Introduction

Good day to everyone! I will continue sharing the seventh good habit from the Good Habits of Spiritual People series: Redeeming the time, knowing what the will of God is.

I often deal with Christians and find it can be a trying experience, as truly professional Christians are few and far between. A few days ago, a sister shared that she hired a Christian as her company's accountant. The accounting records of her company were not voluminous, and the work was straightforward. Other accountants had performed well, but this Christian was dragging his feet, delaying the work repeatedly. He promised it would be done by September, but it was still not completed by October. The sister said, I fear hiring Christians the most, and I dread dealing with them! I deeply resonate with this sentiment.

A spiritual person should be a high-performing individual. There is a book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which I recommend everyone to read. Today, we are discussing the seven good habits of spiritual people: redeeming the time and understanding God's will. Upon careful contemplation, we Chinese have a profound understanding of time, as the saying goes: An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but you can't buy an inch of time with an inch of gold. The world has a peculiar characteristic – you can deposit money in a bank or bury it in a jar, and it will still be there after many years. However, there is something in this world that cannot be stored – time. You cannot save it; it passes by every second.

What does a person live for in their lifetime? They live for time. What is human life? It is time. If you say you want to completely dedicate yourself to God, what do you dedicate? You dedicate time. If you say you completely dedicate yourself to God, but when God asks you to sacrifice, pray, build a glorious church, or serve those in need, you have no time, then what are you dedicating to God?

Today, we need to resolve an issue: how to manage time efficiently. Managing time is, in essence, managing your life. We must realise that a spiritual person should be like God. Is God a high-performing God? Certainly. Our God created the universe and manages it in an orderly manner. If we can be like God, can we not do things well?

If we are not living well today, we can only blame our ancestors Adam and Eve. If they had not eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we would live like God, undoubtedly efficient, wise, and intelligent, working effectively and enjoying our labour. But Adam and Eve were idle and did not do good, so they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What was the result? Hard work became strenuous and painful, and our minds became dull and foolish, toiling with sweat on our faces to earn our keep.

If we carefully examine today's situation, the most crucial thing for humanity is restoration to the glorious image God created us in. If we are restored to that image, you will certainly not be poor, because you will be a creator. How can a creative person be poor? The owners of Google, Facebook, Alibaba, Alipay, and WeChat are all wealthy. Why? Because they are creators. Today, brethren, do not think that they love the world and belong to the world. I tell you, Christians truly need to know how to be like God and learn how to be creative.

Without creativity, living in poverty all day long, envying this and that, is useless! After envying, unable to reach the grapes, one says they are sour, uttering sour spiritual words – that is not a spiritual person. A truly spiritual person is undoubtedly a high-performing individual. Why? Because they bear the image of God. Therefore, everyone must gradually emerge from erroneous conditions.

In earlier years, I visited a Christian who shared her experience. In the local church, a pastor led the Christians to the mountains to wait for God and the return of Jesus Christ. What did they do on the mountain? They stayed there for days, but Jesus did not return. After the pastor led the brethren back, how would you explain it to them? What were you waiting for? In fact, the Bible does not say to wait for Jesus on the mountain. The Bible says: Those in the field ploughing; those at home grinding, take one and leave one. It never says to sit on the mountain and wait. Isn't that wasting time? Time slips through your fingers.

Redeeming the time, knowing what the will of the Lord is—these are the original words from the Bible. A true spiritual person undoubtedly cherishes time, and cherishing time is cherishing life. As a spiritual person, if you cannot manage your time, what can you manage? Therefore, today I am teaching you, what is the will of God? Should we not manage our time well, using it all wisely and for the value God wants us to create?

Some people say, He seems to be talking about information that helps people live well; is that success theology? They debated it, and I found their debate quite interesting. I said, Is there anything wrong with helping people live well? There is nothing wrong. If it were about making people live poorly, who would listen? What does it mean to live well? It means to live like God. In my Christian worldview, it is about being like Jesus, being like God. Being like God is wonderful. Today, it is because our ancestors Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then lost the glorious image of God. What is salvation? Salvation is the restoration of the glorious image of God. How wonderful it would be to be restored!

I am a person who cherishes time. Every moment of my time is filled to the brim. Not only that, but I strive to fill it even more, packing in as much as possible. So when my colleagues see this, they think I am incredible. But what's so incredible? I am merely constantly moving forward in restoring the glorious image God created me in.

I dislike laziness, and I dislike living until I become senile. I like to ponder things constantly, whether I have something to do or not. For example, I ponder about decorating, writing computer programs, project management, human resource management, and investment and financial management. You might say I ponder about many things, and I have figured out the essence of many of them. That is good! I feel that spiritual people should be like God. I do not think that shouting hallelujah loudly makes you like God. God is full of wisdom, power, nobility, and glory. In my theological system, I feel that we should be like God. I always long to be like Jesus, to be like God.

