I Miss My Time With You

While watching a heartfelt, poignant and powerful message on YouTube yesterday, I had to jot down a few notes. Tyler Hamrick was sharing on “This One Thing” – referencing the biblical story of Martha complaining to Jesus that her sister Mary wasn’t helping her with necessary chores. He pointed out that Jesus wasn’t mad at Martha and He didn’t chastise Mary. His loving response to her could have been delivered in a myriad of ways. We don’t have complete context of their conversation, but I imagine all sorts of love and compassion in His eyes when He said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But this one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42 (NKJV)

Tyler (Hamrick) pointed out that “God wants us to be busy about the kingdom, not spiritually lazy – but not at the cost of our intimacy with Him.”

I also noted that he said, that “we can’t be busy FOR Him if we don’t have intimacy WITH Him.”

What if God spoke to you the words He spoke to Tyler, when He asked him, “When was the last time you just sat with Me?”

How would you answer Him?

Are we listening to what Jesus is saying to us? Or are we too distracted?

Are we just too busy to sit with Jesus?

Martha was complaining that her sister, Mary was “just sitting there listening to Jesus” as He spoke to the group assembled there in her home. It had to be pointed out to her that the preparations for the Lord mean nothing without the presence of the Lord.

“I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6 (NLT)

Even in the Old Testament, God reached out to His people for relationship, for intimacy, which He tells us is more important to Him than “doing things for Him”.

Doing things for God is important, “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:20 KJV)

But if we don’t spend time in His presence, how can we know where He’s sending us or what He requires of us in this moment? Are we merely doing what we think He would want us to do? What if what we’re busy with is actually someone else’s responsibility…

We’re always busy, yet we wonder why we’re so tired all the time.

We become like drained batteries that never get charged when we’re too “busy about our Father’s business” to plug into the source of our power.

It can be hard for us to just “sit and be still” with Jesus. We need to explore why that is. We need to take that question to Him in prayer and listen to what He points out to us.

To hear Him, we may just have to push through and sit with Him and listen – which should be a joyful thing for us! But, for some of us, that may be harder than anything else we need to do in our daily lives.

But “this one thing” is needful: it’s necessary, it’s essential.

 

 

Got - anything worth having?

(from twitter.com)

Got milk? The commercial has stuck in our heads for a very long time. It’s been applied to every other product imaginable. We laugh because it’s so simple, but the ad agency hit a gold mine with this one, because we remember it. Did it make me buy more milk? No. So, in that sense, it didn’t work on me. You either like milk, or you don’t.

Let’s apply it across the board. Got cash? Got energy? Got faith? Some things are easier to acquire than others. Me? I have no desire for milk. But cash? Energy? Faith? I want more of all of them!

(from kepcutusu.com)

A friend posed a question on social media this morning to rouse dialog, asking, “Why does it feel easier to trust worldly comforts, material wealth, and people more than God?” I answered quickly; too quickly, perhaps. I suggested that perhaps a part of it is that we can see the tangible. Trusting God requires new levels of faith every day, which requires growing and stretching. And let’s face it, a lot of us don’t want to grow or stretch. That involves getting out of our comfort zones. Here in America, surrounded by our first world problems, we like our comfort zones. We’re secure there.

I’d rather be secure in Jesus Christ than in my comfort zone. But, do my actions match my desires? Or are my desires simply statements that I identify with because I’m a Christian and “I’m supposed to” align myself with the Word of God and His will for my life?

A point to ponder for sure.

Are you content – in your comfort zone? Or are you ready and willing to step up and step out into faith? Faith requires trusting that God is real, that He loves you and knows what’s best for you and that you willingly follow where He leads you. Count the cost. Because, it will cost you. But you’ll gain peace beyond all measure and eternity with our King.

(from pinterest.com)

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” – Hebrews 1-:23 (KJV)

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” – Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)

“Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” – James 2:18 (KJV)

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” – James 2:26 (KJV)

Look Up; Let Your Energy Flow!

(urodiazdrowie.pl)

 My chiropractor likes to explain how things work; which is great, to me. I hope I never stop learning. Most of what he explains to me is logical, common sense type stuff. Perhaps I haven’t heard it before, maybe I have – but, none of it comes out sounding like rocket science with need for detailed explanation, from which I’d still walk away from confused.

