On my heart…

Hey, everyone! It’s been a while, and it is said that confession is good for the soul. I have been sliding lately. I’ve let this, that, and something else come in between me and the Lord and have neglected to read/study my Bible. There. That’s done. Time for a 180 and run the other direction.

I was scrolling through Instagram this morning and came across a woman lamenting over feeling overwhelmed and under accomplished and under appreciated. She’s a mom trying to do it all and feeling like she is failing miserably.

Well, I put that away because I was so frustrated and upset at not only her laments, but also her language – that’s a blog for another day.

Then I got out my Bible study for today. Here is the bit of a verse that I am focusing on today –

Romans 12:12 – “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

I’m focusing on “patient in affliction”. Now, other versions transcribe it as “in the tribulation, abiding/remaining/enduring”.

Patience/endurance is something that I rarely pray for, if I’m honest. I know that if I choose to ask for this virtue, I’m going to have to go through some tough times to even come close to getting it semi-correct. And, if you are like me, going through tough times is not your cup of tea. But, I have found, they come anyway. Especially in today’s world. It’s hard. It’s hard if you’re working. It’s hard if you’re retired. It’s hard if you are a parent. It’s hard if you are a student. It’s hard if you’re married. It’s hard if you’re single.

That being said – Life is hard.

In John 15:1-8, Jesus isn’t speaking to unbelievers. He is speaking to His followers. He is speaking to people that have made the choice to accept the Truth and have chosen Him as their Savior – their Provider of salvation and freedom from sin and the Law. He is wanting them to stay close to Him. He wants them to allow Him to make them more than they are at that time. He wants them to stay (abide/remain/endure) with Him no matter what. No matter if He changes/alters/fixes the circumstances or situations or not. He wants them to be next to Him. Remain in Him.

Remaining/enduring/abiding is hard. It’s easy to slide away. It’s easy to sit down and just slowly creep away than to stand firm.

The reason for this is tribulation. Tribulation, or affliction in the quoted verse, isn’t necessarily what is talked about in prophecy – The Great Tribulation. No, this is something more like what we see every day. It’s what I saw on Instagram this morning. It’s feeling pressure from every direction. It’s society telling you that you aren’t good enough or smart enough or accomplished enough or pretty enough because you aren’t doing this, this and this. It’s the generally accepted idea that if you don’t have your calendar packed full and you aren’t 100% successful in each and every situation, then you aren’t enough. And if you can’t do these things quickly enough, then you are a failure – you’re weak – you’re not worthy. For me, that is the tribulation mentioned here.

But God….

When you look at the original word for “patient” in this verse, it has a prefix. This prefix means “under, beneath, below, underneath”. In essence, the word used in Romans 12:12 for “patient” means – “to stay under, or behind, to remain, to persevere, endure, to abide, to undergo or bear, regardless of the situation and the corresponding decisions and actions of others”.

To put that into my own words, “in the tribulation, abiding/remaining/enduring” means no matter what the world (Satan) throws at you, no matter how under accomplished/overwhelmed/under appreciated you feel, stay under the wing of your Savior – stay close to Him and don’t sit down and start to slide – stay where it is warm and cozy and safe – you are enough – He has loved you so much that so many years ago He died for you – stay with Him.

Our world needs to hear this. Our world is suffering from all the yuck the devil puts out there. Too many people are feeling they are not enough. They don’t know or understand how to abide because it has never been an option. We have this freedom. We have this choice. Jesus gave it to us and the world needs it now more than ever.

PS – Thanks to Bro. Tom for reminding me of these truths.

Hiking Part 1

“And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:62

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went out to Sedona, Arizona for an early anniversary trip. We had the hiking itch, and Sedona was recommended as a new place to try.

It was a lovely time. We had a great time hiking. And while being outside in the nice warm weather just quietly being able to walk around in God’s beautiful creation, I had some time to reflect on a few things. Over the next couple of weeks, I wanted to share some of the things that I thought about out on our hikes.

First, let me set up the landscape. Sedona is a lovely area just north of Phoenix. It is a little desert and a little mountainous. We saw cactus and scrub bushes and desert roses. We also saw some amazing red rock formations that were designed by God to scale.

