Warm Summer Greetings to each of you,
The best part of my day is when I take time to spend with the Lord, cultivating a devotional lifestyle. That is exactly what it is like to plow the fallow ground of my mind by study and prayer.
This is not intended to be a self-help letter, but it could be an incentive to rewind what Adam and Eve left us when they made fig leave clothing and were conspicuously absent for an evening walk with God. Even in this Genesis story we can ascertain how important a daily time with the Life Source really is. Their plight was shame and they become an illustration of what conviction of sin really is like, in that they were found trying to hide their actions from God.
It is in God calling them that I learned a valuable lesson about our God of Love. “THE CALL IS GREATER THAN THE FALL”. I have mentioned of late the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, was a FALLING OUT. This is how people refer to broken relationships, we had a falling out and it all started with breaking one rule. The interesting thing is they only had one rule in the beautiful garden, and they broke it. Now there are 10 rules to break, and you can add one more when Jesus is counting; LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF.
So how can a person keep short accounts with God? Do you think I am suggesting repent so you can repent repeatedly, over the same character flaws and the little foxes that spoil the vines? This is not my intention in this letter but to find time to get along with your best friend and spend time with Him alone and learn to listen to His heartbeat.
How does a person do this? Let me share with you how I do this, I tell people what is ever in the top of a bottle is what comes our first, so make sure you know what is in the top of your mind, that is very important. Here is a simplified list for you we can call in a Handbook for the Hungry:
How to Muse
“My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord.”!
The synonym for meditation is to remember and muse on. David’s idea was to make the law our nature and character, to be soaked and immersed in the edicts of the Word of God. It is as though when we pray, we are claiming God’s promises that have been given to us in the scripture:
Get alone.
Surrender your thoughts to the Lord.
Relax and recognize you are in His presence.
Take a pen and paper and write down your thoughts (I find this helps me).
STUDY YOURSELVES FULL AND PRAY YOURSELVES EMPTY.
CAN YOU THINK OF ANYTHING THAT JESUS ASKED HIS DISCIPLES FOR? Try this on for size and see if it fits. “COULD YOU NOT WATCH WITH ME FOR ONE HOUR?”
OUR CHURCH CALENDAR IS VERY FULL FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS AS WE FIND OURSELVES IN THE HEART OF THE SUMMER MONTHS, PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR TIMES AND EVENTS. WE NEED YOUR HELP.
Thank you for your support and blessings, Jesus is not only the way, He is the illustrated sermon lesson on how and what it takes to respond to His call, to become His workman and women.
Your loving Pastors,
Pastors Cleddie Keith and GayNell