Just Jesus and Me {Women in God's Word - Day 4}

We are at day 4 in our Women in God's Word series. Today I bring you one of my very best friends, Shari, from Shari Miller, Living to Leave a Legacy. One day a little over 4 years ago I received an email from Shari after she stumbled across my blog. We hit it off and have been best friends ever since. I call her my sister friend. {smiles} Please help me welcome Shari!

Relationships take time.

They also takes work, dedication, and commitment.

This is especially true in our relationship with God. To grow and mature in Him, we have to be willing to put in the intentional time with Him worshiping, praying and reading His Word. We have to be willing to lay aside time and self, in order to give Him the adoration that He deserves.

How we approach our time with God is going to be different for each one of us, because of the unique individuals we are. I'm so glad when God created us that He didn't decide to make us carbon copies of each other, how boring would that be! It's because of our uniqueness that we will approach our quiet time with God in different ways.

When we look at the best way to have our quiet time with God, it can be easy to fall into the comparison trap. We can spend our time on Faecebook and Pinterest, looking at how everyone else spends "their" alone time with God and then we think that we need to follow suite. This can create a huge problem of feeling like we have failed, when we don't have these grand and glorious moments all the time. When we do this it can be easy to feel that we don't measure up to others standards, become discouraged, and end up neglecting our quiet time because we are not like everyone else.

Here's the thing to remember...


God wants you to be you! However you decide to have your quiet time is fine, the most important thing is that you are coming to Him with a worshipful heart trying to grow and mature as His child.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good pleasing and perfect will."  Romans 12:2 (NIV)

For me personally, my quiet time can look different every day, depending on how I'm feeling or where I'm at spiritually with my walk with God. On most days you can find me here, in my blue rocker that was my Dad's, covered up, all warm and snug with my favorite quilt. I usually have my window open for the fresh air and so I can hear the birds sing. Sometimes my quiet time is in the morning, sometimes it's in the early afternoon. There are other days you can find me at my kitchen table with a cup of tea, and a candle lit, it just depends on what feels right for me at the moment.

The most important thing for me in my walk with God, is that I am always moving forward. I've been through so much in my life, cancer, the death of my Dad, my Mother being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, family issues, and the list could go on and on. What I've learned through it all is that God has to be at the center of my life if I am going to make it through these trials; if I neglect my time with God, I will be stagnate and the pressures of these situations will intensify. It will seem like I'm all alone in a canoe with a broken paddle, constantly trying to move forward, and end up going in circles instead.

My time alone with just Jesus and me, gives me the courage, hope, and wisdom to move straight ahead with God leading the way.

"But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

What my devotions or quiet time looks like varies. It can include things such as studying a specific topic in the Bible, memorizing Scripture, going through a Bible study workbook or reading a devotional like, "Jesus Calling."There are times when I also like to have worship music playing so I get my spirit in the right frame of mind.

One thing that I have recently started doing is keeping a journal. My journal is divided into three sections.

~ The first section is my prayer to God. I talk to Him/write out to Him what I'm feeling, just like He was sitting in the room with me.

~ In the second section, I write out what I'm learning through the section of scriptures that I'm reading. I also write out favorite verses that I would like to memorize. What I'm studying in God's Word, is gong to depend upon what God has lead me to read.

~ The third section is my prayer requests. I write the requests in a different color ink so it's easy to spot later when I come back and record how God has answered my prayers.

Sometimes, I draw too, it just depends on how I'm feeling and how I want to pour my heart out to God.

If you don't already have a quiet time with God, I want to encourage you to start one. I promise you that reading your Bible and praying to God will affect your life more than anything you have every done.

You will find the peace, wisdom, and strength when you take the time to honor Him, by making your relationship with Him the most important thing in your life.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5 (NIV)

Shari and her husband, Bill, have been married for 22 years and have two children who are their precious gifts from God. She is a housewife, mother and writer. Her favorite things to do are study God's Word and be at home taking care of her family. Share is also a stage IV breast cancer survivor who lives each day striving to give God the glory for all that He has done in her life. You can find Shari blogging about leaving a Godly legacy, hope and encouragement in Jesus and her life's journey at Shari A. Miller, Living to Leave A Legacy. 
Connect with Shari: website - Facebook - Twitter - Instagram

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