One hike that we took was up on Cathedral Rock. Great hike! But not for the faint of heart and not for those not wanting to work a bit. This hike was hard but worth it. It was well marked with cairns to guide you up the side of the formation.

One portion of the path led you up about 30 feet in a crevice. It was a little smooth for my taste but some wonderful soul had carved in some places to stick your toes and pull yourself up. This was the kind of path that only one person could scale at a time and on all fours. When it came my turn, I took a deep breath and just went for it! I was like a spider monkey crawling up this space without stopping, without looking up and without looking back. I just went for it! And let me tell you this, when I got to the top, I had my arms above my head like Rocky who had just scaled those steps in Philadelphia! I had conquered that crevice and nothing was going to keep me from celebrating! I didn’t care who saw me! I was successful!

All this made me think of this verse. Sometimes as we go through life, we just have to see the path and go for it. We can’t stop and think about it. We just have to keep our head down, watch where we are going and just keep moving forward. If I had stopped and looked back or stopped to see how far I had left to go, I would have been sent into freak out mode and probably started to cry. God doesn’t want us to stop in our journey with Him. Watch where you are going and don’t stop.

Excuses

“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

– 1 John 1:6-10

These last few months have found me in the midst of change. I finally moved into my new house. I moved my children into a little cottage together at college. I have been on a weight loss/health improvement journey.

I think that the weight loss/health journey is proving to be the most challenging thing. My house is great. I love it. My kids are happy and safe – I love it. My scale – not so much.

It seems that every step I take forward pushes me back two steps. I get frustrated. I feel defeated.

Yet, these are all just excuses. Every morning that I get up and see the scale move in the wrong direction, I sit down, beat myself up, and ponder what in the world did I eat yesterday that caused it.

As I was pondering these things this morning, God revealed something to my heart. I don’t need to try and figure out what went wrong yesterday. I need to determine why I keep finding myself here in the first place. What is the root of the problem?

You want to know what mine is – excuses. I can find every excuse in the book to justify why I’m doing what I’m doing. “Oh, it’s the weekend. Sugar doesn’t effect me on the weekend.” “Oh, Momma is visiting. I’ll worry about that next week.” “I’m having that sugar in my coffee in the morning because I like it. I’m good the rest of the day (knowing that I’m not).” If you haven’t figured it out, sugar is the bane to my existence.

But my excuses go way beyond sugar. Take this blog for instance. I have neglected it for way too long. Take my Bible study as another example. I haven’t been in the Word like I know I should be. And the list could go on and on.

Why do we make excuses for our behaviors? Why do I spend my precious time trying to determine a reason for me to indulge myself in something that I know is not good for me?

I tell you what, if I could answer and solve that one….well, I wouldn’t need this blog.

The simple answer is sin.

I’m sure that if we are all honest with ourself, we would all be in the same boat – sailing under the flag of hypocrisy.

But that is the reason, the Holy Spirit inspired John to pen 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I have heard one of my brothers in Christ say this so many times that I don’t even have to look it up. He drilled it into my head. And rightfully so. How would I make it through the day without it? How would I know that God is ready to forgive me if I turn and walk away from the “sins that so easily beset me”? “So easily”. A tiny little group of letters that describe my heart so very often.

As I was walking this morning listening to my Christian running list, I heard Jamie Grace sing “Good morning”. It reminded me that I have awakened to a brand new day that has a clean slate that is ready for God to write on. My sins of yesterday haunt me, but the hope of today brings me joy.

So, good bye yesterday. Good bye sugar. Good bye excuses. Today is new day and, by golly, I’m gonna claim it!

Saddle up!

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” – James 1:22-25 

Saddle up, friends. It’s going to be another bumpy ride today.

I’ve been doing a new study lately. I have taken on the word fasting. Boy, oh boy, is that word filled up! When I get through the study and digest it, so to speak, I’ll let you know what God has laid on my heart. But for now, these verses came across my line of sight.

