New Blog, New Day

If a faithful time of study and prayer reflects one's recognition of their need for complete dependence upon the God who saves and sanctifies them, then, to my shame, it seems I have become quite the independent.  When I was in prison, I was in the Word almost every waking moment...I certainly wasn't on the weight pile!  I read hundreds of books and, no, that's not an exaggeration.  Since my release, although seldom has a day gone by that I have not thought about or expounded upon God's Word in some context or spoken to Him throughout the day as random thoughts and concerns crossed my mind, I have failed miserably at maintaining a time of personal devotion.  God, forgive me.

Today I want to begin again to read and pray as I once did.  A pastor once asked, "I know when you get up you pray, but do you get up to pray?"  I want to begin to set aside a time for devotion.  I need God in my life as much today as when I was in prison.  I could argue that I need Him even more; for I have ten times the concerns today I had then.  But, alas! I am busy.  I read somewhere that Luther said he had so much to do one day he had to get up an extra hour earlier to add extra time to his time of devotion.  Such should be my standard!

Each day I will post a new blog of what I am reading, learning, praying about, and an update with regard to my other struggles.  I feel like I need to make the world my accountability partner in this endeavor!  And, since sharing what God has taught me and declaring His faithfulness to a wretch like me has become so much a part of who I am today and what I want to be doing with the rest of my life, who knows whether someone will be blessed by what they read.  If I miss a blog, could I ask that you write and inquire whether I have "fallen off the wagon" once more...LOL!  If you read a blog and are encouraged, could I ask that you write and encourage me to keep going!

I would ask all who read this and perhaps begin to follow it to begin praying for each of the following areas in my life:

1)      I need to become more disciplined in my schedule:

a.       I need to become more purposeful in my daily prayer and devotions.  A day never goes by that I am not looking at or discussing Scripture in some context but that is not the same as setting aside disciplined time for these activities.  I long to do this more.

 

b.      I need to be more disciplined in making regular time with my wife, trying to figure out more ways I can serve her.

c.       I need to be more rigid in my work schedule.  It’s easy to find a million other things to do than go to my job on time because I have the flexibility not to do so, and because I long to be doing something else.  I need contentment where God has me.

d.      I need to make time for some type of physical activity and stop making excuses.

2)      I need stability in my wages and health benefits for my family.

3)      Obviously my weight is a concern.

a.      I need to find some type of cardio workout I can do at home that is not stressful on my knees

b.     I need to be more disciplined in taking food to work instead of eating out, and in taking the right things.