Finally--- I am posting part three of "Living a Careful Life!" Remember our key verse is Psalm 101:2-4. "I will be careful to lead a blameless life when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.”
Now we are ready to look at the final part of living a careful life--- our daily resolve. Psalm 101:2 says, "I will be careful...." The daily resolve that you and I must have in order to live a careful life is the resolve to structure our day carefully before the Lord. The word careful used in verse 2 means to be upright.
I want to share the definition that Webster uses to define careful. Webster defines careful as a painstaking effort to avoid errors or omissions. In other words, if we are going to live a careful life then we are going to have to make conscious decisions throughout our day that enable us to walk upright before the Lord. When this happens, our hearts are sincere or entirely whole towards God.
Let's get practical. What can we do daily to live a careful life before the Lord? I would like to share my Top Ten list with you! (These are in no particular order.)
1. Memorize Scripture: Hiding God's Word in our hearts is key to living a careful life. When God's Word is in our hearts, we have access to it 24/7. The result--- when we come to a fork in the road, we have a solid roadmap that is always available to us. Tip: pick a verse, write it on a notecard, and carry it with you everywhere you go. Look for the empty two and three minutes in your day and work on your passage of scripture during that time. Also, be brave and memorize large sections of scripture. God's word is a powerful weapon to have hidden in your heart!
2. Daily quiet time before the reactive point in your day: Determine the point in your day when your day tends to get away from you and resolve to have your quiet time before that point. For me, I try to have my quiet time before I turn on my computer or answer my cell phone. This forces me to get up and get with the Lord first thing in the morning. The result--- when I react, I am not reacting out of my self, rather I am reacting out of the overflow of my time with the Lord.
3. Journaling: It is always beneficial to record God's work in our lives. I utilize journaling the most when I am struggling to understand my feelings. I find that writing things out helps me to process deep emotions that are hidden in my heart. As I write my thoughts in my journal, I recognize what is going on in my heart and turn my struggles over to the Lord.
4. Prayer Closet: I cannot overstate the benefit of a prayer closet. A prayer closest is a specific place to go when we need to be alone with the Lord. When my children were younger, I learned the value of a prayer closet. I told my children--- "When I am in my prayer closet, you are NOT allowed to interrupt me unless it is an emergency." The reason why--- if Jesus is going to make a difference in my life, I have to spend time with Him. As I made the choice to go to my prayer closet, I modeled for my children the necessity of daily quiet time with the Lord.
5. Heart Friends: It is so important to surround ourselves with people who love Jesus and encourage us in our daily walks.
6. Balanced Prayer Life: Following a prayer model will help you to have balance in your prayer life. The result, you will not only ask God for things you will also learn how to praise God for the way He works in your life. I use the ACTS prayer model.
• A- Adoration: praise to God
• C- Confession: confession of sins
• T- Thanksgiving: thanksgiving for what He is doing
• S- Supplication: presenting requests to God
7. Personal Worship: I cannot overstate the benefit of personal worship in a believers life. For me, when I feel anxious, grumpy, sad, or mad, I worship the Lord. This process allows me to take my eyes off of myself and put them on Jesus. Tip: Use your Ipod and listen to music during your daily routines--- laundry, cooking, cleaning, exercise, etc. Sing hymns of the faith that are meaningful to you. Praise the Lord as you walk around the block and think about all the things He has done for you.
8. Reading Good Books: No matter what type of book you like to read, find one that promotes Godliness in your life. Make sure that everything you put into your heart and mind honors Jesus.
9. Fasting: Fasting is removing a creature comfort from our life so that we can focus on the Lord. Often we associate fasting with food. However, we can fast from anything that brings enjoyment. I find fasting to be helpful when I need to overcome sin, seek God's presence, or gain spiritual clarity. Tip: Start out small and make sure that as you fast you focus on Jesus rather than the item that you are fasting from. Also be careful not to fill your life with "other things" when you are fasting. You take something away in order to increase your focus on Jesus. Use the hunger or your desire to watch tv as a way to focus more and more on the Lord.
10. Giving: Give till it hurts. When you give freely you accomplish two things. First, you demonstrate the truth that every resource in your life belongs to God. Second, you demonstrate faith that God will provide for your daily needs. Tip: Instead of having a garage sale or taking part in a consignment event, give your things away. Or, take a certain amount of money and tuck it in your purse and ask God to show you how He want you to use the money for His glory. You will learn how to listen to God through out your day.
My challenge to you--- pick one or two things from this list and implement them in your life. You will see how God begins to train you to live a careful life. It is an amazing adventure--- you do not want to miss it!
Love!
Andrea@TVM
