Paying attention In His Word 8-19-13

Paying attention-In the Word!
When Paul formerly known as Saul was living his life doing what he thought was correct and within God's will he was focused on ridding the world of those whom he thought were against God's plan. God wanted him to notice the truth He stopped Saul in his tracks. He blinded him from all distractions so that he could become Paul, a great man of God and an inspiration to many people who study the Word of God today.
If Saul were not in the place he was at the time he was to be there he would not have met Jesus exactly then and Ananias would not have been summoned and Peter and the rest of the Disciples would not have realized there were others out there whom God wanted to reach; or at least it could have been that way. If we do not take a Selah moment, stop and think about what we are reading then we could miss something very important that God wants us to learn.

Sometimes we get too common place in our reading, we do our daily devotions as we think the Word tells us to, give thanks to God for our food, our day and present our requests to Him. I want you to ask yourself today is that really enough?
I asked myself and realized that its not enough for me to glance at the words and 'do my time in the Word' I have to grab a hold of it and make it real in my day. I need to focus on what I am reading and think about what is happening in the time it was written, the time it is talking about and in my time. I need to think on these things as I go about my day. I need to make reading, studying, meditating on the Word of God a life line to my life, not just what I do.
When we take the time, or rather make the time to put away our whatever we would have been doing and focus on the Word; we will find connection and direction from God Himself. If we just flip through the words we are reading they will only be words on paper not the life giving God breathed Word that God spoke into the heart of the writer just for us to read. We should walk away changed.

The other thing I was thinking about today was the prayer time that accompanies our reading. We should always ask God to open our eyes to see what His Spirit is telling us in the Word each day. Or at least as often as we remember to do so.
When we take a trip, as I am doing at the moment, we research the best route, find the right path to follow, and then we apply it to our plan for the day.
Before the trip we set aside the time, we figure out what we need to have with us and we pack for whatever is needed.
As we go we follow and use what we have prepared for ourselves and family to use, and do.
Preparation has been done for our trip, so why not for the day in the walk with Christ that we are in?
Why is it so hard to set aside the specific time to really dig into the Word, or really get down in prayer and open our hearts and minds to it?

Because the enemy is fighting to distract us. The adversary is just that, against us; he wants us to be 'too busy' or 'distracted' from prayer and reading of the Word of God. If he can keep us away from the life flow of the Word, and the connection of prayer then he knows he can weaken us to become less effective warriors for God's kingdom.

So what can we do about this?
Stay connected. If I am not connected to the internet I am unable to send out my devotional article on Mondays. I need the power of that connection to send it out or post it on the blog. I can write it up with electrical power or by hand for that matter, but unless I have connection most of you will not get the most recent issue for at least three days. Even if I used the regular mail it would not be as regular as you are used to and some of you may get tired of waiting. We are blessed with a God who wont necessarily get tired of waiting but He has been known to pass on the mantel to someone else when time was of the essence.
Set your mind on things above not on the earth. Colossians 3:1

Contain: Hide the Word n our hearts and minds, don't just glance at it. Make it our own and keep it internally. Make the words personal by asking God to open the meaning up to us.
They word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

The fact is that the more we look into the words we read in the Bible the more we will have them on our minds. We are told to meditate on them day and night that we would find the peace, guidance and direction that we need.
Collect: Collecting data is what computers do, in order to play a game, or watch a video the computer collects the items by loading it to your computer, or tablet or phone and then it brings it to the screen as you need it.
When we collect scriptures in our hearts and mind then we can pull them up as needed. We can walk in peace, contentment, strength and joy when we have collected the Word uploaded to our heart and mind.
This morning as we drove by the other side of a mountain from where I usually drive I remembered a drawing that plagued me as a preteen. I drew it a lot and almost the the point of distraction I had a mountain, rolling hills, and certain peeks on the mountain that stood out in each picture. As I grew the picture stayed in my mind, I fed it by looking at every mountain picture I had ever seen, every mountain I drove by became less beautiful if it did not line up.



This morning, as I drove I saw my picture before me. I thought to ask God why it of all mountains was exactly like the one I had drawn. I felt in my heart a peace about the trip I was on more than ever I felt, no I knew that I was exactly where I needed to be.
I was attuned to God because I was connected, I was quick to ask Him about it because I had read the words that told me He was ever present in my life, I had contained the words that told me my God would direct my path, and I knew I was getting the answer I had sought earlier about the trip.
Sometimes we question God 's plan, His timing, or His direction; His guidance unlike some GPS machines will not lead us astray. The weather is beautiful today, the time with my family is precious, the quality of time with God today was priceless!

My prayer is that each day we will submit to His call to pray, to connect with Him. That we would seek His presence, His direction and His guidance for each day, not just what we do but where we go in the Word. I say where we go because we really can wander in the Word and when we have collected the friends in there we can travel with them as they speak to kings and princes as well as normal folk. Its all about getting in the Word, not just reading it.
Dear Heavenly Father, help us to walk according to Your Word by getting in Your face as we get into Your Word each day/ Help us to get rid of the distractions and focus on Your will, not our selfish desires. Help us to see the big picture today and follow your directions. In Jesus name, Amen.

Suggested reading Colossians 1:1-, Psalm 119:1-11, Romans 12:1-21 and James 2:1-26