Time Well Spent

06.17.19. HA! Turns out my Day 15 of #100DaysOfSummer blog post segued like a well cued song on the radio for Day 16 Devo in Lysa TerKeurst's EMBRACED! So, I skipped posting and waited for today.

If you've just jumped into my blog series, know that I am spending 100 days reading her 100 devotions found in the EMBRACED book and asking God to deposit into my spirit and spark something that flies tandem with that day's devo. I'm not rewording her daily devo, but allowing God to bring another fresh word into my focus.

And, as an added bonus, in prayer and praise before reading the EMBRACED devo, I place myself in a position of hearing God speak. Although I don't ever recall in my life hearing His audible voice, sometimes, words and phrases land in my mind. Sometimes, a knowing happens. I have spent my time just 5 minutes quietly thanking Him for stuff while at other times, I have walked and worshiped for a lot longer. Any time spent in God's presence is time well spent. 

This morning, within the non-profit/ministry, MVP Leader Group, my hubby and I launched, we decided to declare Psalm 34. I chose to use The Message version to pray each verse aloud while the tune "Surrounded (Fight My Battles)" written by Michael W. Smith was on repeat on my Spotify account.

When I started declaring the verses, I was seated. By verse 7 I was up on my feet doing battle for the lives of my family, friends, and preachers and preacher's wives! If you haven't read Psalm 34:7, lately, let me just let ya in on a promise: God sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray! 

Woah -- the picture in my brain is that all of heaven snapped to attention and God commissioned one of those big guys (or two) to guard me while I was wielding the sword and the shield! "Boys, our little princess-warrior is running to the front lines. Let's provide air support."

Here's the dealio, when we spend time in a position of openness reading His Words written down (the Bible) and in prayer, He is faithful to guide our focus -then and later- for making decisions. 

Lysa lays out some straight up truth and wisdom for "Chasing Down Our Decisions" using Proverbs 27:12 as a springboard for her Day 17 devo. She offers, "Our decisions aren't just isolated choices. Our decisions point our lives in the direction we're about to head." Good decisions head us to a good place. Likewise, poor decisions lead to a destination that tends to cost us more in the long run. Read Lysa's Day 17 devo of chasing down a decision before it's made.

I choose to spend time listening to the Lord for good decisions and good directions which have a positive effect/affect (I always get those confused.) on my life for the future. It's doing life with God for His name to be great instead of mine.

BTW: You can get EMBRACED: 100 Devotions to Know God is Holding You Close on Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover or MP3 CD on Amazon! 

Obedient Heart and Feet

06.12.19.  Have you ever decided to sit and listen for God? Instead of doing all the talking, all the asking, all the telling Him about grievances, have you ever thought of sitting and listening for the voice?

Next question, how long did it take before your mind started darting around or you just stopped listening?

Most every morning, my busy mind cranks up and begins rolling like a self-propelled lawn mower almost as soon as my eyes open, even without the shot of caffeine. There's a chair in the living room where I love to curl my feet under me to read and journal, but I don't always get there. There's a rolling chair in the office where the morning sunshine spills on and I feel like the family pet absorbing its warmth while studying the Bible, but I don't always get there, either. There are so many places that are perfect for being still and being quiet, but I don't get there until late or never.

Honestly, sitting and listening for the voice of God is not my forte. I beg to hear His voice, but never close my mouth nor intentionally open my spirit for His promptings. If it's not my mind rushing around, it's my feet.

In today's devo in EMBRACED, Lysa TerKeurst shares about her own rushing past and missing opportunities for acting on God's instruction. She repents and He provides a do-over! 

Finding the perfect spot has little to do with hearing from God. The point is to be available and, then, obedient to partner with Him.

Sitting in the first row of chairs at church is where I sit, because they are available and mostly because I'm 5'3". One Sunday, I felt a prompting (a knowing) to stay put after the service. Instead of rushing off to talk to friends or rushing to a restaurant, I sat back down after the closing prayer. Hardly two minutes clicked off when one young lady approached for godly advice. Another faced me with tears and began pouring her heart into a crumpled Kleenex. In a matter of minutes, my obedient heart was full because I had been available for His purpose. Lysa calls this "companionship with God."

Each time I choose to listen and obey, my "spiritual ears" become familiar with the voice. Each time I choose to listen and obey, God must certainly line up opportunities to make me part of His plan. That's how I want to live!

Let's -you and me- decide to spend 5 minutes actively listening from now until Sunday to see how God wants to partner with us! 

Decisions, Doubt and Dumb Little Ducks

06.05.19.  I loved reading Lysa's devotion, today. In it she spoke about decisions and deep knowings, and the courageous yes and confident no. 

I loved the three questions she posed to the young mom to help her to make a God-directed decision. Pearls of Wisdom to be desired.

Doubt definitely can cause one to hold her breath for a hot minute while weighing the details. 

Doubt has caused the same reaction in me. Reasons for my personal bouts with doubt: 

• I truly don't know the answer.
• I can sense how important a decision is to the other person. 
• I don't trust the outcome. 

There are topics for which knowledge and wisdom have trained my brain. There have been situations when I am totally clueless, but I have an opinion. Don't we all?  Intuition, gut feeling and knowing are easy dance partners for me with daily decisions.

Where it gets tricky is the hard, life-effecting call demanding a decision and there doesn't seem to be an easy solve.

On August 23rd, T and I will celebrate 34 years! We've come along way. In those early years, it took the goofy decision to strengthen our future, decision-making skills. It was a costly lesson. One day a similar opportunity presented itself. Well, we were no longer dumb little ducks. Not only had the previous misstep provide a bitter memory, it had taught us to invite God into the process.

Colossians Chapter 3 is full of the good stuff. Rich with practical tips, each verse lays out how to live a life full with Christ and live fully with one another. Verse 15 was where we decided to hang our hat. 

"Let the peace of Christ control your hearts..." 

After the goofy decision, wisdom taught us to pray, sleep on it and upon waking, encourage peace to lead the way. If there's no peace, there's no moving forward. 

The scripture ends with "...and be thankful." Can I tell you how thankful I have been to not be burdened down with regret? 

And, when peace had us to seek counsel, trusted leaders provided valuable, God-led insight.

In the Day 5 devo of EMBRACED, Lysa TerKeurst states, "God has woven into us the ability to discern what is best if we're closely following Him." Now, there's the key! We must spend time with Him to simply know. Our spirit will recognize His Spirit with each decision to trust and follow-through. Make the wise decision to invite Him.