It’s a standard group of verses, right? We have all probably heard sermon upon sermon centered around these verses. But have you ever stopped to consider what they truly mean? In doing so, I became convicted. I mean, “oh my, what am I doing” kind of convicted.

We all have mirrors in our home, right? I know I spend a considerable amount of time on any given day looking to see if what I am seeing lines up with what I have in my mind for myself to look like. My hair is one that gives me a lot of grief. Anyone who knows me knows that I can be a bit of a Medusa sometimes and other times, I am so put together… it is astounding. But mostly – Medusa. I can leave my bathroom mirror with one hairstyle and by the time I reach the end of the stairs, I have a whole new look. It’s truly a talent. Same goes with makeup. Me and eyeliner don’t always get along.

But enough of that. The point is I spend a considerable amount of time working on what I want the world to see about me. I have to remember that I can’t rub my eyes when I have makeup on. I have to remember that I can’t twirl my hair when I have spent so much time straightening it. I have to remember.

I have to apply what I know.

And when I rub my eye after putting on makeup, there are raccoon consequences. And sometimes, you just gotta go with the raccoon because sometimes you just have to accept the consequences of forgetting.

So, I know that you did not start reading the blog for makeup tutorials and tricks of the trade. No. You want spiritual food.

Okay, here it is – you are responsible to remember and apply what you know.

Profound, right? Yes and no.

This is not earth shattering news. You know this if you look hard enough at yourself. The thing is, do you apply it? Do you really take all that you have learned in Bible study, in reading the Word on your own, in going through those daily devotions, in praying – do you apply that stuff?

If you have heard it, if you have studied it, if you have ingested it in any way, shape or form – you are responsible to make it so in your life. You see, If Jesus said it and you know that Jesus said it, you are expected to do it. Romans 12:1 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Yep, you read that right – “reasonable service”. It is the rational or logical thing to do.

Reasonable or rational or logical can be a tough concept to grasp sometimes. This world is anything but reasonable, rational or logical. Yet, Paul reminds the church in Rome that because God does not give us what we deserve, we should be willing and ready to be a living sacrifice. That means, when we read, when we study, when we learn, we need to apply. It’s the logical thing to do.

My mind goes to Mr. Spock from Star Trek when I read the word “logical”. He was one that based everything and every decision on logic. Most people didn’t agree with his logic which caused lots of problems. Don’t we see that in the world today? Most people don’t agree with the logic of a follower of Christ. It goes against the grain. It rubs the wrong way. Things can get dicey when we strictly adhere to the “logic” of Truth.

To sum this all up, we have a “reasonable” responsibility to remember and apply what we have learned from God’s Word. It is not always going to be easy. It is not always going to be popular. It is not always going to go the way we want it to go. However, it is what is expected. God expects His children to want to be more and more like Him. We can’t do that if we forget what we have learned.

That’s why Luke reminds us in Luke 9:23 – “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” This is a daily thing that we have to do. Truly, you could even say this is a moment by moment thing that we have to do. We have to chose to follow God each and every day and each and every moment.

Don’t forget what you saw in the mirror this morning….

Desires of today

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” – I Peter 4:17

Public Service Announcement – This isn’t going to be an easy one because it hits a little too close to home.

The time has come for renovation. The time has come to decide what we keep and what needs to be removed. The time has come to be brave enough to let go and willing enough to accept the new. The time has come to allow God to clean house – so to speak.

I was asking God and searching for what He wanted me to write about this week. I haven’t written in a while…well, for a number of reasons. This verse was the last verse that I could bring myself to research today. And it stuck. It stuck big time.

I have a bad habit of putting things off, sometimes. Usually, if it is vitally important in my book, I will get up immediately and tend to the task. But if my brain and heart do not hold it in high necessity, well, it gets put off until the last minute. Take for instance house cleaning. I like to have my house tidy when my husband comes home. I can power clean with the best of them. If I know he will be home in 15 minutes, I can get more done in that 15 minutes than the last 4 hours of the day. But I put it off until the last minute. That’s not always the best way to do things.

