Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn and
welcome to Issues and Answers.
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You know, in our fast
paced world and the hustle
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and bustle of everyday activity,
sometimes it's easy to allow
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all of the circumstances
of our life to crowd out God.
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We're going to be talking
today about how to keep your
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personal walk with the
Lord, that personal, intimate
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relationship alive
in a fast paced world.
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Let me share a Scripture
with you from Psalm 63.
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The Bible says, this is David
writing by the way, he says:
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"O God, you are my God,
earnestly will I seek You,"
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"my inner soul thirsts for
You, my flesh longs for You"
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"in a dry and weary land
where there is no water."
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"So I have looked upon You
in the sanctuary to see Your"
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"power and glory.
Because Your loving-kindness"
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"is better than life,
my lips shall praise You."
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"So will I bless You
while I live; I will lift up"
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"my hands in Your
name." Is that your desire
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in a dry and thirsty
land where there is so little
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of the living water of
the Holy Spirit, do you long
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to know God better?
Well let me introduce you
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to our guests today
because they're going to tell us
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how we can press into God's
presence and keep this personal
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walk intimate with God.
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We're really happy to welcome
both Paul and Carolyn Rayne
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and you all are with Restoration
International, and that's in
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- Eureka, Montana. -
That's correct, right up there
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in the northwest corner,
up near the Canadian border.
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And what is this
accent that you bring to us?
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Well, both my wife and I, were
born and raised in England, UK,
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but we've been over here
in the US for the 6 years.
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And you came to join Restoration
International, why don't you
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tell us a little
bit about that ministry.
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Restoration International
is just a small ministry,
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there's 4 families,
and our real burning desire
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is to help people understand
practically how to live
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for Christ; not just
gain a head of knowledge,
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but how to
actually put it into action.
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So we told our audience that
what we're going to be speaking
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about today is that
personal, intimate relationship
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with the Lord, and I think
that all of us at some point
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or another in our life have lost
the rhythm of our relationship
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with God. What are
some of the tell-tale
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signs that we're heading
off in a dangerous direction?
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We're just going to
share from our own experience
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because as you said, I
think all of us have been there.
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We found ourselves substituting
real Christianity for
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"Churchianity", that's a
word that's thrown around,
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but we were very busy for the
Lord, we were doing all kinds
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of things for the
Lord, but what we didn't
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realize is that the heart
of the matter, the heart of our
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relationship with Christ
was falling away, so we had
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supplemented our personal
relationship with God for all
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kinds of external activities,
which in and of themselves
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are good and right, but
without the heart of the matter,
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it just lost its
meaning and its direction.
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So what you're telling me
Paul, let me make sure that I
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understand because sometimes
people will even ask of me,
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Carolyn, if I say that
I'm struggling with keeping
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that intimacy in my
relationship and they'll say:
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"You're in full time
ministry, what do you mean?"
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But if our priorities become
wrong then we can actually
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let ministry take a top priority
over our relationship with God.
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Is that what you're
saying happened with you,
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- or has happened? -
Yes, that's exactly what
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we're saying. You
know, if you work as an
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engineer perhaps, or in
construction, you know in a way,
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even though that is
still working for the Lord
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because we can work
for the Lord in many ways,
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but it can feel like
that's not the Lord's work,
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so I need to have my own
personal relationship with
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Christ, but somehow, when
you get into ministry and you're
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busy doing the Lord's
work you can think that that is
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your experience with the Lord,
but that's working for the Lord,
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which can sometimes be
different from working with
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the Lord, that was our
experience, that's where we
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found ourselves.
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So, for the time
starved Christian out there,
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and there are many of them,
how do we, practically speaking,
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put things into motion to
get back into that intimacy
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with Christ?
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First of all it's recognizing
you need it, often we don't
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recognize that we need
it, we rush off into the day
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and don't realize that
we never tuned in with God
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in the first place, so right
in those first morning hours
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we devote the first part of
our day to the Lord, everyday.
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We have found that by doing
that we have that connection
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with Him to go through the
day, just like in olden times,
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Abraham, Moses, Jacob,
our Lord Himself, spent those
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early morning hours; and
the manna, as the manna fell
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back in the times of the
Old Testament, they plucked it
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first thing in the morning,
if they went for it during
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the day it was gone, they
had to take it first thing
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in the morning. What
about the people out there
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- who are not morning people?
