Put God First
What takes up most of your time? How is your day mapped out? Is there anything in your life that is taking God's place in your heart? Our culture has a mind set of being occupied with so much in a single day that taking even 5 minutes aside to pray and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit can be unheard of, even for Christians. Where is God on your agenda? I can promise that if you put God under the "when I have some time" category, you will never have the time. When you can move Him from there to "I need Him first thing when I wake up" or "He gets 20 minutes a day no matter what" category, your life will completely change. You will sense His presence more and have clarity about situations you would have stressed over before.
You will train yourself to hear His still, small voice each day. It is always easier to recognize the voice of a friend or loved one over the voice of a stranger. Is God's voice the sound of a friend to you or just some static in the background that you cannot quite make out so you tune it out? Having peace throughout your day is really the only way to live in victory. Even if you have hell happening around you with your family, job, or finances, you can still have a calmness throughout the trial. Living life in fear, doubt, and worry will not help you get through situations any easier. It will actually cause health problems. Anyone can google the effects of stress and worry and see the list go on and on. So how do we make the worry go away? By spending time talking to God about what's going on and praising Him through the storm. I promise you, He is not too busy to listen. He is omnipresent. Jesus said that it is better for Him to leave the earth than to stay. Sounds a little strange to us, but He was absolutely right! Jesus could only be at one place at one time, but He sent the comforter, the Holy Spirit, back down to the earth so He could live inside of us and be everywhere at all times. Holy Spirit is a person! He will guide you step by step each day. He will reveal His love to you and listen to everything you have to say.
Protect yourself from the ways of the enemy by blocking out any negativity in your life. If you have friends on social media that are infecting you with their bad attitude and negative posts, stop following them! Living a life of peace is much more important than knowing 753 virtual friend's status updates. If this is an area of your life that you spend a lot of time in, I urge you to fast social media for a week and spend that time in worship and writing down your dreams and prayers. Watch what God will do when you honor Him with your time! Only you can make the choice to pursue Him, until then, you are deciding that everything else is more important and it will become an idol in your life. Seek His face and desire the path of righteousness. You can be the light in the darkness around you!
1 John 5:21 (AMP) Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols—[false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart].
1 Chronicles 16:11 (AMP) Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually [longing to be in His presence].
Romans 12:12 (AMP) Constantly rejoicing in hope [because of our confidence in Christ], steadfast and patient in distress, devoted to prayer [continually seeking wisdom, guidance, and strength].
