TXT3

Okay, so I totally went the whole day yesterday without doing my quiet time, and I am going to do my best not to let that happen again.  It was an awful day.  There were many stressful situations, and I reacted to them much differently than when I have had reading and morning prayer.  I was a mess by lunch time.  Granted they were unusually difficult, but I still know that I hadn’t reminded myself that with God I could handle it.  Now that I am catching up with yesterday’s reading, I realize how beneficial it would have been to have read v. 91, “Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.”  All things serve God.  Yesterday I didn’t even feel like I served God at times, much less some of the awful people I was surrounded by.  If I could just act the way I know I want to in my heart always.  I want to serve God, and I know that I cannot slave for two masters.  I must continue to immerse myself in God’s word daily to gain the wisdom, insight and understanding the psalmist goes on to speak about.  “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (v.103)

Back on track, here. Verse 81 was a great way to start off the morning…”My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.”  I have a smaller amount of time than usual again today, and instead of going into a lengthier blog right now I am going to spend more time in prayer.  Y’all tell me how your reading is going today!

Almost 5:30 PM and I just had my “quiet time”, which really wasn’t that at all.  I am enduring work stresses right now, and I slept right through my morning reading and prayer time.  You know, this is really hard to admit I failed to you joining me!  Even more so, it is harder to admit to God that I gave him such a small part of me today.  Of course I had a bad day…I started off trying to handle things on my own.  I remember my grandmother had a little plaque on her kitchen counter right next to where she stood to have her coffee and watch her hummingbirds every morning that read, “Lord, help me to remember that nothing that is going to happen today that you and I together can’t handle.”  I know most of you probably have seen this quote somewhere before, too.  I used to think that it was a ‘cheesy’ statement that old school Christians (no offense, please!) liked to see hung or placed in guest baths or wherever.  But, I realize now (maybe I’m getting older, maybe just wiser in my faith) that this is such a simple yet amazing statement.  And, I wish I had taken the time, even though I am so busy, to at least pray that little prayer before I started this day. Verse 80 says, “May my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame”.  I desire to have this blameless heart, but I know by the number of times I feel shame that I am falling short.  I will continue to follow the psalmist’s lead in my prayer to not just read but LIVE God’s word and let it infiltrate me and my life.

“My troubles turned out all for the best-they forced me to learn from your textbook.” (119:71, The Message)  That is the truth!  Sometimes what we are dealing with in life does force us to turn to the one place where we will find the right answer.  It all comes back to seeking the truths God has already given to us.  I think of how some people spend their lives searching for something, anything that makes them feel complete but never really attain that.  We as believers never have to feel that way.  Everything we need to know, how to act, how to live, what to do with our money, how to raise our children, how to worship, pray, etc…it is all right here.  No need to waste our time looking for any worldly answers.  I pray to remember this truth each day.

Playing catch up!  It was nice to be away for the holiday weekend with no computer, but I honestly was missing this blog.  It has been a busy weekend, and keeping up with quiet time has been a challenge, but with good rewards.  I mentioned something last night at txt3, but I know many were gone for vacation.  I really have found after this first week that for me the blessings that we are promised in this Psalms that will come from reading and applying what we learn from God’s word are not what I thought them to be when I started on Monday morning.  I was thinking, “Awesome, I can’t wait to see what blessings I am going to receive by doing this.”  Maybe something great will happen at work?  Maybe financial?  Maybe my parents will come and take my kids for a week just because they know I need a break?  How selfish and shallow my thoughts can be at times.  But, what I have learned is that these blessings aren’t necessarily ‘things’ or ‘events’.  I have found they are ways to handle LIFE.  When I ran into problems this week, I found myself feeling close to God and knowing He was alive in me and helping me handle things the way He would have me.  What a blessing to feel His spirit working in me.  And, it has made my prayer time so much more meaningful and easy!  Which, perfectly, takes us into the focus of this week’s sermon from Kelly…prayer.  I really loved Kelly’s point last night that we don’t always have to pray to thank God and ask for things.  Sometimes we should be silent in our prayer and wait for God to speak to us.  I can’t wait to have my quiet time tomorrow morning and see what He has to say to me.  Happy Memorial Day!