Day 32 Too Many Things—Too Little Time

On Day 31 I encouraged you to write down the things that were important to you and number them in order of importance. (If you haven't actually done that, take a minute to do so right now.) What are your top five things?

That’s the easy part. Next, it is time to make those five things happen. Here’s where I realized that God is ready and willing to help me if I will submit my daily plans to Him. Also, I have found out that in order to make the change happen and become permanent, I will have to do it more than one day. I have to do it day after day until it becomes a habit.

After making my list I could easily see that some things had to go—activities, habits, and yes, even people. I was spending too much time on things (and even people) that were not beneficial to the season of life that I was in. I had to evaluate how much I was doing for myself and actually how much was pleasing to God. I began to realize that each day is a gift from God and I was going to have to learn to spend it wisely.

I discovered that the simpler life becomes, the clearer my thoughts were. It was easier to know what to do and what not to do each day. A sense of accomplishment and peace was my reward.

…….your eyes focused and clear, 

so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do…..

Ephesians 1:18-19 The Message (MSG)

Day 31 Narrowing Your Focus

We have talked about committing our day (our situation, our vacation, our plans) to God and asking Him to cause our thoughts to become agreeable to His will so that we will be established and have success. Of course, we want to have successful days and God-orchestrated events happening in our lives. In order for everything to fall into place so that we can feel successful, we will have to think like God thinks. 

I got to thinking about how I could make this connection between God’s thoughts and my thoughts. How could I clear the lines, so to speak so that I could have a more defined connection between God and me?

When I laid this before God, I felt like I was to narrow my focus. I felt led to make a list of the things that were very important to me and number them in the order of which one was the most important, etc. Take a minute to do that for yourself. 

Write down the things that are important to you. 

Number them in order of importance.

Evaluate how much time you are spending on each of your items.

I soon realized that my top priority was full of good intentions but I was spending very little time on it. My schedule needed to be rearranged to accommodate that one thing that was important to me. Then I added the second and third most important things. In doing this I learned that if I were to be productive in the areas of my priorities some things would have to go. We’ll talk more about that tomorrow but take today’s “assignment” to God and ask Him to help you prioritize. 

It’s more important than you know!

Day 30 What Are You Expecting?

Begin by asking yourself these questions:

     What am I expecting from God today?

     Am I expecting Him to give me direction so I can make right choices?

     Am I expecting God to correct me if I am thinking wrong thoughts?

     Am I expecting new ideas and new ways of doing things so that I can be successful?

Carefully read through the following promise from God:

Roll your works upon the Lord

[commit and trust them wholly to Him;

He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and]

so shall your plans be established and succeed.

Proverbs 16:3 AMPC

If your thoughts and plans are aligned with God's will, you will be successful in everything you do. However, if you are saying, "I need more of God's direction in my life," then begin by praying something like this: 

Father, I commit this day to You. I trust that You will cause my thoughts to line up with your will so I can be established and successful. Help me to think the way You think in every situation that I face today. Cause me to be in the right place, at the right time, saying and doing the right things.

How could you possibly miss when you pray like that? As you begin each day with a similar prayer, you can expect that every problem will be solved, every decision will be right and every step that you take will be orchestrated by God.

For I know the thoughts that I have planned for you,

saith the Lord,

thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Jeremiah 29:11 KJV

Allow me to ask again.....What are you expecting from God today?

NOTE: I have discovered that some of you have made comments on these blog posts. I have also realized that I have to go into my blog stats to get those comments. I am sorry if I have not replied. I just didn't realize they were there. I will be better from now on!  I promise!!!

Always learning something new,

Karol

Day 29  Extravagant Dimensions of Christ's Love

And I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, 

you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus

the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.

Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length!

Plumb its depths! Rise to the heights!
Live full lives in the fullness of God.
                                                                           

Ephesians 3: 17-19 The Message

Whenever I get to some words in the Bible that I think are too good to be true, I stop and ask God for clarification. “Did you really mean that the “extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love” are really available to me?” 

Ephesians 3:20 tells us that He is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us. When we sincerely commit our plans to God, His power, i.e. ability, begins to work in us. He promises to cause our thoughts to align with His will for that particular day or situation. 

God wants only good for us because He loves us so much. It’s His desire that we come to Him and work with Him rather than trying to make things work on our own. He loves to help us avoid those things that are a waste of time, money and physical effort. He wants the very best for us because we are His children and He loves us very much. 

My husband and I commit our plans to the Lord every morning and every evening we review the day and thank God for His extravagant dimensions of love towards us. We love to think His thoughts and He loves to hear our praise—each and every day!