I was reviewing some of my old sermon notes. I came across one that was on Romans 10:1-14. Let’s look at that first verse – “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” Okay. Now, we all know that it was Paul’s singular desire that all people might accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. However, despite being sent to the Gentiles to preach salvation, He desired for his fellow Jews to accept Jesus as their Savior as well. We all long for the entirety of the ones that we care the most about to come alongside of us into Eternity. But what about everyone else?

Let me ask you this question – What was your desire last week? Or how about this – What was your desire yesterday?

One of the phrases that I have highlighted from this message is this – The desires of our heart is what we do daily. Ouch. That hurts.

If the time has come for renovation – for judgment to begin at the house of God – what does the desires of your yesterday say about what you need done on your foundation today?

I don’t know about you, but that sentence alone brings conviction.

For most days, my desire is for me. What do I want to do today? How do I want to spend my moments? I don’t think about others so much. I think about me. How is this effecting me?

I’m sad to say that far too often my desire for my day only briefly focuses on God and His will for my life. I need more of His Word in my life. I need more of my time focused on communicating with Him. I need more of my activities to focus on things that others need from me and not always what I want my time to be focused on. I need to make improvements. I need to get rid of activities that overtake my thoughts. I need to become more of what He would have me to be. I need to stop putting things off.

I know this has been a tough one. Maybe for you, your desires from yesterday are full of His will. But maybe you’re rowing in a boat right next to me. My prayer is that we can renovate our life starting today to better reflect Him tomorrow.

Work it out

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28

I am doing a Bible study of the word renovation or being under construction. I feel like this is the word that God has given me to focus my daily life on this year. You see, I am constantly under construction. There are days in which I feel like there should be a fence around me and/or that yellow tape with orange barrels. You know, the kind of attention that says – BEWARE!! UNDER CONSTRUCTION! DANGEROUS!

Well, I have a mega list of Bible verses that I am going through to help me to better understand what it means to be under construction and what I need to do to improve my daily walk to be closer to Jesus. This was my verse for today. Well, it was supposed to be one of my verses, but I got so deep on studying it that I couldn’t move on until I wrote this blog post.

I love to look at the deeper meaning of words, especially in Bible verses. I believe that KJV is the first place to go. However, I do like to look in other versions and look up the deeper meanings of the Greek and/or Hebrew words that are used. There are tons of resources online for this. If you need some suggestions, let me know. I will be glad to direct you.

Now then, let me write out for you what the literal translation of Romans 8:28 says – “But we know that God works together all things for good to the (ones) loving God, to the (ones) being called according to purpose.” (Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by Jay P. Green, Sr., editor)

Oh, how I love this! The literal version puts the burden of “work together” on God, exactly where it should be! Yes, you can imply this from the KJV, but there is no question in the literal translation. I think this is so very important because too often I try and work it out. I try and find the good in the things that I am doing. I try and direct the flow so that I will end up where I think that God wants me to be. Do you see the problem here? Too many “I”s. It’s gross when I write it out. What am I possibly thinking?! My focus should be on giving it to God to let Him work it out for His good and in His time – not mine.

And I love the action in the literal – “loving God” and “being called”. To me, this shows that in order to have God active in my life, I need to be active with Him. That means getting into His word. That means studying to show myself approved – a workman rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) That means actively communicating all the time.

Prayer time does not have to exclusively be a time when you are alone and in private. Don’t get me wrong, this is an incredibly important time that you need to desperately protect because it is vitally important! But prayer is also communicating always – “Pray without ceasing.” – I Thessalonians 5:17. You can’t always be in your prayer closet all the time. God has work for you to do! Rather, I think, prayer is constantly bringing your petitions and thanks to God. Prayer is an active way of life. Prayer is how I allow God to work all things for His good. Prayer helps me to stay focused on God’s purpose and plans rather than my own.

You see, I want, no, I need God to work all things for His good in my life. I know that there are issues in all of our lives that we need to turn over to God. We don’t need to carry them around and try and unravel that yarn on our own. We need to express our concerns and needs before God in prayer and then trust that in His time, He will work it all out for His good. And when that time comes, friend, you had better be praising God for all His work in your life! There is no shame in admitting that there is no way that you worked this problem out on your own. God deserves all the praise and glory for all He has done!