- That's a great question
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Shelley, I can really relate
because for me, getting up
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in the morning is the
hardest thing in the world.
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My wife mentioned a
little bit about the manna
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in the Old Testament, for
those of you who aren't familiar
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with that, that is the food
that God sent for God's people
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whilst they were wondering
in the wilderness, but where
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would it be if I wasn't
a morning person, but I was
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an Israelite
all those years ago?
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Would I starve and say: "Well
sorry, I'm not up until noon,"
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"so I go hungry."
No, it would soon become
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a priority, and I would
soon be outside my tent picking
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the manna off the ground.
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It's very simple,
but for me it's profound,
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it took me 30 years to
figure out that the only way
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to get up early, wait for
it, is to go to bed early.
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That is so simple, but for
ages I'd go to bed at 10-12
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and then wonder why I
couldn't get up, and one morning
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I was praying about it, I
said: "Lord, why do I struggle,"
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"it's not right that I
have to get up, I can't get up."
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My wife, she's up with
the birds...singing as well,
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but then the Lord was speaking
to me in my prayer time:
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"I can change you
Paul, you don't have to stay"
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"the way you are",
of course, we know that,
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God's trying to take an
impatient person and make
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them patient, He's trying
to take a person who isn't
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studious and make them studious,
and just in that same way,
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in answer to prayer, God
can take somebody who is not
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a morning person and
make them a morning person.
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Whilst it's still a battle,
I have to battle everyday,
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by God's grace it's a
reality in my life today,
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and it wasn't for a long
time, so I hope that's an
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encouragement to
some of our viewers.
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For me personally, for 6
years prior to coming to 3ABN
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I was up early every morning
because I was running a ministry
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out of my home, I had a lot
of time to pray and to study,
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and here the more
responsibilities that were added
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it seems that I was beginning
to crowd some of that time out,
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so finally I've just
prayed, particularly recently,
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I've prayed and said: "Lord,
You have my permission to wake"
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"me up early every morning",
and I've always been one
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who's been dependant upon
an alarm clock, but He's been
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getting me up at 4.30
every morning to spend that time
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with Him before I go to
work. There are people though
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who work odd hours, Carolyn,
what about these poor people?
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Well, often these poor
people will say they are exempt
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to this need but I've
been there, I used to work as a
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nurse and as a midwife,
so I've done those odd hours,
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those night shift hours,
and I've to understand in my own
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personal experience that
your day begins when you get up,
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so if you work at night
and you get up at 5 o'clock
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in the afternoon,
that's when your day begins,
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and you have your
first hours of time with Him
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at that time, and then
you go throughout your day,
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which happens to be everybody
else's night, but you still
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need that for your
first thing for your day.
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That was what really helped
me when I realized it isn't
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that I have to do this at
8 in the morning when I need
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to be going to bed having worked
all night, it's when my day
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starts, which may be
5.30-6.00, whenever it is.
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And what happens when you don't,
are there still occasional times
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when you don't get up?
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For one who's never done this,
what difference does it make
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in your life Paul, when
you get up early in the morning
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and spend this time with God,
opposed to say, you wake up,
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hit the floor running
and you're out the door?
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I like to relate it,
the spiritual world to
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the physical world.
If we didn't eat for days
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at a time, sooner or later our
stomach would start sending us
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a message: "I need food",
and we would start to feel
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some weakness, we would
feel that: "I'm going light"
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"in the head", or
whatever the situation may be.
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In the spiritual world, once we
are sensitive, because so many
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of us have done without morning
time, quiet time, personal
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devotion time in the
morning, whatever you call it,
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and we're so used to
going without it that we don't
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really feel the need for
it, but if we pray and ask God
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to put that in our
hearts then once we start having
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that morning time, then, I can
speak personally, if I go out
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into the day, we're involved
in a ministry and we have
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important calls to make
and letters to write everyday,
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important in the Lord's
sight, but I can say that
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I would almost feel naked
if I went off into the day
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without that time with the
Lord because the difference
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it makes, just to speak
very practically, that time
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in the morning is, for
me, not just a reading time,
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it's not just putting in
time, it's time to communicate
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with God about the
actual day ahead: "Okay Lord,"
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"what's coming our way today?"
