I have to say that being totally without form in my daily time with Jesus has been a little intimidating. Even tho it's not on paper, there is still this checklist in my head that begs to be marked off.
What I have noticed is that rather than thinking that I have ___minutes to get my devos done, I am learning to think this way. "I have __minutes today, Lord, and I want to get to know You better."
I really noticed this last Thursday. Larry Crabb says that Philippians is the "Mental Health Book" of the Bible, and I was desperately in need of some mental health. So I turned there to race through the four chapters again to refresh my mind.
But the Lord wouldn't let me get past the greeting! Paul called himself a slave of Jesus, not a prisoner of the Romans. A very different perspective. And if that doesn't shake me up enough, he starts out by praying for grace and peace for OTHERS! This got me to thinking about the awful conditions of his prison. From being at the local jail quite a bit, I know all about the overcrowding and bad conditions. But they are nothing like Paul had. Yet, Paul was praying for others, not his circumstances. Reminded me that God is always more concerned about my character and attitude than my circumstances.
It just kept snowballing, and I saw applications to my day before I even got to the parts I thought would help me! At the end of my time, even tho I only made it through a few verses, I had taken time to meditate on verses I had always rushed over. I felt like I knew Paul better, and through him, Christ's mindset.
A great time with just Jesus and me. Looking forward to more!
No comments:
Post a Comment