Need the Daily Time with God:

I am reading a book called, “Revealing Revelations,” by Amir Tsarfati.  I was hesitant to read this book initially.  I didn’t know if I wanted to read a book centered around Revelations in the Bible.  However, I am really enjoying it.  I am really learning new perspectives about the book of the Bible that people try to avoid the most.  I am looking at this book in the way Tsarfati tries to show us, which is as a love letter to those who are in the church.  

One of the first chapters of the book breaks down the seven main churches such as Philippians, Ephesus, etc.  The churches back then were struggling through problems that many churches have struggled through recently.  The church of Ephesus was struggling through forgetting the importance of spending time with God, or as Revelation and Amir reminds us, “To remember our first love.”  Remember the love that God has for us and the love that you need to have for Him.  

The problem that Ephesus would also struggle through was that they would often try to show the best ways they were prospering without really going deep into their faith.  They were going “ten miles long, one mile deep” as the common phrase can describe some churches of today.  They were not investing into their personal relationships with God.  One quote that comes from this book is, “If service is not built on a foundation of close daily time with God, it becomes inevitable that bitterness, anger, territorialism, and wrong motives will creep in,” (Tsarfati, “Revealing Revelations, pg.57).  

Tsarvati reminds us that sometimes people can become very involved in the church, but then don’t actually care about their personal relationships with God.  Service in a church is very important and very good, but it is not the end all be all of being a Christian.  The church does need those who are very willing to serve in the church.  However, similarly to the idea that a person when faced with a plane losing altitude quickly needs to apply their own face mask on themselves before they help apply the masks onto others, Christians need to make sure they are investing in their own Christian walk before they can truly serve others.  I personally can get into the habit of caring more about serving at church for the routine and for the feeling of importance over the reasons behind it.  

One verse that highlights the importance of spending time with God is Joshua 1:8 which says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”  This verse is a good reminder that one needs to keep the Word of the Lord close to their hearts and minds.  This way we may be successful and prosperous, specifically in our Christian walk and with the way that we feel.  We may still run into struggles with the things of this world, but we will be continuously close to God.  

I have found a better routine in the last few years by starting to do the time alone with God in the mornings.  I have found this is the most practical for me to really focus on what I am reading in the word or in Bible Study.  However, I have found that I do sometimes struggle to really remember what I have learned in the morning for the rest of the day.  I sometimes will quickly become impatient immediately right after I finished the Bible devotional time.  I definitely need to find a better way to remember the importance or the main objective from the lesson before I move on for the rest of the day.  

The challenge for this week is to spend time with the Lord on a regular basis.  I would find either a Bible Study or a book that you really want to dive into this week.  This could be any book that is in the New Testament, specifically a Gospel.  It is currently the Christmas season, so a good way to start is to read a Gospel, starting with the Christmas story and how Jesus came to this earth as a little baby boy.  Please seek to always remember your first love.  Remember the love that God has for you that began for you the minute you were conceived.