I'm so glad we all have learned so much more from His word about what it means to have a quiet time with Him!
I've been thinking about you and praying that you have found more time to spend with the King!
Come back Monday, we'll be taking scoops out of the book of Ephesians!
Showing posts with label Spending Time with Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spending Time with Jesus. Show all posts
Friday, August 15, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
His Love is IT!
Better late than never!!!
Good day to you all! Today I have one more thing to talk about with you concerning your walk with Jesus. One thing that can help you find peace with Him and let the chains of legalism fall off.
It's simple, we hear it all the time, but it's True.
He loves you.
Many times I can get caught up in all the stuff I am doing or I am not doing. Or how "holy" I'm being or what sins I'm going through. Not that it's not important to take inventory of our lives in regards to what service we do, and of course, if we are walking in sin or not. But, I can make it my focus rather than just part of the relationship.
Just yesterday I was wrestling again with a weakness that really gets under my skin about me. I was repenting and talking to Him about this weakness and expressing how much I dislike this and want to be different. I guess He decided I needed to know something because I heard Him say, "You realize that this is a weakness, an area, it doesn't define you. I'm proud of you and what you do and the fruit you produce. This is an area we are working on together."
Oh, I needed to hear that. Later, I was just doing my thing and when I reached to open His word again when I "heard" Him say, "I love it when you read my word."
On down the day, I went to the church to sit in on a video taping our pastor was doing and we had a short worship set. I heard the Father say again, "I love it when you worship me." And then, while I was listening to our pastor, I heard one more, "I love it when you learn."
Three times He confirmed, in the best way for me, His love for me. Yes, I have weaknesses. Yes, I mess it up. Of course, I can be selfish and short-sighted. BUT, His love covers it all. His mercy brings me out of it. His grace transforms me. He is why I'm in this relationship. He is why I do what I do. His love for me is the reason for everything!
As you continue on your walk with Jesus (everyday, right!) keep it close to your heart that His love is there reason you live, the strength to wrestle through stuff, the power to overcome, and the passion behind everything you do.
Tomorrow, we'll wrap it up!
I love you guys...er gals!
Good day to you all! Today I have one more thing to talk about with you concerning your walk with Jesus. One thing that can help you find peace with Him and let the chains of legalism fall off.
It's simple, we hear it all the time, but it's True.
He loves you.
Many times I can get caught up in all the stuff I am doing or I am not doing. Or how "holy" I'm being or what sins I'm going through. Not that it's not important to take inventory of our lives in regards to what service we do, and of course, if we are walking in sin or not. But, I can make it my focus rather than just part of the relationship.
Just yesterday I was wrestling again with a weakness that really gets under my skin about me. I was repenting and talking to Him about this weakness and expressing how much I dislike this and want to be different. I guess He decided I needed to know something because I heard Him say, "You realize that this is a weakness, an area, it doesn't define you. I'm proud of you and what you do and the fruit you produce. This is an area we are working on together."
Oh, I needed to hear that. Later, I was just doing my thing and when I reached to open His word again when I "heard" Him say, "I love it when you read my word."
On down the day, I went to the church to sit in on a video taping our pastor was doing and we had a short worship set. I heard the Father say again, "I love it when you worship me." And then, while I was listening to our pastor, I heard one more, "I love it when you learn."
Three times He confirmed, in the best way for me, His love for me. Yes, I have weaknesses. Yes, I mess it up. Of course, I can be selfish and short-sighted. BUT, His love covers it all. His mercy brings me out of it. His grace transforms me. He is why I'm in this relationship. He is why I do what I do. His love for me is the reason for everything!
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:2-5
As you continue on your walk with Jesus (everyday, right!) keep it close to your heart that His love is there reason you live, the strength to wrestle through stuff, the power to overcome, and the passion behind everything you do.
Tomorrow, we'll wrap it up!
I love you guys...er gals!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
What I Do
Before I go to my final-final point, some of you have wanted to know what I do on a daily, practical basis. I've noticed that many of us deal with the daily discipline of meeting with Christ and how to incorporate different tools in our quiet time.
