Doxa Deo Wilgeheuwel

In the next 3 weeks we will talk about Time and we find 3 different concepts of time in the word. There is 3 Greek words chronos, kairos and pleroo time and it is not yesterday today and tomorrow.

It is a very interesting conversation, time, as it affects us all, we are all bound by it and time does not ask questions, time flies, time passes, time comes and time go. We are all very familiar with the passage in Ecclesiastes regarding time. There is a time for this and a time for that, and personally I think time is the one thing we just take for granted.

I read a piece one day about the preciousness of time and it went something like this:

An hour is nothing for some but ask the student writing exam who has no clue what the answer is.

half an hour is nothing for some, but ask those in love who is getting ready to travel maybe overseas for a year or 2 to work, how precious is that half an hour.

15 minutes is nothing for some but ask how long can 15 min be for the one waiting for results from the Dr.

5 min is nothing to some but ask the one who has to say goodbye at a death bed.

It's Chronos time. Chronos time is what determines our day to day life, and we measure it with watches and clocks. How many say at the end of the day "I don't know where the time has gone".

When we listen to life coaches and Psychologists, many times their advice is that we should create time for simply breathing. What do you enjoy doing, a hobby for just 5 - 10 min a day where you can just experience something with your soul - see nature, experience nature. Hear the birds singing and the dogs barking. For some, they are privileged to go to the sea, and they hear and feel it. It cleanses your soul. Maybe it's just a quiet cup of coffee or cappuccino in a busy day. It's momentary things, temporal things. It's not "if only I can get the day passed" or "I wish it was all next week"

We are so Blessed to have NOW. We have each other NOW, we still have a chance NOW. Wrong decisions and habits can still be reversed NOW. Forgiveness can still be obtained NOW.

I'm not saying we shouldn't dream about the future or think about the past with nostalgia or perhaps wisdom. Memories and dreams are very important and what better way to have a cup of coffee with friends and family and having conversations about the old days. What I am saying is that we need balance. The past and the future should not be the time where we find ourselves constantly in.

To strive for the future and my dreams means there is a journey ahead in which I must prepare myself for now. I can't get to my final destination unprepared and weak and then I wish I was more disciplined in my journey in the past.

There is an English quote that says if you want different results you need to do something differently. We have a clean canvas in front of us with the heading 2020. Every day and every moment I write my story and we are all on our journey to tomorrow. What are we going to do differently this year? While our New Years resolutions is fresh in our minds, let's look at the following.

(NEAR)- Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you (James 4: 8), seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. (Mat 7: 7) Seek first the Kingdom of God and all other things will be added. (Matt. 6:33) Are these not amazing promises? But what do we do with these promises? Do we create time and space to search or keep on knocking? Are we committed to continuing to knock until something happens? Do we take the Word literally and keep God at His word?

We go through tough things throughout the year and in our journey to tomorrow, it's exactly this that we have to learn to stand strong without giving up.

Usually our first top 5 New Years resolutions are,
• I want to spend more time with the Lord,
• more time with my family,
• healthier lifestyle
• set healthy boundaries and
• I want to spend more time with myself / hobbies.

Can you see that all this has to do with Chronos time. Isn't it really shocking that this is exactly what we are lacking or setting aside.

In 3 John 1 in his opening John writes, "I pray that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is" It made me think a lot. You see my life is determined by my thinking and it reflects in my body, therefore Paul says in:

Romans 12: 2 Do not dwell in this world with all its wickedness. No, let God renew you from the inside. Let Him change your way of thinking so that you know what HE expects from you. Then you will also know what His will is and how you must surrender your life to Him every day. (seek first the Kingdom and all shall be added, even in my health)


Caring. Caring enough for your family, family, wife, friends, colleagues.
Matt 5:7 You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.- that's a promise

Matthew 5:14 You are a light to the dark world around you. Everyone should be able to see that you believe. Your faith must be as visible as a city built high on top of a mountain. No man puts on a light and goes to hide it under a bed. No, a light is placed in the middle of a room so everyone can see what's going on around them. This is exactly what you should do as well. Don't go hiding somewhere in the dark. You must shine like a light in this pitch dark world. Other people must see from your words and deeds that you serve God with your hearts. Then they will say that God is really a great and good God. That is how your Heavenly Father's Name is really raised.

Someone once said: Preach the gospel and if necessary, use words.
We do this by:
• how we act,
• how we treat people,
• how we handle situations in our lives,
• how we care about others, really care.