Doc is really big on posture and how it affects our spine, which, as he explains, is what houses our nerves – the nerves that run from our brain to our various body parts and organs. On one hand, we can all easily understand how important it is to have these nerves in good repair, effectively carrying their impulses and energy to the vast number of body parts we’re each made up of. Logic dictates that if, indeed, energy and a plethora of impulses make it to our body parts from our brain that the optimal flow of that energy and those impulses is of great importance and value to us. I think any good chiropractor can tell you the results of that energy being diminished in any way. You can probably even Google those results yourself.

Doc calls it divine design.

For years I’ve heard that a good chiropractor can remedy things from bed-wetting to allergies to depression to aches and pains, and even the not-so-good blood reports we may get from our doctors; who knows what else?

But, let’s look at “the other hand”. How many of us have pondered what can inhibit that flow of energy and impulses?

(chandlerpt.net)

The simple position of having our head downward facing can strain or pull on muscles in our neck and upper back. If those muscles pull on the bones in our back, those bones (or vertebrae) can be moved out of place. Something as simple as a sneeze can cause temporary pain if the sneeze is violent enough.

But, what are some of the routine things we do every day that can be putting stress on our nervous system and the energies we need and the impulses that carry signals to our entire body?

I’ve pondered this a bit, and here are some of my thoughts.

Slouching. Bad posture inhibits our energy flow. Yet, few of us pay attention to our posture unless we see our reflection in a mirror or glass window.

Our nerves can be pinched, cramped and twisted – which will in turn cause the energy our brains want to send to all of our body parts to be constrained, limited, compromised, less efficient, hindered, crippled – because the nerves carrying that energy have become injured, inflamed, even strangled.

Pain is generally what drives us to a chiropractor, but my doc says that the performance of your organs or body parts has to be compromised at least 40% before you even FEEL that pain. We’re all walking around with some jacked up bodies.

(bostonmagazine.com)

I’m not writing all of this to suggest you see a chiropractor. It’s much simpler than that. (Of course, if you WANT to go see one, I’ll applaud that – just remember to get recommendations. A bad chiropractor is as bad as a bad surgeon.)

No, I merely writing today to say, “Lift your heads up, my friends.  Pull your shoulders back!”

Why are our heads down in the first place?

Yep, must be that our heads are so heavy from all that data we download into our brains every day. 

Seriously, though. We MIGHT just be lowering our heads for routine matters like – looking for money on the ground or watching where we’re going!

Our heads may hang because of sorrow or sadness or depression. We may hang our heads because of poor self-esteem.

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Maybe we’re too busy talking DOWN to people to look up and hear what they have to say to us….. Maybe we just need to get to eye level with the folks we talk to.

Ah – yes! Our gadgets! How many of us are looking down at a phone or a tablet for a good part of the day? Perhaps more than we realize…. I get it, sometimes it’s legit; we may depend on these gadgets for our livelihood. Maybe even just tipping our head down to read a book, or straining to see something just out of sight could cause strain.

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I recall a revelation I got one day in high school. I was in a hurry, walking down the hallway when I saw a girl across the hall walking like a fool! Her head was w-a-a-a-a-a-a-y ahead of her body, as if pushing her head forward would get her to where she was going faster. Then I realized I was seeing myself in a large window. My reflection was shocking.

One of my sisters was sitting on an exam table at her doctor’s office waiting for her doc to come in. As the doctor opened the door, she sat up straight. When the doctor asked her why she did that, it took her a minute to realize that she had. Then, her doctor pointed out that as she opened the exam room door, it made a mirror visible and that most people did just as she had, sat up straighter. Of course, the doctor did it to make a point…..

(niketalk.com)

Of course, my pondering mind HAS to ask: How much more energy would we have throughout the day and how much better could our organs and body parts function – if we simply stood and sat up straight?

Take notice. What are some things you catch yourself doing today that cause strain on your neck and back? How often do you catch yourself straining your neck by looking down at something? How often do you catch yourself “standing up straight” – now that you’re thinking about it?

It’s definitely a point to ponder, don’t you think?

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” – Psalm 139:14 (NKJV)

(ibelieve.com)