Today, we will talk about redeeming the time and knowing the will of the Lord. This is the normal image of a spiritual person. Today, I encourage everyone to learn to manage your time. As I speak, reflect on what you have done in the past week. Many people will turn their faces away because many cannot stand the question.

When I used to be in management, my employees would come to me and say, Boss, I am so busy! I would say, What are you busy with? What was the first thing you were busy with? What was the second thing? What was the third thing? How much time did you spend on the first thing? How much time did you spend on the second thing? After listening, I would say, You should not be busy! You didn't do much in the past week. They would say, Strange! When I say it in front of you like this, I can't justify it. I said, That's right, I know how to manage time.

So today, you need to know what you did in the past week. If you say you forgot, then what did you do in the past three days? If you forgot, that's fine. Then what did you do in the past day? Don't tell me you only did one hour's worth of work in that day. What is that called redeeming the time? If you only did one hour's worth of work in the past day, don't you think you need to reflect?

You only completed one-tenth of your task. I think we should reflect on this and frequently take notes on what we do each day. That is why I encourage everyone to write plans. If you say, Oh, I can't remember what I did in the past day! Can you remember what you did in the past hour? Probably not. What kind of memory is that? I think you need to reset your factory settings. I feel that many people's brains are not very good because they have not used them properly.

Recently, I made a resolution to train my colleagues to learn how to manage time. How to learn to manage time? First learn how to write plans, how to set priorities. All of this is related to time management. In the past few years, I have had a tremendous amount of work. The only way to solve the problem is to manage time well, so I have developed a habit of high performance. High-performance habits are good. I think everyone should think about whether that's the case.

Scripture

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:16-17)

Prayer

Lord, we thank you. You personally accomplished salvation for us, to restore the original glorious image you created us in. God, work in us today, so that we may receive wisdom and intelligence from heaven in the management of time. Lord, we ask that you continually restore in us the ability to create, the ability to manage, and the glorious image you created us in.

Lord, we ask that you work in us, removing the chaotic habits among our brethren, removing the lazy habits in us, and removing all the bad habits of those who do not know how to manage time. Lord, speak to us among us today. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!

The Background of This Passage

This passage is in the fifth chapter of Ephesians. In Ephesians, chapter five, it is written:

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:15-17)

The theme of Ephesians is building God's glorious church. Some people will ask why we need to build God's glorious church, because when we build God's glorious church, the Spirit of God dwells among us. The Spirit of God does not merely dwell inside people, but people must dwell inside the church. The church is where God dwells. A church that is not built according to God's will is merely a church in name only. Such a church will not have God's presence. With the church, the Holy Spirit dwells in the church. Therefore, Ephesians discusses the building of God's glorious church.

to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the Chinese Mingding Destiny and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:19-21)

to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the Chinese Mingding Destiny to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3:10-11)

The logic of Ephesians is that when God's power and salvation come to us, it is to build His glorious church to be the dwelling place of His Holy Spirit. When the Spirit of God dwells among us, manifesting great power, it will restore the original glorious image God created us in, and then we will become people with God's glorious image. The glorious image has true righteousness and holiness.

Having built the church, the Spirit of God dwells in the church. The Spirit of God does not dwell in individuals; the Spirit of God dwells in the church, so God dwells in you. If you are a person who practises personal cultivation, the Spirit of God cannot dwell in you, because the entire New Testament and the logical system of the Apostle Paul are about building God's glorious church. Therefore, salvation is not a personal matter, but a matter of the church.

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

If you carefully read Ephesians, it talks about the church and salvation. A person who builds the church according to God's Word can be restored as a new creation in the church. We must understand that we must not engage in personal cultivation; we must build God's glorious church.

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. (Ephesians 5:1)

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:16-17)

What exactly is the will of God? It is for each of us to build the church in unity of mind.

one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:5-6)

Today we need to establish the concept that the church is the theme of the New Testament, that the church is the body of Jesus Christ. With the church, we personally, in the process of building the church, restore the image God originally created us in. Then you will certainly be a person who cherishes time and understands what the will of the Lord is. The power of the Lord Jesus is manifested in such a great way!

In Genesis, you will see that our God is a creative God, creating on the first day, creating on the second day, creating on the third day, creating on the fourth day, creating on the fifth day, creating on the sixth day, and resting on the seventh day. Today we gradually embark on this path of creation, beginning to cherish time; training ourselves well in the world, so that we may become faithful and good servants before God, and then God will appoint us to manage more things.

And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and then he went away. Then he who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ (Matthew 25:15-21)

God wants us to manage everything on earth well in the future. Do not think that we will do nothing in heaven in the future, but shout Hallelujah every day. If you study the Bible carefully, you will find that we are undergoing training in this world so that we can represent God in governing the whole earth in the future. The concept of Chinese Mingding Destiny is what Genesis says, that God allows us to manage this land, manage the birds in the air, the beasts on the ground, and the fish in the sea. God created Adam and Eve to manage everything on earth, and today we must manage everything on earth by being with God.

