Prioritizing Time With Jesus

WEEK 1

Prioritizing Time With Jesus

This week, we are focusing on our first area of growth-prioritizing time with Jesus. This area of growth goes hand-in-hand with our ultimate goal of spending time with Jesus daily. It is not possible to spend time with Jesus daily if you don't prioritize your time with Him. God has a lot to say and He cherishes the time He can spend with you, but you have to be willing to give Him your undivided time and attention.

Take a look at your relationships. How can you get to know someone if you barely talk to them or spend time with them? I'm pretty sure if a woman or man treated you like this, you wouldn't consider yourself in a relationship with them.

Think about it. If spending time with your significant other is essential to growing in your relationship, then it is 100 times more important with the God of the universe, your Father, your first love, Jesus.

Here are two quotes from Francis Chan that are convicting.

"When we love God, we naturally run to Him-frequently and zealously. Jesus didn't command that we have a regular time with Him each day. Rather, He tells us to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 'He called this the 'first and greatest commandment' (Matt. 22:37-38, MV). The results are intimate prayer and study of His Word. Our motivation changes from guilt to love."

Okay, listen. This quote is CRAZY. The gist is that you make time for what is important to you and for the ones you love and want to be intentional with.

The key word is love. And love is a matter of the heart. Without love, spending time with Jesus will be another item on your checklist.

"There is no substitute for being alone with God. If you don t have time, you need to quit something to make room. Skip a meal. Cancel a meeting. End some regular commitment. There is literally nothing more important you could do today. God literally determines whether or not you take another breath. "He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything". (Acts 17:25, ESV)

Could anything be more important than meeting with the One who decides if you live through this day? Could anything be better? How can we not make time to be with the Maker of time? What plans do you have today that you think so important that you would race past the Creator to get to them?"

PHEW! This one speaks for itself!

We encourage you to do the following this week:

1. Identify a time and place during your day where you KNOW that you can give God your best and undivided attention.

2. Commit to that time and place for the rest of this week. Observe and record the benefits of this.

WEEK 1 RESOURCES

1. The Greatest Thing You Could Do Today (A blog post on spending time with God)

2. How to Study the Bible (a blog post)

3. 10 Ways to Remove Distractions & Choose God First (a blog post)

4. Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds by Jen Wilkin

5. Going Deeper: Bible Study Resources (a blog post)

DAY 1 - JOHN 14:5–14

Say you live in a dying world and you are one of the few people who knows about the cure that can help everyone live. I forgot to mention that you're also the hero in this storyline and, like every good story, you know that there's no way you'll be able to help all the sick people without a fight. You know your enemy is going to do everything in his power to prevent you from obtaining that cure, and then do everything in his power to stop you from sharing it with other people.

When we think about it, our walks with Jesus work in the same way. Jesus is the cure. In John 14:6 NIV, it says that He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one can get to the Father except through Him. The truth is we do live in a dying world, and the fact is you do have the cure. Jesus.

But you must understand the enemy's strategy. He is going to use every distraction in his book to stop you from spending time with God: I'm too tired to wake up earlier in the morning, life is so busy, I don't know what to do during my time with Him, I'm too tired to do it before I go to bed, or my personal favorite, I just don't feel like it. Some are excuses, but all of them are distractions.

And why would the enemy distract you from spending time with your Creator? Because the more you spend time with God, the more you become who He has made you to be. The more you understand your calling, the more you can help others find Him, and the more you begin to experience freedom because of the redeeming work on the cross.

The problem is not whether Jesus works. You will always feel refreshed after spending time with Him! He says it in His Word. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you (James 4:8, ESV), or He will fill you with joy in His presence (Psalm 16:11, NIV). The problem is making God a priority and taking a moment to carve out time to actually do it. It's difficult. We completely understand how that feels, but so much value comes from it.

You have to protect your time with God, and you will have to fight for your relationship with Him. Decide now that you'll take some time to discover what works best for your schedule this week. And then decide that you will sit and pray for 10-15 minutes no matter who or what tries to stop you.

Action Item/Reflection:

1. Identify the time and place where you KNOW that you can give God your undivided attention. Is it in the morning, evening, before you go to bed, in between class, while your baby is napping? List those out and commit to it this week.

2. What stood out to you, personally, in John 14:5-14?

DAY 2 - MARK 1:35–37

For many Christians, mornings are both the ideal and hardest times to spend time with the Lord. In a day and age where so many people and commitments are stealing our time and energy, it is only human to want to get every bit of sleep we can.

Being a student, a professional in healthcare, law, business, and even in a variety of service jobs requires us to care for the needs of people daily. Life tests our minds and bodies, and it is natural for us to want to recharge adequately, particularly in the morning.

Believe it or not, Jesus was just like us. He was fully God, but He was also fully human. Jesus had just as many, maybe even more, commitments than we do and none of it was ideally scheduled. All day He was pouring Himself out to people, so they were healed and saved. Think about the woman with the issue of blood. By her merely touching His garment, Jesus released His power, and she was healed.

Jesus' days were never about Him. He came...