I'll give you my little two cents on what He and I have come up with.
In the beginning it started with me and a journal I got from Becky Tirabassi. I saw her at a conference about 8 years ago and I heard one thing stand out...
That was it. That was the turning point for me and my walk with Christ. Mind you, I stumbled here and there and cancelled many appointments or didn't show up for our scheduled time together. It was all over the place. There would be days when I would sit with Him for hours when the girls were sleeping. And I would do that for many days in a row.
Then, there would be times where a week or two would go by. Mountains of guilt would come upon me and I would feel like I was always going back to square one with Him. I struggled with feeling like I was in any kind of relationship at all.
I had the journal format from Becky and I loved it. It was exactly what I needed to get started.
Over time, those infrequent days grew less and less. My charting of days paid off. Years later I read a book called Grace Rules. Again, a life changer. I had no idea I lived much of my spiritual life by rules rather than relationship.
My quiet time took another turn. I began living out life with Him rather than calculating the days I'd sat down and prayed.
I eventually stopped using Becky's outline and began to own my own organic relationship with Him.
Many things have been uncovered: sin, character, gifts, talents, strengths, weaknesses, passions, purpose.
All of this because I showed up for my appointment every day. He was always there. And He still it.
Today, I grab my cup of coffee, journal and Bible and find time to sit and chat and read. Now it's rare that I go more that one or two days without actually journaling. There is never a day I go without Him.
Ladies, this is a relationship. He calls to you to make an appointment with Him...and keep it. There is no greater relationship on earth. No other relationship can give you hope, wisdom, joy, and the ability to love more than you do naturally.
Do what it takes to build in a discipline of meeting with Him. He will give you grace and mercy every time You come to Him.
Over time, you too will find that you have become someone who meets with Him every day. And, over time, when you miss those days, THAT's when you feel weird. The missed days become the thing that stand out to you, not the days you met with Him. No, those will become the norm.
He will become the norm.
I'll give you my little two cents on what He and I have come up with.
In the beginning it started with me and a journal I got from Becky Tirabassi. I saw her at a conference about 8 years ago and I heard one thing stand out...
Make and appointment with the King and keep it.
That was it. That was the turning point for me and my walk with Christ. Mind you, I stumbled here and there and cancelled many appointments or didn't show up for our scheduled time together. It was all over the place. There would be days when I would sit with Him for hours when the girls were sleeping. And I would do that for many days in a row.
Then, there would be times where a week or two would go by. Mountains of guilt would come upon me and I would feel like I was always going back to square one with Him. I struggled with feeling like I was in any kind of relationship at all.
I had the journal format from Becky and I loved it. It was exactly what I needed to get started.
Over time, those infrequent days grew less and less. My charting of days paid off. Years later I read a book called Grace Rules. Again, a life changer. I had no idea I lived much of my spiritual life by rules rather than relationship.
My quiet time took another turn. I began living out life with Him rather than calculating the days I'd sat down and prayed.
I eventually stopped using Becky's outline and began to own my own organic relationship with Him.
Many things have been uncovered: sin, character, gifts, talents, strengths, weaknesses, passions, purpose.
All of this because I showed up for my appointment every day. He was always there. And He still it.
Today, I grab my cup of coffee, journal and Bible and find time to sit and chat and read. Now it's rare that I go more that one or two days without actually journaling. There is never a day I go without Him.
Ladies, this is a relationship. He calls to you to make an appointment with Him...and keep it. There is no greater relationship on earth. No other relationship can give you hope, wisdom, joy, and the ability to love more than you do naturally.
Do what it takes to build in a discipline of meeting with Him. He will give you grace and mercy every time You come to Him.
Over time, you too will find that you have become someone who meets with Him every day. And, over time, when you miss those days, THAT's when you feel weird. The missed days become the thing that stand out to you, not the days you met with Him. No, those will become the norm.
He will become the norm.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
This Plus This Equals This
Ahhh, it's good to be home. You can hop over to my personal blog to see some of the pics from my weekend at the lake! We had a great time. I thought of you while I was there and prayed for you while looking at the water and the beauty of His creation.
