Putting on the Brakes! (part 2 of Too much is too much!)

Are you like me? Did you get yourself into high gear with no brakes? You'll run out of gas and come to a screeching halt! Did God ever intend for us to get this busy? I don't think so. Perhaps a good acrostic for busy is B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke ; that spells busy all right! it is a yoke - and a heavy one at that! Jesus Christ told us to put His yoke on (Matthew 11) "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Isn't that what we are looking for - rest? Yet, we look at Christ's yoke as being burdensome, heavy; but, it is just the opposite. Satan's yoke is the heavy one. Jesus' burden is light. How? and Why? Because He is with us through every trial every frustration, every care. We don't go through trials alone. Under Satan's yoke- you're on your own. And believe me, that's one heavy burden!

Here's how Satan works:

Are you busy? Suppose Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!" "How shall we do this?" shouted Satan's angels. "Keep them busy in the non essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their mind", he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and husbands to work 6-7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work". "Over stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear God's still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or CD player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, VCR, CD's and their PC's going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ." "Fill the coffee table with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogues, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services, and false hopes." "Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted, and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead." "And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and emotion." "Let them be involved in soul winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

It was quite a convention in the end. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there.

Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge.

Will that stop us? It's good for me to think about this every once in awhile - we can get so caught up in 'good causes' that we really forget what is important. Mary sat at Jesus' feet. Sometimes having a Mary heart in a Martha world is not easy. But, oh how refreshing it is. Lord help us to hear the still small voice. Better yet, help us to be quiet and still long enough to listen.

Have a blessed day,

Lori

Am I Devoted?

When we are devoted to something or someone we have given ourselves wholly to that purpose, service or person. We are said to be very loyal and faithful. After looking up that dictionary definition, I had to ask myself 'How devoted to the Lord am I, really? Am I faithful to meet Him daily? Am I loyal?' When we like someone, we want to spend time with them. That is a natural thing, isn't it? So, how's our time with the Lord? Is it meaningful? Do we enjoy our time with Him in the quiet moments of our day? Do we look forward to what He has to say to us through His word? Can we apply it to our every day lives? Is our time with the Lord special and important to us? Perhaps, the answer to these questions is no, not really.

Having that special quiet time with our Lord can often seem elusive, just slipping by us undone and unnoticed. When you were a single, unmarried Christian woman, it was probably easy to spend time with the Lord in personal devotion to Him. Marriage and children can change all this as our time is no longer our own. The demands of children can easily interrupt quiet solitude, and your dear husband may need that button sewed on his shirt before he goes to work at 7:00am. The Bible tells us, in I Corinthians 7:34, there will be this struggle, "There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.” The unmarried woman has no divided loyalties, but the married woman - that’s a different story. She can’t read her Bible all day and pray long hours. Why? A sick little one may need her attention,laundry for the family needs to be done, or someone may have tracked in mud all over the floor and company is coming for supper! The things that pertain to raising children and keeping a husband happy will be in the forefront,often competing with time needed with the Lord. So, how can we, as Christian wives and mothers, still have effective, meaningful devotional time with our Lord? After all, we need His leadership and guidance in our lives. Here are a few tips that may help.

Since distractions are most likely the number one cause of us not having our devotional time, choose a time when the children are more apt to be sleeping and the telephone is less likely to ring. For me, this is easiest early in the morning. Find a nice cozy place in a nice, comfortable chair and meet in the same place each day. I like to get a hot cup of tea to sip and a warm throw to curl up with. You will begin to look forward to the sweet time of fellowship as this time becomes more consistent.

Side Note: Have you ever noticed sleepiness begin to set in as soon as you pull your Bible out? Five minutes of exercise will often fix this and help keep us alert.

I like to begin with prayer for an open heart and mind and determine before I even start my special time with the Lord, that I will obey any command or principle He may reveal to me. I remind myself of David's prayer in Psalm 119:18, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."

Keeping a special “devotions” book can be a real blessing, too. Writing down dates of prayer requests and answers will remind you of God's interest in our lives. Jotting down any ideas I get from reading the Bible and new lessons or principles that need to be heeded helps me remember what He has been doing in my life daily. Including special poems or songs that I've found meaningful along with sayings, quips or quotes can give me strength through the day, too, as I am reminded I'm not the only one who has gone through this. Sermon outlines are always good to add. All these things can be a great blessing during times when we need encouragement and they help us to keep a thankful heart.

Learn to hunger for a sweet relationship with the Lord. Our devotional time should be more than just asking for needs to be met or for help in certain situations. It ought to be a time of meditating and enjoying the Lord. Meditating, considering, thinking quietly and reflecting on spiritual things often takes practice and patience – don’t get discouraged.

Avoid the temptation to skip devotions. Don’t succumb to Satan’s whispering in your ear “It’s a waste of time – you’re not getting anything out of it anyway.” Keep reading and you’ll discover something special the Lord has just for you. It is a step of faith to continue even when you don’t feel like it. When we resist the urge to quit, we also give God a chance for fixing what is troubling us.

One last tip, when you discover something especially meaningful, try writing it down on a 3x5 card and putting it in an obvious place, like the refrigerator or above the sink. That way you’ll see it often and be continually reminded of God’s blessing throughout your day.

We can have an effective and meaningful devotional time with the Lord. It will just require some determination and effort on our part.

Have a blessed day,


Lori