Before the year gets away from me <3 (let alone the morning!!!)
Received this from a friend and it sums up how I start my day. Every day.
And I love that the words face OUT when I hold the mug.
Kind of a warning to the world…you do not want to deal with this girl until she has had her Jesus time and her coffee.
Not that I am not an obnoxiously perky morning person, but the combo helps get me focused on things above before I head out into the world around me.
Each January I assess the resources I have at hand and decide the parameters of how quiet time will look for me in the coming year. There are so many good ones.
I could read Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest” EVERY year …and often have read through it…also “Streams in the Desert” is one that I have rotated through many times. So far this year, though, I am streamlining these two classics out of the morning routine….although I may tuck them on a shelf for mid-day encouragement because God continues to speak through these books into my daily life.
The list of stuff I do each morning is ridiculous, just so you know. So it is not to make anyone feel like they don’t “do enough”.
God has given me a need to read…to study…to seek out information so that I can be equipped to do what He has called me to do – to share it in a condensed format with others.
I have the resource of time and the call to share through teaching and writing. I pour out a lot through these means so I need to POUR IN a lot!
I do kind of hesitate sharing how my devotions ARE shaping up for 2017 because it seems like whenever I publicly declare the plan, all the forces of the enemy kick into action to keep me from it but here we go…
Quiet Time 2017 is taking on this routine so far:
Devotional reading
“The One Year Book of Inspirations for Girlfriends…juggling Not-So-Perfect, but Gloriously REAL LIVES” by Ellen Miller.
Cover is so cute…I have to share it….
A friend gifted this to me and another friend so we know each morning we are “sharing” time together in a common way of directing our thoughts to God’s divine Direction.
We touch base through texts about how we feel convicted or ways we can apply or just “wow…today spoke to me”.
Our busy lives have kept us from meeting for coffee and catching up so this helps keep us stay connected to each other with our eyes on Jesus <3
Prayer
To add a fresh perspective to my morning prayers, I have been blessed to receive a 40 day prayer guide through Lifeway that includes a few Psalms to read and a short prayer written by Angela Thomas-Pharr
//blog.lifeway.com/womenallaccess/2016/12/12/start-2017-40-days-prayer-scripture/comment-page-1/
I have started prayer cards for each member of our family and for general prayers that God is breathing into my spirit through reading these Psalms.
God’s Word IS alive….active…and sharper than a two-edged sword, you know…and it pierces my silly flesh and opens my eyes to Kingdom praying <3
Bible Study
This year as I prayed about how to go through the Bible and get God’s Word into me, I realized that I have in my hands…duh…a STUDY BIBLE….Eureka!
So I began to look at the study tools and realized there is an outline called Kingdom Dynamics. Scholars who are much smarter than I am have identified key concepts in Scripture and then broken them down into teachable/learnable parts supported with excellent notes.
I am working through those a little each day and have already gleaned some good nuggets to share in the coming weeks.
Bonus
Add to this the on-going pursuit of sharing a Bible Study with another friend…we work at our own pace…which is slow…
Currently we are working through Entrusted by Beth Moore and we can’t wait to start Kelly Minter’s new one…All Things New.
So here’s the deal…
That is what I do.
YOU need to pray about what God wants YOU to do to grow closer to Him this year.
And then DO IT.
My devotions take up a good portion of my morning and then to write this stuff to you takes up the rest of it.
That means I get up early…and I am forever running late.
It comes with a sacrifice.
I have to hurry like crazy to pull myself together and I have to repent for being mad that I don’t have enough time. I leave our house looking like a miniature hurricane blew through and I never ever get to enjoy a tidy, clean home all at once unless we are having company over.
And even then, please don’t look in the laundry room because our daily masses of paper will be thrown into laundry baskets balanced carefully on top of the washer.
I live rushed in other areas so that I can linger at Jesus’ feet.
YOUR life will look very different…listen carefully to how He wants you to spend time with Him and then do whatever it takes to make it happen.
I love you – I pray you are blessed to know Him today.
I would really love to just hear how you do your time with Him…to know what has been on your radar for growth.
Whatever you are doing…SHARE IT with the people around you.
What God is showing you….teaching you…SHARE IT in your sphere of influence each day <3
God bless you dear ones!