August 19, 2019 www.PositiveChristianity.org presents Positive Daily Inspiration FIND MORE TIME - DO MORE IN YOUR LIFE August 19, 2019 www.PositiveChristianity.org for the 20th year presents Positive Daily Inspiration Find More Time – Do More in Your Life "Therefore, it is said, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead and Christ will shine upon you." Ephesians 5:14 We all have the same amount of daily time in our lives, how we use that time though differs greatly. I heard someone say one time "Is your life going down the tubes?" I have found that if you restrict the hours you watch TV you can accomplish twice as much in your life. I love television, and I admit to you I still watch too much. If I let myself, I could sit down in front of the TV for hour upon hour. It can be in addiction. I have to police myself, otherwise I would not get as much done. When I was a child and living in Vero Beach Florida we only had one channel to choose, from Fort Pierce Florida to watch. The station was only on for 10 hours a day, and it was black and white. Occasionally in real good weather you could get an extremely static picture from Miami. I remember how excited that made me. I just got Dish satellite installed, with a gazillion channels, that was like putting a smorgasbord in front of a starving person. I went crazy, my right hand clutching the remote, all I’d have to do is speak into the remote to show that I wanted to see – and it would magically appear. Hardly moving for 24 hours out of my lazy boy, positioned precisely in front of the dim glow of the television screen. I have to self-control myself pulling myself away from the screen. At my age, I remember when they called TV the boob-tube. Some of the shows, then, and now, are jaw-droppingly dumbed down, with laugh track attached. We can sit for hours watching other people living their lives, acting like they are real, living adventures that we wish we could live. I was in Best Buy the other day and I saw a 120" large screen television with 8 times the resolution (which is like looking out the window) for $25,000+. The salesperson actually, said to me, as we watched recorded views of top world locations, "With this TV, you would never have to go anywhere." I said, "For $25,000 I would rather take a four-month world cruise to see the sights in person and meet the people." He didn't understand. Let me tell you a story. There was a man in a prison cell. This man had been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. There he was in that small cell. His family came to see the man in this small, dark cell and they were very disillusioned and sad. They saw the man sitting motionless, staring out the window. A tear came to his wife's eye and she said, "Oh, I can just see the life draining out of you." The man said, "Well, it's not bad at all. All day I stare at this small square window looking at other people living life. It's much like it was before. It's like I was at home, watching TV." This is called "The 23rd Channel." It's a take-off on the 23rd Psalm. “The TV is my shepherd. My spiritual growth shall want. It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for its name's sake, because it requireth ALL my spare time. It keepeth me from doing my work as a Christian because it presenteth so many good shows that I must see. It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world and keepeth me from the study of God's Word. It leadeth me in the paths of failing to live and doing nothing in the kingdom of God. Yea, though I live to be a hundred, I shall keep viewing my TV as long as it will work, for it is my closest companion. Its sounds and its picture they comfort me. It presenteth entertainment before me and keepeth me from doing important things with my family. It fills my head with ideas which differ from those in the Word of God.” The biggest dream in my personal TV history is not that $20,000 large-screen television at Best Buy. In my mind it was 37 years ago. Fall 1982, Sears Roebuck and Company introduced a combination microwave oven, color TV and stereo cassette player at a cost of $1600.00. On page 1,023 of the Fall and Winter Catalog in 1982, there it sat in all its twin-screened glory, a cooking program on one screen and Beef Wellington in the other. How do I know about this fall and winter catalog in 1982 advertisement of the ultimate TV? Because, I am sad to admit, it was on a personal goal sheet that I made for myself at that time. When we see things like this, we might realize that too much of our lives is invested in watching other people live. 80 percent of Americans can't even remember life without TV. It has been said, "Most of human's inventions have been time-savers – then came television!" Television is an appliance which changes children from irresistible moving forces into immovable objects. Any of you who have children know this. One woman said of her young son, "I practically needed a crane to get him picked up and pulled away from Sesame Street to come to Sunday School." A study completed some years ago by Nielsen reports that the average "hot dog and apple pie American" spends an average of 7.2 hours a day in front of a television set. What's sad about that is that the average