quiet time

When Life Gets Irritating - Be Still

Laurie Russell — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 09:53:01 -0800

Our house was a bit crazy the past couple of weeks. Actually, stressful is a better word to describe it. Everyone was in an eternal irritable state – even the dogs. The kids were fighting, Mark and I were barking at each other and the dogs – well they seemed irked over the lack of a walk and went in the backyard and chewed up part of the playset! (Oh yeah, mama wasn’t happy!)

I made numerous attempts to end it – I put the kids to bed earlier, slipped the dogs some extra treats and made heartier meals to keep Mark from being hungry – but the irritation continued. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Why were we all lacking peace?

One day, my 8-year-old daughter and I were in the car when she snapped at me about something I did that bothered her (I think yawned or something – it was pretty annoying.) I was seconds from reverting to my elementary days and saying something sarcastically about her mother (until I realized I’d be talking about myself!) when God whispered something to me, Talk to her about the way she’s feeling.

Hmm…hadn’t thought of doing that. We talked about it briefly but didn’t reach a conclusion. Then out of the blue she asked me, “Can we go on a date together soon?” Ahhh…that was it – it had been a while since we had spent any one-on-one time together.

The next night she and I went out to dinner and had a wonderful time. We sat on the same side of the booth and she cuddled into me like a little girl. We played the games on the children’s menu and talked about school. It was a simple night but I had my sweet girl back. Mark took Noah night skiing and I took the dogs for a long walk and this morning, life felt good again. It was peaceful.

As I thought about it, I realized it is the same with God. When I neglect having one-on-one time with Him – the peace in my heart flees. Having time to quiet my heart, focus and be with God not only fills me with peace – it energizes me and enables me to handle better the stress of the day. It is in these moments that his Spirit guides and restores me. It allows me love on Him and Him on me.

What do you do when you feel a lack of peace with God?

15 Reasons to Read Your Bible This Year!!

Renee Johnson — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:23:50 -0800

In 1997, my mom gave me a NLT One Year Bible. I was in the hospital with severe eczema all over my face and feet. She read to me Hosea 6:1-3 that says,

“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”

I was determined to find my own verse so I read through the One Year Bible for eleven months and twenty six days later I found it.

“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation” (1 Peter 5:10, NLT).

My life has never been the same since and I wholeheartedly believe in reading the Word daily. That’s why I do what I do. I write, speak, teach, publish, laugh, and love according to what I’ve learned through this book. 1997-2011 marks my crystal anniversary of being in the Word. That’s 15 years of being fruitful and remaining in the vine that is Jesus.

Because I’m SO passionate about it I’m giving you 15 reasons to read through the Bible this year with me!!

1. Get to know Jesus. If you like someone you’re going to spend time & money getting to know them. It’s really that simple!

2. Be a follower. Disciple = follower. It’s not a spiritual term. You follow people on Twitter and Facebook, so why not be mindful to follow God FIRST?

3. Discipline takes time. Over the years I’ve discovered what works for me. Yearly devotional + One Year Bible + journal = a very happy Renee. Find what works best for you and stick with it!!

4. If you’re bored, God’s bored. I don’t remember who told me that, but it’s stuck with me. If you’re in the middle of reading your daily this & daily that and you find that you’ve replaced the ritual with religion. Get. Out. Quick. Find something else. Do something else. Go somewhere else. Ask someone else.

5. Don’t be afraid. Perfect love (from God) casts out all fear. Throughout a year’s time you and I will encounter trials and temptations. Watch for them and stay alert. Mostly though don’t be afraid. If you need help remembering this just open to Joshua 1. I think God says it like 8 times. Don’t be afraid…Don’t be afraid…just keep swimming…just keep swimming…

6. Ask. Just because you or I am in the Word daily doesn’t mean we still struggle. Ask for help!

7. Don’t do it alone. We need community. We need people. We need help. See if one of your friends or family can keep you accountable to spend your time daily with God. If you don’t tell others, they won’t know to ask.