Time Management Reflects a Person's Values

After careful observation, I found that people often say they have no time. What does it mean to have no time? In fact, it means that they do not regard this matter as important and think that another matter is very important, so they do not have time to do this matter. Therefore, whether there is time or not is related to how important he thinks this matter is. If people attach great importance to their work, life, and family, then building God's glorious church is no longer important to them. In the generation we live in today, some things are very absurd.

Some people think it is important to manage their own families well, but can you manage the church well if you manage your family well? I don't think you can manage it at all. Many people manage their own families first, and as a result, they don't manage the church. Whether in the Book of Haggai or the Book of Malachi, the Israelites of that era spent their time managing their own families, and as a result, the house of God was desolate, and God's curse came upon them. We should not think that managing our own families, managing our children, and managing our own work well means that the order of priority is correct. The order is not arranged that way.

Jesus Christ once said that if you love your wife, children, houses, business, and work more than you love God, you are not worthy to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ; if you are not willing to forsake your parents, wife, children, fields, and houses for the Lord Jesus, you are not worthy to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. This order of priority is clearly stated in the Bible.

Time management reflects a person's values. If we always put God's things behind, God will be very displeased. We must clearly know what God's will is and discern what is pleasing to God. If we implement things according to what is pleasing to God, can we not prosper? Some people regard vain things as very important things.

A few days ago, when we studied the first chapter of Leviticus, we learned that God accepting us and God not accepting us has a great impact on a person's life. Because He is God, if you don't put God first, but put other things first, how can it work? If you put God below your work, then work becomes your vain thing. Time management reflects your values. What do you regard as important? If we put the things that please God behind and put the things that please us before God, you cannot escape the curse. All of man's problems are caused by getting the order of priority wrong.

Time management reflects your values. Even if you have a thousand or ten thousand reasons to argue that you want to manage your own family well, and if you don't manage your own family well, how can you manage the church? It sounds right, but many people who manage their own families well cannot manage the church well because these people use all their energy to manage their own families, and their hearts are all in their own homes. Where do we spend our time? Today, let us compare and see what God's will is.

What Exactly is God's Will?

God's will is very clearly stated in the Book of Ephesians. God wants us to become new creations. The new creation is made in the image of God, restoring the image of God that we originally had, and managing the whole earth well after restoration. Many people have this kind of trouble: if I spend time on God, what will happen to my work? The problem is not who will do your work, but that you do not have God's glorious image, and your work efficiency will be very low and lack creativity. If your work efficiency is like that of Adam before the fall, your work and business problems will be solved.

We often get the order of priority wrong. We were originally descendants of Adam and lost the glorious image of God. Today, Jesus Christ has accomplished salvation for us. If we act according to God's will, there will be no problems. What we lack is the glorious image of God and the noble and glorious power of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (Ephesians 3:20)

Do not underestimate the power of God at work within us. If we build a glorious church according to God's power, the abilities of our brothers and sisters will be filled with God's power, and their entire work and living conditions will be completely changed. Some brothers and sisters have shared that they found jobs during the pandemic and their work is very smooth. Previously, their salary was only over a thousand US dollars, but suddenly their salary rose to three or four thousand US dollars. The difference between over a thousand US dollars and three or four thousand US dollars is too great. That is the power of God. What we need most is the power of God, the glorious image that God originally created us with.

We begin to build God's glorious church with our hearts, act according to God's will, restore the glorious image of God in us, and manage the whole earth very effectively. We practice the ability to manage time and the ability to manage your time priorities.

God's Method is to Build a Glorious Church

Those who do not believe God's words use their own methods and think that you can solve work matters? They do not know that when they have the ability, their problems are small problems. God's method is the method of building the church.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12)

Brothers and sisters, do not think that spending time loving God and spending time building God's glorious church will sacrifice our work. Isn't your work a blessing from God?

A few days ago, a brother asked me for advice on career planning. I don't know if he liked listening to it or not. A few days ago, another sister also asked me for advice on career planning. I don't know if she liked my answer or not, and she didn't give me a response. I said: It doesn't matter much what you choose. Sometimes we choose wrongly, but because we are prosperous in the spirit, even if we choose wrongly, we will prosper. If we are not prosperous in the spirit, even if you choose correctly, you may not have a future. The key is not what we choose, but whether we live in God's will.

If we cherish our time and spend it all on striving for our own work, abilities, and developing this skill and that skill, the only thing is that we do not please God, do not know what God's will is, and then put God as the last priority in our lives, then what will you do in the future? So I encourage you to love God well. God knows a person who loves God. What God has prepared for those who love him is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived. God will accomplish everything abundantly, exceeding what we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

Do you want to use God's method or man's method? I think you should ponder it slowly. If you haven't suffered enough, you can continue to use man's method; if you have suffered enough and you find that you can't do it, you can come back and use God's method.