We'll continue our look at what it means to walk with Jesus. I don't have this whole thing figured out, but what I do have I love to share with you. Thank you so much for continuing to come back.
Last week we started talking about the Quiet Time with little variety of what it is and isn't. If you haven't read those posts, scroll down and read those first.
We ended last week with remembering that it's aaalll about humility when it comes to knowing, loving and being changed by Christ. I have learned there is no other way to find real peace with Him. Humility to His love, authority, character, grace, mercy and even His joy, is the way to find all those things in your own life. But, I'll not keep going, just read the last one. :)
Today I want to focus on two great things about living a daily life/relationship with Christ.
Here's what we'll be looking at:
The power and freedom in confession and the transformation that comes from it.
Dum. Dum. Dum...CONFESSION! Did I say freedom comes from it? You betcha.
Now, I know it can be easy to say, "Dear Lord, please forgive me of my sin...thanks." But, do you take the time to say something like, "Father, I know that I can be a hot head, envious, jealous, easily angered, lazy..."? Do you ever take the time to really take inventory of any possible sins? Is there anything you walk in too often that could even be considered a habitual sin?
Sometimes I feel like things between the Lord and I are, for lack of a better term, clogged up. Like I can't hear Him or feel Him. The first thing I do is search my heart for any unconfessed sin. I do that too if I am going to be talking to Him about something very heavy on me or very serious. I'm not saying that Jesus and I don't talk when I'm sinning. No, then we'd never get a chance to talk.
I'm simply saying that sometimes I know I put God at arms length because I'm too wrapped up in something to really be able to hear His voice or have His Spirit fill me up completely.
Check out how David felt when he held sin in:
It's not always some deep dark sin that we need to confess. Sometimes it is. But it can be the every day rebellion against the things of God that get us tripped up.
Confession is agreeing with Him that we have sinned against Him and through it we make room for the Holy Spirit to be filled in us to the fullest leading to transformation.
This renewal through confession, recognition of who we are in light of Him, and letting his Holy Spirit renew us will bring about an understanding of His will. Confession empties your spirit of it's ugly contents and exchanges it for the truth and holiness of God found through His Word and emblazoned upon by His Spirit.
Again, this comes through humility. I cannot stress enough in type how much freedom there is when you humble yourself and make confession. It might not be every day, but you might find how refreshing it is on a regular basis.
The whole "knowing the will of God?" thing, well, that's tomorrow's subject.
Confession + Humility = Freedom and Transformation
God Math. The only Math that's fun.
We'll continue our look at what it means to walk with Jesus. I don't have this whole thing figured out, but what I do have I love to share with you. Thank you so much for continuing to come back.
Last week we started talking about the Quiet Time with little variety of what it is and isn't. If you haven't read those posts, scroll down and read those first.
We ended last week with remembering that it's aaalll about humility when it comes to knowing, loving and being changed by Christ. I have learned there is no other way to find real peace with Him. Humility to His love, authority, character, grace, mercy and even His joy, is the way to find all those things in your own life. But, I'll not keep going, just read the last one. :)
Today I want to focus on two great things about living a daily life/relationship with Christ.
Here's what we'll be looking at:
The power and freedom in confession and the transformation that comes from it.
Dum. Dum. Dum...CONFESSION! Did I say freedom comes from it? You betcha.
Now, I know it can be easy to say, "Dear Lord, please forgive me of my sin...thanks." But, do you take the time to say something like, "Father, I know that I can be a hot head, envious, jealous, easily angered, lazy..."? Do you ever take the time to really take inventory of any possible sins? Is there anything you walk in too often that could even be considered a habitual sin?
Sometimes I feel like things between the Lord and I are, for lack of a better term, clogged up. Like I can't hear Him or feel Him. The first thing I do is search my heart for any unconfessed sin. I do that too if I am going to be talking to Him about something very heavy on me or very serious. I'm not saying that Jesus and I don't talk when I'm sinning. No, then we'd never get a chance to talk.
