3 God Time Lies
God wants us to thrive in our time with Him. Why? We are part of the body of Christ. That means we are His hands and feet on the earth. We have souls to win; we have people to touch, to help, to heal.
If we are God’s, then we are also a target for the enemy who would like to hinder us from going forward—to keep us from thriving. Specifically, he targets our God Time.
Thriving for Effectiveness
To thrive means to grow or develop well or vigorously. We need to grow spiritually to be effective in the kingdom of God. We are like trees planted by rivers of water to bring forth fruit in our season (Psalm 1:3), and God wants us to thrive spiritually as well as any natural tree should.
He wants to pour His love on us and through us—a love that can’t be measured. Friends, He desires to empower us for His glory!
He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:3 NKJV
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RELATED: A Simple Plan to Establish Daily Devotions
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The Problem
No plant will thrive if it’s being choked by weeds. The weeds will suck up the nutrients and water in the soil that the plant needs to survive. A plant can survive among weeds, but it won’t thrive as the strong plant it is intended to be. Simply surviving is not thriving.
I learned this as a young Christian when I realized I wanted to help people, but I didn’t know how. To find out how I needed to meet with God. I was also eager for Him to reveal what He wanted me to do to help others. My new resolve bubbled up—to become and remain a strong follower of Jesus.
And don’t you know that whenever you resolve to seek God in earnest the devil shows up with lies? He hopes we will believe his lies because he doesn’t want us to spend time with God every day.
Developing a habit of having a daily time with God will bring us to a place of thriving. #DailyTime #LiveYielded Share on XHe must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30 ESV
3 Lies about God Time We Can Trash Right Now
God Time Lie #1: I don’t need to do this.
First, let’s dispose of the lie that says, “I don’t need to do this.” Spiritually thriving isn’t only for your pastor. (No, he doesn’t just seek God therapeutically after tending rowdy sheep all day.) Moses as a leader had face time with God. (I would have stayed on that mountain away from those people, too.) Jesus as a human still needed to keep a strong spirit by finding an isolated place to pray (Mark 6:46).
God Time Lie #2: I don’t have time for this.
Second, let’s trash the lie that says, “I don’t have time for this.” Life is busy and brings interruptions. It’s frustrating, isn’t it? However, everybody has the same 24 hours; it’s how we schedule them that makes the difference. People don’t have time for something, they make time for something. We make time for what’s important to us. Is spending time with your Creator so His love will be poured onto You and overflow from your life to others important to you? THIS is why we are here!
We exist to spend time with God so His love can be poured on and through us. #DailyTime #LiveYielded Share on XGod Time Lie #3: I won’t keep up with it, so why bother?
Third, let’s get rid of the lie that says, “I’ll never keep up with it, so why bother?” Building habits take time. In the various research I’ve done, building a new habit can take a minimum of 21 days. In most cases, it takes much longer. We are all different and have different circumstances and temperaments. The good news is, we can build habits. Just be patient. If our end goal doesn’t look anywhere near where we are today, we don’t have to be discouraged. God is still increasing in our lives as we continue to open our hearts to Him.
These God Time lies can keep us from thriving. Let’s trash them right now!
What God time lies could you add to this list?
Lies keep us from spending time with God through daily devotions. #DailyTime #LiveYielded Share on XLike this post? Pin it for later! Your friends would probably like it, too! Use the icons below to share it with them. They’ll be glad you didn’t keep it all to yourself. 😉
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Kelly, these are great points. As the saying goes, you make time for whatever really matters to you. That being said, I’m getting up from the computer now to get some exercise! 🙂
Oh, man. I so need to do that. lol Good for you, Sarah!
Kelly, I think I tell myself, “I’ll do after I do…” If i’m not careful it gets squeezed into a tight time instead of having time to really enjoy my time with the Lord.
I have definitely been there, Deb! And I often want to rush through. Thanks for stopping by!
I think these are common deceptions. It is so important to be intentional about our time with God each day, otherwise it’s too easy to drift.
Exactly. Thanks, Lesley!
Practical and relevant truths, Kelly… we need to have friends who speak truth in grace like this. Because honestly we need to meet with God daily ( for me moment-by-moment. We need to be rooted and grounded in His Word, which means we need to read it ( Romans 10:17). And I have found that more than either of those, the time I set aside for Him is only rewarded with more time in the day for the possibility to serve Him well by loving others out of the love He pours into us as we rest at His feet.
One of the lies I had to let God deflate was that it didn’t matter cause I couldn’t ‘hear’ Him speaking to me anyway, and why pray when my prayers don’t seem to get past the ceiling. 🙂
They were both fallacies I chose to believe rather than rest in the knowledge that His faithfulness is continual and His voice is always whispering grace to my heart.
Great reminders, Kelly!
Blessings,
Dawn
Amen, Dawn! I pray daily for all my readers that we would be rooted and grounded in Him. Thanks for sharing your story. 🙂
Daily time with God has been THE one thing that has rescued me in the past few years. I’m so grateful for the Word. But you are so very right — our enemy delights in giving us those lies that keep us from the Word. Happy to be visiting today!
Describing that time as a rescue sounds like a fitting word. Thanks for stopping by, Lisa!