Tomorrow me problems

Matthew 6:34 – “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

“That’s a tomorrow me problem.”

Those have been my words so many times over the last several days. It seems like the devil has been working overtime on me and those around me. So many problems that come into my line of sight today that I can do absolutely nothing about right this second. They are problems that I will face on another day, but, for some reason, I think that I need to solve them right now.

We are building a house. Every day I drive by it to see the progress being made. I have seen it go from a hole in the ground to the actual shape of what it should look like. If there is one thing that I am learning as we build this house – it’s trust. I have to trust that the framers know what they are doing. I have to trust that the supervisor will catch any mistakes that they make. I have to trust that they are going to fix any problems that are made.

Trust is a big part of learning how to handle “tomorrow me” problems. I cannot fix future problems today. Now, I might be able to do something about it and prevent them but I have to know which ones are truly preventable and which ones are not.

Every day I have a million concerns that pass in front of me. They may relate to me or they may relate to someone dear to me. I cannot prevent every problem and fix every issue. Some times I just have to trust. I have to trust that no matter what, God has it all in control.

I was talking to my son yesterday about the new little cottage he and his sister will be staying in next fall and how we need to plan for transitioning into that place now. I need to know approximate move-in dates so that I can get hotel rooms to help out with the move. His concern – am I going to have to sleep on someone’s couch because I don’t have a place to live? I told him, “Son, you have enough on your plate right now. That’s an August you problem. Don’t worry about it now.” He, too, is having to learn to trust that everything will work out. Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Now, I know this verse is way more than where my son will be sleeping in August. But, that’s the beauty of God’s word – it is applicable in so many different situations.

I don’t visit Lamentations too frequently, but when God brings it across my radar, it must be important. Lamentations 3:25,26 – “The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”

“That’s a tomorrow me problem.”

I’m learning to wait and trust on the Lord. It’s a tough lesson to learn. Problems make realize just how small and out of control that I truly am. I think that is the reason I often want to fix things now. I don’t want to realize that I can’t do this on my own. Wait. And trust.

Word of the Year

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with thy free spirit.” – Psalm 51:10,12

Happy 2022 everyone! It has been a bit of a hectic start to my year, yet here I am. I have transitioned from palm trees and flip flops in January to evergreens and snow boots. Yet, through the journey, God has been good!

Back in late November or early December, one of the men in my Sunday school class told us about his “word for the year”. His word for last year was surrender. Well, that sent me down a study hole that I am still working through right now. Surrender is such a deep and challenging concept that maybe one day I will write out a devotional on it.

But for now, let’s talk about a word for the year. Here’s the concept – first, pray and ask God what He wants your word for the year to be. This word will be one to focus your study life, your prayer life and your every day life on. So, don’t be hasty in choosing it. Think about it. Pray about it. Look at what you feel God wants to accomplish through you this upcoming year.

Now, I know, it’s like January 6. You’re probably thinking that it is too late to create a goal or resolution. Nope. No it is not. It is never too late to start doing something to allow God to grow and change you. You don’t need the start of a new calendar to make those changes. You need a willing and obedient heart.

I’m sure you are wondering what my word for the year will be. Well, I believe God has laid on my heart Renovation. Now, I’m not 100% sure where that is going. I have lots of studying to do on that subject. I’m sure you will hear about it in the future.

For now, I am challenging you to discover your word for the year. Please, send me a message and let me know what it is. Maybe I will write a blog on your word. I won’t share any personal details if you reach out to me. However, I believe that by sharing this with someone, you have an accountability partner. And we all need those to keep us in line.

So, get to it! Start praying and searching now for your word of the year.

Amnesia

Deuteronomy 4:9 – “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons”

Have you ever known any one who experienced amnesia? Personally, I have not. I cannot imagine what it would be like to not remember certain parts of my life or have blanks in my story.

However, aren’t we like that in our spiritual life? Don’t we often forget what God has done in our life in the past?

