"A Ticking Clock"

"All the earth shall worship Thee, and shall sing unto Thee; they shall sing to Thy name. Selah." (Psalms 66:4) I probably need some really good alone time with God; at least that's what I am feeling in my heart. There must be someone out there who is praying for me, because I am totally not happy right now with the way my life is going. I was hoping to be starting to wind down my business by now, but it just keeps seeming to be winding up; so much so, that I am finding it very hard to keep up. But you know, I am the one who allows it to continue to accelerate out of control; I always have been! We tend to think that everything has got to be done a certain way, based upon how we have played it out in our minds, or observed it done by others; but in reality, life is really what you make it to be; the only thing that stays consistent is that clock that just keeps on ticking, tic, toc, tic, toc; on and on it goes, and you cannot stop it, nor slow it down. That said, we have got to make time to be with the Lord; it must be something that we make time to do every day, whether we feel like it or not, we have got to make it happen, which is also totally up to us! That is the tithe I believe counts more than money, our time! Two hours and twenty four minutes a day, or 144 minutes; which is ten percent of the 1,440 minutes that we all have been given in every 24 hour day. Maybe you don't think you have 144 minutes to spare; which is really a lot like thinking you can't spare ten percent of your income; which is pure nonsense! You can not out give God, whether it's your time or your money, because it all comes from Him! That, we are totally unable to control, no way, no how; we might think we can, but it's totally up to God how much time we have on this earth, and He determines our blessings; He holds the purse strings, whether you believe it or not, your blessings come from God. So, now that I have said all of that, let me tell you what I have realized this morning: I have been robbing God of His tithe! Not by my giving of money, because I don't have a problem tithing that; but with my time! It really is like spending money! For example, if you don't give your tithe, guess who gets it, the devil; one way or another your out at least ten percent of your money; so why not give it to God first, that way you can watch Him bless you through your giving; or you can hold back your little ten percent, and then watch the remaining money you have get consumed, along with the ten percent you wanted to keep. The same principle applies with our time, but with one minor little difference: we all have the same amount, 1,440 minutes in a 24 hour day... "I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. But you ask, 'How can we return when we have never gone away?' "Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!" But you ask, 'What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?' "You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies." (Malachi 3:6-12) NLT