Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Just a thought...

So I have been thinking an awful lot about priorities. What mine are.. what i say mine are.. what they actually are. It is pretty easy to say my number one priority is Christ, my number two priority is my family, my number three is... you get the idea. I often hear that priorities are shown by what you spend your time on.. who you spend your time w/. Being completely transparent I struggle with a daily quiet time, a daily time with the Lord. I struggle with being in prayer. Its not that I don't ever spend time w/ God on a daily basis.. its just I have times when I am more persistent w/ it and other times when I get caught up in other things.. sleep, television, computer.. whatever. The thing is I have such a strong desire to spend time w/ the Lord, my heart yearns to be closer to him. It makes me feel so frustrated and disappointed in myself when I am not in His word, b/c I want so deeply to draw near to him.

Matt laughs at me b/c I am the queen of buying new devotionals... I have so many that are half finished. I think that buying a new one will some how "jump start" my time w/ the Lord. Now don't get me wrong, devotionals can be great tools and if they work for you, Great!, I just never seem to complete them. This past couple of years I have just spent time reading God's word and journaling. Then once a week Matt and I get together and talk about what we are reading.. we go over our thoughts over certain verses, or I will write down questions that I might have and we will go over them. It truly is a great time. It is a big highlight of my week.

My point in telling you all of this is that based on what I know to be true in my life, the struggle to spend time w/ the Lord on a daily basis, and from some of you that have told me personally or have left comments on here, I feel that this is something many of us struggle w/. So I was thinking.. maybe every Wednesday I will post on what the Lord is speaking to me about/ what I have been reading all week and then I would love to hear the same from you! Leave your comments here on my blog or post in your own blog and then leave a comment in my box so that people can read what you are learning, what you are reading. Or even feel free to ask questions, maybe I or someone else could answer for you. I know that at times when I am reading the Bible I feel completely overwhelmed. I am blessed to have a seminary student as my husband who has all of these resources, but I know that isn't the case for us all. So ask away...I know that I love to learn certain words mean, what Paul meant when he said this... things like that.
I really feel that this could be a great way to be encouraged by fellow followers of Jesus Christ. I also feel that this could be a great way to keep yourself accountable. I am going to be completely transparent in my posts, let you know if I have been spending time with the Lord. My husband says all the time, obviously life happens, a day gets away from us. And you know, spending time with the Lord is not meant to be a chore... but when we do spend time with the Lord, when we do read His word, when we do spend time in prayer.. God is able to do such a work in our life. He desires to be the the number one priority, the center, the focus, the core of our life. We just have to let Him be. Let me know if this is something you would be interested in. And also, let me know what works best for you, when do you set time aside to be with the Lord? I would love to have a consistent time set aside but I also find that on different days, different times work best. I am going to try and start setting my alarm for 5:00 every morning so that I have adequate time to read my Bible and pray before I start my day. Key word I am going to "try"...What about you?

5 comments:

Ginger said...

This sounds great and I would definitely love an accountability partner. Count me in :)

Danielle said...

Great ideas, Jess!

In a sense, for the Christian the idea of "priorities" doesn't exist (although I know what you mean)--because ALL is to be for God, and every least thing should be and CAN be done unto the glory of God. (Several times I've heard Paul Washer say that if you're a child of God and part of His kingdom, then the pots and pans in your kitchen are sacred!)

But of course, spending time in His word and prayer is both commanded and absolutely essential. Recently, I've been lacking and less than faithful in both reading His word AND doing my other tasks unto His glory...and that's sort of like deciding not to breathe. I would love to hear (or I guess, read) your thoughts and what the Lord has been teaching you.

Jessica said...

great mrs. a! I will start weekly posts this coming wednesday!

danielle-
i completely agree with what you said about priorities, it was just an easy way for me to explain what I was thinking...
It is crazy how spending time with God can get pushed to the side at times.. I very much agree with your comment about "deciding not to breathe"!
I am excited that the last two days I have been up early and have spent time in the Word, it is such a great way to start the day. I hopefully will continue to be faithful in this.

Cara said...

Your post makes me think alot myself. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on a public site and provoking my own thoughts!

Oh, and you are in KC! (although you probably already knew that:) We live in Wichita; not too far away!

Jessica said...

hey cara! thanks for you comments!
I grew up in wichita:) we moved to kansas city a little over 3 years ago. nice to "meet" you!