Good Intentions

Do you remember those resolutions you make at the beginning of the year where you plan to do better? While I didn’t make it a resolution I did plan on using my time more wisely. I had it all planned out. (Mistake number one.) I would do my morning devotional with Charles Stanley before work, while eating breakfast and getting ready for the day. That actually works well for me. When I’m running short on time, I listen to a devotional podcast or to the Bible on audible. Then at the end of the day and after dinner, I would paint, then do evening devotionals and blog. All good intentions mind you but that wasn’t the way it worked out. After dinner I would sit down and relax before working on my well laid out plans. (Mistake number two.) You know the plan where I would paint, do my evening devotionals, and blog. ~ You can see how well that turned out. I haven’t posted in some time. 😦

Instead, I played phone games. I read. I painted. I did my evening devotionals.

The next day I started over with the same routine except after a few weeks, after dinner, I played games, and painted. I still had my morning devotionals and I justified not doing my evening devotionals by saying…

I’m doing my devotions in the morning…and I’m working on my painting so that I can become a better artist.

Then it started. The guilt. The whispers of not having my evening devotionals, of not blogging. That went on for a few weeks. I knew it was an attack from the enemy and I let it control my thoughts. I let it guilt me into reading my devotionals at night. In fact, it would be so late that I didn’t get around to writing in my blog. Then I stopped again. I stopped with the nighttime devotionals and went back to what I was doing. I recognized the attack from the enemy and I said “enough”! Our heavenly Father does not operate in guilt. Does He convict us when we start down a path not good for us? Yes. When the whispers of guilt started I firmly told myself that it wasn’t the truth. That I was okay not to feel guilty for missing my evening devotionals but I also needed to get back into a routine that worked for me. I am slowly getting there and I don’t beat myself up if I miss an evening devotional. (I do when I miss both devotionals though! 😅 No, I don’t but I do work on making a conscious effort to get back on track.)

So now I have my morning devotionals with coffee. At night after dinner, I still play games or read, I paint, and I have my evening devotionals because I want to read my Bible and not because of guilt. Even though I already knew this I learned or I could say, relearned an important lesson.

It is important to be in the Word. To read the Bible and plant God’s Word deep inside ourselves. We are the light of the world and ambassadors for Christ. There will be times when we may miss reading the Bible but if guilt begins to assail our thoughts we can be sure that it is the enemy attacking us. God does not drop guilt on us for not reading our Bible. He will convict us when we do something we shouldn’t do to steer us back on His path that He has for us. But He will not guilt us into doing anything.

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Matthew 5:14

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:20

By the way, I want to mention when I paint I find myself praising the Lord and humming worship songs. Have a wonderful day and week. God bless you! ❤