The title of this post reminds me of my very first blog post. It was called “TOTAL Oxymoron!”
Click here if you want to read it:
In times of quietness, where thoughts & feelings wander, have you ever thought & felt like you were at the wrong place at the wrong time? Or that you could have made better life decisions in the past? Or that your life situation could be better right now?
You’re not alone. I’ve thought & felt that way many times...
To be honest, those thoughts & feelings caused me to make bad decisions in the past for me & Anita. Bad financial decisions, bad timing decisions & so on & so forth.
Now that I’m older & have learned & practiced life much, I understand why…& I can catch myself not doing that "one thing" & stop those negative thoughts & feelings quickly!
But first, I remember years ago, teaching on the topic of knowledge & wisdom. I taught that wisdom is putting knowledge into practice.
KNOWledge is something you know, wisDOm is something you do.
That’s the short of it in a nutshell. I’ll save the blog post on the difference between the two for another time.
Right now, sit back with your Moose Caboose Coffee or Tea, because this is your quiet time. You may need to hear this. You need to know this so you can put it into practice. I needed to hear it from God multiple times! I still need to hear it multiple times! I always had this saying that “the conviction comes on the teacher/preacher first!” And this one is no exception! It has been one that continues to come multiple times! And thank God! LOL!
But first, God created us with a mind & emotions, so us having those things are not bad.
It’s like money & "stuff." It's not bad that we have them. It’s what we think about them & how we “wield” them.
So let’s talk about you. Let’s talk about us. Yes, we’re going to “gossip” about ourselves.
We the people want to feel important, needed, wanted & loved. We want to be happy. We want to have fun & for all of our plans to work out. We want to have a great life. And yes, we want to have money & "stuff."
So here’s the deal. Knowing all that, I think we place the value of ourselves on those things I just listed above. It even happens unintentionally! For example, when Anita & I were in a financial rough time, I “thought I was,” & “felt like,” less of a man because I couldn’t provide all that “I thought” she “needed.” Notice the quotations.
It all boiled down to one thing…
But first, you’ve probably heard that phrase, “you are what you eat..”
Well here’s a huge one that also applies…
You are Who/What you believe (knowledge) & serve (wisdom).
You know where I’m going with this.
There’s only one truth. There’s only one way. There’s only one life.
Beloved, you are who God says you are. He tells you the truth. The only life worth living is one in Him because He created you & for a purpose.
If you want to know who you are, why you’re here & what to do, you need to really crack down on something…
But first, it’s vital that we know that we are not our own. Ask yourself this, can you control everything in your life? I mean everything. I know I can’t! I lost count of all the “wrenches” thrown in my “gears” a long time ago! LOL! If I could control everything in my life, I would probably have the perfect life! So I think!
I would always feel important, needed, wanted & loved. I would always be happy. I would always be having fun & all my plans would always work out! And yes, I would have tons of money & tons of "stuff!"
But there’s that one thing…& finally, here it is ya’ll…
What are you doing with your quiet time?
Yes, one of the biggest problems today is what us Christians are doing with our quiet time.
In our quiet times, the devil often comes to pay us visits. He will tempt us & lie to us! He will spiritually tackle us then kick us while we're down! His goal is to sway us away from God & try & render us ineffective! He will try to get us to do his job on ourselves, part of it being to devalue ourselves & look down on ourselves! He will try and remove our focus away from all truth.
Beloved, It’s VITAL that in our quiet time, that we're not doing things that take us away from the presence of God! It’s VITAL that we use that time to draw near to God! It's VITAL that we not let our fleshly mind & emotions wander away from God! Let's get a hold of them & make them obedient to Christ!
If you need to rest, then put the phone down, lay yourself down, close your eyes & pray.
Read the Word. Yes, put the phone down to remove temptation, & actually grab the Book!
Go get yourself a hymnal & sing praises to God!
Start a journal & start writing an arsenal of all the things God has done for you! Yes, a gratitude journal is a weapon against the enemy trying to use your quiet time against you! The photo for this blog post is a picture of mine. In your quiet time, write in it & read it often so your heart doesn’t stray from your Creator.
Let's get the knowledge of God through His Word & have wisdom by putting it into practice. Don't let the enemy steal your quiet time from you in any form or fashion!
I want to close with two things...
First, all those things I mentioned of what would probably encompass a "perfect life" are things we dwell on when our focus isn't on Christ. The perfect life is being at the center of His will where we allow Him to take control of our lives since we can't.
And second, going back to the title of this post…
This is one VITAL thing I have learned & am passing on to you:
Properly “wield” your quiet time. With God, it will be an adventure…a good one.
I love you all. Please share the link to this post, & if you haven’t already, please subscribe to my blog from the home page. God bless.
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