Considering the persecution many Christians face (yesterday's post), and the persecution that we may face in the future when being a Christian is no longer popular in our culture, I wanted to share some principles that have really impacted me. (This post will be a little longer, sorry.)
We must to learn to make Christ first now, or He wont be first when we are called to witness for our faith.
The principles below come out of the "Revived by His Word" mini-handbook I've just completed writing.
Tips to safeguard your time with God
Many struggle finding quality time daily to study their Bibles and to pray. We must change our priorities! We don’t fit time with God around our busy lifestyle. We fit our lifestyle around our time with God. If we have to cut out a meeting, some time with friends, a work or ministry project, some extra sleep, or even a meal, we must do this. We may even need to unplug the T.V. and disconnect our Internet. But we must NOT short-change our time with God in His Word. If we do…if we just fit Him in where it’s convenient, we will never find the time, and we will die spiritually. Seriously consider implementing the following tips to intentionally safeguard your daily time with God.
• Re-evaluate your daily to-do list and the time you have.
• Re-arrange or cut out the non-essentials in your schedule.
• Make having time with God the first priority of your life and of your day – literally! You don’t do anything else when you wake up (besides hygienic essentials, and drinking a glass of water, etc.) until you’ve had your time with God. We do not earn salvation by being early morning risers or clock-watchers, but if we truly love the Lord, we will desire to be in His presence and we will put Him first in our lives both in general and in specific ways.
• Make an appointment with God in the morning and keep it. (Just like you would with an important dignitary!) If you can’t wake up early enough, start praying that God will wake you up and HE WILL!! (See Isa. 50:4, Mark 1:35, Prov. 8:17, Ps. 5:3)
• I suggest giving yourself an hour minimum for Bible study and prayer time each day. This may seem impossible for some, but again, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Soon you will discover this is not nearly long enough to spend with the King of the Universe! (However, all the time you give Him, He will more than repay! See Matt. 6:33)
• Go to bed on time, so it is easier to get up! As one Bible teacher has said, “If you have a pizza party the night before, expect to get up like a pizza the next morning!” So how you eat and treat the night before will determine your success in meeting with God the next morning.
• Again, don’t turn on any news, T.V., radio, music, and don’t open any book or electronic media until after you’ve had your time with God. (That means, no checking e-mails, text messages, Facebook, Twitter, or anything else on computers OR smart phones! If you have a cell phone, if possible, turn it on “airplane mode” when you go to sleep at night, so you aren’t tempted to get distracted when you wake up checking your messages. If you can’t do this, at least turn it to “do not disturb” during your devotions.)
• Find a quiet place away from noise and distractions for your devotions, if possible.
• As you make a commitment to spend this time with God each day, expect that Satan will do everything he can to distract you and derail your plans. But if you persevere, God will give you physical and spiritual victory, and you will begin to discover rich gold.
“I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” Job 23:12
Is having time each day with our King more important than our necessary food????
“As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the Word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s Word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the Word for ourselves.” Desire of Ages, p. 390
Day 39 - Vit. B-3 Challenge
- Bible Thought: Time with the Lord is more important than food!
- Blessing: God woke me up at 2:30 am… so I started driving at 3:30 am. After 11 hours of driving, I praise the Lord for a safe trip to San Antonio to be with family!
- Battles: That I never allow anything, even my family, to keep me away from my time with God.
Awoke early, but according to your post like avocado, crackers, and a smoothie... Also, I'd failed to prepare my heart for morning. So it should not have been surprising that it was hard to concentrate or draw close to the Lord, that His still small voice should seem muffled. ..
ReplyDeleteI was impressed to read your post before giving up on my morning worship time with the Lord and was not disappointed. I felt I should read Isaiah 50:4 and the other verses you said to look at. I never got to the others. I began to type out Isaiah 50:4 and onward as a prayer to the Lord claiming His promises as my own; accepting His rebuke cushioned in such incredible encouragement and praying for God's people. Thanks for letting the Lord use you this morning!
I love the thought that harmonized what you shared in Isaiah 52:2 arise and sit down... This is how our Lord sets His captives free!
I've done the same so many times! And I don't think there's anything wrong with avocado, crackers, and a smoothie. God just wants to know HE IS FIRST! And so often, when you start to do one thing, you get distracted and keep doing more and more until you've lost the early morning time you would have had. So I've been seeking to be very INTENTIONAL to keep first things first. But even though we fail and fall, He still holds us in His hands. (Ps 37:23,24) And His Mercies are NEW every morning!!!!!
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