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Posts Tagged ‘Squeeze More God-time Into Your Day’

Hunger Pains

Posted in Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on June 12, 2015| 3 Comments »

I was in the zone…typing away, editing as I went, the plot moving along. In the background the washer swished and the dryer tumbled. I’d break to feed a mewing cat, or refill my tumbler with water, and then scoot my chair back to the keyboard.

After a while, a slight wooziness waved over me. I blinked to refocus, only to be interrupted by a deep gurgle in the pit of my torso. Like Seymour the man eating plant, my stomach growled, “Feed me.”  I sighed, pushed back my chair and opened the fridge. Door opened with the frigid air blanketing my face, indecision clouded my brain. I knew not to grab anything junky.  I snatched a carton of fat-free Greek yogurt. Quick, easy to down, no cooking or mess to clean. I spooned it past my lips as I typed. That staved off the hunger for a while, but the sensation returned within a few hours.

Isn’t this often true of our spiritual lives? We are in such a rush, our concentration focuses on the “doing” mode. We forget that, like our bodies, our souls need regular nourishment in order to function.  A deep hunger for God niggles us. At first we ignore it, but it doesn’t  go away. We know a snack such as a faith based show won’t satisfy us. Not even a few Facebook scrolls from Christian friends.

ID-10087293But what to feed it? We flip through a few highlighted verses in our Bibles, scan our bookshelves filled with devotionals and inspirational guides, even stare at the Biblical saying plaques on our walls. We turn on Christian music. Still, the deep aching isn’t quite satisfied.  We need real God-time. And Sunday is days away.

But any time can be stop and pray time. Regular moments with our Father in Heaven can fulfill us and sustain us as we move through our day. From the half hour spent with hands folded, we receive enough strengthening to carry us through whatever we need to accomplish. Our gas tank refills, so to speak.

Reading our Bibles is wonderful. Christian music is great.  But in order to fully digest what we see and hear, we need to take it to the Father and let His Spirit help us absorb it in order to feed our faith in the way we need the most, just as our bodies assimilate the food we swallow.

Spend quality time with God today. Don’t snack now and the as you keep on “doing.” Instead, sit down, relax and devour the full-plated goodness God wishes to provide.That’s the full meal deal. Talk about soul food!

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

for tips, trials and triumph consider getting Squeeze More God-Time Into Your Day.Squeeze cover

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Abide

Posted in Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you, Abide in my love. John 15:9-11

????????????????????????????????????????February is the “love” month. The stores are filled with read and pink hearts, candies and flowers. I love going to the grocery on February 14th and  watching the last-minute-planning men standing in line, laden with flowers, cards, teddy bears and chocolates for their wives or girlfriends. They casually glance at each other to see if they have gotten enough, or maybe too much, as if there is some hidden rule of how much you should spend depending on the depth or longevity of your feelings.

How different is God’s unending love for us. It is not based on feelings or longevity. God doesn’t have a check list or ponders –  Hmmm. Let’s see…. I will love her more often because she has been a believer since she was six, or love him more deeply because he reads my Word twice a day, prays often, and volunteers at the homeless shelter.

All of us have the opportunity to abide in God’s infinite, abundant, and generous love. It is freely given, equally and fully, in spite of our emotions or actions.

But, what does it mean to abide? It is more than just accepting it. It is letting it absorb into the very fiber of us like permanent ink. It is a snuggle down, feel secure, dwell in total trust sort of attitude. Here are five steps to truly abiding:

A – Acknowledge He loves us more than we can imagine or love Him back.

B – Be thankful that He loved us enough to take on our sins and die, so we could once again be in relationship with Him.

I – In His likeness, try to love others as He loves us.

D – Dedicate ourselves to His ways being the best, not ours.

E – Establish a relationship with Him through prayer and reading the Scriptures.

