feet. Now, I'm sure there was people that saw her, but there was probably more than likely people sitting at the end of the table that there was something that filled their nose. Oh, you smell that? And these people got angry at what they were smelling because this was precious.

And they saw this lady breaking this box open. I want you I want you to know something that this lady was not worried. This woman had no worries of who was smelling, who was looking, who was who was there. She had no worries for them. Why? Because she had found out where Jesus was supposed to be. And she says, "I want to worship him." Amen. You see in the tabernacle, the scripture tells us that the incense that would come from this altar would come and fill the room. It would be a scent that nobody could deny. Why?

Because it was a presence of God that had entered that room. Because he was accepting what was there. what they had to offer. I I bring a challenge to you today. What kind of atmosphere will you bring and offer to the Lord? I don't know about you, but when I I was when when I was growing up, they used to have what we call pep rallies. How many you remember those? Anybody remember those?

And we would always usually when they were traveling out of town, we'd have these pep rallies and it usually would happen in the middle of the day, in the middle of the school day on Fridays because the the football players were getting on the bus and they were going to have to travel. We'd have these rallies where where we would get together and we would talk about the dragons. That's who we were.

And they would they would scream and they would holler and they would have cheerleaders out there and and they would they would just and the guys come running out with their jerseys on. Now hold on just a minute. Why did they do that? Why was it that we had pep rallies? Because it was to pep us up, right? It was to get us excited about what was going on. They set an atmosphere.

They set They set up an atmosphere to say, "Hey, we're going to win this game." How many of you have ever been around sportsman's that would go by and they would slap each other? I don't know where all they slap, but if it was a helmet, they may have slapped the helmet and some other things. But they would slap each other. And why they do that? Get me going. How How many you How many of you have ever been involved in something and you're doing this activity and you're just like, "Huh?

Yeah, sometimes you got to do that in the presence of God. There should be some that we saw that demonstrated here earlier. There there was there was so much, can I say it this way? Spiritual energy that was in this room. God doing some things. God God performing some things on people's life. There was people in this room. Your life will never be the same because you was in this room.

And because we we felt the presence of God and we had somebody that would shout, somebody that would run, there would be something going on. Why? Because they were feeling the presence of God. And then all of a sudden, guess what? I got excited. You see, what we're talking about here is intentional time that we spend with God. We've got to make sure that that everything that we do is intentional. We've got to make sure that we set that time aside, that we make time for the Lord.

We cannot rush through what God wants to do for us. How many times has it been that we've sat at a table like this and we and and really and truly we weren't in the right setting. We weren't in the right mood for it. And you're saying, "Oh, this is boring. Oh, I wish we could hurry up." See, we've got to get away from that. We have got to get away from that because we have we have a we have chose to we have come accustomed to this right here.

And and I'm saying this because I know where we live today, we have become so accustomed to this right here. We're doing this right here so much that we forget that there is time that the Lord wants to spend with us. Scripture tells us that we come and we suck with him. I didn't say gobble it down. That we take time with him. We take time and we say, "God, I want you. I want you in my my life. I want you a part of my life. I want you to be in this place. I want And this is a time that we set aside.

I come in and I I make sure that everything is just right. Because I I want the Lord to be pleased. I want the Lord to know that everything is in order. God, this is I'm doing this for you. I'm doing it for you, Lord. I want you to be in my in the house. I want to feel your presence and I want to make sure that I make that place for him. Not just a rush through. Not just a drive through and say, "Yep, Lord, here we are. We good." No. God, help me that I not lose sight of what you really want to do.

Help me, God, that I realize that you want to do more with us. You want to spend time with us. How many times has it been that the Lord has prepared a table for us and we've passed up that opportunity and said, "God, I just going to spend a little bit. I I don't want to spend a lot of time. I I don't have time in my life.

I don't have that time." But God says, "Can you just sit with me just for a moment?" How many times has he walked by you and and nudged your heart and says, "Can you turn aside just for a few moments?" Can you turn aside for just a moment? Because what really God wants to do is he asks of us to bring that that savior to him. Yeah. He's the fire, but do you have anything going in the fire? He's the one that's there. Do you have anything that you are sharing with him?

Have you have you got anything that you're bringing to him? I set this side this time aside, Lord, to suck with you. I set this time aside, Lord, and you can you can come and be a part of my life. Can we be as the woman that brings the alabaster box that says, "God, I know it's expensive. I know that time is very short, but I'm going to do it for you, Lord. This This is yours, God. Creating that atmosphere for God.

I don't know about you, but there there's times that that I I I've questioned, okay, why, Lord, why why is it that we're not seeing the miracles? client, we seeing the the things the great the great things that you you've done in the Bible days and and you know, we we read and we pick up books and we read the miracles that have happened in the Bible and in even in in our in our past days, we read of miracles.

I believe this that if the people of God that are called by his name would humble themselves and pray and seek his face, the Bible tells us and they turn from their wicked ways that they're going to hear from heaven. He He's going to do some healing. But it takes us creating an atmosphere. It takes us turning aside and saying, "God, I'm going to spend some time with you. I I'm going to see some things happen. I I want to see those things happen.

I had a a teacher one time in in my Bible school days and he he would uh he come down with this chronic illness and and really and truly we thought that that his days was numbered with us even until that day that we were in and and you could see that he was just so feeble. But he was a very he was he was a man of faith.

