Living a Careful Life, Part 3

Hello my sweet friends!

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.”

In parts one and two, we looked at our inward reality and our outward expressions. Remember our inward reality is who we are at the very core of our being. The call from Psalm 101:2-4 is to be blameless. We demonstrate a blameless life when we are sincere or entirely whole towards God. As a result of our inward reality, we should demonstrate certain outward expressions. The outward expressions we explored are: 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, men of perverse heart shall be far from me, and 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

Living a Careful Life, part 2 cont.

Today we will continue our three part series called "Living a Careful Life." In today's post we will examine the final two outward expressions listed in Psalm 101:2-4. This passage states, “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.”

If you will recall, long before we can examine our outward expressions, we must examine our inward reality. Our inward reality is who we are at the very core of our being. The Bible says that we are to be blameless. The word blameless means to be complete, sincere, and entirely whole towards God. When our hearts are blameless before God, we naturally have outward expressions that please Him.

In the last few posts we examined three outward expressions of a blameless life. Here is a quick recap:

• Outward Expression 1: I will walk in my house with a blameless heart.

• Outward Expression 2: I will set before my eyes no vile thing.

• Outward Expression 3: The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.

Let's move on and look at the final two outward expressions listed in Psalm 101:2-4.

Outward Expression #4:

"Men of perverse heart shall be far from me."

In order to live a careful life we must examine the people who influence us the most. Proverbs 12:26 states, “A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” When thinking about our friendships, we must recognize that God has placed different people in our lives to play different roles. I like to think of these different roles as friendship layers.

Three friendship layers set forth in God's Word:

1. Close Friends- You can think of this group as your inner circle. For me this is two or three key people who encourage me to have a right heart before God. I can tell my close friends anything and I can call on them day or night. Close friends must be Godly individuals who fear the Lord and uphold the Bible as their standard in life. Close friends ask the tough questions and hold us accountable to God's Word. The primary purpose of the close friendship is accountability. David and Jonathan demonstrated a close friendships in 1 Samuel 20.

2. Caring Friends- The caring friendship layer is similar to the close friendship layer. Both friendships focus on loving Jesus and helping one another grow in the Lord. The primary difference is that the caring friendship focuses more on love, encouragement, and support and less on accountability. Because of the broader focus. you can have lots of caring friends. We see this type of friendship layer displayed in the Early Church as recorded in Acts 2:42-46. The members of the Early Church devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer. As a result of these actions, the caring friends had everything in common and daily praised God with one another.

3. Casual Friends- The casual friend is a friend that God places in your life for the purpose of investing. This friend may or may not know Jesus. This friend may or may not go to church. What is true about this friend is that God has placed her in your life so that she can see that Jesus makes a big difference in you. In casual friendships, it is important that you set the tone! You are investing in them because you long for them to know Jesus and love Jesus. In Matthew 9:35-38, we see the heart of Jesus as He looked around and saw many people who did not know Him. Verse 36 states, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them.” Why? Verse 36 concludes, “Because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” As you and I seek to have the same heartbeat as Jesus, we too should look at the people God places in our lives and demonstrate a heart of compassion by looking for opportunities to minister in Jesus’ name.

Outward Expression #5:

• "I will have nothing to do with evil."

The final outward expression is an all encompassing one--- I will have nothing to do with evil. I love the way Webster defines the word nothing. Webster states that nothing means “not any thing; no thing; or zero.” One saying listed in Webster’s to describe nothing is “neither hide nor hair.” This idiom is used to convey the notion, “not the slightest trace.” This definition of nothing gives us a glimpse into the threshold David set for allowing evil things in his life. David had no tolerance for evil. We too need to have this same level of disgust for evil in our lives. When we do, we display a blameless heart before God.

Next week we will look at part three of our study--- our daily resolve. Get ready to get very practical as we look at ways we can promote blamelessness in our daily life.

For now, I want to ask you to think about the five outward expressions listed in Psalm 101:2-4. Which one spoke to you and why?

