Too busy to sit at Jesus feet?

Today I was having a wonderful time with the Lord. I am reading through my Bible and finally have arrived in the New Testament. I am in Matthew right now and I try to get 5 chapters a day in. Well, I have these wonderful reference Bibles (the Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D and the Companion Bible edited by E.W.Bullinger). Maybe you are just supposed to read when you read, but I like to read the notes and look up meanings of words, to try and get the sense (Neh.8:8)
Well, there I am and I start feeling this pressure to hurry up and just get through the readings. Like, I have so many IMPORTANT things to do, like work on my writing.
Whoa! Am I going to be like those with indignation at the breaking of the alabaster box and say "Why this waste?(of time- Mark 14:3-9) As if time with the Lord is a waste.
"If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer." (Martin Luther) What a contrast to me when I can barely get 15 minutes for prayer in!
Maybe we think we have advanced in our present state. But when I get too busy for the things of the Lord, than I am too busy. Is Facebook, emails, writing submissions, and all the clamor of the world more important than my relationship with the Lord of this Universe?
The Lord has given me so very much wonderful teaching and resources to know Him better. I have been given much, so much will be required.(Luke 12:48) Oh God, let me remember that nothing in this world will matter one day but what I did with what You gave me.
To quote the chorus of a beautiful old Twila Paris song:
He Is no Fool
If He Would Choose
To Give the Thing He Cannot Keep
To Buy What He Can Never Lose
To See a Treasure in One Soul
That Far Outshines the Brightest Gold
He Is no Fool, He Is no Fool

Giving thanks changes everything!

In the seventies I had a Phil Keaggy record that had a song called Disappointment His Appointment. In the lyrics it said, "Disappointment, His appointment, change one letter then I see, that the thwarting of my purpose is God's better choice for me."I have found that instead of grumbling, it is so much more mentally healthy to give thanks, even when my plans don't work out the way I want them to.
Today, I had a small disappointment. I had an online class that I very much wanted to take. But my husband said no, that I had too many commitments right now. I was tempted to get discouraged and even argue with him. But the verse "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."(I Thess. 5:18) came to mind. I decided to thank God that He used my husband to perhaps prevent me from not fulfilling His will, but mine. After all, my way will only lead to futility. God, in His wisdom, has a plan for my life, that is so much better than what I could concoct.
I heard the beautiful testimony of the late Sabina Wurmbrand,co-founder of Voice of the Martyrs about giving thanks. This humble servant told of how the hell she suffered in Romanian prison was transformed when she and the other believers greeted each other in the morning with "O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,For His mercy endureth forever." Psalm 107:1 She said that transformed their outlook. She was forced to go in a dress only to throw large rocks into the freezing Danube, which would subsequently cause her dress to get wet and freeze, and yet she and countless others not only survived, but thrived by following the Biblical principle to give thanks in everything.If anyone wants to read about her amazing life, get the book "The Pastor's Wife" which she wrote. You will be glad you did.
May I give thanks to you Lord this week in all things.

Undergoing sufferings for the cause of Christ

I recently had a fellowship meeting for the Voice of the Martyrs and had a wonderful speaker come and share with us. Believers in other countries are giving all for the name of Christ. They have so little, while we here in America have so much. Yet I wonder if the reverse is really true instead. Maybe they are the ones who are rich, and we are the poor ones.
Doesn't it say to the church at Laodecia,"Because you say, I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing-and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked..." (Rev. 3:17)
I need to examine myself! Do I think I can rest on my laurels, that I know enough already? I was reading from one of their books, The Trimphant Church, where their founder encourages us to prepare NOW for possible persecution. He said we need to rehearse in our minds what our answer will be when persecution comes knocking at our door.
Tnis is not a pleasant subject. Most prefer not to think about it. But Jesus did promise us that "in this world you will have tribulation" (John 16:33) and "For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but to suffer for His sake."(Phil. 1:29)
Lord give me courage to stand for you in that day.

Do you love Me?