And ask Him for His grace,
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ask Him for wisdom to
deal with situations I know of,
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and maybe some of
those that I don't know of.
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Then, as you go into the
day, after I spent some time
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in God's word and received some
council from Him, taken that
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to heart, then to go into
the day knowing that you have
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a companion with you,
you have a partner with you
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and we're going to go
through this day together,
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but to go off into this
day without Him, it's like:
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"What am I going to do?
Who am I going to talk to?"
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"Where's the
strength going to come from?"
00:11:32.59\00:11:34.89
Whilst that may be
foreign to some of our viewers,
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once you've experienced it
you'll realize that it's not
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safe to be out
there without the Lord.
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So you're not referring to just
pastors and ministry leaders
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- who need to be
doing this? - No.
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In fact, children need to
have their time with the Lord,
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and we have young children
and from a very young age
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we started them having
their little personal devotions
00:11:58.36\00:12:01.46
and the real reason for
that is that the whole purpose
00:12:01.49\00:12:05.30
of this time is to connect
us to heaven on a daily basis
00:12:05.33\00:12:08.54
so that when our Lord
returns we're ready to meet Him
00:12:08.57\00:12:12.11
and to go with Him
to that eternal home,
00:12:12.14\00:12:14.42
and we want our children
there too, so they need to come
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to understand Jesus for
themselves at whatever age
00:12:17.75\00:12:20.95
they are, whatever
ability they have to know Jesus.
00:12:20.98\00:12:24.88
So we have committed to
our children in our family
00:12:24.91\00:12:27.39
that we will give them
the opportunity of learning
00:12:27.42\00:12:30.40
how to have
devotions at a very young age.
00:12:30.43\00:12:32.43
The good thing there is
that they're developing a habit.
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I just wanted to put in there,
the manna, that illustration
00:12:35.46\00:12:38.70
of the food that God sent for
His people in the Old Testament,
00:12:38.73\00:12:42.88
who ate the manna?
Was it just the pastors?
00:12:42.91\00:12:45.61
Was it just Moses and
Aaron? No, they all had to eat,
00:12:45.64\00:12:49.74
and that symbolism goes
even further because it was not
00:12:49.77\00:12:53.57
just mom and dad that were
eating, the children were eating
00:12:53.60\00:12:57.29
and even the babies in
arms were eating the manna
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as it came from mother, so that
illustration goes right down
00:13:02.72\00:13:06.81
to the babies that
might be in the home.
00:13:06.84\00:13:08.99
Just a short time with the
Lord in the morning develops
00:13:09.02\00:13:11.67
a great habit and will
save them a bunch of trouble
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that I've had to go
through later on in life.
00:13:15.09\00:13:17.19
Don't we wish we'd learn
these things earlier as you're
00:13:17.22\00:13:19.52
teaching your children. So
from a practical point of view,
00:13:19.55\00:13:23.22
let's explain to our audience
what we're discussing here.
00:13:23.25\00:13:27.10
Give an example of how
long you spend, what you do,
00:13:27.13\00:13:31.34
are your children having
personal devotions by themselves
00:13:31.37\00:13:34.33
or at what age are
they able to do that?
00:13:34.36\00:13:37.82
Explain what you are all doing.
00:13:37.85\00:13:39.78
It's probably 2 questions
in 1 there, firstly what I do,
00:13:39.81\00:13:43.34
I spend about an hour and a
half in my personal devotions
00:13:43.37\00:13:46.41
in the morning, I'm
an early bird as he said,
00:13:46.44\00:13:48.24
which is a blessing.
