Many Christians will not submit themselves to go through a Training Program of Evangelism or give two hours of their time a week to go out and Evangelize with the excuse that there is no time to do it during the week because of school, job, and other activities. I include this concept at the beginning of this textbook to demonstrate that through applying the Biblical principles involved not only can a person, no matter how busy he is, commit himself to successfully see this school of Evangelism through and routinely involve himself in Evangelism each week; he will also be able to do ten times more, literally, a week on top of this than he is presently doing, and do it in a relaxed state of mind without getting ulcers or having a nervous break down.

Christianity is relationship with Jesus. It is not a self-sanctification program. The Apostle Paul not only tells us we cannot save ourselves. he also tells us we cannot sanctify ourselves (1 Cor 1:30). He also tells us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might (Eph 6:10). Zechariah tells us in Zechariah 4:6 that whatever Jesus' plans for our lives are, they are not brought about through self-strife, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us in John 6:63, "It is the Spirit who creates-life;¹²⁶ the flesh profits nothing." Jesus, in this passage, is telling us that anything that we try to accomplish in our own strength will not lead to life or be profitable. Only what is initiated by the Holy Spirit in our lives will bring profit (Is 30). Therefore, the key to victorious Christian living is learning how to draw upon Jesus’ strength and power to live the Christian life, not our own strength and power.

This is true in our weekly time management as well. Jesus has a special personal plan for each of our lives. For this reason the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:15-17,

"Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

Jesus wants us to develop our weekly schedules according to His will through relationship with Him.

Many years ago in the early days of my Christianity, even though I was doing all the good little things Christians were supposed to do such as having a quiet time, taking part in Church fellowship, and witnessing, I was failing in accomplishing goals I believed God was calling me to accomplish. I wasn't doing well in school, finances, etcetera. Of course I was frustrated and so prayed one day to Jesus, Jesus! Why am I failing in my pursuits? What is wrong with my life? He immediately answered, Plan out your time during the week, then Satan will not be able to attack you in it.

At first I did not understand what this meant. As I sought the Lord for understanding of the wisdom He gave me, He showed me that the reason why I was failing in my God-given pursuits was because I was too easily distracted by other things. He then showed me that if I would plan out the use of my time during the week which would include specific time to accomplish those activities God had called me to do and then commit myself to stick to the schedule religiously against all possible distractions, I would accomplish the goals I had set out to accomplish and have the victory over Satan I desired. The Bible says the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). This is what Satan comes to do in our lives by bringing whatever possible distractions he can to keep us from accomplishing the goals Jesus has given us. The only way you can have victory over Satan's sure distractions is to make a weekly schedule, commit yourself to live it out, and then not allow any distractions whatsoever, outside of an emergency, to keep you from religiously living out that schedule.

The first thing Jesus had me plan in my weekly schedule was a time for daily feeding on Him. Proverbs 3:6 states, "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." That "He who is of God hears the words of God." (John 8:47). Part of the significance of Jesus starting with this area of my life was that I spent about three hours a day with Jesus in His Word and in prayer, but the Lord had other things He wanted me to do besides spend all my free time reading the Bible and in prayer. He told me plainly at that time He only wanted me to spend 30 minutes a day with Him in His Word. Jesus wanted me to learn that He was the answer to my needs (John 5:39-40) and that only by allowing Him to be Lord of my life in all areas of my life, including my daily time of feeding on Him, would I find victory and success in my life.

The first step to developing a successful weekly schedule is to pray and ask Jesus what His will is in the use of your time during the week. James 1:5 states, "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him." Many times when I tell people I asked God for wisdom about something and that He spoke in my spirit (1 Cor 2:9- 10) an answer, they say, How do you know God spoke to you? I reply, You believe that the Bible is the Word of God don't you? They answer, Yes. I then respond, Then what does the Bible say in James 1:5? Sometimes not being sure how to respond I answer for them: It promises that if we ask God for wisdom about anything not only will He give us our request, but it says He will also give it generously. Either the Bible is true or it is not. Hebrews 11:6 states, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." This is not a feeling. Many times we look for feelings. I am not saying feelings do not sometimes accompany God’s answers, but getting an answer from God is not dependent on feelings but on faith. Faith in this context means believing that God will do what He says He will do. In this context God says that if we ask Him for wisdom about a matter He will give it.