I'm simply saying that sometimes I know I put God at arms length because I'm too wrapped up in something to really be able to hear His voice or have His Spirit fill me up completely.
Check out how David felt when he held sin in:
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long....Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:3, 5
It's not always some deep dark sin that we need to confess. Sometimes it is. But it can be the every day rebellion against the things of God that get us tripped up.
Confession is agreeing with Him that we have sinned against Him and through it we make room for the Holy Spirit to be filled in us to the fullest leading to transformation.
Therefore , I urge you, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2
This renewal through confession, recognition of who we are in light of Him, and letting his Holy Spirit renew us will bring about an understanding of His will. Confession empties your spirit of it's ugly contents and exchanges it for the truth and holiness of God found through His Word and emblazoned upon by His Spirit.
Again, this comes through humility. I cannot stress enough in type how much freedom there is when you humble yourself and make confession. It might not be every day, but you might find how refreshing it is on a regular basis.
The whole "knowing the will of God?" thing, well, that's tomorrow's subject.
Confession + Humility = Freedom and Transformation
God Math. The only Math that's fun.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
So, This is How It Starts, huh?
Yes. Yes it is.
In a word.
Humility.
Through my short years with Jesus, I have most certainly learned that everything, and I mean everything, that comes in and out of this relationship, everything that you want out of this relationship, and everything you need out of this relationship begins and ends in humility.
What I mean is this: Our humility towards God is the key to all things in Christ. I'm not talking about a humiliation of self. No, that is not at all what God wants. He does not look for people who roll around the guilt of their own sin and call it humility. The Bible says that He looks for people who's hearts are turned to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). He tells us that we are blessed when we fear Him (Psalm 112:1) and that the beginning of wisdom comes from a healthy dose of respectful fear (Psalm 111:10).
This kind of humility seeks the face of God, searches the Word, and stills us before His Spirit. It's the kind that gets God's attention. It's a deep sense of recognizing who we are in light of Him and who He is in spite of us.
It's understanding that His love is indescribable and that He gives it freely.
It's being aware that He holds all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and gives them freely to those who ask for it. (Colossians 2:2 and James 1).
It's bowing in spirit to the wonder of the Spirit dwelling deep within the bosom of brokenness, willingly giving truth, advise, purpose, and testimony.
It's recognizing that the only way to please God is to have faith in Him.
It's yielding to the power of the Spirit so that everything that Jesus taught can be made known to us.
It's saying, "Not my will, O Lord, but yours."
In this humility you will find that the Lord will give love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, wisdom, knowledge, grace, talents, understanding, blessings, and would you believe, down right fun!
The times that have been the most rewarding, the most fulfilling, the most inspiring, and the most encouraging have been the times that I have really humbled myself in both mind and spirit, and sometimes physically. Dropping to my knees in worship, or in quiet reflection of His wonders, has been often the times that have opened the floodgates of understanding and insight.
Still, humility before God can be a constant. A constant place and position in our minds and hearts before Him. We must humble ourselves to His Spirit in us for everything.
And I do mean everything.
You give me any scenario and I'll tell you to get on your knees before Him, give it to Him and see if through your willingness to humble yourself before Him you don't find either what you were looking for....or something better.
In a word.
Humility.
Through my short years with Jesus, I have most certainly learned that everything, and I mean everything, that comes in and out of this relationship, everything that you want out of this relationship, and everything you need out of this relationship begins and ends in humility.
What I mean is this: Our humility towards God is the key to all things in Christ. I'm not talking about a humiliation of self. No, that is not at all what God wants. He does not look for people who roll around the guilt of their own sin and call it humility. The Bible says that He looks for people who's hearts are turned to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). He tells us that we are blessed when we fear Him (Psalm 112:1) and that the beginning of wisdom comes from a healthy dose of respectful fear (Psalm 111:10).
This kind of humility seeks the face of God, searches the Word, and stills us before His Spirit. It's the kind that gets God's attention. It's a deep sense of recognizing who we are in light of Him and who He is in spite of us.
It's understanding that His love is indescribable and that He gives it freely.
