And after He had dismissed the multitude, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was still there alone. ~Matthew 14:23 (AMPCE)
We have to spend time alone with God if we want to see more victory in our lives. It doesn’t take long to backslide into our old ways of thinking and doing things. That lower nature is always there to drag us down if we do not master it by keeping our spirit man strong. Walking in love and ministering takes energy and energy has to be replenished. You might think “I am not a minister”, but the truth is we are all ministers if we are born again into the body of Christ. A minister is someone who attends to the needs of others. Do you attend to the needs of others? We all do in some way or fashion and that makes us all ministers. Scripture tells us Jesus went off alone to pray often. He would get up early to be alone with God. Jesus sought God first. It doesn’t matter if we have a heavy burden we are carrying or if we have a difficult decision that we need to make or even if we are riding the gravy train and things are all hunky dory, God must always have first place in our lives beginning with our time. Seeking God first was the example Jesus set for us and we have to ask ourselves "what could be more important?"
Honor God by putting Him first every day. Before the news and before the internet and before we head off to start our list of tasks and chores, we should go to our Heavenly Father first with a grateful heart and then for every need. It’s important that we habitually give Him the first part of everything we have; our time, our money, and our abilities. Habitually means by habit or by frequent practice of. What do you frequently practice doing? Is seeking God’s presence for guidance to perform His will in His way at the top of your habit list? Spending our time with God is just as important to Him, if not more, than spending our money or any other resource for His kingdom. God says in Philippians 4:19 that our gifts are an acceptable sacrifice to God and in response He will meet all of our needs according to His riches in glory. God is awesome and so is His plan for our lives and we need to get with Him to get a vision of that plan. We can’t run the race set before us without being well rested and well nourished. Just like your physical body gets tired and depleted, so does your spirit man. We have to get rest and food to restore our strength and vigor. In the same manner we need to rest in God’s presence and spend time in God’s word to restore our spirit man. When you start “running on fumes” then it’s time to get alone with God and get refilled. Take a minute to consider how often you “fill up” your stomach and how often you “fill up” your spirit with God’s word. Are you "starving" for more of God in your life?
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ~Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
What needs will you be attending to today? Have you rested in His presence yet?
Write an answer
Write an answer
Comments