Chocolates disappear within days, flowers wilt, cards get stuffed in drawers. Human love ebbs and fades. But there is one gift of love that abides – constant, pure, eternal and faithful – the of love the Father, given through His Son and expressed by His Holy Spirit who dwells in us. All we have to do is accept that gift at any time. No certain day on the calendar, red hearts  or check-out lines needed. So, if you don’t get roses or candy this year, know you have a gift that is worth so much more from the One who loves you so much more. It is available to you every single day.

Abide in the love of your Savior this day, this  month, and for the rest of your life. gods-love-2[1]

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Squeeze God In

Posted in Books, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , on September 12, 2013| 3 Comments »

MP900444553[1]If your day is like most of us, you barely have time to breathe, much less find time to spend with God. Right?

Wrong –

Even though technology is sucking time away from us by making us available 24/7, ( how many of you have been awakened in the middle of the night by that text “bling” on your phone and wondered if you should get up and check it or roll back over?) we can find time for God if we realize that God is always present- in the present.

He is the great IAM, not the I was a second ago, or I will be in a moment.

Brother Lawrence, a Medieval monk who penned Practicing the Presence of God had it right – My set times for prayer are exactly like the rest of the day to me. They are but a continuation of the same exercise of being in God’s presence.

So, to squeeze more God-tIme into our day , maybe we should think about how to squeeze more of our day into our time with God.

He will help you with that.  Just ask Him to show you how.

Our Lord wants to hang out with you so much, He hung on the cross so He could.

christ

 
for more thoughts on how to squeeze more God-Time Into Your day, click on the picture below

Squeeze cover

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This is the day You have made? Really?

Posted in Books, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on August 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I dashed in, my stomach growling. I had to be NPO (no food after midnight) for my blood work to be drawn.

MP900444553[1]The day was not going well so far. I’d jabbed my eye with my mascara wand, blinking dark streaks half way down my face.  My garage door had decided to be in one of its finicky moods. It took three tries to get it to close. Then, a slow-moving truck insisted on being in my lane.  I was 10 minutes late.

As I signed in, it hit me. The doctor’s orders were still on my desk.  I caught one of the nurse’s eye. With profound apologies, I rushed back out, got in my car, clicked the belt and gunned the accelerator. Of course, I hit every red light there and back again.  Out of breath with my pulse in my ears, I sat back down in the waiting room, orders in hand, chiding myself for my stupidity. now 28 minutes late. “Why me, Lord?”

Another nurse called my name.  I followed her into the cubicle filled with vials and the distinctive chair where you lay your arm. As she clicked my name into her compute,r with her back to me, she asked, “and how is your day going?”

I huffed into my bangs. “it is the day the Lord has made, so I will…”

She turned, “rejoice and be glad in it.” Her expression darkened as she turned back to the computer. “I wish I felt more like that, ” she sighed. “I know I need to get closer to Him, but I don’t know how. I am not sure He is listening to my prayers.”

That familiar quiet nudge, the one you know it not from your brain, said to me, “Show her your card of your new book, Squeeze More God-time into Your Day.”

I am not a bold marketer when it comes to my writing. I hesitated, “Now, Lord? Really?”

But I knew that voice was spirit-filled.  I reached into my wallet and swallowed my pride. “Here. It’s my new book. Maybe it will help.”

She took it, then looked at the cover and the by-line printed onto the business card. She nodded, “I need this.” She put the card in her lab jacket pocket. Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered.

“Tell me,” I whispered back, my hand on her arm.

As she drew the blood she sobbed out her story.  After the vials were filled and the gauze secured onto the inside bend of my elbow, I rose, draped my arm around her and said, “May I pray for you?”

Afterwards, she smiled. “God sent you to me.”

I now knew why I was delayed – why I’d stabbed the mascara wand in my eye, why I’d left the paperwork behind and encountered all those red lights.  So I’d get her as my phlebotomist.  I told her so.

“I guess He is listening,” she sniffled.

Humility flooded my soul. I prayed for God to forgive my anxiousness and frustration and thanked Him for using me, unworthy as I am, as His vessel.

That night went I got home, a thank you email was in my inbox from this sweet stranger, now a friend in Christ.  She’d gotten it off my website.

This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice with me and be glad in it.  

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