It's being aware that He holds all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and gives them freely to those who ask for it. (Colossians 2:2 and James 1).
It's bowing in spirit to the wonder of the Spirit dwelling deep within the bosom of brokenness, willingly giving truth, advise, purpose, and testimony.
It's recognizing that the only way to please God is to have faith in Him.
It's yielding to the power of the Spirit so that everything that Jesus taught can be made known to us.
It's saying, "Not my will, O Lord, but yours."
In this humility you will find that the Lord will give love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, wisdom, knowledge, grace, talents, understanding, blessings, and would you believe, down right fun!
The times that have been the most rewarding, the most fulfilling, the most inspiring, and the most encouraging have been the times that I have really humbled myself in both mind and spirit, and sometimes physically. Dropping to my knees in worship, or in quiet reflection of His wonders, has been often the times that have opened the floodgates of understanding and insight.
Still, humility before God can be a constant. A constant place and position in our minds and hearts before Him. We must humble ourselves to His Spirit in us for everything.
And I do mean everything.
You give me any scenario and I'll tell you to get on your knees before Him, give it to Him and see if through your willingness to humble yourself before Him you don't find either what you were looking for....or something better.
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them them his way. Psalm 25:9
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
It's This and Not Just This
Based on some of the comments from yesterday, this subject is something we all want to have more insight to, more direction for, and more passion to continue.
In light of that, today I want to just give you some things to think about and some passages to have you tuck away in your heart as you and Christ develop your own way of doing life together.
To keep this simple, I'm just going to give it to you today in a bullet type format. That way you can see it well and I can put my brain down on this computer easier!
First and foremost, your time with Christ is just that, your time with Christ. It won't look the same as mine, even though we can use the same tools, Bible, pens and paper. But, you and Jesus will have a relationship unique as the fingerprints He put on your hands. This is a living, organic relationship between two people and it will be special between just the two of you.
Now, does that mean we can't all help each other in our walks with Him? Of course not! We do it all the time when it's human to human. This is just one little human trying to pour some life into other little humans about this relationship with GOD!!
So cool.
Secondly, there is absolutely no way you can have a rich, deep, and growing relationship with Christ without both prayer/communication with Him and His Word. Prayer and the Word of God are inseparable.
Having said those two things, I'll now throw those bullets at you.
Mind you, this comes from my experiences and what I have discovered in, not only my walk with Christ, but through watching others and what the Word itself has to say.
In regard to this thing called a quiet time...
This is something you develop with Him over time. Right things come out of it. Right responses and right attitudes. But, I don't ever strive to get it "right."
My prayer time has taken on many different ways of doing it. Mostly, I've had a journal in one hand, and the Bible in the other. But, how I journaled and studied has varied over the years. Go with it. Try new things with Him. Ask Him how you and He can grow together.
Here it is.....every. day. Let me say it again, develop your relationship with Him every. day.
We make time for what we value as a priority. Make Him a priority.
I'm a meet-Jesus-in-the-morning kind of gal. We have a good hour together complete with coffee and yummy creamer. BUT, and I can say this and mean it...BUT, not all of you have the same schedule I do. HOWEVER, and I say this because it's important, however, there is such a wonderful thing about meeting Him in the morning before anything and anyone come into your life that day. He's first. And you can give Him all you have right off the bat. A focused time with Christ.
When I had a one and a half year old baby and a newborn, morning was not my top priority. I met with Him when I could and I'm certain He was fine with that. Now that they are bigger, and my new baby is older, that morning time has fallen right back into place. I search for it. I make it fit.
I've heard people say they talk with Christ all day. That's good. I do too. But, there is no substitute for sitting daily at His feet, pouring out your heart and letting Him pour into you. T'ain't no betta thang.
It's constant, not just an hour.
On the flip side, sometimes I have had that great communion with Jesus in the morning, and then just go about my day not giving Him a second thought. This cannot be either. I must be active in hearing His voice, making note of His Spirit in me, and staying humble to His authority all day.
It's listening; not just talking.
