Placement is Everything

 Hi friends, 

The idea behind this blog has been in my mind for a few months now.  It's all about growing closer to God, and putting ourselves in a position to experience Him more personally. 

One day while I was reading a devotional, I realized that in order to grow closer to God and experience His presence in a more personal way, we need to put ourselves in a position to do so. Just like you need to get into the shower and under the water to get clean, we need to put ourselves in a place where God can speak to our hearts and where we can experience getting to know Him better. 

So, in like manner, we need to get into God's word and spend time under His teaching (through listening to sermons, studying His word, prayer, and silence - allowing Him time to speak to us). We need to make sure our hearts are responsive and that we are open to hearing from Him. 

Things that help this: 

1. Spending time in God's word daily. There are even ways you can do this when you have a busy family. I have an app on my phone that I read verses and devotionals from on lunch at work. I use my commute back and forth to work as my prayer time. I meet with people each week to study a book of the Bible. We pray at the beginning asking God to help us see and learn what He wants us to during our study.
2. Let God's word work in you. So often we just take it into our minds, but we don't chew on it so that it gets down into our hearts and souls. One way to do this is by memorizing Bible verses (Yay, we are already doing this at church!) I encourage you to take a printed card of the verse home and chew on it during the week. Some options are:

• Take turns saying it out loud with your kids. 
• Create motions to go with the words. 
• Put it to a rhythm/make a song out of it.
• Read through the verse (out loud or to yourself) several times, emphasizing a different word each time you say it. Think about what each word means.
• Post it somewhere where you can see it and repeat it often. 

3. Seeking God through silence. So often we offer up our prayers but don't wait to hear what God has to say (Psalm 5:3). Communication goes both ways - talking and listening. It can seem awkward at first (remember the 30 seconds of silence in the sermon last week?) but as we begin to practice this, we create space for God to interact with us. Keeping a notebook of what God shares with you is helpful.

Things that can hinder this: 

1. Unconfessed sin.  This is one thing that may come up during your time being silent before God or while reading His word. Don't ignore or deny it. Deal with it. If it involves confessing to someone else and asking their forgiveness, do it. You will feel so much better and it can open up healing in new ways for your relationship. 
2. Pride or an unteachable attitude.  We need to put on the cloak of humility when we approach God - this means we recognize our need for Him. Here's a question - what do you think makes God happier - people who know they need him and draw near for His help and resources (thereby strengthening the relationship), or people who think they can do it all and don't rely on Him as much? Bottom line - it's okay to need God; it is our true state before Him anyway (thus the cross) and it's all part of the plan. It's just hard to accept this in our culture that favors independence and self-sufficiency. 
3. Busyness or distraction - Ouch.  Did this hit you where you live, too? Spending time with God has to be intentional; in other words, it won't just happen without our effort. We need to seek Him and desire to be with Him, and expect Him to show up. (Psalm 16:11 and Hebrews 11:6)
4. Seeking other things to satisfy us instead - Okay, another ouch. This one is a challenge for me. This is one that I definitely ask God to help me with - to desire Him more than things I can see and feel. 

I hope this encourages you to be intentional about spending time with God. This is His heart toward us - to draw us close to Himself. May it be so. 

Blessings.