Tag: quiet time

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“He Loved Them To The End”

As I read and studied John 13 this morning, the love of Jesus began to shine through the pages and upon my heart. As I studied, Jesus gave me a fresh perspective of his love. His love for others, including Judas. He never stopped loving him and he commanded us to us to not stop either. While Judas was betraying Jesus…Jesus actually gave the disciples this commandment:

“I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another.
By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”-John 13:34-35 CSB
I cannot help but think of the actions of Jesus during this. He knew what was going to happen. He knew what Judas was doing. Yet, while he was being betrayed, he commanded the disciples to love one another.
Jesus never stopped loving Judas.
He never told us to stop either.
Jesus commanded us to do the opposite.
Even though Jesus knew Judas’ heart and the pain he was about to endure, he still had communion with Judas and he still washed his feet. He still humbled himself and served him.
When I began to re-read the chapter, there was an essential part that I missed in the very beginning of the chapter.
“Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”-John 13:1 CSB
Judas was one of Jesus’ own. He loved him till the end and commands us to love him till the very end too. No string attached. Just love.
Have you ever been betrayed by someone you love? Someone you thought would never hurt you?
If you are reading this right now, I am sure you have. Jesus is the perfect example of how we are called to live our life. He is the perfect example of pure love. Pure love, love’s even when it has been betrayed. Pure love, love’s even in the midst of of being hurt. Love does not give up or waver due to to circumstance. Pure love, love’s despite people’s actions. As God’s word states, by loving those that have done us wrong, we show that we are his disciples & we are following his example.
If you are hurting because of someone as you read this, take this moment to have communion with the father and forgive them. For me, this meant me asking for forgiveness too. I am still learning to love. I still stumble from time to time. However, I choose this day, at this moment, to love like Jesus. I choose to love not based upon other people’s actions. But, love because Jesus commanded me to and gave me the perfect example to do it. I hope you take this moment to chose to love like Jesus too.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have#LetLoveBeMyMotive
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God’s Question To Me When I Was Asking For Answers

When you open up your bible and pray to God what is the intention of your heart? I ask this because recently Holy Spirit had convicted me of going into the Lord’s presence to find out answers rather than just spending time with him. OUCH!

I am not saying it is a bad thing to go into God’s presence with an expectant heart that he will speak to you. I hope you do that. As you should do that; God wants nothing more than for you to follow his will. What I am saying is that when you go into God’s presence the intentions of you heart are very important. We can come into trouble if you go into his presence with the sole purpose of receiving answers instead of being in awe of his goodness.

When the answers become more of a priority than God himself, Houston we have a problem!

It is like that song: “Help me want the savior more than the saving. Help me what the healer more than the healing. Help me want you Jesus.”

Once Holy Spirit gave me a love tap and revealed to me what was going on. I ran with the conviction, asked for forgiveness, and turned in repentance. When I started coming into God’s presence I asked one thing… Who are you Lord?
No one on this earth knows God to the full extent. We can never reach the depth of his goodness and love here on earth. We should be getting to know him on a more intimate level each day. If you are in season of what seems that everything is running dry, know that there is more wisdom, understanding, and revelation that God wants you to receive just off that one question.

Who is God?

Everything trickles off that one question.

Here are some things that God has revealed to me or reminded me of:

I am loved by God.

I am chosen by God.

I am appointed by God.

I am God’s friend.

I am God’s child.

The Lord has removed my punishment

The Lord is among us.

The Lord is a warrior who saves.

The Lord will rejoice over us with gladness.

The Lord will renew us in his love.

The Lord delights in us with singing.

The Lord saves the lame and gathers the outcasts.

The Lord will restore our fortunes before our eyes.

Sometimes we get so caught up in wanting the answers that we forget the whole reason for being in his presence. Simply being in it. We should always want to spend time with him more than what comes out of it. Spending time with him in his word, in prayer, and through other spiritual disciplines will always result in fruit. However, do not forget to step back and simply be in awe of who he is.