Living a Careful Life, part 2 cont.

We are in the middle of a three part series called "Living a Careful Life." This series calls for us to examine who we are at the very core of our being. Scripture states that we should be blameless. This means that God is calling us to be complete, sincere, or entirely whole towards Him.

When we are blameless before God, we demonstrate outward expressions that are pleasing to the Lord. Our outward expressions describe what we do. Last week we looked at two outward expressions--- walking in our house with a blameless heart and setting before our eyes no vile thing. This week we will look at the final two outward expressions listed in Psalm 101:2-4.

Just a reminder that the key verse for our series 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.”

Outward Expression #3:

• The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me..."

In this statement David dealt with an important point in living the careful life--- our perception of sin. Our sin perception is simply how we view sin in our life as well as the life of others. David was clear--- he did not hate the men who committed the sin. Rather, David hated the sin itself.

There are two extremes that we must guard our lives against when it comes to how we view sin in our life or the lives of others. Deuteronomy 4:2 states, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”

Two-Extremes in Viewing Sin:

1. Legalism: Legalism occurs when we draw the liner tighter than the Word of God. We see a picture of legalism in the Pharisees of Jesus' day. The Pharisees were religious leaders who showed more interest in the outward appearance of man than the inward realty of the heart. I find it interesting that the Pharisees were so wrapped up in the rules and regulations of the Word of God that they completely missed the Word (Jesus) as He became flesh and dwelt among them. As a result, Jesus had the following words to say--- “Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23:26-28) Wow! Talk about a strong word. Today we act just like a Pharisee when we allow rules, regulations, traditions, and personal preferences to play an exaggerated role in our walk with God.

2. Liberalism: Liberalism occurs when we draw the line looser than the Word of God. A person who struggles with liberalism fails to recognize absolute truth as taught in the Word of God. This person has a "whatever is right for you is fine with me" attitude. Paul conveyed a much more serious view of sin in Romans 6:1-3. Paul stated, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Today we embrace a liberalistic view to sin when we turn our backs to truth and embrace the cultural norm of "anything" goes.

The Biblical Response to Deeds of Faithless Men:

So how should we respond to sin in our life or the lives of others? The Bible provides a beautiful picture in 1 Samuel 15. In this chapter, the Lord went to Samuel in order to express His displeasure over the sin in King Saul's life. The Lord said, "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." (verse 11) Listen to how Samuel responded to the Lord. "Samuel was troubled and he cried out to the Lord all that night." (verse 12)

So what is the biblical response to viewing sin in our life of the life of others? Our hearts should be troubled to the point where we are on our knees before the Lord and crying out to Him for help. For just a moment, think about the difference this viewing process will bring into your life. Certainly it will help you guard against legalism or liberalism. This is true because you will not be overly focused on rules and regulations as seen in the legalistic viewpoint. And, you will not have an "anything goes" attitude as seen in the liberalistic viewpoint.

So here is the question before you. Have you fallen into the trap of legalism or liberalism? If so, humble yourself before the Lord and ask Him to give you His heart for the people in your life. As you do, you can know that God will break your heart over the sin in your life as well as the sin in the life of others. Once your heart is broken, you will be ready to go to your friends or family members in love and challenge them to embrace Godliness in their lives. However, during this process, please guard your life so that you are not tempted to fall into the same trap of sin.

Today please know that I love you and that I am fighting with you and for you! God has given me a passion for you to be complete, sincere, and entirely whole towards Him. Dear friend, do not stop short of all of Him, in all of you, for His glory alone!

Much Love!

Andrea@TVM

Living a Careful Life, part 2 cont.

We are in the middle of a three part series called "Living a Careful Life." The 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.”

Part 1 of "Living a Careful Life" dealt with having a blameless (complete, sincere, entirely whole) heart towards God. We defined this as our inward reality--- who we are at the very core of our being.

