Seeking Him First
What a gal today’s guest writer is! Gina Payton and I were introduced over a Pampered Chef party several years ago in Hawaii. There was a noticeable difference about Gina from the get-go. It was the unquestionable aroma of the fragrance of Christ. He glows on Gina in a very practical, every day, I-need-Him-for-every-breath kind of way. She’s a tough cookie, after all, she was a Marine. Even tougher, she is a Christian, and a beautiful one at that. Enjoy today’s guest post from Gina. ~ Kristi
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matt. 6:33 NIV
This past week was the Marine Corps birthday, my birthday, my daughter’s birthday, Veteran’s Day, and my daddy’s eternal birthday. A few days of celebration with so many emotions.
Ugh! Where did I get all these emotions?
As I am getting older, I feel the pressure to recognize and honor these feelings with a celebration. There are so many happenings that makes me wonder why does it just last a day?
I mean, if I believe that God is Sovereign, that I know that He created each day, then therefore, even today is a gift for me, right?
Even on our birthdays, as special as the people are in our lives, we choose not to focus on the whole family and not commercializing the day, but to celebrate it with the people we love. We celebrate, pointing all things towards the Glory of the Lord, living simply and prayerfully.
This past week, I celebrated my dad’s eighth eternal birthday. I don’t believe that time will matter to me in Heaven, my fleshly life now needs a day to recognize, acknowledge, and celebrate him. I take these days as a time to reflect on my life with him and now my life here without him. The Lord often turns it into a restful place where I recognize God’s rest for me.
If I was really living a Heavenly perspective, would I care?
This world is such a refining place. God allows trials and tribulations in our lives to prepare us. The Bible says that He is preparing His Bridegroom and working out all for His purpose. It certainly is not easy.
As a Marine, we would say the only easy day was yesterday. So, as a prayerful wife and mother, I have adopted the same. When I spend more time in prayerful meditation on Scripture, then I can celebrate that Jesus is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow. Living that out in my faith looks like I know that He cares for me enough to listen and hear my worries, pains, and concerns even before they come from my mouth.
He adores us to be in fellowship with Him,
and He has made us to praise Him.
Throughout my day as a home educating mom of my own little fire team (4 kids), I crave conversation and “me” time. If only I remembered that God wants to be in conversation with me through prayer unceasingly. As is written in Psalm 139, “O Lord, you have searched me and know me,” then why do I have to tell anyone else? I love this Psalm 139. Meditate on it as though you are speaking it to the Creator of the universe today.
If I start my day in prayer, then I am asking the Holy Spirit to be my companion today, guide me throughout my day, forgive me for the sins that I am sure to commit, and help me to have an open calendar for those that He would have me see today. Because somedays, friends, we just aren’t fit to see anyone! On those days, God has called us to commune with Jesus in a way that nobody else can understand.
So, for me, as a mom, home all days with my four blessings ages 14 to 3, I know that my perspective on each day is determined by how much time that I spend in prayer. My prayer time is not always setting comfortably in the quiet, a sweet pumpkin spice candle burning with Glory music playing in the background. It looks more like me in the grocery store, asking God for forgiveness for how curtly I spoke to the cashier, or taking my daughter to swim in the morning before the sun rises, or wiping up the messes from my four blessings and remembering that the joy of the Lord is my strength.
We are called to pray for others’ needs placed in front of us, those for our country or those of our neighbors. We are called to intercede for others throughout our work day. If my sons and daughters were to draw my prayer time, I would hope that it would be a picture of them, my husband, and me around our kitchen table sharing our day’s events and service for the week, all intertwined with God’s design for each of us.
By spending time in prayer and meditation on Scripture, you are simply obeying the Greatest Commandment: Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. Simply said, Jesus tells us to make him number one in our heart and days. Don’t we take pleasure in our days, when our children simply obey us?
The Word rings true LC (loud and clear) with this message. Put God first, seek Him first according to Matthew 6:33, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you,” and allow nothing else to take center stage.
How do we do this ladies?
Through prayer.
May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you, and may God Bless America.
About Gina~
I served in the Marines, but got out to be obedient to God’s call to be a home educating mother and wife. I have been a Marine Corps spouse ever since. We are retiring summer 2015, and I am once again asking God to show me what obedience looks like in our new season. My husband feels called back to his “homeland” of West Virginia, which takes me away from everything that I am familiar with: instantaneous military spouse friends, home school connections around the corner, easy conveniences to get the last minute item for a recipe. None of these things will look the same for me in just six months. However, I am resting in the fact that I know my imagination never includes God’s grace.
With light love and blessings – Gina P
Prayer Card
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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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I love how our time in prayer helps us to see with His eyes and allows us to change our perspective and our outlook. Thank you for the reminder, Gina : )