 

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“How many cups of coffee have you had this morning?”-Husband

I may have woken up at 4:38ish this morning and am still going. IT’S A MIRACLE! (kidding, but seriously I am not a morning person) I grabbed an iced coffee from the kitchen and headed to our war room because I knew Abba wanted to do a work in me. What is funny is that my husband came home from PT this morning around 7:50ish as I was just finishing up my Quiet Time with God. I walked out and his eye got big and he asked, “How many cups of that *looks down at my 1/4 full now melted iced coffee* have you had this morning?”.

The amazing thing is, that when he left this morning I was groggy and kind of cranky to be honest. No one likes a noisy house before 6am. But when he came home, and I walked out of the war room, I was changed.
This is what we should yearn for every single time we go into our quiet time with Abba. To have our hearts changed and our minds renewed when we walk out. I walked out this morning with authority and excitement because I just spent time with my heavenly father. With this time he brought revelation, wisdom, and understanding. He gave me deeper understanding of him and who I am in him. He spoke clearly through his word.

When we have quiet time with God we should:

  1. Be expectant to hear from him through his word and through prayer
  2. Not put a time limit on God and what he wants to do in our hearts and minds
  3. Our hearts should be changed and our minds renewed
  4. Meditate on what he spoke to us throughout our day
  5. If we don’t understand, ASK.

Just like my husband thought I had 7 iced coffees this morning, you leave Abba’s presence changed.

(Oh and by the way, I only had 3/4 of a cup of iced coffee)

“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”-Matthew 4:4 (NIV)
“How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.”-Psalm 119:9-11 (NIV)

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”-Romans 12:2 (NIV)

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”-Mark 1:35

 

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Soaking In His Peace In A Quiet Place (Even though life is so noisy)

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Your quiet place.

No children, no dogs, no spouse, no distractions.

What does this look like to you?

Is it your closest? Bathroom? A nature trail? Did you have one once and now it has been taken over?

We all NEED a quiet place. EVEN JESUS DID!

Jesusquotequiet

Our quiet place is essential. It is where we can speak to God aloud and have him speak to us WITHOUT interruptions. Where you can hear him clearly and you can speak to him about the most inner parts of your heart and mind. Your quiet place should be somewhere where he has your full attention. A place where we can renew our mind in the word and spend time worshiping our creator, Abba, Alpha and Omega, our lifeline.

Many of us have a lot of commitments that keep us busy and we claim we don’t have time or we can’t find a quiet place.

If you are schedule is too busy, have you thought of waking up earlier or canceling the 2 hour Netflix binge? Or if your job is taking up the time you are spending with God, do you think it is time to pray for a new job opportunity? I know for a fact that when work was on the throne of my heart instead of God and I felt like I had nowhere to turn but took a leap of faith, God provided for me 2 new jobs that I fell in love with. He is faithful.  I can assure you that you are TOO busy if you are TOO busy to spend time with God. There are ways around it, just ask him.

When it comes to an actually quiet place, being married to a man who is in the military and having 2 dogs that are 6 months old can be really challenging. I am sure this is challenging for many of us who have families. The reading nook/war room I used to have where I would go to now has becomes the jungle gym for my puppies. But after not having the quality time with God that I wanted and so desperately needed I cried out upon God for help. WHERE is this place for me now? It became the bathroom for a while, then the trails, and now it has been not feeling guilty for putting my puppies in their cages for a while when I spend time with God.
What I really was depriving was not only myself, but my family. When I wasn’t able to spend the time with God that I needed (because I didn’t know where), I became moody and my thoughts began to become worldly.

If you are being challenged by busyness or don’t know where to go to spend time with God, simply ask him what can change. I know that I didn’t know what to do. I felt stuck. But that was just the enemy slipping in and trying to take away the time I need with God. Nothing is more important than your relationship with God. You can say it all day long, but until you put it into action is when the real fruit bearing begins.