I think about my future, I say "will I ever be successful" or "will I ever finish writing this book?" "how will I continue to financially support myself?" I think about my goals and things I need to do daily. I think about what to eat or what to wear, etc... soon after, time has past by and it's already afternoon and then I realized I still haven't spent time with God by reading the bible or praying. As it gets in the late afternoon, I say "i'll read the bible now" but I still forget and get distracted and do something else and then a whole day has went by and the bible hasn't been touched and I begin to really feel bad and disappointed in myself.
Well, I wanted to share with you a devotional about putting God first. Studies, work, eating is important but when we give God first priority of our day, it really changes things. Here's a part of a devotional titled First Things First:
Jesus regularly demonstrated the importance of spending time alone with God. Whether it was getting up early to start His day with prayer, or going to His Father in the midst of incredible stress and uncertainty – Jesus believed in the importance of putting His Father first. And if Jesus did it, so should we. But, where do we start?
1. PRIORITIZE: If tomorrow you had an important meeting with your boss, wouldn’t you make every effort to show up? So why do we regularly ignore or postpone our appointments with God? Is it because we are too busy, easily distracted or maybe just lazy? I love what the late Justice Scalia said
to his clerk when he invited him to church. “I’m just too busy,” his clerk said. Scalia replied, “Well, I’ll tell the Creator of the universe that you were too busy to see Him.” Ask God to give you a desire to show up and meet with Him.
2. TIME & PLACE: For Jesus, the time was in the morning before the day even got underway. For many with young kids, the mornings can be chaotic. Maybe the ideal time is during nap time or in the evenings. Choose a place that is quiet and free from distraction: maybe an office, study, or bedroom.
3. PLAN: Choose a devotional guide to get started. Think of it like a spiritual warm-up – to help you focus. Check out a book by a Christian authors like Oswald Chambers, Sarah Young, Tim Keller or Max Lucado. Hey, even these morning devotions from RFTH can be your ‘warmup.’
4. PRAY: Prayer is simply pouring our hearts out to God. The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6: 9-13) is a great model to get started: it involves praise, praying for others, confession, telling Him our needs, and asking for forgiveness and strength in the face of temptation.
5. LISTEN: Are you listening? Or simply doing all the talking? If we want to hear from God, we have to listen. God speaks to us through His Word.
Now what? Take the ‘30 Day Challenge.’ Beginning today, commit to a daily time with God for the next month. Don’t let distractions or responsibilities get in the way; make God your first priority and see what He has to say. It can literally change your life!
Those are amazing tips on spending time with God. I know we all get distracted but i'm willing to turn off those distractions and hear God speak and become deeply connected with him. I know that the days when I really choose to make God a first priority of my day, I feel peace of mind, strength, wisdom, and joy. During my quiet time it's strictly just me and God. I continue to feel God's help with many situations when I really lay down my burdens at his feet and trust in him. God has helped me to have a better way of handling many situations that I have handled wrongly in the past.
I feel like the last couple of weeks, i've allowed myself to get so discouraged and sad and I really didn't think about trusting God or his faithfulness. I know that sounds terrible but i'm only human and I think so much about what I want and what God isn't giving me. I don't take the time just to acknowledge God for who he is and what he's done fo me already. Everyday he allows me to breathe and have a healthy body and he gives me clothes to wear, food to eat, a place to live, many times we take these things for granted because we're always looking at the bottle half empty instead of half full. Or perhaps, we're just constantly thinking about ourselves. The things that saddened me on a daily basis are important things and God knows that. But when I continue to distrust God and feel sorry for myself i'm really making God as if he's a liar and that he doesn't care for my needs. God knows my greatest needs and even desires, but my job isn't to worry and complain, my job is to trust and find rest, peace and joy in him and not in just materialistic things.
I want to continue to share devotionals and give my thoughts on them. Thank you for taking out the time to read this blog as you know it means so much to me and I truly put my whole heart into everything that I write. I know that God has gifted me to write because I feel it's the best way that I can express myself! I love sharing my thoughts here on my blog. It's truly a joy and a great way for me to relax.
That's all for now, thank you again lovely people for finding interest in my blog. Much luv💖😊
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