Greetings fellow servants of the Lord!
It has been a couple weeks since my last visit here, and during that time my relationship with the Lord has flourished. I have enjoyed beyond words the extra time I, by His grace alone, devoted to spending time at His feet.
Right now, I would like to share with you an evaluation of where the Lord has taken me in the past month through Bible reading, prayer, memorization and meditation. I will also look at my goals and how well I completed them. Remember however that fulfilling my goals was not the most important thing. Above all, my desire was to grow deeper in my relationship with my King.
I am sharing this with you not to brag of what I have done (really none of this was done on my own strength) or to have you put me in any way on a pedestal. I am just an ordinary sinner, who has been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, filled with His love and power. Without Him, my idenity is summed up in one word: dust. I share my story with you to encourage you in your own relationship with the Lord, and to remind you that it can be done, if the Lord is on your side.
1. Bible Reading
I think of all four goals, I accomplished this one the best. This daily time with my King was truly priceless. About one hour of every day was spent at my Savior's feet. I learned more of His character and through that knowledge grew to love Him even more. I also feel like this daily devotional time spurred within me a greater love for His Word. Daily emerging myself in the Scriptures fueled the flame of love for the amazing Word of God. If you desire to love God and His Word more, I have a simple solution: read.
I noticed that if I read all ten chapters in the morning that I was more joyful and my day was more productive. When I waited till eleven at night (two hours after my bed time :)) my day just kind of felt lacking. God taught me how important God's Word is to the well-being of my days. Without it, the day just doesn't seem rewarding or complete.
Towards the latter part of August, I grew to appreciate in new depths the book of Proverbs. That book is amazing! :) I started keeping track of what Proverbs says about the heart, and soon this proverbial book became the one I looked forward to most each day.
The Word of God, as I have observed over the past month, really does change people. By "hanging out" with Jesus in an intimate way, I found some of His character rubbing off onto me. Now that is what I call a fitting reward.
2. Prayer
Unfortunately, my goal for an hour of prayer each day didn't usually happen. But I can say that not a day went by without prayer. Prayer is my number 1 weapon of offense and defense. But even more than that it is a way to communicate with the King of kings. What an amazing privilege! I turned to Him every day with my prayers and concerns and He patiently heard me.
For example, one day I was dealing with impure thoughts toward a certain young man (I can't even remember who it was now). I recommitted myself to the Lord and to complete emotional purity. That day my sister and I went with some two other young ladies to pick blueberries. In the absence of any guys, we had a chance to discuss "womanly" things, reminding ourselves to remain emotionally pure. Then we watched the documentary Awakened, which encouraged me to strive for purity in every way and to be seeking God. I also read a couple of articles on purity from the King's Blooming Rose. Finally, as I finished my Bible reading that evening, the Lord showed me Proverbs 12:4, which talks about a good woman being the crown of her husband. I want to be his crown even now, by saving myself for him. The Lord provided a clear answer to my prayer. He hears and answers in His faithfulness! The name of the Lord be glorified!
The times that I did choose to spend a good chunk of time in prayer, I found it to be spiritually refreshing and encouraging. My journal records this,
The reason I really feel a growth spiritually today is because my time spent at the Lord's feet in prayer. The Lord helped and enabled me to spend forty minutes dedicated to praying. It was a spiritually refreshing experience, and it was during that time that I really felt close to the Lord.Although my journal records many days when my prayer life wasn't what I had hoped, overall the Lord used my times of prayer to bring me closer to His heart.
3. Memorization and Meditation
Firstly, the goals. I had hoped to memorize Colossians and Jonah, and though I was able to memorize both books, it wasn't in the time frame I had hoped for. :) I actually only memorized the book of Colossians over this past week. I am disappointed in this, because I realize that if I had spent more time in memorizing, I would have had more chances to really meditate and not be so rushed, but I think God still used my mistakes to bring me closer to Him.
Overall, I feel immense growth because of my investment in memorization. Just the time spent daily over the last week in the presence of my King has been extremely valuable, not to mention the rewards of His Word hidden in my heart.
One of the key lessons that I learned in this area came as I memorized the book of Colossians. I noticed that as when I read the four chapters, I tended to miss some key points and information. But as I memorized, it forced me to slow down and actually pay attention to the words and the hidden message. This gave me a new depth of understanding of the book of Colossians.
One of the greatest lessons the Lord taught me through the book of Colossians is that of thankfulness. Over this past month, God reminded me over and over of the importance of thanksgiving in my prayers and throughout my day. Look at these verses from the book of Colossians:
"We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you." ~1:3
"Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light." ~1:12 Note: This was part of Paul's prayer for the people of Colosse, that they would give thanks to God.
"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." ~2:6-7 emphasis added
"And whatever you do in word or deed,do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." ~3:17 emphasis added
"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." ~4:2 emphasis addedThanksgiving is such an important part of our lives, and unfortunately, I had been neglecting that, focusing on my needs, rather than my King. God used the truths that I had memorized to bring me back into a place of love for Him.
The times I have spent in memorization have been so encouraging. Listen to this (from my journal):
Today the Lord really provided encouragement to me through memorization. As I hid His Word in my heart, I felt joy that comes only from the Lord penetrate my soul. By obedience to His commands, I was rewarded with a joyful spirit. I am reminded once again of how important memorization is to the Christian walk.4. No Internet
I highly encourage "fasting" from the internet for a month or two. Getting away from the influences of the screen, not feeling the pull to constantly check on things, has been really refreshing. Not to mention that in place of screen time, I have had some more "God-time." :) Although it is not always easy, it is always worth it.
Overall, I would say that this past month has been a great time of growth and worship. Although I made mistakes, and didn't accomplish some of my goals, God was faithful and brought me closer to Himself through my dedication to Him.
I encourage you to spend time with your Savior over the next month. You saw what it did for me, now I want you to experience what it can do for you. In everything, may God alone be glorified!
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