American only spends less than 18 minutes a day reading. What is alarming is how this adds up. This works out to 2,628 hours or 109 1/2 days per year IN FRONT OF THAT SQUARE – our window to the world. This would be as if, today, August 19, we put you in a small room with a TV set and kept you there 24 hours a day, (not letting you sleep or move). You would be there until December 6. This is what the average American is now doing. This is not good for our health, time management, or our life. Watching others live is not living yourself. You see, God gives us all a choice. Are you a spectator, or are you IN the game of life? Many of us are becoming permanent "bench spectators." We just watch life go by. The alarming thing is that the world's population is shifting rapidly into a society of bench spectators who idly watch the movers and then they complain about the direction of the move. More and more, we as a people are spectators on religion, on politics, and on all of daily life. What's sad about this is that this is a gradual withdrawal from life. We need to get back into the game. A dying man once said, "Surely no good thing will come out of my life because of so many wasted hours. And I shall dwell in my regrets and remorse forever." We cannot allow that to happen when our final days in this body are over. We have to lie there, when we're ready to pass, and realize that we have lived every moment to the fullest that we possibly could. I ask you the question for you to ponder: Is your life going down the tubes? If the answer is even a partial yes, it is time, to find new time, to do the things that you want to do. Every year, society spends more time relating to machines instead of to other humans. If you live to be 90 years of age, you could expect to lose 27 years "down the tubes" watching television (at Nielsen's rates). That is more harmful than cigarettes. This results in an effective, living life span of only 63 years. What would you do if you had an additional 27 years in your life? That, for some people, is a lifetime. What if you had 27 years to do anything that you wanted to do? If you choose to live it like most Americans and spend that time in front of the TV, you will invest your time in watching over a million commercials. There should be a label required on the television remote control: WARNING--THE SURGEON GENERAL HAS DETERMINED THAT TELEVISION, IN EXCESS, IS DANGEROUS TO YOUR LIFE. We are becoming a nation of "couch potatoes." We have to again become a nation of people on the move. As I said before, I love TV. I'm talking about TV in excess, when it replaces LIVING OUR OWN LIVES. We have to get out there and live life. I'm asking you all to take A FAST from TV for one week. Log the daily time saved in the journal, (that you would've given to watching TV), and journal what you did instead. I bet you will be surprised at the joy it brings you. What do you do with the extra time? Let's say that you are now in excess with watching TV; you watch a full total of 7.2 hours per day. That will give you a total of 50.4 hours next week to do the things that you've really been wanting to do. Maybe you want to read a new book, or get into a church Study Class or self-improvement class. Meet new friends. Explore your hobby or find a hobby. I'm asking you to get turned on with your life again. If you open up your eyes and explore your own individual life, you are going to find real fulfillment. ____ Have you considered donating? GOD BLESS YOU – THANK YOU for your support: Online donations http://www.positivechristianity.org/donatepc.htm Donations by mail: Positive Christianity Box 7993 Woodlands, Texas 77387 ____ POSITIVE DAILY PRAYER: There is assurance in the words of this old hymn. Be not dismayed whatever betide, God will take care of you; Beneath God's wings of love abide, God will take care of you. God will take care of you, Through every day, over all the way; God will take care of you, God will take care of you! Dear God, today I stand fast in my faith. Whatever my day holds, I know that You are with me as guidance and strength. Your way is clear. I feel the warmth and glow of vitality and peace fill me. I am in Your loving care. You are the only Presence and Power at work in my life. In Jesus Christ's name… Amen POSITIVE DAILY AFFIRMATION: This week I turn off the TV and turn on my life! POSITIVE DAILY QUOTE: "Good friends are like quilts - they age with you, yet never lose their warmth." Unknown NEED PRAYER? Reply - Positive Christianity will pray with you, daily, for an entire 2 months. There Is Never a Charge for Prayer. Television channels (Free Service): (Only 3 minutes average each – not a time waster.) Inspiration http://www.youtube.com/PositiveChristianity Prayer http://www.youtube.com/prayerAmerica Meditation http://www.youtube.com/PositiveChurch If a friend forwards this message to you - get Positive Daily Inspiration direct in your email inbox every morning. Text POSITIVEMINISTRY to 22828 to easy, free subscribe. GOD BLESS YOU, Christopher Ian Chenoweth Reply - if you have a prayer need, Positive Christianity will pray with you daily, for an entire month. There Is Never a Charge for Prayer. GOD BLESS YOU, Make It a Great Day !_______Christopher Ian Chenoweth