I had a recent
conversation with a friend of mine just the other day. She talks a lot more than me, but we hadn’t
talked in such a long time that we were playing catch up because so much time
had passed. We talked about work and
school and family, and some of this and that, but the conversation went well
into the night. I was happy to be able
to catch up with her and wished that our lives weren’t so complex that we
didn’t have to wait weeks and months before connecting with one another. As usual (because that’s the type of
relationship we have), we talked about Christ. I absolutely love it when I’m
able to have a conversation and Jesus pops His way in there. Thank you JesusJ! We ended our night after a few hours of catch
up, and I managed to spend a few moments praying before I passed out because it
was late. The next day, my heart was
heavy. I was mad at myself for only
giving God a few moments of my time.
Hence where this topic comes from. We have to make God a priority and not
something that comes in when time allows or presents itself. I want to be known as a person who diligently
seeks to know Him.
What causes us to want to spend time
with Christ? ♥ What exactly does spending time with the
Lord mean? ♥ As someone new (or old) to the Christian faith, how do we
encourage others to set time aside for Him? ♥ How do we encourage ourselves
that in the midst of everything that spending time with Christ is a priority? ♥
How much time should you give daily? ♥ What are we supposed to do during that time?
As Christians we have to spend time with our
Father. You can’t expect to know Him
if you don’t spend time getting to know Him. We live in a world that is full of
relationships. We have relationships with
our parents, friends, brothers, sisters, colleagues, aunts, uncles, cousins,
husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, church members, school peers,
professors, acquaintances, teachers, grandparents, etc. Our world is full of relationships! With that being said, how do we develop those
relationships as well as the one with Christ without putting Christ on the back
burner? In fact, where does our
relationship with Christ fit in with the ever growing list of things to do,
work, and family?
Without having quality time with Jesus our
relationship is nothing more than an acquaintance. Do you
really want to simply be an acquaintance of Jesus? I just wanna dig into this a little deeper
because I think it’s important for our understanding. Acquaintance is defined
as 1) One's
slight knowledge of or friendship
with someone 2) Knowledge of a person acquired by a relationship
less intimate than friendship. 3) Someone you know a little, who is not a close friend. Does this sound like your relationship and
knowledge of Jesus? People, we have to
do better. WAKE UP!
Philippians
3:8-11
Yes,
everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting
it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
and become one with him. I no longer count on my own
righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith
in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
I want to
know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I
want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that
one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! (New
Living Translation)
Know that if your relationship
with Christ is lacking and you haven’t been as good a friend as you should have
to the Lord; take heart. God has
provided a way. Isn’t it amazing to know
that God has provided a way for you to turn your life and your relationship
around? You can simply say, “Lord, I
don’t want to be just your acquaintance.
I’m sorry for not treating you like the almighty God that you are. I
want to know you as more than a mere acquaintance. From this day forward Lord God, I will know
you and you will know me like never before. Amen”
2
Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (King James)
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (King James)
In developing a relationship with
Christ, there has to be a sense of need.
We have to recognize that we are absolutely nothing in ourselves. Our motivation to spend time with the Lord is
“an ever deepening realization” of our need of Him. Knowing our sense of need in Christ allows us
to seek Him and spend time with Him. If
we don’t know or think that we need Christ we’re not going to make time for
Him. Why would we? We need Christ in all facets of our lives;
therefore we have to make an effort to spend time with Him daily. I need him to guide me, keep me, clothe me,
teach me, feed me, and comfort me. I
need Him for EVERYTHING. There is
nothing that Tracy is capable of doing on her own. Because of this need and desire for Christ I want to spend time with Him. This sense
of need becomes the reason why we seek Christ.
By daily spending time with the Lord, we are putting
ourselves in a position for transformation to take place. If we truly want God to transform our lives
we will be strongly motivated to sit in His presence and endure the process of
transformation. The process of transformation.
I like the way that sounds. As
Christians we want to be transformed and God is committed to transforming our
lives through this relationship with Him.
How is that done? By earnestly
seeking Him and spending time with Him.
This requires that we set aside time regularly. Not when time presents itself and not when
you have a free moment after you’ve taken care of everything else. When making time for Christ remember who He
is and all that He has done for you.
You’re not just making time for some random person; you are making time
for The Father. Because of who He is, we should always have
time set aside for Him. He has to fit
into our schedules. That’s a
requirement! I like to create habit in my life.
When spending time with Jesus, I do it every day at the same time. Some people like the morning, others mid-day,
and many (like me) prefer night.
Whatever time you choose, be consistent.
Make sure the time you choose you are dedicated to spending time with
Him and studying His Word. Some say it
takes 21 days to form a new habit. Well
make spending time with Jesus your new habit.
Take the 21 day challenge. Set
time aside everyday at the same time and spend it anyway you choose with
Christ. See where you are in 21
days.
So I challenge you.
Can you spend quality
uninterrupted time with God through prayer, worship, studying, and/or hearing
His voice for 21 days?
2 Corinthians
3:18
“And we all with
unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are
being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the
Lord Spirit.”\
Without spending time with the Lord, there is no
possibility for us to experience a solid transformation. This scripture shows us the process that is
to be taken place by those that desire to be transformed. As we behold the glory of the Lord in His
Word we are then changed into His image.
We are infused with the elements of what He is. What we behold we become. Think about that for a moment. What we behold we become. What types of things do you behold??
I used to be a fan of reality TV. I still am.
I only use the word in past tense because my schedule doesn’t allow me
to watch it and keep up with the latest episodes as I would like, but believe
me if I had the time I would certainly be in front of the TV daily watching the
ever unfolding drama of The Housewives of
Atlanta, Basketball Wives, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Jerseylicious, The
Bachelor, and so on. What’s funny is that I enjoy these shows, but
the reality is are these things the things I am beholding. I think of it in this way. A person that spends hours watching reality
TV or just television in general will eventually begin to reflect, mirror, or
imitate those things they have been beholding.
We become influenced by these things.
In contrast when we spend time with Christ beholding Him we reflect
Him. That should be the ultimate
desire. The result of beholding Him is
to be changed into the likeness of Christ.
“When the people of God look into the Word of God and see the glory of
God, the spirit of God transforms them to be like the son of God”.
There is true value in spending time with Christ
that I want us all to experience. So I
encourage you all to get out your bibles, journals, note cards, and start
spending time with The Father.
Time
well spent is Time spent with Christ.
Love
you all,
-Tracy
(Me, in Memphis this past weekend)
No comments:
Post a Comment