This one is probably the most difficult for us to really develop with Christ. It's so easy to just lay it all out there. All the request, heartbreak, excitement, complaints, confessions. Those are easy. We just talk and talk and talk. And then wonder why He's not answering.
Maybe, we aren't listening.
The "art," if you will, of listening to Christ comes from an inner bowing of your spirit to the filling of His. It's knowing the Word so that your thoughts become the thoughts of the Word. (more on this later). Listening to Christ, knowing His will, and hearing His Spirit is something that, honestly, we DO practice. But, we do it with Him. I really will come back to this later in our study.
It's talking; not just listening.
Still, this one is the easy one. We don't have to look far to see that we are talkers. Just look in the mirror. We love to talk. We do it all day with all sorts of people. Doing the talking with Christ is the easy part. But, it's important. He wants to hear our voices. He wants to hear us talk. I truly believe He misses us when we don't talk. So, spill it!
I was talking to Him just yesterday about how a frog just jumped out of the garden and sat there, unmoved. My daughter could actually sit there and pet that thing! I thought it was cool so I told Him. I'm sure He smiled with me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
There's your bullets. Take them and ponder them for awhile. Talk to Jesus about what you find difficult about building and developing a flourishing, daily relationship with Him. He hears you. He will walk with you.
Read these beautiful words in Psalm 91:14-16
Jesus wants this amazing relationship with you. It really is a decision you must make to have this relationship with Him. We do it all the time with friends, spouses, even our kids. We decide sometimes to make an effort to build relationships. Other times, it s so easy!
It's the same with Jesus, only the really cool things is is that we have His Spirit in us to carry us and change us along the way!
Will you give your first fruits to Him?
Looking forward: we'll be talking about the in's and out's of learning from Christ in, dum, dum, dum....humility!!
In light of that, today I want to just give you some things to think about and some passages to have you tuck away in your heart as you and Christ develop your own way of doing life together.
To keep this simple, I'm just going to give it to you today in a bullet type format. That way you can see it well and I can put my brain down on this computer easier!
First and foremost, your time with Christ is just that, your time with Christ. It won't look the same as mine, even though we can use the same tools, Bible, pens and paper. But, you and Jesus will have a relationship unique as the fingerprints He put on your hands. This is a living, organic relationship between two people and it will be special between just the two of you.
Now, does that mean we can't all help each other in our walks with Him? Of course not! We do it all the time when it's human to human. This is just one little human trying to pour some life into other little humans about this relationship with GOD!!
So cool.
Secondly, there is absolutely no way you can have a rich, deep, and growing relationship with Christ without both prayer/communication with Him and His Word. Prayer and the Word of God are inseparable.
Having said those two things, I'll now throw those bullets at you.
Mind you, this comes from my experiences and what I have discovered in, not only my walk with Christ, but through watching others and what the Word itself has to say.
In regard to this thing called a quiet time...
It's developed, not practiced.
I know that we have all heard that we need to "practice" our walk with Jesus. To me that word practice brings up too many memories of sitting at my piano playing away the hours to get that piece right. Our relationships with Jesus is not something that we do over and over until we get it right. I don't take any of my relationships that way, why would I expect it with Christ.This is something you develop with Him over time. Right things come out of it. Right responses and right attitudes. But, I don't ever strive to get it "right."
My prayer time has taken on many different ways of doing it. Mostly, I've had a journal in one hand, and the Bible in the other. But, how I journaled and studied has varied over the years. Go with it. Try new things with Him. Ask Him how you and He can grow together.
Here it is.....every. day. Let me say it again, develop your relationship with Him every. day.
Praise be to the Lord..who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68:19
We make time for what we value as a priority. Make Him a priority.
It's an hour, not just constant.
If you don't know this about me already, you will now. I'm a huge advocate for making that time with Christ a "first fruit" priority. Let me s'plain. Just like we give God the first 10% of our income, I believe we should give Him the first 10% of our time.I'm a meet-Jesus-in-the-morning kind of gal. We have a good hour together complete with coffee and yummy creamer. BUT, and I can say this and mean it...BUT, not all of you have the same schedule I do. HOWEVER, and I say this because it's important, however, there is such a wonderful thing about meeting Him in the morning before anything and anyone come into your life that day. He's first. And you can give Him all you have right off the bat. A focused time with Christ.
