Introduction :

Pain, sorrow, death is what defined my past. Salvation, Eternity, Everlasting is what has been guaranteed to me in the future. Peace, Love, Tranquility is what represents my present state I’m experiencing because of Jesus. I have given my past to God the Father, the sorrow and the joys. My future has been laid out and the Holy Spirit will have it happen that way. During this season of calmness, through Jesus Christ, I can live fully in the present not entrapped in the past nor controlled by the future. I am allowed freely to be happy now knowing Jesus Christ is alive and moving now. Why do you wish God to change the past when it has already happened? Who in their right mind would pray so much about the future as to stay stuck dwelling on the fears of the future and their uncertainties?

Time :

Being focused so much on the future takes away your ability to enjoy the blessings of today. It takes away the reason why Jesus Christ sacrificed himself, which is to allow us to live freely and love freely now and forever. The future will be taken care of, and the past has been received with grace. Time is one of the concepts that has controlled much of humanities pride. The way we perceive time makes it hard for many nonbelievers to justify there is a God. I assure you, our God lives beyond this time. He is this time, and the past, and the future flowing through all and being at all times. That is the beauty of God’s omnipresence. We are given an opportunity through Jesus Christ to live through Him now. To enjoy the blessings at this present state.

The Parking Ticket :

First, let me share a story about a parking ticket and then a view of time. I am a college student who takes the park and ride most of the time. I do it because it’s free but it requires a student ID. There are some days that I have forgotten my student ID. At the time I arrive at the university there are two possible solutions: To pay 9 bucks to park in the parking structure or to park for free on the curb. The risk of parking on the curb is if I overstay I may get a 25 dollar ticket for parking too long. There are three important stages of time that will be important in the understanding of my perspective of time.

Point One :

The first stage is the point where I have to make the decision to either pay 9 bucks or to park for free with the risk of being ticketed. At that point, I will either lose 9 or lose nothing. I chose to lose nothing and parked in the free parking.

The second stage is the point where I come back to the car to see if I got a parking ticket. At that point, I either know I lost 25 dollars or have lost nothing. What happened when I made the initial decision does not affect whether or not I have lost 25 dollars or have lost nothing at this point in time. I found out that I did indeed get a ticket of 25 dollars. Now I am at the point where I lost 25 dollars.

Period One :

The third stage occurs after the second stage after taking into account the first stage and the previous two times I’ve gone through this. The previous two times I parked in the free parking, I did not receive a ticket. During the second stages of those two times, I did not lose money. During the second stage of the time I got a ticket, I knew I had lost 25 dollars.

What if I didn’t get a ticket though? I would have gained nine bucks because I didn’t spend it in the parking structure. However, I only understood I lost 25 dollars or gained 9 bucks because I took into consideration what occurred with stage one. Additionally, with a three-point period, I paid 25 dollars for three parking days. Therefore, I ended up paying less if I were to have gone through the safe route and paid 9 dollars each time I forgot my ID. It would make sense that I should risk parking in the free parking right if given a time period I’d be saving money.

Now :

Time and the feelings and decisions associated with times exist because there are two points of time we consider. A single point of time at the moment you make a decision is independent of the past or the future. We do not know what will happen in the future, nor do we know what will happen given the past. That is not saying that the past does not affect the present or the future prospects will affect the present. What I am saying is the single time point is independent regardless of what happened given all other conditions are not considered.

Time, as we know it exists because we have two points to compare. If we did not have two points but had one point then time is obsolete since that point in time would be the only state that we are familiar with. Time can control people whether it be the past or present. It is the events that have happened in the past that brings perspective and can infect the present. It could also be the worries and uncertainty of the future that negatively affects the present. We must live in a constant state of mindful living in the present through Jesus. When we can do this then it makes it so we do not have to worry about the past or future because we have given dominion of it over to Christ.

Live Now :

An example is tithing. Tithes are financial offerings to the church. For many people, they are not in a financial situation that allows tithing to be easy. I am a college student and I have no money laying around! However, at the moment that I am asked to sacrifice what straps many to the world (money), I am overfilled with a willingness to give everything I have. Many people at the time of offering are of course in a similar scenario. What has caused me to not give as much as I should is not the present point of offering, but the future uncertainties. It is whether or not I will be provided with enough money to live through the week. It is when this idea creeps into my head which yields me to think, “Maybe I don’t need to offer anything this week”.

We all want to offer at that moment, but it is the insecurities of the future that hinders me. However, if I live all for that moment then it doesn’t hurt me. The future has not arrived yet and at that present moment I am still provided. My uncertainties of the future is a result of my worries about not being provided enough in the future. It does not come from not having enough at the present point.

Now, when we are focused on the sadness of the past, we are openly inviting the spirit of offense to infiltrate our present moment. How can you live in the present with love if you are openly inviting the spirit of offense? You can’t, and if you do then you are not living in love.

Context:

Being stuck in the past or worried about the future hinders our ability to feel Jesus Christ now. When we are so focused on whether or not we will be secured in the future, we are ignoring God’s promise to fulfill us with all of our needs in order to fulfill our spiritual desires. Matthew 6:34. The past and the future must be associated directly with the works of Jesus Christ. Testimonies from your past in context of Jesus expects for Him to do it again in the people you are ministering to. Assurance of the future in context of Jesus expects him to provide always so that you may live fully in the Present Moment. The “free parking” is the salvation and eternal life Jesus is. It is not an easy decision and you will be judge and prosecuted. It is not the safe way out. You pay a great deal by taking the safe way out by not proclaiming Jesus. You might think it will be safer at that moment, but in the end you will be hurt. Salvation is the riskiest decision you can make and many have died for it and many more will die to spread Him. However when you do, then you’ll have made a choice that is beyond time. You’ll have made a choice which will earn you eternal salvation due to your faithfulness in Jesus Christ. Live now and prosper through Jesus.