Proverbs 16:3 NIV

I Corinthians 2:9

Ephesians 3:20

Hi everybody!

My husband and I had such a great Saturday and I can't wait to tell you about it! First of all, I want to say that God caused both of our thoughts to become agreeable to His will--and that's because we committed our plans for the day to Him. (Proverbs 16:3 AMPC) Actually, we had no plans which often is the case for us.

I walked into my office to turn off the lamp and I had a thought, "I really do need to get a new lamp because this one really wobbles." Then the thought "Nebraska Furniture Mart" jumped into my thoughts. I quickly whisked it away because going to Nebraska Furniture Mart is a huge undertaking. It takes a lot of time and energy! I walked out of my office thinking, one of these days I'll just run into a lamp somewhere and I'll buy it.

Since we had no plans for the day, we decided to make plans. The forecast predicted rain so that eliminates enjoying the park and the lake we like to go to. I said to Dave, "Your turn to make a plan." A little while later, he came up the stairs and said, "I think we should go to Nebraska Furniture Mart and buy a new lamp for your office." 

I was amazed and I groaned all at the same time. I knew we were going to go, but I really didn't want to. But it was Dave's turn to choose so off we went. Here's what transpired:

We found a parking place right outside the door when the parking lot was jam-packed with shoppers all trying to do what we were doing. 

We walked the entire department and nothing came close in style and price that we were interested---I mean NOTHING! All of a sudden I spotted a lamp that I thought was worth going toward. I liked the style and when I looked at the price, it had a bit red CLOSEOUT ITEM tag on it. The price was ridiculously low compared to so many others that we looked at.

We called a clerk over and as he was writing up the order he said, "How would you like a new one instead of this floor model at the same price?" Of course! That was God's exclamation point at the end of our story!

Dave and I rejoiced to be on the same page and we enjoyed that everything worked out so simply. Something that would have taken lots of walking and lots of time and more than likely--lots of money became a fun and easy purchase. And now as I walk down the hall and see this lamp in my office, I am reminded of the goodness of God and the faithfulness to His promises. When we invite Him, He is so willing to come.

Psalms 119:68 NIV says, "You are good, and what you do is good." 

We say it this way:     "God is GOOD and GOOD is what He does!!"

Day 28  Our Seven Day Recap

Today I am sharing a brief summary of the last seven days. If this is your first time on my blog, I encourage you to go to archives and click on April. There you will find “Day 1” which is entitled “Developing A Successful Lifestyle.” This will help you to know where we started and where we are going.

On Day 22 we learned that there is something we can do on purpose so that we can walk in peace every day of our lives. What is that “something?” Pray Proverbs 16:3 Amplified Classic Bible at the beginning of each and every day.

On Day 23 I showed you how much God cares for every aspect of our day and He wants to give us the wisdom we need to be successful—and sometimes He uses people as His “delivery agents.”

On Day 24 we learned that God has a plan for each and every day and He is more than willing to give it to us so that we can flow through the plan step by step and enjoy great productivity.

On Day 25 we learned that God is waiting for us to come to Him. One of the reasons we don’t is we God is too busy to help us with our practical, daily lives.

On Day 26 I shared with you a truth directly from God,  He said, “I will be to you as personal as you want Me to be.” Wow! There it is for the taking!

On Day 27 we learned that God wants to provide for our every need—whatever it is. Selah…..pause and think of that!

If you haven’t put Proverbs 16:3 AMPC into practice yet, I pray that what I have said so far has motivated you. And to those of you who have made it part of your daily prayer, I would love to hear how God has been able to work in your lives.

God bless you all!

Karol

Day 27 Never Alone

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs

from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 NLT

God has unending resources to meet your every need. Paul is telling us in the above scripture that he has been well taken care of by God. This same God wants to take care of you, as you put your faith in this promise.

We’ve been dissecting Proverbs 16:3 which says, “Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him…” It’s at this moment that we sense that God is with us and that we do not have to fear. When we have unmet needs, we can invite Him to come and meet those needs, whether they are spiritual (like peace, joy, etc.) or relational (having a new friend or a spouse, etc) or financial (a new job that pays more, the sale of property, etc.)—Whatever our need is, God wants to meet it.

You might say, “Can I really trust Him to take care of me?” It’s okay to ask that question, but the answer will come as you take His outstretched hand and step out in faith.  Ask Jesus to become your personal Lord and Savior. Tell Him you don’t want to live life without Him for one more minute. Never again do you have to struggle on your own because God wants to be right there with you. He’s willing to help you, comfort you, and provide for you as you invite Him into your life.

Come, Lord Jesus, be my guest.