Friday Favorites, quiet time edition and a topic I hold dear in my heart

Happy Friday, friends!  As usual, I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals, and her friends, for this blog post today. 

I have to share about my quiet time this week, and where I'm currently reading in the bible.  For anyone new around here who is visiting or who doesn't already know this, I am reading along with my church family in the new testament this year.  We crossed over into Acts last Friday, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every second I've spent reading so far in the week since.  Acts has always been one of my favorite books in the bible, and it is action packed.  It took place right after Jesus ascended into heaven, and gave the apostles His Holy Spirit to abide in them.  The apostles had great faith and many miracles were occurring anywhere they went. 

It's been so good!

If you're needing a place to read in your own personal quiet time, try this book.  I take it slow, just one chapter per day, for five week days.  There is something about going slowly through this book that really makes you just soak it all in.  I use the HEAR method (scroll down to yesterday's post to read about that), but really, all you need is pen and paper.  I love to write out the verses that jump out to me, and I always try to explain them in context, then apply them somehow to my life.  Or, you could just make your own notes on what is going on in that chapter and write out your own thoughts. 

If you've never done that, give it a try.  It will jump start your encounter with the Lord each day, and it will inspire you in your prayer life.  This verse in the above picture is one way I prayed for myself this week.  And yes, I pray for myself.  I had a dear elderly lady tell me this one time: never neglect praying for yourself, because you are the only one on this earth that knows one hundred percent of your daily struggles.  She compared it to the demonstration given while flying.  If the plane is in trouble, grab that oxygen mask and first take it for yourself.  Then, you can go and help others, but unless you take some oxygen for yourself first, you would be useless to everyone else around you.

And now, this is where I would tell my best friend while talking to her on the phone, "Subject change." 

I don't have a picture of this, but I love being able to meet with and get to know young women.  Months ago, I was put in touch with a young lady who is in her early twenties, and we've met pretty regularly ever since.  I try to encourage her each time we meet, and I definitely pray for her every day.  Her name is a constant in my prayer notebook, right along with my own family and dear friends.  What I never expected was for her to also encourage me when we meet.  I had a situation arise that was something she had been through, and she was able to give me advice on how to handle something, as someone who looked up to another lady closer to my age.  I love any time we spend together, and we were able to meet for coffee this week. 

I suppose I mention this because discipleship is really close to my heart.  In the church I grew up in, this was not anything that was ever mentioned, and only when I got involved in a women's bible study in my early married years did I ever encounter this type of friendship with women who were older than me at that time.  (Its name has changed over the years to Secrets Savored, but back then it was called Apples of Gold.  There were about five younger women and that many older ladies.  We would meet every other week in a home of one of the older ladies, and they would cook this delicious meal for us and share the recipe for everything we'd eaten.  More than that, though, we dug into the scriptures together and they mentored us as young wives and moms.)

As women of God, we have a responsibility to always be pouring into the lives of younger women.  Titus chapter two addresses this.  Think of Paul with Timothy, and then later on, with Titus.  Even he had this type of relationship with those younger men, and Paul was always pouring into others.  That's why he wrote all those letters to the churches he would visit!  He would share with them the good news of the Gospel of Jesus, and he would love and encourage them.  If he did it back then, how much more should we be doing this now? 

And while on that topic of leading others, this is another thing that is close to my heart, and that is, to lead with integrity.  I'm not suggesting I've ever been or ever will be perfect, but as I read the word of God and pray, when I see areas in my life that need addressing, I really try to do that and get my heart back in alignment with God's holy word.  For instance, if I have been struggling with a really bad attitude toward my husband and I read a verse that addresses a situation similar to that, I know the Lord is convicting me of that sin.  When I sense that conviction and cannot stop thinking about how poorly I reacted, I immediately stop and confess it to God and ask Him to forgive me and to change me.  And then I might pray and ask Him to help me display all the fruits of the Spirit to everyone I come across.  (And those are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.)  This could also be if I've told a lie, or I've been poorly managing my time or money, or if I've had an angry thought or if I'm harboring bitterness or resentment in my heart.  The point is that God's word should convict us of our own sin.

You would be shocked at the people I've known over the years, who are leaders within a church body, and who lead secret lives and have identities that are very far off from the word of God.  Just last night, I saw something so disturbing on social media, that I think I struggled with going to sleep.  It was a situation where someone who is a leader in an area at some church in her town gave extremely bad advice to a young lady.  Y'all.  This is one area I struggle with in my own life, and that is being judgmental.  I was trying HARD not to be that way, and even now, I realize that I should have stopped and prayed for her, but I didn't do that. But about that situation, I will say this about those of us who are believers and followers of Jesus: We are not supposed to live the same way the people in the world live.  We are not to self-sooth the way the world may do this, we should go to our Savior, the author and source of life. 

Jesus knew what it was like to struggle with humans while He walked on this earth, and He knew what it was like to watch someone He knew was close to Him turn away (Judas Iscariot, who later became one of His betrayers, but he started as a disciple).  NOT ONE OF US are ever immune to turning away from the Lord at some point in our lives.  The devil is good at this, he can very sneakily wiggle his way into some area in our life, and the more footing he gains, the bigger the gap he can cause between us and God.  He can cause us to turn from Jesus.

Let me give you an example: Say you have your quiet time each and every morning.  But one day, a situation causes you not to have this time with the Lord.  It can be a sickness, or if you're out of town and just don't make the time, or any other instance.  And then the next morning, you don't spend time with Him either.  Two times easily turns into four times, and four times into eight times, and eight into sixteen and so on and so forth.  All of a sudden, a whole month has gone by, and you've made time for all the other stuff in your life, but you've not spent time with God in a good, long while.  The more you miss, the easier it is to miss, and then before you know it, because you're no longer aligning your heart with the word of God, you're living a very wordly life.  You're miserable and wondering why, and everything around you seems as if it is falling apart.

I've experienced this myself!  I know how real this is.  That is why I always write about this and talk about this to anyone who stands still.  To live a life for Jesus requires a sacrifice of some sort, and for me, that is putting off other things that take my time away to spend it with Him.  Now, I do miss my quiet time here and there, and I definitely shorten it at least one or three days a week, and that is normal.  But I know better than to let more than three days go by, and really, three days is too many.  I try to never miss more than two days in a row, because life is hard, even life with Jesus.  Just don't let too long go by.

If you're in any position where people look up to you, though, I implore of you to take a good long look at your own heart.  If you know of sin in your life, confess it and ask forgiveness.  God's mercies are new every morning, friends, and that means that He continually gives us fresh starts.  Lead with integrity.  Don't just say the words in your mouth and then don't mean them in your heart.  Don't just go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays and not live for him Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Be in constant fellowship with Him.  Make Him as real in your home as I know He is.  And if someone you know is struggling, don't give them bad advice.  Don't point them to anything or anyone other than Jesus Himself.  He is the hope and the answer that we all need desperately. 

Well, if I'm being honest here, and I try my best to be that way, this post took a way different turn than I'd intended.  I pray over this thing all the time, and my prayer today is that whoever needs to read these words reads them and is encouraged.  None of us are without sin!  We've all given bad advice.  If that's you this morning, just pray and try your best to make it right with the Lord and with that person.  I have done this myself, many times, and have had to go back and make things right.  It's not easy, but I promise, the Lord will help you.  Thanks for reading, friends.  Have a great day and weekend.  Love to all.