I'll firstly go through my
00:13:48.27\00:13:51.86
prayer time with the
Lord, and I'm a little dull
00:13:51.89\00:13:54.48
first thing in the
morning, so I have a prayer list
00:13:54.51\00:13:57.62
and that's updated on a
regular basis, prayer requests
00:13:57.65\00:14:01.08
being put on and
answers being taken off,
00:14:01.11\00:14:03.83
so I firstly will spend
time in prayer, and then I like
00:14:03.86\00:14:07.21
to spend time after that,
to spend a portion of my time
00:14:07.24\00:14:11.59
contemplating, praying about,
reading about the life of Christ
00:14:11.62\00:14:15.46
so I read through some portion
of the gospels, maybe that
00:14:15.49\00:14:18.25
beautiful book: "Desire of Ages"
on His life and spend some time
00:14:18.28\00:14:21.91
not just reading about
what He did, but trying to see
00:14:21.94\00:14:25.06
how He dealt with
people; look at the examples
00:14:25.09\00:14:27.73
of how he was patient
so that I can be that way
00:14:27.76\00:14:29.82
to my children, I can
be that way to my husband,
00:14:29.85\00:14:32.58
practicalizing it for my day,
and then I move on from there,
00:14:32.61\00:14:36.14
as a mother I always want
to spend some time in prayer
00:14:36.17\00:14:39.83
and study about how
to be a better mother,
00:14:39.86\00:14:42.73
so I'm looking again
at examples in the Bible,
00:14:42.76\00:14:45.45
looking at that beautiful
book, but my favorite book on
00:14:45.48\00:14:47.43
child rearing is "Child
guidance", it's my all time
00:14:47.46\00:14:50.34
favorite, and I'm there almost
every day gleaning something
00:14:50.37\00:14:53.02
that's going to take me through
the day because what I read
00:14:53.05\00:14:55.24
yesterday may not
keep me for today.
00:14:55.27\00:14:57.69
And "Child
Guidance" was written by...?
00:14:57.72\00:14:59.93
- Ellen White. - Okay.
00:14:59.96\00:15:01.87
It's one of my all time
favorites, so that's pretty much
00:15:01.90\00:15:05.36
what I do, and there's
something either which my
00:15:05.39\00:15:08.01
husband does not do and
he'll share what he does,
00:15:08.04\00:15:10.28
is I like to take those
little index cards and a verse,
00:15:10.31\00:15:13.54
or maybe a passage, a
paragraph, something that I've
00:15:13.57\00:15:16.19
read that really means
something for me today,
00:15:16.22\00:15:18.66
I'll write that out, and
I'll pin it on my notice board,
00:15:18.69\00:15:21.35
the refrigerator,
wherever I happen to be,
00:15:21.38\00:15:23.97
or maybe I'll have a
whole section like I've done
00:15:24.00\00:15:25.94
recently just on love in
the home, and anything I find
00:15:25.97\00:15:29.77
that relates to love in the
home, I'll write it out on there
00:15:29.80\00:15:32.75
and put it in there, that I
can pull it out over the next
00:15:32.78\00:15:35.48
few weeks and just keep
bringing it back and making
00:15:35.51\00:15:38.01
it practical to my day. So
that's what I do personally.
00:15:38.04\00:15:42.39
And that works great for her,
but it does not work for me,
00:15:42.42\00:15:46.27
I don't know why, I'm
just not that kind of person.
00:15:46.30\00:15:48.74
For me, I have a little PDA,
one of those personal digital
00:15:48.77\00:15:52.77
assistants, and I do everything
on there, I have the Scriptures
00:15:52.80\00:15:56.83
on there, I have a lot of
other inspired books on there
00:15:56.86\00:16:02.18
and one of my favorite
things to do in my quiet time
00:16:02.21\00:16:04.95
is to take a verse, just
1 verse and then rewrite it,
00:16:04.98\00:16:09.60
not that I'm trying to add
to the Bible, but I'll take,
00:16:09.63\00:16:13.59
for instance, just recently I
was going through Psalm 127:1:
00:16:13.62\00:16:20.20
"Except the Lord
build the house, they labor"
00:16:20.23\00:16:22.33
"in vain that build", now we're
in the process at the moment
00:16:22.36\00:16:26.07
of building a home, so how
am I going to take that verse
00:16:26.10\00:16:30.46
and make it really practical,
so I started writing it out
00:16:30.49\00:16:34.13
looking up all of the
words in there that I could find
00:16:34.16\00:16:36.72
in the concordance,
going through the Greek,
00:16:36.75\00:16:40.47
well, that's obviously
Hebrew in the Old Testament,
