Quiet Time

The Sunday that Rod left for NJ, I was feeling really bad because of the weather.  I was not able to go to church.  I asked the Lord to give me some verses from His Word that would encourage, motivate and challenge me.  To speak to me, right where I am.  He gave me Psalm 25.

Today, I opened His Word, and again read Psalm 25.  This seems to be the best way for me to learn; to reread a certain passage.  But again, I saw so much more this time.  I am sure the sunshine and feeling better has a lot to do with it!

Verse one starts out right from the heart of the matter:  I choose to give my life to Him.  It is a choice, a sacrifice, an honor, a blessing and a discipline.  So let's look at just that much.

1.  A sacrifice:  This means understanding His will on my life and being willing to give up my own desires for what it is He is asking of me.  For me, that means to find work for my day that will honor Him.  Sometimes it is cleaning, cooking, laundry, or sometimes it means going out of my comfort zone and doing something different.  But still, the first step is to seek His will for my day.  I admit that I don't often do this.  I do what may be easiest, self fulfilling, etc.  Not really wrong stuff, but He may have had different plans for me to bring me blessing and honor to Him.  Such as emailing an encouragement note to someone, praying with someone or even going out to lunch to encourage someone.  Not to mention, sewing or knitting for others.  He knows my  gifts because He gave them to me.  But I find when I start the day seeking His will, my heart is more focused on Him and I am able to have a gentle and humble spirit that 1 Peter 3:3-4 calls us to live out.  The sacrifice is seeking His will each day - and not my own selfish desires.

2.  An honor:  because He loved us first, we can honor Him by learning and living out the truths and commands He has given us in His Word.  We will not always succeed, but He knows our heart and loves that we continue to work to honor Him.  This means filtering out of our lives somethings that do not honor Him.  This is between me and God and will not be the same for everyone so there is no room for judgement in my heart toward others.  But when He clearly shows me something that does not honor Him, again: the sacrifice is to let it go out of love for The Father who gave His Son.

3.  Blessing:  God will bless us when He sees our hearts are aligned with His.  I know when I am doing what He has asked of me.  I am content, at peace and can really have that gentle and humble spirit.  That is my blessing:  peace.

4.  Discipline:  So again with the sacrifice!  Discipline takes sacrifice.  I have to give up my rights or choices in order to do the will of God.  This is not a bad thing.  Often my choices bring me shame, heartache, discontent, sadness, isolation or just a self centered heart.  But keeping His love in my heart and mind allows me to choose to live for Him.  The discipline is that every moment of every day we are bombarded by worldly desires and we must choose.  Not always bad, but certainly not always the best.

Today I choose Him!  With Joy!

And that was only the first half of verse 1!  Stay tuned and I will continue this study of Psalm 25.  Please feel free to leave comments and thoughts with me.