Sunday, April 25, 2010

{Scripture Challenge 2} Challenge Word #9, Quiet

Challenge Word #9: Quiet

Do you still have kids at home? Do you work and have a very demanding schedule? Maybe you have a house full of extended family or have guests often. Maybe you have all of this! How often in your busy life do you truly get a moment of quiet? And when you do get that rare moment, how do you spend it? Do you spend it with the Lord?

We need to have a moment of quiet each day, and we need to spend quiet time with the Lord each day. Charles Stanley describes a quiet time as “giving God your undivided attention for a predetermined amount of time for the purpose of talking to and hearing from Him.” As Christians, we need to have a daily time with Him and not just for the purpose of laying our requests at His feet. We don’t want to just talk, we need to listen too. Relationships don’t grow and we don’t learn if we are always the one talking. Make a daily appointment with Him. He is waiting like the patient Father He is!

Think of how busy Jesus was and how the crowds seemed to always follow Him. Yet, as our perfect example, He always withdrew to pray. Luke 5:16 says “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Charles Stanley said “Jesus knew that time alone with the heavenly Father was essential. He could not—would not—go without it. By escaping the noise of His day, Jesus established a discipline all believers should follow. After all, if it was necessary for Jesus, it is vital for those who profess to follow Him.”

For the past few years, my quiet time has been at either 7 or 7:30 a.m. Recently, I have found that time slipping away from me. Then as I would miss the time, I would be upset with myself. How could I miss an appointment with God? So, I decided it was time for a change. Now before turning on my laptop, before doing anything else each morning, I have my quiet time. It’s still dark out, the family is still asleep, and it is becoming a precious time to me each day! I am finding I love this time much better than my “old quiet time.” Sometimes we just need to change things up a little. Maybe you need to change your quiet time—study a new book of the Bible, journal your thoughts and prayers, start a new devotional, move your quiet time to a new place in your home. Change it up a bit. Don’t stop because you are in a rut; you just might need a change.

For my page this week as I thought about “quiet,” I thought about things that are peaceful—a warm quilt (thus my quilted paper), Spring butterflies, flowers, sun, etc. I tried to bring that quiet and peacefulness to my page. And then I used the clock so that I remember and think about the time I have alone with the Lord each day. I also used three amazing stamp sets from Layers of Color—Butterfly Collector, Flutterescent, and Merci Bouquet. Can you find all 3 sets on my page? :) :)
Papers: Basic Grey Kioshi, Paper Trey Ink, Aquarelle watercolor paper
Stamps: Layers of Color Butterfly Collector, Layers of Color Flutterescent, Layers of Color Merci Bouquet
Stamp Ink: Versafine onyx black, Ranger clear ep, SU creamy caramel
Embellishments: Heidi Swapp XL clock ghost shape, American Crafts ribbon, Basic Grey micro-chip alpha stickers, Jolee's flowers, Prima flowers, Spellbinders Labels Twelve, Derwent watercolor pencils


The verse I chose was the Luke verse I mentioned above. I did find several verses with the word "quiet" that I loved too but this verse seemed to fit what I was looking for best.

Remember to use Keyword SCRC210 when posting in galleries. Also, feel free to leave a link here using our new link system by Inlinkz! This will show a thumbnail of your creation along with your name and the link for everyone to follow to leave comments in your gallery or on your blog. We use this at Our Daily Bread Designs, and I think I like it a lot better than Mister Linky. We will try it this time and see how everyone likes it. Please let me know what ya think! :)

So, do you have a quiet time with the Lord? If you don’t, now is the perfect time to start. And if your quiet time is becoming dull, make a change but don’t give it up. Will you commit to spending time with Him daily this week? For those of you new to a quiet time, start small. Soon you will find you desire more time with Him each day. Enjoy your quiet moments with the Lord, and remember to see all of our previous lessons, visit this post here. I will be back with another study on May 9th. Blessings to each of you,



Photobucket

9 comments:

Vanessa said...

Patter! I am always so eager the Sunday you post the new word/devotional, to get to my computer! QUIET!! How appropriate for me this week!!! Lately, my "quiet times" with the Lord have been a little sparce, and I so totally feel my need! ALSO, I told my husband just the other night that I feel like I never have a QUIET moment, when there is NOT some kind of noise! We have 3 wonderful homeschooled teens AND keep my sisters' 2 young kids 3 days/week. My husband and 2of my kids are talented musicians, which I LOVE, but ..... Oh for more moments of QUIET!!! This one I will ponder!.... God is good! ank you!

Anne-Marie said...

Your art is lovely as always. I forgot that you had a butterfly on yours when I did mine. I think butterflies are such a nice addition to lots of our art projects.

Your devotion hit hard as I know I fail the Lord so often with not spending quality time alone with Him. Bless You for your teaching gift.

Laura Kirste Campbell said...

Oh, Patter, this is so lovely! You've really captured a sense of peace and quiet! Beautiful reflection as well. Yes, that quiet time with the Lord is critical for adding peace to each day, I totally agree!

Wishing you many times of peace and quiet and joy from God!

Hugs!

Amy Pitts said...

Patter - thank you so much for doing these. I have been searching for a little quite time myself I have a few of the back challenges to post in the near future. I really enjoy how much one simple word can lead me down an in depth study. Thanks again. :)

Grace said...

Beautifully said Patter, and beautifully done! You are so right about that quiet time with God! We all have times when we miss.... but it's the most important part of our day! Love your page and yes, I found all the stamps!!! :)

Nancy said...

Hi Patter! This was another wonderful study...a reminder of things I had previously learned! I'm excited and ready for the next word! Can I have a hint?...

Anonymous said...

I've chosen Phil 4:6 from the Message for my verse and will post when my page is done. Thanks for this wonderful study! Mary in VA "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness...will come and settle you down."

Gwen said...

Just added mine. This is actually my second go at it! The first one was a different verse and didn't turn out with a "quiet" feeling AT ALL! Got this stamp in the mail yesterday and it just fell together! This is a wonderful study! Not only does God want us to have a quiet spirit, but He quiets us and he sometimes asks us to be quiet! Great to ponder! Thanks!

Jonia said...

I was so excited to finally get this word done! Thanks Patter for your wonderful devotion in doing this challenge.

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