8. Learn more! I’m like a sponge. I soak up everything I see, touch, taste, smell, read, etc. Here is a great way to spark learning in your life. Take a topic you read about in your daily quiet time and dig deeper.

9. Use helpful tools. My favorites are NLT One Year Bible, Streams in the Desert (devotional), My Utmost For His Highest (devotional), BibleGateway.com, You Version, and Logos.

10. Use your senses. The Bible actually says to taste and see what is good (Psalm 34:8). Food tastes good, your time with God should too!

11. Find your promise. There are a million (okay maybe not a million) promises. I like to treat my Bible as a text book and underline my favorite verses and write “Promise” up on the top margin to remind me of God’s promises.

12. Memorize Scripture. If you can quote your favorite movie, you can memorize Scripture. Just sayin’

13. Fall in love with God. No matter what you read, how difficult a passage is, or how frustrating it is to find time to spend with Him…He is worth it! All of it. All the marbles, all the money, everything in the world does not compare to Him!

14. His grace is enough. My heartache is knowing God, seeing that He can heal, and watching when He says no. Grace is figuring out that He is enough. No. Matter. What.

15. God is the Beginning and the End. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That means that January 1-December 31st is all under His control.

To Seek the Quiet

Cara Davis — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:55:18 -0700

It’s 11:09 p.m. Thursday night. Finally all is quiet, except for some gurgling from my refrigerator and the quiet whirr of the ceiling fan. After a day filled with trilling phones, competing music from three different offices, and chattering voices over the roar of air conditioning, my ears are still ringing. But now, I can slow down. I can sit in silence. I can think.

We live in a world filled with noise—and distraction. It’s a rare moment we’re allowed to steal away to somewhere quiet where our minds can rest and be refreshed. In fact, our bodies even fight it. Since constant stimulation is as close as a flip of a radio knob or buttons on a remote or cell phone, many of us give in to the temptation to keep our minds buzzing and our thoughts tightly-wound.

It’s not uncommon to look to your left and right at an intersection and see your neighbors with cell phones glued to their ears. As soon as they step into their cars, the silence compels them to grab the phone and “make use” of the time—although the calls are actually used to “pass the time.” I’m so guilty of this too.

We’re a people who avoid silence. Consequently, many of us do not think anymore. We react, worry or fantasize, but rarely do we think and process the way our minds were designed to.

Maybe that’s why we have a hard time getting quiet before the Lord and learning to seek after His presence. And maybe the reason we can’t remember Scripture well is because we breeze through one chapter on our way to the bed (like I do) instead of sitting and analyzing and thinking about what we just read. It takes discipline and denying the flesh, but learning to seek the quiet is key to growing in God.

Five times it’s recorded in the book of Mark that Jesus took His disciples away from the crowds to some place quiet. It was a time of rejuvenation, of personal reflection, and growth. The Bible also details other benefits of quiet times: to overcome temptation (Mark 14:32 -38); for strength (Ephesians 6:10 -20); and for a sense of peace (Philippians 4:6-9).

The stillness of the quiet is exactly where we will feel the gentle tug of God’s presence calling us to commune with Him, to grow in Him, to be refreshed by Him. That time of communion is more satisfying than any counterfeit we distract our brains with.

In The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence we learn how make a habit of thinking on God and talking to him in your mind – instead of letting it wander aimlessly. Brother Lawrence disciplined his mind to do this whenever he could – whether he was washing the dishes or in a concentrated prayer time.

I once edited an article written by a man whose dad was dying of cancer in a hospital. He talked about how it was too difficult to pray formally during those times – but that prayer became breath to him. Prayer was constant and always overturning in his mind – it became as second nature as breathing to him. I think this is what Brother Lawrence had in mind. May we seek to discipline our minds this way in the absence of tragedy with intentional times of quiet so when less than ideal times come, we have a rich well from which to draw.