Can I tell you something, people are watching us! One morning in a service as usual, the particular Pastor after the sermon made an invitation if there was anyone who would like to give their hearts to the Lord. A man stepped forward from the back row of and asked if he could say something. He said that he wanted to give his heart to the Lord, but he just wants to say why. He followed the pastor as well as some of the congregation members. He listened to conversations and saw how they acted, treated one another, treated strangers, and he gave a whole list of things he saw and that they were really different and real and because of the authenticity and the conviction of the Holy Spirit he decided to give his heart to the Lord.

When you and I live differently and are different from those without the Lord, you and I have the authority to speak in their lives. If we talk the same, smell the same do the same things, how are salt and then we have no foot to stand on.

Galatians 6: 2 Carry one another's burdens, thus fulfilling the law of Christ.

Not only do we have an interest in our people around us or in our lives, but we have a deep compassion. We may not be able to physically do something for them to change their situation, but we can really pray, really stand in the gap until there is a breakthrough. Encourage and love one another. How many times do we simply say, “ah shame” and walk away as if we couldn’t be bothered!

If you want to make a good Bible study of this, please read 1 John 4: 7 - 21

You - You, you matter. Enter the year, live every day, live in your NOW knowing that you matter. You may not feel it, you may not believe it. There may be many things in your past that you have done, and the devil uses that as a lie to tell you that the Lord can never love you so much because of x y z. But for the Lord you are more precious than anything else.

Listen to me, before the foundation of the earth the Lord thought of you. I do not want to give you my opinion how much the Lord thinks of you, I want you to hear it through His Word - which can never lie or return void - how much He thinks of you.


Hear what this scripture says and I made it a little personal by changing the we to me:

2 Tim 1:9 (amp) for He delivered ME and saved ME and called ME with a holy calling (a calling that leads to a consecrated life – a life set apart – a life of purpose), not because of MY works (or because of any personal merit – I could do nothing to earn this), but because of His own purpose and grace (His amazing, undeserved favor) which was granted to ME in Christ Jesus before the world began. – (bold and italics added)

Psalm 139(AMP)
O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do];You understand my thought from afar.You scrutinize my path and my lying down,And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken],Behold, O Lord, You know it all.You have enclosed me behind and before,And [You have] placed Your hand upon me.Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me;It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.Where can I go from Your Spirit?Or where can I flee from Your presence?If I ascend to heaven, You are there;If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there.If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,even there Your hand will lead me,and Your right hand will take hold of me.If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,and the night will be the only light around me,”Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You,but the night shines as bright as the day;darkness and light are alike to You.
for You formed my innermost parts;You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;Wonderful are Your works,and my soul knows it very well.My frame was not hidden from You,when I was being formed in secret,and intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;And in Your book were all written the days that were appointed for me,when as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.When I awake, I am still with You.

Romans 8:38 - 39 One thing I know for sure: Nothing can ever separate us from Christ's love. Not death or life or angels or demonic powers; not our fear of today or our concern for tomorrow; nor supernatural powers. Yes, nothing above or below in the depths or elsewhere in creation will ever be able to separate us from the love God has for us in Christ Jesus.

I conclude with a story, there was a certain man who drove far and through the night to his final destination and at one point he started to get really tired and he saw a place where he could turn off on a quiet place just pass a gas station and it seems to him that it was a safe and quiet place where he can just sleep for an hour or 2 in his car and then he can drive again. But what he did not know is that it is a very famous place for cyclists who enjoy riding there early in the morning.

He was just falling asleep when someone knocked on his window. At first he got a fright and turned down his window slowly, the cyclist asked if he had the time. "Yes sure" the man says "it's 7:15" "thank you" the cyclists greets him and goes on. The man again just fell asleep when there is another knock on the window “yes” the man says irritated “sorry to bother, but do you know what time it is” another cyclists asks “7 : 45 ”says the man angry. He decided to make a note and paste the note against his window. It says "I don't know what time it is" After a while there is another knock on his window. When he opened the window another cyclists said, "sir it's 8:15"

TIME: May 2020 be a time for us not to pass hours and days without living in our NOW. Maybe you should get in contact with someone NOW, maybe that is yourself. You may now have to tell your family or wife / husband how much you love them.

Our NOW has arrived, and you may want to give your heart to the Lord NOW. Maybe you never have, maybe you want to make that re-commitment and just say Lord, I want to start right this year and every day of my life with You. I want to fix my old life that is far from You and the road together with Your step. Do you not want to stand with me this morning in humility before the Lord? We need Him so much.