00:16:40.50\00:16:43.38
but going through and then
I'd put it in the first person,
00:16:43.41\00:16:46.40
so "Except the Lord
build your house, Paul,"
00:16:46.43\00:16:50.38
"you labor in vain", and I
would change the word "vain"
00:16:50.41\00:16:53.47
for a word that perhaps means
more in today's vocabulary,
00:16:53.50\00:16:58.03
and then make that very
personal, ponder that verse
00:16:58.06\00:17:01.61
and say: "Lord, help this verse"
00:17:01.64\00:17:03.46
"to be a reality today,
the very day ahead of me",
00:17:03.49\00:17:07.74
and when you've spent
maybe an hour on one verse
00:17:07.77\00:17:11.88
you have no trouble remembering
it " Except the Lord build"
00:17:11.91\00:17:14.81
"the house, they labor in vain",
it just comes straight to your
00:17:14.84\00:17:17.03
mind because you've contemplated
it, and it goes deeper
00:17:17.06\00:17:19.50
than just the words. So
often in many experiences
00:17:19.53\00:17:24.51
we try to read, and I don't
think there is anything wrong
00:17:24.54\00:17:27.61
with this necessarily,
but we try to read 3 chapters
00:17:27.64\00:17:30.49
in 1 morning and just do a
surface reading, that's good
00:17:30.52\00:17:33.60
if you're trying to get
the big picture of a story,
00:17:33.63\00:17:36.86
but for me personally, I
found, just take 1 verse,
00:17:36.89\00:17:40.36
contemplate it, make it
your own and then take it into
00:17:40.39\00:17:43.54
- the day ahead. - I do
something that's a little
00:17:43.57\00:17:46.13
bit of a combination of both
of you, I journal my prayers
00:17:46.16\00:17:50.44
and during my prayer
time I make the Bible part
00:17:50.47\00:17:53.72
of my prayer time and
I'll do what you said,
00:17:53.75\00:17:56.59
I'll read and let God speak
to me and then I'll write it out
00:17:56.62\00:17:58.40
and pray it back to the Lord,
so there's many ways to do this,
00:17:58.43\00:18:02.29
but how about for the
children? What do you do?
00:18:02.32\00:18:06.27
Because I'm sure that there
are people out there who are
00:18:06.30\00:18:08.88
going to be saying: "My
children are not having"
00:18:08.91\00:18:11.12
"a devotional life and
I would like to help them"
00:18:11.15\00:18:13.98
"get started", how do you
do that for your children?
00:18:14.01\00:18:16.93
Well, I'd like to take
it right back to babyhood,
00:18:16.96\00:18:19.22
and that's where we started.
You may say "babyhood?!"
00:18:19.25\00:18:22.62
But you know, as our
children were just babies
00:18:22.65\00:18:24.83
we would just put on a
Scripture song tape or CD
00:18:24.86\00:18:27.98
in their rooms and just
allow that to be playing,
00:18:28.01\00:18:30.80
it was filtering into
their minds even though
00:18:30.83\00:18:33.57
they didn't know it, and then
as they got to around about 2
00:18:33.60\00:18:35.78
and they'd be waking up
at about 6.30-7.00 o'clock
00:18:35.81\00:18:38.46
in the morning, just naturally,
I'd put a little picture book
00:18:38.49\00:18:41.61
in my daughter's lap,
just a Bible picture book
00:18:41.64\00:18:44.27
so she'd have the Scripture
songs playing and a Bible
00:18:44.30\00:18:46.50
picture book. Then
when she got to maybe 3-4
00:18:46.53\00:18:49.41
we would read to her.
We'd have our own devotion
00:18:49.44\00:18:51.99
times, and we were still having
morning worship, but we were
00:18:52.02\00:18:55.02
creating a habit.
We knew she wouldn't
00:18:55.05\00:18:57.79
remember what we had done,
but we knew we were creating
00:18:57.82\00:19:00.26
a habit that it will be so
natural to her when she was
00:19:00.29\00:19:03.00
older that she'd rather
miss a meal than miss her time
00:19:03.03\00:19:05.93
with the Lord. So we
did it with both of them.
00:19:05.96\00:19:09.04
As they got into about
3-4 years of age, we would
00:19:09.07\00:19:12.02
read Bible stories to
them and then when they got
00:19:12.05\00:19:14.76
to the age of about 6 when
they started to begin to read
00:19:14.79\00:19:17.59
then we bought them their
own Bibles so they could begin
00:19:17.62\00:19:20.36
to read just little verses
here and little verses there,
00:19:20.39\00:19:23.21
and now at 9 years old, my
daughter will, particularly
00:19:23.24\00:19:25.83
Hannah, she's
reading through herself.