I was rereading some notes from church last night. My pastor a while back taught on when Jesus had risen from the dead and when He asked Peter if he loved Him. But my pastor asked us to personalize this verse for ourselves, asking if we indeed loved Him.
I always thought that verse was just for Peter, not me. But the Saviour asked three times, Peter, do you love Me? Maybe I should think about this for a bit. Do I love Him?
I have been musing lately on what would my life be like if I truly gave myself unreservedly to Him. I try to start the day right, with Him and the Word and prayer but at the end of my work day I am usually no different than the rest of the world. I have gossiped, I have slandered, I have been getting impatient and angry when things don't go my way. What if I trusted that even the little things were allowed by Him to mold me into His image? And as a friend once encouraged me, to give thanks in ALL things?
This isn't a dress rehearsal, after all. This day can never be repeated. Lord, show me how to love You. I am scared to say it, but I know in eternity I will not regret it.

The time is short

As I look around on the net and see all the networking sites, blogs, twitters, diggs, tweets etc. I can almost go crazy trying to keep up with the flow of information. One site leads to another and soon I forget how I got from one site to the next. How did I find out about this new absolute must read New York times bestseller? One look at the library books I check out over a few weeks time surely confirms this. Heck, I even clipped an article from the paper about how we are more connected than ever before in human history, yet we are actually more alienated by it all in actuality. I clipped the article a couple weeks ago, and haven't got around to reading it yet. Does that tell you something? (By the way, most of the books return to the library skimmed at the best or not even looked at.) Seems like I am caught in a frenzy, like a rat running round and round on a wheel, am I even getting somewhere?
Life didn't seem quite so hectic just a couple decades ago when I was a kid growing up in the seventies. But I know you can't go home again. Did you know this time was prophesied in the Bible about 2600 years ago? Daniel 12:4 says to "seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." Only in the last century have we had the capability to do these very things with the advent of air and space travel and the world wide web. I believe that Christ's return is imminent. If you are not convinced, you may want to watch a youtube video embedded below. It is mind blowing and the techno music is great too! At the end, it asks "What does it all mean?" It means this: Christ is coming soon!

By His Grace we Have Made it thus Far

In my Bible reading today, I was reading in Psalm 76, and came across this verse: "Make vows to the Lord your God, and pay them; Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared." Psalm 76: 11
On this day, 25 years ago, I stood before God and man and made a vow to love, honor and obey my husband. In this day of so many failing marriages, I can truly say it is only because of His mercy that we have made it to this very special day. We have gone through some very rocky times, but thank God we are still together. I was a very naive and foolish bride, but God had mercy on me and brought a very dear friend into my life who taught me the value of a gentle and quiet spirit. See I Peter 3: 1-6. This is what has saved my marriage.
I do thank God for the wonderful man He has given me and can truly say that I am very happy that I decided to marry this man that day 25 years ago.

My Best Friend

Did you know I have a friend who is the absolute best, most trustworthy friend in the Universe?
More than that, this Friend of mine is positively longing for you, whoever you are, to be His friend too. It doesn't matter what you have done, even if you have committed the vilest crimes on earth.Your sins, no matter how heinous, have been dealt with one time 2,000 years ago when this Friend hung upon the cross and was punished by God for everyone's sins from Adam and Eve to the very last person born on this earth. We in our humanity cannot even fathom the cost of this sacrifice. But God was so pleased with it that He views it as having happened just this very second. He is so very happy with what His Son has done that He views all sins as having been dealt with once and for all, forever! But isn't God angry at sin you say? No, the only sin that keeps one from God is the sin of UNBELIEF. If you will simply believe that Jesus paid for your sins as the perfect sacrifice upon the cross, you too can be His friend, receive His gift of eternal life and never perish. You do not have to promise Him anything, He knows that we cannot do it, that is why He had to die for us and as us. If you can then, get a Bible and read the gospel of John to begin with. Ask Him to teach you and He will. He LOVES you and longs to have YOU for His friend.