Thursday, July 28, 2016

My Quiet Time Routine

(My KJV Journaling bible with my
personalized Bible Tabs & handmade
Book Ribbon)

"How do you read your Bible?"

"What do you do in your personal time with the Lord?"

"When do you have quiet time?"

"How do you know where to start?"

These are ALL great questions!

Since a lot of people have asked me about my quiet time routine, I decided to dedicate this blog post to answering questions in that area.

First and foremost, I'd like to remind you of a few things: Everyone is different. What works for one person may not work for another. So feel free to develop your own routine and do what is comfortable for you! My 'routine' changes when my life changes (Gasp!). That's right. When I was in college, my routine may have included quiet time at different times of the day depending on the amount of free time I had. When I changed jobs, when my hours at work were cut, when I am babysitting, all of these things are taken into consideration. Keeping your spirit in shape requires consistency just like with your physical body.

Here are the Details:

TIMING IS EVERYTHING! I PREFER having quiet time in the morning. Not as soon as I wake up (when I'm still groggy & delirious). But, once I've freshened up and fixed a cup of coffee. In a perfect world, I'd wake up two hours before I need to leave the house every morning. One hour to be spent on getting dressed, fixing my hair/make-up. The other hour spent on Jesus... in a perfect world! Pick a time that works for you. If I can't have my quiet time in the morning, I'll have it on my lunch break (my least favorite option) or late at night once the world has gone to sleep.
In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up,
left the house, and went away to a secluded place,
and was praying there. - Mark 1:35
LOCATION IS KEY! I love having my quiet time at home in my bedroom in this orange antique chair I got from my grandmother when I moved into my first apartment a few years ago. Before then, I'd have quiet time on the couch in my dorm room. If I was at my mom's house, I'd have quiet time in the living room on the couch. I usually don't have quiet time on my bed... my mind is conditioned to use the bed for sleeping, so if I'm on my bed, I'll get sleepy and fall asleep on Jesus and we can't have that! However, if I'm breaking my routine for whatever reason, anywhere quiet and scenic is good for me. If I'm at work, I'll go in an empty work room. If I'm on a trip, I'll go to where I can get a quiet view of a beautiful lobby or courtyard.
But you, when you pray, go into your inner room,
close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret,
and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. - Matt. 6:6
WHAT DO YOU HEAR? I love to play worship music in my quiet time. It helps me to drown out everything on my mind and everything around me. I usually play it in my headphones so that I'm not distracted by any sounds around me (phone ringing, people coming in and out, etc). I have to listen to music to tune my ear and my heart to God's mouth. After all, quiet time isn't about what I say, it's about what God has to say to me.
David and all Israel were celebrating before
God with all their might, even with songs and
with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals
and with trumpets. -1 Chronicles 13:8
READ! READ! READ! Now, I absolutely love my Bible. My Boyfriend recently bought me the Bible I've always wanted. It is a KJV Journaling Bible that I spent hours trying to choose in LifeWay. Where do you start? It doesn't matter where you start. It matters more that you start. Sometimes I'll just ask the Lord where to go & open my Bible. Other times, I read more on a passage that was preached or taught recently at my church. If there's a scripture or sermon that's in my spirit, I'll start there. You can always start on a reading plan or just start from the beginning.

And ye shall seek me, and find me,
when ye shall search for me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:13
PRAYER! Who do you know that will spend time with you without talk to you? Praise the Lord. Get into His presence. I use the ACTS method: Adoration. Confession. Thanksgiving. Supplication. That's typically how a normal conversation goes, right? You don't ever ask for something without first greeting a person, getting personal with them, thanking them. Why would you do anything other than that for God. Sometimes I pray out loud. Sometimes I write in my prayer journal. Sometimes I just pray in my heavenly language.

If my people, which are called by my name,

shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face,
and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. - 2 Chron. 7:10
LISTEN! Don't make your quiet time all about talking to God. Be still before the Lord and listen to Him. He desires to speak to you, give you guidance and instruction, and share His heart with you.

Be still, and know that I am God:

I will be exalted among the heathen,

I will be exalted in the earth. - Ps. 46:10

I pray that you enjoyed reading about my quiet time. But, more importantly, I hope you feel led to start a routine. Evaluate your schedule, figure out what does and doesn't work for you and move accordingly. As you draw night unto God, He will definitely draw nigh unto you! Have fun! Happy Studying!!!

Who told you that you had to be perfect?