You remember Moses and the children of Israel? God performs all these miracles right before their eyes and what happened over and over and over again? Amnesia.

God performs 10 miracles that gives them their freedom and off they go into the desert only to find themself, literally, between a rock and a hard place at the Red Sea. Woe is me! Woe is me! Why did you bring us out in this desert to die, Moses? Weren’t there enough graves back in Egypt? What have you done?

Now, had I been Moses, I probably would have given up right then and there. But no, he was a better person than me. He stopped. He listened. He obeyed. And off go probably a million people on dry land to watch and see the mighty Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea.

And then, these same people, who plundered the land of Egypt without lifting a finger and whose shoes did not wear out, forget that God is able to provide all their needs and start complaining because they have no water. Did they think God would get them this far only to let them die of thirst?

Oh, I could go on and on with this series of events that occur like a bad Groundhog Day movie. But I won’t. I think you get the picture.

We can point fingers all day long and shake our head at the seemingly ridiculous way that these people forget over and over again. But what about me? What about you? How many times do you find yourself shaking your head thinking “woe is me – how am I ever going to get through this”? For me, more times that I care to admit.

Then the Holy Spirit gets ahold of me and my heart. He starts sweeping the floor of my heart and cleaning out the cobwebs in my memory and leads me to the place where I can remember. He reminds me of all the times that God has taken a seemingly hopeless and crazy situation and, somehow or another, turned it all around and worked it all out.

You see, that’s the kind of God I serve. I serve the God that doesn’t forget, doesn’t give up on me when I do, and tirelessly pursues me until I stop and see things His way.

We all get stuck between a rock and a hard place from time to time. But that is the time when we need to take heed of ourself and keep our soul close to the Father. These are the times to not forget that God is faithful. He never forgets….and neither should we.

Sabbath moments

“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, And to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, And thy faithfulness every night” Psalm 92:1,2

This weekend, I had the opportunity to go and visit with my kids at college. We were sitting at dinner on Saturday night and they began talking about their Main Event messages. Now let me explain. They attend the Baptist Student Fellowship on their campus. Tuesday nights is Main Event night. It is a time where they all get together for a service.

This particular service that they were talking about was about having a Sabbath Day of rest. Now, this day of rest doesn’t have to be on Sunday. It can be any day of the week. It needs to be a time where you rest from your activities that consume your day and you just have time to be with Jesus for a while. And physically rest.

To two college students neck deep in papers and tests and over shadowed by activities in all the organizations they are a part of, this sounded like a pipe dream. A whole day to do nothing but rest is outside of their scope of reality.

And if I was going to guess it is outside of yours and mine reality as well.

So, let’s take a moment and see if we can break this down into tolerable chunks that we can digest. What if I, because I can only speak for myself, what if I were to take my time in the morning more serious? What if I were to focus my attention, my thoughts, my actions on spending QUALITY time with God instead of checking Him off the list of things to do today? What if, instead of a Sabbath Day, I took Sabbath moments?

A Sabbath moment. A moment in my day, or moments in my day, where I rested in Jesus. What if instead of hurrying through my Bible study in the morning I just sat there for a moment? Doing nothing. Just listening. Just absorbing. Just appreciating, for a moment, the beauty of the sun lighting up the sky or my dog sleeping on the couch. Just breathing in and out the fresh air that God has provided for me this morning. Focusing, for a moment, on His lovingkindness that consumes me at that moment. What if….

And what if at night, before I drift off to sleep, I review my day and thank Him for His faithfulness throughout the day? What if I took a moment to say thank you and to remember all the ways in which I saw His hand at work in my life? What if I took that Sabbath moment right before I went to sleep to remember how abundant His blessings were in my experiences of Him that day? What if…

We live a life of chaos and busyness and hurryness and time crunching and deadlines that we need to take more Sabbath moments. Maybe you need to take one right now. Maybe lunchtime. Maybe while the baby is sleeping. Maybe you need the day. Maybe 10 minutes will do. Whatever the case, take more Sabbath moments. Take more time to rest in Jesus. Take more time to praise Him for all He is and all He does in your life. Take the time. Trust me, it is time well spent.