Part 2 deals with our outward expressions--- what we do as a result of who we are. Outward expression #1 was "I will walk in my house with a blameless heart." The word blameless used in this passage means innocence and integrity. Bottom-line for living a careful life--- we must realize that our daily walk with God begins the moment our feet hit the floor. The outcome of a blameless heart in our homes is that the people who are the closest to us will see that Jesus makes a real difference in our lives.

Let's move on and look at outward expression #2

• I will set before my eyes not vile thing

To set means to place and begs the question what are we placing before our eyes?

There are many avenues that we use to place things before our eyes. Let's examine two.

1. Media: Probably the most obvious way that we place things before our eyes is through media. Things like TV, movies, magazines, books, internet, facebook, twitter, and blogs--- the list goes on and on. When it comes to the things that we place before our eyes, testing or examining is essential. We need to make sure that the things we place before our eyes promotes Godliness.

2. Thought-Life: Perhaps less obvious, but equally as powerful is our thought life. Our thought life is made up of the constant stream of thoughts that take place in our head. This is the time that we spend each day

daydreaming about a life that is not our own. Women fall into the trap of dreaming when they think about and long for a life in a different setting, with a different person, and with a different set of circumstances. Daydreaming often seems harmless because we think that we are not "hurting" anyone. But, daydreaming is harmful because it keeps us from focusing on the life God has called us to live.

Today I want to challenge you to examine the things that you set before your eyes. If you find something that is not honoring to the Lord in your media routine or your thought life, get serious about dealing with that sin. Here are a few practical ways to address each area.

In regards to media, identify the problem areas and share the areas with a close friend. Then ask your friend to hold you accountable to Godliness by checking in with you each day or each week and asking you how you are doing. Accountability is a powerful tool in your walk with God. Do not be afraid or ashamed to use it!

In regards to your thought life, use this three step process to overcome wrong thought patterns.

• Recognize the wrong thought by admitting to God and yourself that you have a problem.

• Remove the wrong thought by s

aturating your heart and mind with scripture.

Find a specific passage of scripture that speaks to your wrong thought pattern and memorize and meditate on that passage daily.

• Replace the wrong thought pattern with the right thought pattern. Be sure and c

ontinually guard this area of your life. Chances are you will face a similar struggle in the future.

Okay--- I hope you are ready to deal with the things that you set before your eyes. I am so proud of you for getting serious about your daily walk with Jesus. He is the best thing that has ever happened in us.

Love!

Andrea@TVM

Living a Careful Life, part 2

Earlier this week I introduced a three part series called "Living a Careful Life." "Living a Careful Life" challenges each of us to examine our inward reality, our outward expressions, and our daily resolve. If you did not get a chance to read part 1, check it out here: http://andrealennon.blogspot.com/2011/08/living-careful-life.html

The Key verses for "Living a Careful Life" 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.”

In part 1, we examined our inward reality. Our inward reality describes who we are at the very core of our being. From scripture we saw the call to be blameless. To be blameless means to be sincere, complete, or entirely whole towards God. David said, "I will be careful to lead a blameless life..."

Part 2--- Our Outward Expressions

Today we are going to move on and examine the first of five outward expressions as defined in Psalm 101:2-4. It is crucial to note that our outward expressions must flow from our inward reality of being blameless before the Lord. (Bottom-line- when our hearts are right; our actions are right.)

Outward Expression #1:

• I will walk in my house with a blameless heart.

This outward expression calls us to examine how we live inside our homes. In fact, our daily walk with God begins inside our home--- as soon as our feet hit the ground each morning. Have you ever thought about the fact that the real you comes out when you are at home? This is true because your home provides a comfortable environment where you tend to be yourself.

The word used for blameless in the phrase, "I will walk in my house with a blameless heart" carries the meaning of integrity and innocence. So how do we walk blamelessly inside our homes? We interact with our family members with integrity and innocence. For me, I am walking in integrity when my "no" means "no" and my "yes" means "yes." Likewise, I am walking in innocence when I have no hidden agendas, no behind the back moves, and no secrets.