00:19:25.86\00:19:28.40
She's got a book called
"Councils on diets and food",
00:19:28.43\00:19:31.63
she was so interested
to know about why we eat
00:19:31.66\00:19:34.25
the way we do and
how we live the way we do
00:19:34.28\00:19:36.87
and she's now coming to us
saying: "Mummy, did you know"
00:19:36.90\00:19:39.58
"that we do..." and she
explains this whole thing
00:19:39.61\00:19:42.30
about why we do what we
do, and it's beautiful to see
00:19:42.33\00:19:45.30
she's enthusiastic; and
something else she likes
00:19:45.33\00:19:47.96
to do is she will, and I'll
help her obviously, go through
00:19:47.99\00:19:50.74
the Bible concordance.
She struggles with not arguing
00:19:50.77\00:19:53.68
with her brother, so she
wanted to learn about her words
00:19:53.71\00:19:56.21
and how she should order
her words after the Lord,
00:19:56.24\00:19:59.42
so she would go through
her concordance and look up
00:19:59.45\00:20:01.46
those Scripture on words,
lips, speech, mouth, tongue,
00:20:01.49\00:20:05.38
all of those relevant words
and then write out those verses
00:20:05.41\00:20:08.46
relevant to her that
really meant something to her.
00:20:08.49\00:20:11.39
You may say "Well that's
the sort of thing you would do"
00:20:11.42\00:20:14.36
"in your twenties", but a
younger child can if they have
00:20:14.39\00:20:17.25
guidance from the
parents, and that is the key,
00:20:17.28\00:20:20.18
we don't just put them
over there and they do their
00:20:20.21\00:20:23.15
and they do their
quiet time when we do ours,
00:20:23.18\00:20:25.51
"in what you read, and how's
that going to help you today"
00:20:25.54\00:20:28.55
"not to argue with you brother",
or whatever the situation is.
00:20:28.58\00:20:31.25
Let me share what we do with
Caleb because boys and girls
00:20:31.28\00:20:34.24
are very different, they
are just poles apart, at least
00:20:34.27\00:20:37.42
our 2 are. For
Caleb, if you sit him down
00:20:37.45\00:20:40.84
with a book he'll have 5
minutes and then he's done,
00:20:40.87\00:20:44.28
he hasn't really digested
anything, he hasn't really
00:20:44.31\00:20:46.33
- learned anything...
- Hannah is 9 and a half,
00:20:46.36\00:20:50.00
- and Caleb is 7? -
That's correct, yeah,
00:20:50.03\00:20:52.37
so what we've done with
Caleb that seems to have caught
00:20:52.40\00:20:56.48
his attention is we'll give
him a Bible story to listen to,
00:20:56.51\00:21:00.72
just something out of the
gospels, on his headphones...
00:21:00.75\00:21:03.85
- ...And dramatized. -
Yeah, and he will listen
00:21:03.88\00:21:06.78
to it and we ask him to
draw a picture, just stick men
00:21:06.81\00:21:10.80
or the best of his
ability anyway, draw a picture
00:21:10.83\00:21:13.95
of what he's been listening
to, and it might just be a short
00:21:13.98\00:21:16.56
while, and he spends most
of his time drawing out while
00:21:16.59\00:21:18.79
we have his attention, and
then afterwards, when we come
00:21:18.82\00:21:22.54
together as a family I
say: "So Caleb, tell me about"
00:21:22.57\00:21:25.98
"this picture" and you
wouldn't believe the detail
00:21:26.01\00:21:30.05
that they pick up. Just
for him, that's what works
00:21:30.08\00:21:33.01
for him. His
sister, being a little bit
00:21:33.04\00:21:35.38
older, being a bit
more of a book worm,
00:21:35.41\00:21:37.94
she's happy to read, but
I know there's going to be
00:21:37.97\00:21:40.76
some viewers out there that say
"You mean my little children"
00:21:40.79\00:21:43.60
"sit still?"
Start with 5 minutes,
00:21:43.63\00:21:45.92
soon it'll be 15-20, and
it doesn't really need to be
00:21:45.95\00:21:48.71
much more than that
at their tender age.
00:21:48.74\00:21:51.51
I'm understanding that you
actually are encouraging them
00:21:51.54\00:21:54.82
to have a personal
devotional time, this is not
00:21:54.85\00:21:57.60
a group effort.