When I had a one and a half year old baby and a newborn, morning was not my top priority. I met with Him when I could and I'm certain He was fine with that. Now that they are bigger, and my new baby is older, that morning time has fallen right back into place. I search for it. I make it fit.
I've heard people say they talk with Christ all day. That's good. I do too. But, there is no substitute for sitting daily at His feet, pouring out your heart and letting Him pour into you. T'ain't no betta thang.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love. Psalm 143:8
In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests
before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3
It's constant, not just an hour.
On the flip side, sometimes I have had that great communion with Jesus in the morning, and then just go about my day not giving Him a second thought. This cannot be either. I must be active in hearing His voice, making note of His Spirit in me, and staying humble to His authority all day.
My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long. Psalm
71:8
It's listening; not just talking.
This one is probably the most difficult for us to really develop with Christ. It's so easy to just lay it all out there. All the request, heartbreak, excitement, complaints, confessions. Those are easy. We just talk and talk and talk. And then wonder why He's not answering.
Maybe, we aren't listening.
The "art," if you will, of listening to Christ comes from an inner bowing of your spirit to the filling of His. It's knowing the Word so that your thoughts become the thoughts of the Word. (more on this later). Listening to Christ, knowing His will, and hearing His Spirit is something that, honestly, we DO practice. But, we do it with Him. I really will come back to this later in our study.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him... Psalm 37:7
It's talking; not just listening.
Still, this one is the easy one. We don't have to look far to see that we are talkers. Just look in the mirror. We love to talk. We do it all day with all sorts of people. Doing the talking with Christ is the easy part. But, it's important. He wants to hear our voices. He wants to hear us talk. I truly believe He misses us when we don't talk. So, spill it!
I was talking to Him just yesterday about how a frog just jumped out of the garden and sat there, unmoved. My daughter could actually sit there and pet that thing! I thought it was cool so I told Him. I'm sure He smiled with me.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8
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There's your bullets. Take them and ponder them for awhile. Talk to Jesus about what you find difficult about building and developing a flourishing, daily relationship with Him. He hears you. He will walk with you.
Read these beautiful words in Psalm 91:14-16
"Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."
Jesus wants this amazing relationship with you. It really is a decision you must make to have this relationship with Him. We do it all the time with friends, spouses, even our kids. We decide sometimes to make an effort to build relationships. Other times, it s so easy!
It's the same with Jesus, only the really cool things is is that we have His Spirit in us to carry us and change us along the way!
Will you give your first fruits to Him?
Looking forward: we'll be talking about the in's and out's of learning from Christ in, dum, dum, dum....humility!!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Your Personal Quiet Time
Let just jump right on in by allowing me to ask you a question?
Do you struggle with a daily quiet time with Christ?
I mean, do you have some days where it's real, and long, and meaningful, and then look up and a week or two have gone by? Maybe a month or two?
I know that everyone who chooses to follow Jesus struggle with this pull back and forth of spending time with Him and then, boink!, it's been how long?
I know I did. (That's past tense if you missed it...wink wink) I'm not tooting my horn here, I'm just saying that there was a long time in my life when I would have days of great journaling, Bible study and prayer and then find that same journal under my bed with an entry from months past! I'd get so angry at myself and so upset and feel like I had let God down because I was so wishy-washy!
Anybod-eh!?
I mean, this is supposed to be the greatest relationship on the planet and I'd goes days without even speaking to Him. That's not to say I didn't think about Him or worship Him or talk about Him, but my talking to Him and listening to Him were as haphazard as a drunk behind a wheel. I'd go over there and read, then slowly go back over there where I wasn't even in the right lane with Christ anymore. Sometimes I'd find myself on the completely wrong road heading the wrong way into a deadly crash!
I needed some sobering up! So, I'd try to mark on the calendar every day that I met with Christ and journaled. I had a little chart with every day of the year on it after I had spent time with Jesus I checked it off. You know what? It worked. I met with Him aaalllmost every day. Then I actually went back and counted the days. Gerr! I was, in all actuality, only meeting with Him about half the month!