Learn to Manage Time

We have talked a lot before, maybe your ears are calloused from listening, maybe you think these principles are not new at all, but I still want to nag you tirelessly. When we build the church according to God's will, nothing is delayed. Why? Because our time is managed properly and the priorities are set correctly. I tell you, the potential within you will gradually be magnified. The potential that God originally created us with is very great. According to some people's research, the potential that a person lives out in his lifetime is only 1%. If a person can live out 2% or 3% of his potential, he will become a superman.

If a person recovers 100% of his ability, he is the superman of supermen. Today, we must know that we have unlimited potential, because this potential comes from the power of God. If the power of God fills us, you will find that the potential within us is unlimited. Don't think that you are already very busy and can only do so many things. In fact, you can do a lot of things, and your time management needs to be adjusted. What you need most is to tap into your potential. How to tap into your potential? It is to let the Spirit of God fill you.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, (Ephesians 5:18)

The Spirit of God fills us and constantly releases the potential within us. In the past few years, I have had one characteristic: I am not afraid of doing more work. Sometimes the workload is so huge that the only way is to adjust the efficiency of doing things. If we know that we have great potential within us, we will constantly release unlimited power. When we begin to take on such work and tasks, God will surely give you ability and give you wisdom. The same thing, if you change the way you do it, the efficiency may increase tenfold; the same thing, if you can handle it with wisdom, you may improve the efficiency a hundredfold.

In the things I have experienced in the past few years, I have found that my God is faithful and He is the source of my wisdom. Until today, one thing that has always shocked me is that as long as we are willing to believe and willing to seek according to God's will, the wisdom God gives will expand our capacity within. Some people earn a thousand dollars a month; some people earn ten thousand dollars a month; some people earn one hundred thousand dollars a month; and some people earn one million or ten million a month. There is no way to compare. Because people really can create these values, can you say that their twenty-four hours a day create the same value as your twenty-four hours a day? There is no way to compare. Why is there such a huge difference? It is because the potential within people has been released.

Today, our faith is not a theory placed in books, but the power of God raising Jesus Christ from the dead, vividly manifested in our lives. So I encourage everyone not to think that you are busy for granted. No, it is because you lack wisdom and cleverness from God. Start learning to manage today, remanage your time, and reuse your time on things that please God. I assure you that doing so will not delay anything.

Some time ago, a brother opened a company, and the expenses of that company were not small. It could barely maintain survival. I asked him how long he could last. He said he could last three months. As a result, three months passed, and there were still no problems. I asked him again how many months he could last. He said he could last three months. Later, he prayed with the people he pastored every day, and as a result, God miraculously turned him around. A few days ago, he told me that he got an investment of one million, which can temporarily solve his problem.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. (Ephesians 5:1)

God is the God of creation. We are to be imitators of God. If we create every day, and then on the seventh day, we rest in the presence of God, there will be no problems. Today, we must become a new creation according to the image of God. We will come out of vanity and start managing our time well. Our brothers and sisters must learn to manage things and manage all the things we do well. What we do, why we do it, how we do it, when we do it, and to what extent we do it is called a plan. Learn to manage our time and manage our plans, and you will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort, that is, use half the effort to achieve double the effect.

Some time ago, when I was training my colleagues, I found that many of them often did useless work. For example, they did something, did it wrong, and then did it again. If it was wrong again, they would do it again, over and over again. Many of them were doing useless work. People often do a lot of useless work and become very busy; if they do it right once, there is no need to repair it or tear it down and redo it, and the efficiency will be greatly improved. If each of us learns to manage our own time, let our time be used for learning and improving, and then imitate God, as beloved children, and develop a good habit.

You will find that I have not talked much about time management. I am talking about cherishing time and knowing what the Lord's will is. Cherishing time means doing everything we do every day, every hour, every minute, and every second to please God. You will be a highly effective person and a highly effective spiritual person. A spiritual person originally has the image of God and originally has unlimited potential. As your potential is constantly tapped, your capacity is constantly expanded, and your methods are constantly updated and innovated, you will surely enjoy this life full of challenges! Recently, a sister came to seek my advice. She is planning to open a farm and do a small business, wanting to get out of a very comfortable life. I said: Very good! This is the path of practicing faith.

If we don't make trouble, the world will make trouble for us; if we take the initiative to make trouble and actively practice faith, the world will not be able to make trouble for us. We will become more and more like God. We must become a new creation. Once a person is holy, you will surely live out prosperity and you will surely live out the glorious image of God, and you can manage the whole earth and govern this land. This is God's will! May God bless everyone!