I will never forget the night the Lord burned the call to "walk in my home with a blameless heart" into my life. On this particular night I was frantically trying to complete a speaking outline for an upcoming women’s event. My husband Jay was gone to a Bible study, and Jake and Andrew were running around the house. The dishes from dinner were still on the table, and I had so much to do that I did not know where to begin.

I told the boys, “Watch TV and do not fight.” The boys obeyed, and I started working on the speaking outline. As I worked, time quickly passed. I looked up from my computer and noticed the time read 9:00 pm. This surprised me, since my boys should have been in bed by 8:30. Immediately, I went into drill sergeant mode. I told the boys, “You have to take a bath, brush your teeth, say your prayers, and go to sleep as soon as possible.”

I put the boys in the bathtub and told them there was no time to play. They could talk quietly while I went and picked up their towels. I quickly walked across the house to find their towels and returned to wash the boys. As I stepped inside the door, I discovered two inches of water on the bathroom floor. I could not believe it! Immediately, I took the boys out of the tub and asked them what happened. Jake said, “Mom, we made up a game, and I won!” That did not impress me. In fact, I got very angry. I gave the boys a lecture, put them on their beds, and cleaned up the mess.

Once the floor was dry, I went into each room and told the boys how upset I was and that they needed to put on their pajamas and go to bed. That night we had no prayers, no snuggles, and no tucking into bed. I turned the lights out and told the boys to go to sleep.

After leaving the boys’ rooms, I took a few minutes to shake off my anger and returned to my computer to complete the speaking outline. As I typed, the Lord spoke to my heart. “Andrea, when you act like that do you think they have any idea that I make a difference in your life?” The question took me by surprise and became a life-changing question. Do the people closest to me know that Jesus makes a real difference in my life? My heart sank because I knew the answer to that question was often no. I fell to my knees and asked the Lord to forgive me. I then returned to my boys’ room and asked for their forgiveness as well.

The simple question from the Lord changed my perspective on life. The question brought an understanding that taught me that I could travel around this world telling others about Jesus, write Bible studies, and even speak at women’s conferences, yet miss the real point. You see, what Jesus was teaching me was that at the end of my life what would really matter the most was that my husband and my children could say, “Jesus made a real difference in her.”

How about you? Do the people inside your home know that Jesus makes a real difference in you? If not, focus on today's outward expression and live a life of innocence and integrity inside your home.

Blessings!

Andrea@TVM

Living a Careful Life

Last Tuesday night I traveled to First Baptist Church in Keiser, Arkansas in order to spend the evening with a group of ladies from Mississippi County Baptist Association. The topic for the night was "Living a Careful Life." Our time in the Word was amazing. We laughed together as well as shared stories and life experiences. Certainly--- God's Word challenged all of us!

The session "Living a Careful Life" speaks to the heart of every woman who loves Jesus and longs to live a life that is entirely whole towards Him. The key verse is found in Psalm 101:2-4. The session is divided into three parts--- our inward reality, our outward expressions, and our daily resolve. This week and next, I am going to post a three part series summarizing the teachings from "Living a Careful Life." I invite you to join me in the study of God's Word!

"Living a Careful Life"

Part 1--- Our Inward Reality

Key Verse:

“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.” Psalm 101:2-4

Our inward reality speaks to who we are at the very core of our being. You can diagnosis your inward reality by asking this question--- "When it is just me and the Lord or me and my close family members, how do I think, act or react?"

In Psalm 101:2-4, David defined how he longed to think, act, or react before the Lord and his close family members. David said, "I will be careful to lead a blameless life." The word blameless that is used in verse 2 means to be complete, sincere, or entirely whole towards God.

The idea of being complete, sincere, or entirely whole towards God is challenging. Perhaps you will admit that your walk with the Lord does not measure up to these high standards. If so, you can take heart--- you are not alone! I will admit that I am right there with you. In fact, every believer in Jesus Christ is on a journey to wholeness or completeness in Christ. The truth of the matter is this--- as long as we are on this earth, there is renewing work to be done in our life!

