From:
Date: September 3, 2019
Subject: It's September 3; Good Morning Union
Hope you enjoyed your day off yesterday! Only four days of school this week so I thought I would share with you the four texts that have become the foundation of my quiet time with God each morning. I shared them with our faculty and staff as we were getting ready for the start of this new year; now I’d like to share them with you.
I love to sit on my back porch swing after I get back from my walk and doing my exercises (which all comes right after I write GMU!). It’s just good quiet time, and think time, and meditation time, and God time. This past summer that quiet time ended up focusing, almost daily, on 4 texts of Scripture that caught my attention from the ones I had been learning. They have become my focal point as I begin my day and practice the spiritual discipline of deciding each day that I want today to count for God. To do that I don’t want any unnecessary distractions. There are enough of them that pop up on a regular basis anyway; I want to start with a commitment to God so my priorities at least start in the right direction. And that’s where these four texts come in. Every day I pray them back to God as a way of focusing my life on Him and what He wants for me. This week I’ll share them with you. They are not the “only,” or the “right” texts for everyone. They are mine! I pray that you find yours too so your focus can be on Him and your life priorities can be centered on Him. So, here’s the first one this morning:
With all the temptations and bombardments of this world around impurity, I ask God to make my heart clean. That includes the gift of forgiveness for the past, and conscious choices for the future, of what I focus on. The temptations may be all around me but I have to choose to what degree I’m going to allow them to impact my life. What I choose to watch, look at, or pull up on my computer can have a profound effect on my ability to focus on God. My heart can too easily be corrupted even if I want to choose wisely, so I need God to “create a clean heart in me.” And then I need him to give me “steadfastness,” so I can continually choose wisely. I ask each morning for Him to cleanse me, and renew my desires to focus only on what will not cloud my view of God or distract me from His priorities in my life. David asked for this and so can I.
Have a great day sensing God’s cleansing and committing to steadfast and faithful choices,
Pastor Rich
Quote for the day: “Don’t shine so that others can see you, shine so that through you others might see HIM.” CS Lewis
PS Christ on Demand- every Tuesday evening at 7:30 in the Rees Hall Chapel join Amber and friends for 30 minutes of singing and a devotional thought. The theme for this year is “Trusting in God.” This week Seth Martin, sophomore pre-nursing major, will be sharing his story. All are welcome.
PPS Visitors from the SDA Korean Language Institute are here today looking for graduates who can work in their schools. This used to be a VERY active option in the student mission program but then the Korean government quit giving visas for teachers unless they had a degree. If you’re looking for a mission experience and a good job all at the same time after you graduate, talk to these folks and get more information. They’re set up in the Ortner Lobby and they leave today so catch them while there here.
PPPS HeartScan applications end this Friday. If you want to be a part of this spiritual mentoring program go to uGroups and get started.