Am I the only person that has ever suffered from the disease of needing to be perfect? I need my hair to stay perfect. My nails must be perfect. My grades must be perfect. Perfect job. Perfect man. Perfect friends. Yep... everything 'on fleek' ( aka perfect). Well, has it's pros and cons... It helps you to work hard and get things done with excellence. But, it also creates unnecessary stress and anguish when that day comes, and it will come, when you realize that no matter how hard you try and no matter what you do, you can't be perfect.

We are growing to be more and more like the perfect one, but He knows that without Him we can't. At the end of the day, Jesus' goal wasn't just to be perfect, but to be righteous. Often times my problem is that I'm trying to be perfect, not righteous. I want to be perfect so that I look good... wrong motive. WRONG MOTIVE!

"Whatever you do, do it with your whole heart, as for the Lord rather than for men," - Colossians

3:23

When your motives change, your entire life will change. Take the pressure off yourself. No one told you that you had to be perfect.

Love you much,

Ricki B.

Obedience is Better: #nofear

Life is full of choices that we must make and opportunities that we will be offered. For some that sounds exciting and for others, stressful. Maybe you have always made the right choices and never had second thoughts. OR maybe you and I are alike in that sometimes having too many options feels overwhelming and can bring on a fear of making the wrong decisions and fear of the unknown.

I believe that very thing (fear) is what often keeps us from being obedient to what God has instructed us to do. Of course fear isn't the only thing... But, that's what I'm going to focus on today. :-p

There's greatness on the other side of your fear. Every person who was ever great had to first face their fears...

Oprah had to face her fear of rejection before auditioning for a movie role. Michael Jordan had to face his fear of failure before become a basketball star. Soldiers must face their fear of dying before committing to serve on the battle field. DO NOT LET FEAR STOP YOU OR SLOW YOU DOWN!

There are three types of fear: (1) protecting, (2) paralyzing, and, (3) reverencing.

This first kind of fear can protect you from doing things that you feel could be dangerous or harmful. This feeling may keep someone from getting on roller coasters because they don't want to fall. This feeling may keep parents from allowing their child to go a certain place. Or it may keep a single woman on the defense against anyone who tries to change her routine. This feeling may keep a man from opening up to the woman who wants to know him in a deeper way. This feeling may keep a toddler from walking for fear of falling.

But, that fear can easily become paralyzing if unmanaged or unreasonable. If you never allow your children out of your sight, you may stunt their growth. If you as a single woman never open your mind or heart, who will be able to capture it? Sir, if you never open up to that woman how can you ever become her knight in shining armor? If a toddler remains afraid of falling, then he'll be crawling into adulthood. Imagine a world full of adults that never learned how to walk, crawling everywhere, asking others to pick them up when they're tired of crawling. Nonsense.

A reverential fear, though, is what we should all have. I love and respect my spiritual father. He's been like a dad to me since I started high school in 2007. I want to make him proud in every aspect of my life. I take his advice, no matter how harsh, to heart. Growing up, I avoided a lot of situations (not all) because I knew my daddy would not approve. That's the type of fear we should have with our Heavenly Father. A reverential fear of God moves you to listen when He speaks. It causes you to seek His face and seek His counsel and advice. It makes you consider His opinion before decision making. Lastly, it leads you to seek His validation. And if you have that, there's nothing more you need to move forward in your life.

Delayed obedience--for whatever reason--is still disobedience.

Scripture says quite a few things about fear:

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." -2 Timothy 1:7

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." -Romans 8:15

Obedience to God is better than bondage to fear. Imagine all that God has in store for you if you would just move when He says move. You'll never get to Step B without completing Step A. If you are afraid, please know that God hasn't given you that fear. So let's cast it back to the pits of hell! Write that book. Start that business. Go on that trip. Start that ministry. Do what God has given instructions for you to do! The enemy wants you to stay where you are. The devil is constantly trying to destroy you, your future, and your destiny... Don't let him! Everything you want is on the other side of your fear. But, more importantly, everything God wants for you is on the other side of that fear!

I overcame my fear of failure and rejection by stepping out on faith... Over the past week, I've done a couple cool things: (1) I have continued writing my first book which I haven't worked on in a couple months. That book is entitled "The Consignment Christian" which is specifically geared to encourage the heart of young women everywhere who struggle in the areas of faith and identity. And (2) I started my YouTube Channel! So check it out! If I can overcome MY fears, you can overcome yours! Keep me in your prayers.

Lord, help us today to not be controlled by fear when it is time to do what you've called us to do. Let us be fully convinced that the time is now to do that thing. Thank you for power, love, and a sound mind. Thank you for making us your own. Because we have your approval and validation we can run full speed into all you've called us to. In Jesus name, Amen.

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