He would come in the class and he would and he would stand before us and there would there came a time that he couldn't even stand in the in the little podium where he he would teach from and he would literally have to sit down. And and we would think to ourselves, surely, you know, he he's he's not going to he's not going to be with us long. And and I I would I would hear him talk about the faith and and talk about all the things that God was doing in his life.

And I'm thinking I don't see that the entire time he is he is taking and he is he says and this is something that I learned from him. He says that he would take time and he would spend time. Hey, he's alive. He's alive. And I I I often times would ask the question, what keeps you going? What is it that keeps you going? Why is it that you can continue to go like you're going? And he would tell us that it is it is my time with the Lord that keeps me going. That that is what he would say.

I spent some time in his office because I was I was reaching some challenges in school and I I needed some coaching and I so I asked him if he could spend some time. He said, "Sure, come to the office." I walk in his office and I'm sitting in his office and I'm I'm there with all of his thousands of books and he's sitting in his desk and he's got all of this stuff stacked on top of his desk and uh when you talk about organization it's not there to him it probably was.

But I'm looking over books and I'm seeing him down and he's frail and and he begins to talk about how that we have to depend on God. And it was that moment that I realized that this man had this kind of relationship with God. He had that kind of relationship with God. You see, we've got a lot of people in our day and time that have relationship. There's a lot that have this kind of relationship, but I want a relationship with God where I can sit with him.

Most most of you today, you've already you may have already checked out. I I I I apologize for that, but you've probably already checked out because your your stomach is eating your backbone. But I bring the challenge to you today. How are you going to come before God? What is what is your what is what are you going to do when you come into the presence of God? How are you going to use that time with God? Is it going to be something that is quick or is it going to be some time spent with God?

If you want miracles in your life, if you want things to disappear that you know that God has a plan for them and and God get them out of my life. If you've got illnesses, whatever it may be, I want you to know something. Healing comes through spending time with the Lord. He can heal broken hearts. He can heal those things that's going on inside of you. He can heal the the mind. Those things that you're wanting God to heal, he can heal those. But it's going to take time with the Lord in the name of Jesus.

I want you to stand with us right now. I want you to stand. It's in his presence that we find the joy that we need for our lives. It's in his presence that we find what we need for the day. It's something that you can't do. We've got what we call in this day and time because we are such a fast-paced people. How many of you probably precook your foods? You put your foods in a container and you have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. You understand that? That's the day we live in.

I am brought here today to challenge you. Don't let that become your spiritual life. Don't let that become something that you preset everything. This is the way that I'm going to do God today. this is the way that I'm going to do God today. Can you stop in the middle of all of the stuff that's going on in your life and say, "God, I'm going to give you time to speak to me. I I want you to speak to me today." We have got to get to a place that God, I need you to speak to me.

And I'm not going to I'm not going to get in a hurry. I just need you to speak to me. I need your life. I need you in my life, Lord. Why don't you lift your hands with us right now across this room? I know I've done spent my time, but here's here's the thing. There's some of you today is getting what I'm talking about. What part of this are you going to use with the Lord? Is this what you're going to do for the Lord over here or are you going to spend time with him?

Are you going to give it to him and say, "God, I'm pushing all aside." I I I'm going to challenge you today. You bring yourself to the Lord. Bring it to him. You You do what you need to do. And there may be some of you that walk out because you're just busy. I I get that. But I think there's some people that understand that sometimes we just need to say, "God, I want to sit with you for just a little while. God, I need you. I need you in my life.

Whatever that is that needs to be removed, remove that in his presence. You're going to walk away full, folks. You're going to walk away whole. You're going to walk away with there's joy that comes with that. And you're going to realize that it's in his presence that you find that in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Across this room. Lord Jesus. Hallelujah. What do you feel right now? Are you feeling the rush? Are you or you want to spend time with him in the name of Jesus? Hallelujah.

I'm leaving it to you folks. What do you feel right now in the name of Jesus? Hallelujah. Music fades and all the strips away and I simply come. longing just that will bless your heart. I'll bring you more than a song for a song in itself is not what you have required. You search much deeper within through the way things appear. You're looking into my heart. I'm coming back to the heart of worship and it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord, for the things I've made it.

But it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus. King of endless worth. No one could express how much you deserve. Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is yours. Every single breath I'll bring you more than a song. For a song in itself is not what you have required. You search much deeper within through the way things appear. You're looking into my heart. I'm coming back to the heart of worship. And it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it.

When it's all about you, it's all about you, Jesus. I'm coming back to the heart of worship. But it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord, for the things I've made it. But it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus. All about you. It's all about you. All about you, Jesus. It's all about you. Let this be the challenge this week. Don't rush through your God time. Don't rush through it. Make sure you make time for just you and the Lord. Here's one of the things that you can do.

You say, "Well, I run out of words. That's good. That allows God to talk to you. Sometimes we just need to sit and listen. When God comes calling, don't run and say, "Well, what is he saying?" Just listen. He talks. No, he may not come to you in some audible voice, but just a time with him. He speaks to the heart. You get up from where you are. There is such a joy that comes in just being alone with him. Would you lift your hands once again and just love the Lord and thank him for his goodness?

Thank you for his presence. I thank you, Lord, for your presence. It's in this room. Thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in our midst, God, in our busy schedules, God. I understand, Lord Jesus, there are things that we need to be doing, but that our time with you is more precious than anything. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. I thank you Lord. In the name of Jesus. Would you pray it again with us? The Lord bless thee and keep thee. Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious to thee.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. and thou shalt write the name upon the children of Israel, and I will call them blessed. God bless you today.