People then ask, How do you know what God's answer is? I reply, When I ask God to speak to me about His will in the use of my time during the week, whatever first comes to my mind I write down and assume that that is God. I believe this because God also promises in His Word that if I ask Him for a fish, He will not give me a snake (Matt 7:11). In other words, Jesus is telling us in this passage that when we come to Him and ask Him for wisdom about something, He is not going to trick or deceive us or allow Satan to come in and deceive us. He is assuring us here that He will give us what we ask. So, whatever your first impressions are, write those down. Ignore impressions which might come later that contradict. He said He would not give you a snake when you first came to Him, so accept only first impressions as being of Him and contradictory later impressions as being of the devil to confuse and destroy you in your pursuit of God's will.

So getting back to our first step, when you have prayed and asked Jesus for wisdom concerning what He wants you to do during your week, second, write down what comes to your mind. This will probably include a list something like the following:

1. Sleep

2. Social

3. Daily Feeding on Jesus

4. Church

5. Family

6. Classes

7. Aerobics

8. Play

9. Ministry Involvement

10. Eating

11. Job

12. Miscellaneous

The third step is to then take a weekly schedule sheet like the one on this link and put down all the non-changeable time slots on the weekly schedule sheet. This will include things like: church, job, school classes, and ministry involvement.

Fourth, make copies of this original sheet with non-changeable slots. Reason: As circumstances change in the future, you may want to make another schedule; and this way you do not have to make another time sheet which contains the non-changeable slots.

Fifth, make a list of all class requirements and all other weekly responsibilities and activities you need to engage in and accomplish during the week. For example, on this link on the left side is my list for a former semester corresponding to the schedule sheet examples in this Chapter.

Sixth, pray and ask Jesus how much time you need to spend in each of these activities. Write the amount of time that comes to your mind next to the activity like it is illustrated on this link right.

Seventh, put down on the schedule first: Daily Feeding on Jesus (Prov 3:5-6), ministry involvement (seed faith, Luke 6:38), aerobic exercise (1 Cor 9:27), sleep (Ps 127:2), meals, and play (Ps 16:11). Why do I say put these down first? Because these are of first priority and also the areas that will be most neglected if not considered first in the making of your schedule. Let us examine the importance of each of these individually:

Daily Feeding on Jesus: Proverbs 3:6 states, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." We cannot save ourselves (Ps 49:7-9), we also cannot sanctify ourselves (Rom 7:7-8). We can in our own strength make a schedule with everything we want to accomplish in it, but without Jesus’ strength and power, we will fail in being able to live it out consistently. Jesus said in John 15:5, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing." Without Jesus’ strength and power you will fail to reach the goals that the schedule was made for in the first place, so make sure you put in your schedule, first, time for the person that will make it possible for you to live it out.

Ministry Involvement: I have been practicing these principles of time management for a long time, but many years ago in the Fall of 1978 I found myself after six and a half years of college flunking all my courses with no logical reason for it. I mean I was living by a schedule and had more than adequate time to study for each class; yet, no matter how hard I studied I was failing them all. In the middle of this nightmare, I was over at a friend's house one night sharing some things with her in the Bible. I was heading for a passage in Jeremiah but ended up in Psalm 37 with the Holy Spirit forcing my eyes upon a specific Scripture in the chapter: verse 4. It states, "Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart." To the best of my knowledge I was living this out. I had a daily time for feeding on Jesus, I was committed to a Church, and wasn’t I in college studying for the ministry?

At first I wasn’t sure whether Jesus was really bringing this verse to my attention or not, so I prayed and asked Jesus that if He was, to please show me what the present application to my life was. He did. It happened about a week later while sitting in a hermeneutics class. Hermeneutics is the science of interpreting Scripture. We had a student instructor that day giving us some back ground knowledge on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were contemporaries and their ministries and writings centered around the Israelites taken captive to Babylon. The student instructor explained to us that in all three books reference was made to the fact that one of the reasons God judged Israel at that time was because those who had were not reaching out to those who did not. The orphans and the widows were not being taken care of (Jer 5:23-29).

As the teacher was explaining this to the class, Jesus, through the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said,

Then He showed me a corresponding passage in the New Testament:

"But whoever has the biological-means-of-life⁸¹, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." (1 John 3:17- 18)

It was like Jesus was giving me a blank check and telling me, Dale, you don't have to wait for a message from heaven. If you see a brother or sister in need and you have the means to help them, then help them. It wasn't that I did not care for other's needs, but I was in school full time with a limited schedule and rationalized that I just didn't have the time to reach out to all those needs I was aware of. And even though I was a ministry major, I wasn't involved in an off-campus ministry because again I rationalized, That is why I am here! To get a degree so I can go into the ministry. So I had better focus on my studies to be sure I am best prepared for that ministry Jesus has for me. Jesus was telling me that unless I got involved in some kind of ministry work immediately, He was not going to bless me in my studies no matter how much time I spent on them. With this revelation I immediately got involved in an off-campus aggressive Evangelism Ministry and began to reach out to the needs I was aware of among students on the campus. My grades immediately shot up, and I began to succeed in my studies like I never had before.

