Have you had time with God today?

I have decided to post this on my computer monitor ~ to remind myself that before I sit down to the computer, I will spend time with God first. If you are like me, it can be easy to get so busy with life that I forget to read my bible and spend some time with God everyday. We Christians like to call it "quiet time", but mine is not always quiet! Sometimes there are interruptions (external and internal) that keep me from really pressing into God. And when too many days like this pass, I start feeling the stress and the emptiness in my soul and life gets hard.

This morning, I woke up before my alarm went off at 6am, and decided that the first thing I was going to do was get my bible, devotional, and journal and spend some time with God. I am so glad I did. God didn't drop anything profound in my lap. He didn't blow me over with some big revelation. He just showed up and fed me the 'bread' that I need for today. Jesus knew we needed daily bread, and told us to pray for it.

"Give us today our daily bread." Matthew 6:11

I know I need 'daily bread' to grow and to know Him more. And I need to make that a priority above all other things. ALL other things. Things that threaten to become an idol in my life (and maybe already have?) Things like the computer ~ specifically my blog. And other people's blogs. It is so easy (and addicting) to read about other people's lives, to see their cute blog designs...and pretty soon it's time to go to work or it's time to go to bed and I haven't spent any time with God other than sporatic prayers throughout the day. Sure, God hears those prayers, but that's not how relationships are deepened or even sustained. Can you imagine if you only talked to your husband or your kids for brief moments throughout your days, when you are on the fly doing the busy things of life, but never really sat down and had a face to face, or heart to heart? If you never embraced? Shed tears together, or laughed together, or told them how much you love them?

Those are the things that join our souls together with those that we love most.....and God wants that kind of relationship with us. He wants to laugh with us, cry with us, to hear us tell Him what is on our hearts. He longs to embrace us. We just have to slow down long enough so He can. And the thing about love is that when we allow God to love on us, His love not only fills us up, it pours through us to those that we love, so that we will have the heart to hearts and the face to faces, the laughter and the tears, and the embraces that we all long for. It only comes from Him.

So if you are reading my blog and you haven't had time with God today....please go and meet with Him. You will be so glad you did...and so will He.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." Jeremiah 31:3

"He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me."
Psalm 18:19