Scripture gives us a picture of the blameless life. Below you will find nine passages of Scripture that speak to the heart of living complete, sincere, or entirely whole lives in Christ. Take a quick look and see how your life measures up.

• Genesis 6:9- “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” We must learn how to walk in step with the Lord. Often we find it easy to run ahead or lag behind. We must fight this urge and live patient lives that are in step with our Savior.

• 2 Samuel 22:24 David speaking, “I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.” We must have a serious view of sin in our life. Sin keeps us from hearing from the Lord and sensing His sweet presence in our daily life.

• Job 1:1- “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” We must fear God and shun evil. Fearing God and shunning evil requires a proper perspective of God in our life. When we have a proper perspective of God, we understand that God is in charge--- we are not!

• Psalm 15:2 (David in response to the question, “who may dwell with God?”) “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart.” We must speak the truth from our heart and focus on living right before God.

• Psalm 26:1 (A cry from David) “Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.” We must trust in the Lord no matter how difficult our situation may appear to be.

• Psalm 119:1 “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.” We must allow the Word of God to be our standard, our rulebook, and the guide for our life.

• Philippians 1:9-10 (Paul’s pray for the Philippians and believers everywhere) “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.” We must live our lives with the character quality of love as the central focus--- loving God and loving others.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We must be blameless in every area of our life--- Spirit, Soul, and Body. It is so important to note the inward to outward flow of this process.

• 2 Peter 3:14- Peter speaking to believers says, “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, (the day of the Lord) make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” We must participate in the process of becoming blameless. Do you hear the call for ownership in the blameless process? I do. We are to make every effort to be found blameless!

So the question before you today is this--- "Are you growing in your love relationship with Jesus and as a result are you living a blameless life?" I hope so! God's Word provides us with the necessary instruction for living a blameless life. Right now, review the nine verses listed in today's post. Please share with me the verse that challenges you the most and why. Then seek to obey God's Word and walk in step with Him!

Love!

Andrea@TVM

Sweet Moments with Jesus

The best thing happened to me last night during the night. I woke up at 4:00am and spent some much needed time with the Lord.

Like any mom, it is not uncommon for me to wake up during the night. I am always on standby for Jake, Andrew, and now our little dog Lulu! However, something about last night was different. When I woke up, I knew I was the only one awake. Not only that, I went from a deep sleep to fully awake in a matter of seconds.

As soon as I woke up, I immediately thought about Psalm 63:6-8, "On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me."

Last night as I thought about this passage, I knew the Lord was offering me a chance to spend some alone time with Him. I am so glad I did! The uninterrupted time with Jesus was priceless. I talked to Him and then took the time to listen for His reply. I thought about different times in my life when I regularly woke up to spend time with Jesus. Two examples came to mind: When Jay and I were first married we lived in Huntsville, AL. We attended a church where the pastor challenged the congregation to ask God to wake us up in the middle of night so we could pray. I took the challenge and spent several nights in prayer. Then I thought about the time when I was in Seminary. During my Seminary years, the Lord woke me up regularly to pray.

To be honest with you, it has been awhile since I asked the Lord to wake me up in the middle of the night. Thankfully, God did not wait for me to ask Him. He knew what I needed and took the necessary steps to get my attention. And, oh, what a difference His work makes in my life!

Today I want to challenge you to ask the Lord to wake you up one night soon. And as soon as He does, allow Psalm 63:6-8 to guide your time.

• Take a few minutes and think about the way the Lord works in your life. (Psalm 63:6)

• Recognize the protection you receive when you live in the shadow of Jesus. (Psalm 63:7)

• Resolve to cling to Jesus during your day no matter how overwhelming the circumstances appear to be. (Psalm 63:8)

I love you and I count it an honor to serve you.

Sweet Dreams!

Andrea@TVM