The first year I taught this school of Evangelism was while attending college. Normally an off-campus ministry takes from about 4 to 5 hours involvement a week. But because I was the leader and instructor, on top of the 5 hours involvement with the students, for me it required an additional 5 hours outside preparation. Yet, that year I had the highest grade-point average I had ever achieved in college: 3.0. I had never achieved above a 2.7 grade point average in the past.

You see, I'm not saying that if you give Jesus time in your week for ministry that that means He will give you straight A's or make you the employee of the year, but I do promise you that He will give you a substantially higher grade point average and success in your work than you are getting without this kind of giving of yourself. As I have consistently, weekly, given of myself to others in need and ministry, not only has Jesus blessed me in my school work but in all other areas of my life: finances, job, physically, etcetera. If you want to succeed in the job you have, school, or any of the other goals that you have, you cannot afford to leave out some kind of ministry involvement in your weekly schedule. Luke 6:38 states, "Give, and it will be given to you." Make sure you place this in your schedule before going on to the other priorities.

Aerobic Exercise: I can see the average person sitting down and making his schedule. He gets down everything first except time for aerobic exercise, looks at the schedule and says to himself, Oh! Gee! Darn! There is no room left for aerobics. Life has its little problems. You see why I say put these things in your schedule first? Our tendency is to make time in our week for the things we want to do to the neglect of other things like eating, sleeping, and exercise which assure our keeping our health.

Why is regular aerobic exercise in your schedule important? Aerobics builds endurance and a strong heart. Without these two qualities you will be greatly limited in how much you can achieve in a week. What you can achieve in a week will be limited to your capacity of endurance. Also, because Aerobic exercise will probably be the most stressful part of your schedule, you will find everything else in your week easy and a breeze. Also, Aerobic exercise releases pent-up emotions, stress, and tension. After a good workout you will find yourself fresh and ready to go the rest of the day or week. Finally, it builds confidence. Because you are able to keep your body under control, you have the confidence to meet head on whatever else are the demands of your week because nothing else is nearly as demanding as your aerobic workout.

Paul the Apostle said, "I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified" (1 Cor 9:27). Jesus said, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30). We are not commanded to just love Jesus with all our heart and mind, but with all our strength too. We cannot afford to leave aerobic exercise out of our schedules if we want to be most fruitful and productive for Jesus in the other areas of our schedule.

Sleep: Several years ago while attending a junior college in my home town I was anxious to get my life established. I wanted to accomplish a lot. So I made a schedule which provided for about 4 hours sleep a night. After I had been living this way for about three weeks, I got a job delivering flowers. The first day of the job I couldn't find an address that was not more than 4 miles from the shop. I had had a gardening business for years in that town and so knew the street layout well, but for some reason I could not think clearly enough to find the address I was looking for. Being concerned that it was the first day on the job and knowing that my boss probably wondered what had happened to me, I decided to head back for the store for clearer instructions as to how to get to the address. As I was coming down the last street toward the store, up ahead I saw a traffic light that was green. Instantly, as though I were transported I found myself going through the middle of the intersection where the traffic light was now red. I also heard and saw a siren and flashing lights following behind me. I had gone to sleep with my eyes open for approximately 10 to 15 seconds and so did not see the light change in time to stop. I had a hard time explaining this to the officer as he gave me a ticket, but it did not stop him. A Pastor friend of mine from my Church called at home that night to see how I was getting along. I said to him, You know, I got this new job today, but I am not sure Jesus wants me to take it. He asked me, Why?, of course. I replied, I could not find the first address to make the delivery and went through a red light unintentionally on my way back to the shop and got a ticket.

This Pastor knew nothing about my present lifestyle and schedule. Nevertheless, he asked me the following question: Dale, how much sleep do you get at night? I replied, Well, uh, oh, uh, about four hours sleep a night! He responded, Well, maybe that is your problem, Dale. Your not getting enough rest at night. Try getting more rest and see what happens. I responded, Sure! That sounds like a good idea! Right! I decided to go to bed earlier that night. In the morning while having my quiet time, it just happened by chance of course (right!) that in my Bible reading I was supposed to read Psalm 127 that day. In it I read the following verse, It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. (Ps 127:2). Jesus then said to me through the Holy Spirit,