Living in Real Time

There’s a delightful story told of a person walking through the woods and coming upon a field full of daffodils in full bloom. A breath-taking sight. Flower after flower had been planted in beautiful, swirling patterns as if someone splashed paint all over the ground. At the edge of the field was a small cottage where an elderly woman lived. On the fence was a sign that read like this…

“Answers to the questions you are asking:

First answer, 50,000 bulbs

Second answer, one bulb at a time

Third answer, started in 1958”

This elderly woman had begun to plant one flower at a time, day after day, week after week, many decades earlier, using every day to change her corner of the world. She found meaning not by reaping a harvest, but by giving back her appreciation of beauty to all who happened across her handiwork.  

Living in Real Time is taking each moment of every day and being present in that moment by living in it and through it.

Stop and think for a moment how, while you are in this moment in time, you are thinking of something up ahead. Who you still have to see today, where you have to go, what you need to do - all these occupy this moment and cause you to never appreciate this moment by living in it fully, because you are always in a place of planning a future. We spend an awful lot of time living in the next moment just beyond this one, not connecting to the reality of what and who we are in this moment. It’s so easy to be planning that meeting, to-do list, or career move in this moment, isn’t it? But if you’re constantly crowding out this real moment of life that you’re in now with future moments you don’t yet have, you end up never living or enjoying your life. You never experience what God has in store for you in this moment.

Today, this moment in time is where you experience God, what He’s doing and how you can live in a wide-awake, aware relationship with everything around you. It’s in this unique moment that you’ll find God and the inspiration and clarity of the life you’re experiencing. 

There’s nothing wrong with planning, in the context of your life. When you realise that every moment in life comes only once and what’s done and said is a choice, you will begin living on a higher level of consciousness. It's moving from the busyness of filling life to actually experiencing the moment as unique. Jesus lived His life like that and because of His very present mindset, achieved eternal results in a very short life. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time.” Ephesians 5:15-16. 

We often believe that the more we can cram into one day, the more effective and disciplined we are. Stop! Follow the most successful life ever lived and see how Jesus, who had very little time spends His lunchtime. With the whole world awaiting His pressing mission and lifesaving words, He sits at a well waiting for one woman! 

Jesus knew how to live in Real Time because He understood the difference between urgent and important. Every day is filled with pressing, urgent things we must do, and if we finish every last one today, there will be as many urgent things to do tomorrow. Learning to do the urgent things after the important things are done is our goal. By Jesus sitting at a well when the whole world was pressing for His time, His healing and His words, He opened a whole town to the Messiah and opened Samaritans to redemption! His action had a ripple effect that went beyond one woman being made whole to the potential deliverance of all Samaritans. 

See how living in Real Time works?  It has effects now and flows forward. 

Living with the important and urgent.

Do you want to achieve amazing things quickly and effectively? Do you want to flow in the knowledge of quick, right decisions and actions? Have a life that counts? Here’s how…

Jesus rose a long while before day to pray and spend time with His Father so that He could get the mind and strategy of the Father for the day. Because He spent hours on the important, He could go out and meet the urgent. He spent time with God so He could heal, deliver and raise the dead in seconds. 

Living in the Moment. 

When your focus is turned to God in this moment, He uses it as an instrument to bring effortless living and to ripple outward to affect the world. 

The better we get at living in the present, the more ‘mind aware’ we become, and the easier it is to pick up the mind cues. We also become aware of subtle opportunities that can enrich us and prosper us. And we grow closer to God and His purposes by living in Real Time.

“I don’t have time.” As a counsellor and life coach, I often hear this. Everyone has the same 24 hours. So, what you need is a change in perception of what your 24 hours are, in the currency of your life. Time is invested, not spent. Time is the one commodity you cannot buy, barter or trade for. So, protect your use of time because how you use it will hugely contribute to your success.

A Death-grip on Life. 

By holding onto life and time so tightly, we never actually live in the moment. We spend all our lives and time forever planning the next moment. This is one of the greatest ways our lives are stolen. 

By simply changing our thinking and seeing that every moment in life is not spent but is invested, we can look to God to lead us to the ‘zone’, the place of effortless and dynamic living led by God.  This is being "in the God zone" where we are executing our skills so well that total concentration is taking place, and we’re performing flawlessly. It’s a wonderful feeling. Performance seems effortless because it comes so easily. Everything is flowing just right. 

A burning bush could only become a point of encounter with God because Moses turned aside to look. This simple, small real-time act led to the freedom from slavery for all of Israel and judgment for Egypt! 

The inner vigilance that comes from a heart seeking genuine obedience to God becomes a life lived in the zone. When we live a life of obedience, we begin to experience the reality of God like never before. Wisdom grows in our lives. Meaning and purpose are accelerated. In early Bible history, the Hebrews gained wisdom through obedience. Today, many Christians determine if they will obey based on whether the outcome will be beneficial to them.

Imagine if the early faithful had adopted this philosophy.

No walls would have fallen down at Jericho.

No Red Sea would have parted.

No one would have been healed.

No coins would have been found in the mouth of a fish.

God is dynamic, and the Spirit flows, so if you want to experience God, you must be in the present moment where He is. Real Time Living puts you in this moment. You are in touch with what God is doing in this moment, where all His power and presence are active.

It's easier to live in the present if you have a clear direction of where you are going and what God purposed for your life. 'Gifts for Destiny and Life' looks at questions like, Who am I? Why am I here? Get the answer to these important questions and more with a fresh perspective that’s transformational. Experience growth, abundance, and joy in your life. You will be guided, in a clear, simple, and fun way, to understand and tap into everything that God has given for you to live a whole and fulfilled life in Real Time. The book is filled with things that will amaze and delight you. It will reveal more of you and empower your life through life-changing assessments. Discover: - how to find meaning and purpose in your life. - how to answer the big questions of life. - how you think and relate, and how that influences your decisions about life and ministry. - how your personality will influence how you approach life and ministry. - how to understand the gifts given by God to the church and how you fit into it - how to take the empowerment of the Spirit to live a happy and fulfilling life. Click the button below for a transformational read, and please subscribe so you can receive great monthly content and my free eBook, 'Destiny Living Toolkit.'

Clock detail of Salvador Dali’s “Persistence of Memory”.

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