Jeremiah 9: 23-24, Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
Do you enjoy being with God? Really? I don’t think that many Christians do. We say we do but when it comes right down to it, when we have a choice of spending time in prayer and study and contemplation of the Word or in doing some “fun” thing we’ve been wanting to do, the fun thing usually wins out.
What do you trade for time with God? A television show? Time spent watching videos? Reading? Exercise? Sleep? Which of those has eternal value? Which of those are useful for equipping you for daily service to your King?
Right. None of them.
None of them.
So why do we continue on as we do? I believe that, at least in part, we haven’t been taught how to be with God. How to pray. How to study…not just for information but for the direct purpose of learning about God Himself. We don’t know how to hunger and thirst after Him Who is righteousness indeed; sadly many of us don’t care that we don’t know because it just seems so hard.
Assuming you are a child of the Almighty, if you see yourself in this and want to change it, the place to begin is with prayer. Go to God and repent of idolatry…for that is truly what desiring anything at all above the Lord is. If you don’t know how to pray, humbly ask God to teach you. Then, if you find that you rarely desire to pray, ask God to fill you with a hunger to approach Him in prayer. Ask Him to help you to thirst for His Word, to fill you with understanding as you study and to cause you want Him above all and instead of all.
Ask the Lord to help you to know and understand Him.
If we know God, if we understand Him, we can’t help but want to worship Him. Our lives in the hereafter will be devoted to worship of God Almighty but if we aren’t comfortable spending our days in worship now, how shall we desire to do it then? Then as we seek to desire to know and understand the Lord our hearts will be changed and we will willingly devote our lives to the ceaseless worship of our King.
Absolutely! Closeness with God, hearing from God, requires time spent with him.
I do find that intentionally exercising and getting enough sleep is valuable in taking care of my body as “the temple of the Holy Spirit.” These things also assist in the renewing of my mind, in helping me approach things with a new perspective. The trick is not to allow these concerns to take over.
Amen. It is important to sleep, exercise and even have some relax time. The question is, what is ones’ priority? Do we overdo those things and rarely or ever spend time with God? Or, as we should, do we do them in balance and spend our days pleasing God through our temperance and in communion with God? Thanks for stopping by and taking time to comment. God bless you~ Anna
Sorry, but this is an entirely different subject.
Have you checked your Youtube channel lately? Do you know what is on there? I think you should take a look, soon.
I checked it out. Thanks for the notice. Some channels I was following for school content (to show my children, some for warning, some for edification) were the issue. Blessings, Anna
Most people I have encountered do not know how to be intimate with God or not sure how to approach Him. They spend their time beating themselves up over the sins they have committed and feel like they cannot draw near. The remain separated because of the lie that theirs sins keep God at bay.
Sad but true. Thank you for taking the time to comment. God bless you, Anna
SISTER THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST….I FIND IT ENCOURAGING ….JEEP POSTING I WILL PRAY FOR YOU …DUE TO MY DIABETES AND SLEEPAPNEA, I WORKED PART TIME ..DUE TO MY AGE ,SOMEHOW IN MY TOUGHEST TIME,,,,GOD SEES ME THROUGH FINANCIALLY ….IF YOU ARE ENGAGE IN BSF STUDY …I THINK THAT WILL HELP…. TRUST IN GOD, GOD IS FAITHFUL….HE IS NEVER TOO LATE OR TOO SOON HE COMES TO YOUR RESCUE JUST IN TIME….GOD WILL SEE YOU THROUGH SISTER …HE IS UNCHANGING….I HAVE BEEN IN WILDERNESS FOR 8 YEARS ..IT WAS TOUGH…..GOD STILL PROVIDE ALL ALONE….HERE IN ASIA , IF YOUR ARE AGE 56 , NO ONE WILL EMPLOY YOU ….TOO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE AVAILBLE..WORST STILL MANY OF YOUNG INDIAN AND CHINESE ARE CAPABLE TO GET JOBS HERE …SO THE OLDER ONE SUFFERS IN THIS TIGHT ECONOMY….BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL …EVEN TIMES ARE ROUGH ! WE NEED TO KEEP HIM IN FOCUS…. ….BLESSING , BRO DAVID