Prayer and Accountability

I have spent the last couple of weeks, trying to figure out how to do this blog. I didn’t know if I wanted to do it by video or written. I have been trying to figure out how to say what I want to say. Well now that I have your attention, let’s get started, but rest assured this isn’t going to be anything bad, or even anything surprising, it’s just a life update, and yes Jane is on board with all of it, and a part of every decision that I make. On Friday October 2nd and Saturday October 3rd, I attended a Men’s event at my church. In short, it changed my life. The point of this weekend was to learn how to live a pure life. Pure in everything you do, meaning getting rid of all the garbage, and unnecessary baggage. In essence, to get closer to God. I have been trying to do this in my own life for years, and have never figured out how to do it. I would pray regularly for God to change me, help me to be a better person, help me to not gossip, help me to be the real deal, help me to not just go through the motions, which I was doing by the way. I learned two very important things over this weekend. First, I learned how important is it to dig down deep inside so that you can humbly and earnestly confess and repent ALL of your sins to God. All of your sin, no matter mow big or how small. The second is daily reading of the bible, and prayer, first thing in the morning, to jump start your day. If you spend time with God every morning to start your day, than later on in the day when you are faced with a temptation, you have your daily time with God to think before you act. I can’t just expect God to magically make me a better person, without my doing anything. I have to meet God half way, If I don’t make time for him, how can I expect him to help me to overcome any trials. You see, I leaned that I am very selfish, not on purpose, it’s just the human nature. The bible teaches unselfish unconditional love, and that is what I want, to love other before I love myself. The other part of that is you can’t just read the bible for 5 minutes in the morning, and pray for 5 more minutes, and your good to go for the day. No, it doesn’t work that way. My commitment as of October 4th is this. A minimum of 2 hours a day in the word, or a combination of reading the bible, devotions, and reading christian material, and I also committed to a minimum of one hour each day for prayer. Wow, 3 hours a day, that’s a lot. Give 10% of your time to God. People always find time to do the things that they want to do, and they pencil God in if they have the time. Well guess what, that is backwards thinking. You need to make time for God, and everything else comes secondary. Anything that you put before God, anything that comes before God in your life is an idle. The first commandment is, You shall have no other God’s before me. So, I am getting rid of my idles. I gave up TV and canceled my cable, and sold, yes sold my 65” HD TV. We brought the 27” TV from the bedroom, down to the living room, and are now getting 12 channels with our digital converter box, and indoor antenna. TV was not an idle in my life, but the garbage that is on TV is noting but a distraction, and a non stop advertisement of a godless world. I gave away my Nintendo Wii, no more video games. I also deleted all of the games that I downloaded onto my iPhone that I considered an idles. I even went as far as deleting a few people from my Facebook, and stopping following a few people on Twitter. So after 2 in a half weeks of doing these things daily, where had it gotten me? I feel like a new person, I can put my hands up in the air and yell I am free, and mean it, it is the most amazing feeling in the world. I am still as on fire for God today as I was the day I came home from the Men’s weekend. I can not even begin to tell you how much I needed that life changing wake up call. I am not yet no where near where I want to be, but I am certainly on the right track.