It didn't work.
But that little wake up of actually seeing the days I sat down and had time with Him opened my eyes. I began meeting Him more regularly, more deliberately. Soon, that little calendar had a check on every day.
Over time, I felt the Lord releasing me from using my little chart. It wasn't hard and I knew I didn't need it anymore. It had just become habit for me to go and spend time with Him.
Every.
Day.
I tell you this little story so that you will know that if you struggle with a consistent walk with Christ then I know what you're dealing with. It's not uncommon, in fact, I think it's more common that we do struggle with it.
I'm sure you caught that I used tools in my daily time with Him and over these next few days I'll share with you more about different things you can do, however, we'll also, mostly, you-can-count-on-getting-in-to-it, talk about the heart of the matter.
Over these next few days, we'll dive into the Psalms and see if we can't uncover some great passages to light our fire, set our sights heavenward, straighten out our priorities, and bring us a desire to sit with our King...
every.
day.
Are you excited about how to spend time with Jesus in the middle of it all???
Me too!
_________________________________________________________
If you like Stiletto Army and want to invite others, just grab the button on the left hand sidebar and slap it on your blog!
Do you struggle with a daily quiet time with Christ?
I mean, do you have some days where it's real, and long, and meaningful, and then look up and a week or two have gone by? Maybe a month or two?
I know that everyone who chooses to follow Jesus struggle with this pull back and forth of spending time with Him and then, boink!, it's been how long?
I know I did. (That's past tense if you missed it...wink wink) I'm not tooting my horn here, I'm just saying that there was a long time in my life when I would have days of great journaling, Bible study and prayer and then find that same journal under my bed with an entry from months past! I'd get so angry at myself and so upset and feel like I had let God down because I was so wishy-washy!
Anybod-eh!?
I mean, this is supposed to be the greatest relationship on the planet and I'd goes days without even speaking to Him. That's not to say I didn't think about Him or worship Him or talk about Him, but my talking to Him and listening to Him were as haphazard as a drunk behind a wheel. I'd go over there and read, then slowly go back over there where I wasn't even in the right lane with Christ anymore. Sometimes I'd find myself on the completely wrong road heading the wrong way into a deadly crash!
I needed some sobering up! So, I'd try to mark on the calendar every day that I met with Christ and journaled. I had a little chart with every day of the year on it after I had spent time with Jesus I checked it off. You know what? It worked. I met with Him aaalllmost every day. Then I actually went back and counted the days. Gerr! I was, in all actuality, only meeting with Him about half the month!
It didn't work.
But that little wake up of actually seeing the days I sat down and had time with Him opened my eyes. I began meeting Him more regularly, more deliberately. Soon, that little calendar had a check on every day.
Over time, I felt the Lord releasing me from using my little chart. It wasn't hard and I knew I didn't need it anymore. It had just become habit for me to go and spend time with Him.
Every.
Day.
I tell you this little story so that you will know that if you struggle with a consistent walk with Christ then I know what you're dealing with. It's not uncommon, in fact, I think it's more common that we do struggle with it.
I'm sure you caught that I used tools in my daily time with Him and over these next few days I'll share with you more about different things you can do, however, we'll also, mostly, you-can-count-on-getting-in-to-it, talk about the heart of the matter.
Over these next few days, we'll dive into the Psalms and see if we can't uncover some great passages to light our fire, set our sights heavenward, straighten out our priorities, and bring us a desire to sit with our King...
every.
day.
Are you excited about how to spend time with Jesus in the middle of it all???
Me too!
_________________________________________________________
If you like Stiletto Army and want to invite others, just grab the button on the left hand sidebar and slap it on your blog!
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Your Personal Quiet Time
Do you struggle to find time to spend with Jesus? Do you struggle with having a "quiet time"? I did, and I want to help you learn how to cultivate your relationship with Christ just as He does with you! Jump on in and learn more about how to spend time with Him and His Word!
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