by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." Hebrews 8:10
You have decided that God has priority, great! You will still be spending more time on other things than on God unless you start taking God with you wherever you go. You don’t have to tote a heavy Bible everywhere either. What you need is God in your heart, and great news, God said he would write His law precisely there. But this law in your heart doesn’t supersede the written word of God - it completes it. In other words you still need to read the Bible.
I was just reading about Dr. Billy Graham and I came across a great sermon of his called An Encounter with Christ. He was addressing the Urbana Conference of 1957. Conversion, or repent, means to turn around. To turn away from sin, but it also means to turn towards Christ. To commit your life to Christ. Commitment is not a passive word, it is a passionate action: to turn, to strive, to move in the direction of Christ.
A commitment to Christ is a commitment of time and effort, a commitment of listening and talking to God, and a commitment to obey Christ.
Finding one hour to spend with God every day may be a challenge. Accept the challenge. Find that hour.
The advice I always got was to get up an hour early and spend that time with God. ROFLOL. That is me rolling on the floor laughing out loud. I am a night owl. I do not do mornings. I drag myself out of bed on the way to work, when I have to work mornings. No way would I be coherent enough to read in the morning.
I have never worked a 9-5 job; my schedule has rarely ever been a set sort of thing. I could be scheduled anywhere from 6am to 11pm on any day of the week. So I always read my Bible when I get home, whenever I get home. That is my hour and it is never the same hour two days running.
Since I worked most Sundays I rarely had a whole day for God. I could have and should have, I had two days off a week even if they were never the same two days, I should have used one of the for errands and one for God. But it wasn’t until I got to go to church regularly that I found a whole day for God, and sometimes even that gets interfered with, but I’m working on it.
You have to find what works for you, but do find it. You do need time with God everyday. If you can get up an hour early, great, I always felt that if I could start my day with God my day would go better. I do pray in the mornings, usually quick "help me make it through another day" kind of prayer, but an earnest prayer nonetheless. Talking to God counts every bit as much as reading the word, especially if you are listening to God in the heart. And by listening I mean obeying.
You know the difference between right and wrong, that is the law God has written on your heart. You should work at being right more than you are wrong. No taking your frustrations out on others. No being unkind. Sometimes you have to take a step back to see it, in the middle of the fray and frustrations of life but righteousness is always there.
Prayer is talking to God and Bible reading is listening to God. The Bible is not the only way in which He speaks to us but it is an important one. Don’t neglect it.
It is the idea of learning by heart, to know completely, and you can’t do that if you don’t spend time putting it into your heart. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 So store the Good Book in your heart.
It is a matter of what you concentrate on, what you let fill your mind and your heart. And you will be surprised what reading the word of God just once will do.
You have a conscious decision making mind, and a subconscious mind that records every sight, every sound, every smell, taste, and touch that you have ever had. It begins recording on day one and it doesn’t stop. If you read the whole Bible just once then the whole Bible is in your head – somewhere. Recall is usually the problem, but here’s the thing, the Spirit that lives in you will bring to mind, to your conscious mind, the very verse that you need, when you need it the most. That is why it is important to read the whole Bible. Get the whole thing in your head, in your heart, and then allow the word of God to lead you through the day.
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But it sure is worth the effort
- Wendy
Since I worked most Sundays I rarely had a whole day for God. I could have and should have, I had two days off a week even if they were never the same two days, I should have used one of the for errands and one for God. But it wasn’t until I got to go to church regularly that I found a whole day for God, and sometimes even that gets interfered with, but I’m working on it.
You have to find what works for you, but do find it. You do need time with God everyday. If you can get up an hour early, great, I always felt that if I could start my day with God my day would go better. I do pray in the mornings, usually quick "help me make it through another day" kind of prayer, but an earnest prayer nonetheless. Talking to God counts every bit as much as reading the word, especially if you are listening to God in the heart. And by listening I mean obeying.
You know the difference between right and wrong, that is the law God has written on your heart. You should work at being right more than you are wrong. No taking your frustrations out on others. No being unkind. Sometimes you have to take a step back to see it, in the middle of the fray and frustrations of life but righteousness is always there.
Prayer is talking to God and Bible reading is listening to God. The Bible is not the only way in which He speaks to us but it is an important one. Don’t neglect it.
It is the idea of learning by heart, to know completely, and you can’t do that if you don’t spend time putting it into your heart. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 So store the Good Book in your heart.
It is a matter of what you concentrate on, what you let fill your mind and your heart. And you will be surprised what reading the word of God just once will do.
You have a conscious decision making mind, and a subconscious mind that records every sight, every sound, every smell, taste, and touch that you have ever had. It begins recording on day one and it doesn’t stop. If you read the whole Bible just once then the whole Bible is in your head – somewhere. Recall is usually the problem, but here’s the thing, the Spirit that lives in you will bring to mind, to your conscious mind, the very verse that you need, when you need it the most. That is why it is important to read the whole Bible. Get the whole thing in your head, in your heart, and then allow the word of God to lead you through the day.
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But it sure is worth the effort
- Wendy
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