Do you come together
00:21:57.63\00:22:00.42
- as a group afterwards? -
We do, we have family worship
00:22:00.45\00:22:03.41
which is short and spirited,
it's not a long affair.
00:22:03.44\00:22:07.38
Often times what we'll do,
and sometimes it'll take up
00:22:07.41\00:22:10.30
our whole morning worship
period, just 15-20 minutes,
00:22:10.33\00:22:13.59
we will just share what
daddy learned in his quiet time,
00:22:13.62\00:22:17.26
and my wife will share
what she learned, and we'll ask
00:22:17.29\00:22:19.92
the children what they
learned, and we learned that
00:22:19.95\00:22:22.99
from some friends of ours in
California when we were staying
00:22:23.02\00:22:25.59
in their home, and
what a blessing it is
00:22:25.62\00:22:27.63
because for instance, my son,
if he's just coasted through,
00:22:27.66\00:22:33.29
drifted through his quiet time,
he didn't really gain anything,
00:22:33.32\00:22:36.70
we know because in worship time
we'll say: "what did you learn?"
00:22:36.73\00:22:40.95
"Erm...well..." and you can see.
00:22:40.98\00:22:43.00
And he'll tell us what he
did at that point, not what
00:22:43.03\00:22:45.49
- he learned. -
Yeah, and I'll say to him
00:22:45.52\00:22:48.10
"Caleb, not what did
you do, what did you learn?"
00:22:48.13\00:22:50.87
And actually it'll come
down to it, actually he didn't
00:22:50.90\00:22:53.50
learn anything.
Well that's okay, there's
00:22:53.53\00:22:56.04
tomorrow, but if this
goes on morning after morning
00:22:56.07\00:22:58.70
we say: "Okay Caleb, we need to
talk here, we need to readjust"
00:22:58.73\00:23:01.99
"the course because
it's not happening."
00:23:02.02\00:23:04.09
Of course, it normally shows
up in their way of carrying on
00:23:04.12\00:23:07.67
during the day if they're
not connecting with the Lord
00:23:07.70\00:23:10.77
personally.
00:23:10.80\00:23:12.12
This just impresses me so
much that I believe many of our
00:23:12.15\00:23:15.51
viewers are going to want
to know how they can start
00:23:15.54\00:23:19.71
training, some of them are going
to have to be playing catch up,
00:23:19.74\00:23:23.94
but this is something
that I assume you are teaching
00:23:23.97\00:23:29.16
when you have your
family camp meetings with
00:23:29.19\00:23:31.54
Restoration International.
Do you have some materials
00:23:31.57\00:23:34.30
available to teach people
how to encourage their children
00:23:34.33\00:23:39.01
to develop this
personal walk with the Lord.
00:23:39.04\00:23:42.11
What we've been sharing Shelley
is really just a cooked down
00:23:42.14\00:23:47.27
version of a full message
that actually our whole family
00:23:47.30\00:23:50.61
does together, Carolyn and
I, and our 2 children will share
00:23:50.64\00:23:53.56
for about an hour, it's
called "Feeding the soul",
00:23:53.59\00:23:56.81
it's from a CD album
called "Guiding Principles for"
00:23:56.84\00:24:01.20
"the Personal Walk", that
is available from our ministry,
00:24:01.23\00:24:04.18
Restoration International.
If any of the viewers want that
00:24:04.21\00:24:07.01
they can feel free
to write in or call in.
00:24:07.04\00:24:10.85
Like I say, this is just
a very condensed version,
00:24:10.88\00:24:13.30
there's a lot more
that we could share.
00:24:13.33\00:24:15.70
- Do you have a
website? - www.restoration-
00:24:15.73\00:24:20.81
international.org.
00:24:20.84\00:24:24.59
"restoration-international.org"?
00:24:24.62\00:24:27.88
That's right.
00:24:27.91\00:24:29.67
Tell us a little bit more about
these family camp meetings.
00:24:29.70\00:24:32.36
We just enjoy family
camp meetings, it runs from
00:24:32.39\00:24:35.02
a Wednesday through to a
Sunday, there's 7 of them
00:24:35.05\00:24:37.85
around the US and several
overseas as well, there's one
00:24:37.88\00:24:41.57
in Romania, another one in the
Philippines, most of them are
00:24:41.60\00:24:46.79
based here in the US,
but families come together
00:24:46.82\00:24:50.47
from the local area and
we have 4 messages a day,
00:24:50.50\00:24:55.46
which isn't really very
congested, there's plenty
00:24:55.49\00:24:58.88
of time for talking in between.
