B.U.S.Y

B.U.S.Y. Bondage Under Satan’s Yoke This message has been on my heart for some time to write. But now is the time that I have found inspiration to write it, so I am trusting that this is the Lord’s timing and will. Most of us find ourselves so busy that we hardly know what we should do next, so we just ‘fall’ into the next thing to try to get everything done. Very few of us are disciplined enough to run our lives based on an actual ‘schedule’ that we stick to ‘religiously’. I do know only one or two people in the WORLD that are able to do this – and they do it religiously. At the end of this message, I’m going to let you in on an imaginary ‘conference’ that Satan had with his demons to discuss ways to render Christians ineffective for Christ. A ‘fruitless’ Christian is a ‘useless’ Christian. The greatest lesson that the Lord needed to teach me in this regard involves two things: 1) Learning how to set my ‘limits’, and 2) learning how to say “No” when asked to help out or do things for other people. First, let’s discuss the limits. Every one of us has certain limits in what we are ‘safely’ able to do before we get stressed out or enter the ‘overload’ mode. Little done in either of these postures is effective or of any real quality. If we ask the Lord to show us where our limits are, He will do so. We each have a certain size ‘plate’ and when it is full, it is FULL. If we try to put any more on a full plate, something falls off, or the whole plate tumbles. The Bible says: “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (NKJV Dan 12:4) Another version puts it this way, “But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.” (NLT Dan 12:4). The amount of knowledge that man has amassed since the beginning of the twentieth century is mind-boggling. And with the advent of computers (which were supposed to lessen people’s work), they have, in fact, increased it significantly. Many of us now find ourselves a slave to a computer somewhere – wither at work, at school, or at home – or all of the above. Not only have computers invaded our time-space, but the fact that so much knowledge is stored in so many places, puts a heavy burden on all of us to do more, know more, go more – and do it all faster. But, with all of this said, our personal limits do not change. God commanded us to work for six days and on the seventh (of time) to rest. He called this commandment the Sabbath. The Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. Name one other of those ten that you think you might be exempted from – or excused from obeying because you have some ‘special’ job or circumstance! (Now the ‘Sabbath’ is NOT a certain day of the week – but a certain ‘period of time’ during every week). Once we ‘learn what our limits are, we come to the second part of this lesson – learning to say “No”. If you are anything like me, you are quick to say “Yes” to anyone who asks for help, especially in the family or the church. We will often find ourselves having committed to do something that really is not God’s will for us. Most of the time, this is a result of a lack of prayer about the assignment, project or ministry. Sometimes we feel ‘privileged’ to have been asked to do a certain thing, that saying “No” would actually hurt our pride! We don’t always have to say “No” when someone asks us to take on something new. That is the time when we need to examine our limits (plate) and either, 1) say “No” to the new task if our plate is already full (which most are), or 2) ask the Lord to show us what needs to be replaced on our plate so that we can take on the new ministry or task. Before something new is taken on, something ‘old’ needs to go. At times, we will find that the Lord is asking us to ‘give up’ something that we really like! That s when it becomes really difficult. So, the keys to overcoming the B.U.S.Y. syndrome are two words: “limits” and “No”. This means saying “No” to the TV, radio, friend, family member or whatever unless we can hear from the Lord what we can remove from our already full plate in order to satisfy this new requirement. ========================================== Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. "We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, let them go to bibles studies, let them get together with other believers, but we must steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. "This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!" "How shall we do this?" shouted his angels. "Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent numberless schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6 or 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the daily pressures of work. "Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or iPod whenever they drive, to keep the TV, DVR, cell phones and their PC's going constantly in their homes. Make sure the TV is the first thing they turn on in the morning – even before their coffee pot! And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical, contradicting music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ. "Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogs and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes. Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. "And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions. Let them be involved in soul-winning. But, crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from the Lord. "Soon they will be working on their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause." It was quite a convention in the end. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments, causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there. Has the devil been successful at his scheme?? You be the judge. How about this definition of busy: B - Burdened U - Under S - Satan's Y - Yoke Wow, makes one think.... If Satan doesn’t win ‘First Prize’, which is our soul, his alternate goal is to take our minds and hearts off Christ and then steer us toward the cares of the world. God wants us to enjoy life, but HE must be first. If we are too busy for God, then we are too busy.