All the messages that are given
00:24:58.91\00:25:02.64
there are just
practical "How to"s of living
00:25:02.67\00:25:07.08
the Christian life, we've
talked a little bit this morning
00:25:07.11\00:25:10.17
about personal devotion times,
but the topic's are on marriage,
00:25:10.20\00:25:13.89
upon childhood rearing,
schooling, how to die to self,
00:25:13.92\00:25:18.76
how to live for Christ,
00:25:18.79\00:25:21.62
given not just by my wife
and I, but our associates,
00:25:21.65\00:25:24.31
Tom and Alane Waters, who also
do "Marriage in God's Hands"
00:25:24.34\00:25:27.88
here on 3ABN, and another
family, Edwin and Maria Nebblett
00:25:27.91\00:25:32.56
So we have quite a variety
of speakers meeting quite
00:25:32.59\00:25:35.03
a variety of the congregation.
00:25:35.06\00:25:37.49
We praise the Lord for
the ministry He has given you.
00:25:37.52\00:25:40.74
Paul, why don't you just
look to our viewers and explain
00:25:40.77\00:25:45.22
to them in a concise way
why there is such a great need
00:25:45.25\00:25:50.04
to have this personal
morning devotion time.
00:25:50.07\00:25:53.63
We have to make it a priority,
we have so many things in life
00:25:54.56\00:25:58.40
that push themselves to
the front, but we have to allow
00:25:58.43\00:26:03.10
God to come to the front of
our lives, and that for me means
00:26:03.13\00:26:07.92
the front of our day,
the beginning of our day,
00:26:07.95\00:26:10.59
and to make it really work
at the beginning of the day
00:26:10.62\00:26:14.50
as we shared with Shelley, it's
got to start with a commitment
00:26:14.53\00:26:20.81
to Christ to go to
bed at a reasonable hour.
00:26:20.84\00:26:24.34
If we're willing to go
to bed at a reasonable hour,
00:26:24.37\00:26:27.17
ask Him to wake us, then
we have every confidence He'll
00:26:27.20\00:26:30.63
wake us in the
morning. My favorite thing to do
00:26:30.66\00:26:34.52
is to sit in my La-Z-boy chair,
and after I've had my prayers...
00:26:34.55\00:26:39.12
on my knees, I'll sit in the
chair and I'll put that handle
00:26:39.15\00:26:42.24
and I'll just sit back
and I'll open up God's word
00:26:42.27\00:26:45.76
and say: "Lord, be my teacher
today", you can't beat it.
00:26:45.79\00:26:50.21
The house is quiet, I
don't know if the viewers there,
00:26:50.24\00:26:52.77
you might have children, at
least in our house it's getting
00:26:52.80\00:26:55.66
a little better now,
but when the children are up
00:26:55.69\00:26:58.93
the day has started, so whilst
it's quiet, a time for daddy
00:26:58.96\00:27:02.57
to connect with the
Lord, then I can lead my family
00:27:02.60\00:27:05.75
through the day.
00:27:05.78\00:27:07.29
I think that's beautiful
and I just want to thank you
00:27:07.32\00:27:09.64
Carolyn and Paul, both of you,
for being here with us today,
00:27:09.67\00:27:14.35
and I'm sure you're
familiar with Kenneth Cox,
00:27:14.38\00:27:16.36
the evangelist, he
made the comment that when
00:27:16.39\00:27:20.35
he found he was avoiding,
or not getting in his personal
00:27:20.38\00:27:24.75
time in the morning in
the word, he made a commitment
00:27:24.78\00:27:27.40
to the Lord that he would
not eat physically unless he had
00:27:27.43\00:27:32.07
eaten spiritually, and he
said ever since he made that
00:27:32.10\00:27:35.72
commitment, he said: "I always
find time for the word of God",
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so I want to
challenge you to do the same,
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until the next time,
may the grace of our Lord,
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Jesus Christ, the love of
the Father and the fellowship
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of the Holy Spirit be
with you, thank you so much
00:27:48.59\00:27:52.10
for joining us today.
00:27:52.13\00:27:54.88