Power of 5 Minutes a Day

By Joanna K. Harris

Joanna Harris is an author and blogger with a tremendous passion for God.  You can contact Joanna here.  For more on Joanna and her ministry, check out her website here.  There you can also find links to her other blogs.

Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. -Proverbs 13:11

I know this verse is specifically talking about money, but I think the same principle can apply to our time as well. Time can easily slip away from us, or we can harness time little by little to make it grow in impact and effectiveness.

One way to do that is to recognize the power of what we can do with just 5 minutes every day.

Jimmy Evans (marriage expert) says that 5 minutes a day of practicing empathy toward your spouse can resurrect a dead marriage. I've also heard that 5 minutes a day of praying with your spouse can greatly improve the quality of your marriage. 

You may also have heard that  

* 5 minutes a day of laughter can improve your health. 

* 5 minutes a day of tidying the house can keep the potential chaos under control (just ask my mom who raised 6 kids). 

* 5 minutes a day of reviewing your goals and strategies can keep you on track and more focused, helping you say "yes" to the right things and "no" to the distracting things. 

In my own life I can testify to the power of 5 minutes a day spent in simply delighting in God. It refreshes my focus and transforms my perspective. 

With 5 minutes a day of memorizing Scripture, over the last two years, I've memorized several Psalms and a few short New Testament books.

Andy Stanley explains that it is small deposits of time, over time, that produces significant results.

5 minutes a day of listening to your kids may go farther than one big outing once a month. 

5 minutes of stretches a day is worth more than one long workout now and then.

I think this principle can be powerful in any arena of life.

I know in my own life that if I don't plan for things, they usually don't get done. Thankfully, 5 minutes a day is something even I can plan for in my schedule, and 5 minutes a day is a good place to start for habits that we eventually want to increase in, such as prayer or Bible reading. 

So, some good questions to ask are,

* Can we use this habit of 5 minutes a day to move toward becoming who we want to be? 

* Can we use this habit of 5 minutes a day to work for what matters in eternity? 

* Can we use this habit of 5 minutes a day to practice doing our part?

The options are plentiful. Where is God leading you? How can you use 5 minutes a day as a powerful tool in your life this week?

Simplify Your Spiritual Life

By: Dr. Don Whitney

Don is the Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality and Senior Associate Dean at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as the Director of The Center for Biblical Spirituality.  Read more about Don here.  The following is an excerpt he provided from his book Simplify Your Spiritual Life (Colorado Springs, CO.: NavPress, 2003).

Does your spiritual life sometimes seem more like a burden than a blessing? Does your spirituality seem to exhaust you as often as it refreshes you? Have your spiritual practices become "just another thing to do" in an already overcrowded, stress-filled schedule? If so, then you need to simplify your spiritual life.

We should expect part of true spirituality to exhaust us, for it exists not merely for our own edification, but to serve the glory and purposes of God. Jesus' spiritual labors occasionally so fatigued Him that He could fall asleep in an open boat in the middle of a lake during a life-threatening storm (Luke 8:22-25). Likewise, the Apostle Paul knew the depletion of inner resources that results from the willingness to "spend and be spent" for the sake of the souls of others (2 Corinthians 12:15). All aspects of externalized spirituality—serving people's needs, doing good works, taking the Gospel to the spiritually lost, working in church ministries—all these expend the reserves of both body and soul.

There's a problem, though, when the inflow of spiritual renewal doesn't replenish the outflow of spiritual ministry. For the spiritual life should also be the source of inner recreation and restoration since it is the way we most directly experience the Lord Himself in daily life. Through our spiritual disciplines (rightly motivated and practiced) come many of the most refreshing blessings of knowing Christ.

An example of how the spiritual disciplines can be an ongoing means of reinvigorating the soul occurs in Psalm 1:2-3. Frequent meditation on (and not just reading) God's Word so continually refreshes the meditator that, "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."

However, as everything else in our lives becomes more complex, so can our spirituality. As one writer observed, "The pattern of overinvolvement, clutter, and busyness that is a part of our lives at home and at work will follow us into our spiritual lives unless we are vigilant." With increasing prosperity and technology come increasing opportunities and options—even in our spiritual practices—that weren't available a short time ago. For instance, instead of simply sitting in a comfortable chair by a sunny window with our Bible, journal, and pen, now we can

·         Receive devotional readings sent daily by automatic email.

·         Read the Bible in several of the many translations we possess, including those on our computer.

·         Make journal entries on the computer by keyboard or voice-recognition software, inserting interesting graphics along with the text.

·         Envelop our devotional experience with worship-enhancing audio and/or video.

But it all needs to be done faster than ever before because of the strangling demands on our time.

The growing frustrations of hurry and complexity affect the practice not only of our personal spiritual disciplines, but of our congregational spiritual disciplines (the ones we practice with other Christians) as well. There's less time for church involvement than previously, and yet there are more church activities to choose from. We're so far behind in so many things that sometimes we wonder if what we receive from church is worth the overwhelming effort just to get there.

In some ways we're doing more than ever spiritually, but enjoying and profiting from it less. Many areas of our lives are productive and prosperous, yet we've never felt so spiritually withered. Our calendars are full, but our souls are empty.

The time has come to evaluate whether what we are doing in our spiritual lives is taking us where we want to go. There is hope.

www.newlineministries.com

High Places

By: Adam McClendon

2 Kings 12:2–3: And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.  Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.

 
From all accounts, Jehoash had a heart to serve the Lord.  The Bible declares that he did what was “right in the eyes of the Lord.”  Jehoash repaired the house of the Lord demonstrating his sincere desire to honor God, and yet, somehow, he missed the pagan high places.  These pagan high places were designed for the worship of false gods.  It is unclear why or how Jehoash missed these centers of pagan worship.  It could be that these high places were so entrenched in the culture that Jehoash did not even recognize them as wrong, maybe he had fond memories of visiting them earlier on in his childhood, maybe the priest who advised him told him that they were okay and he took the priest at his word without checking the records of the law for himself, but again, the text just doesn’t say.  What the text does clearly say is that although he did much that was right he never purged idolatry from the land as instructed.

So, all this makes me wonder.  If a king doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord could miss such blatant idolatry, couldn’t I?  What high places do I blindly tolerate or indulge?  What sinful areas of my life are so culturally accepted that I don’t even question their legitimacy?  What evidences of idolatry have been dismissed due to the inaccurate teachings of trusted men? 

 

The reality is that I’m sure they are there.  The real question is, “Am I willing to tear any pagan high places in my life and heart down despite the social implications and personal cost?”  If I am willing, then I can seek God and he will help reveal them to me and empower me to get rid of them.  God wants me to be holy (1 Pet 1:14-16).  So today, may God open my eyes to the high places of my life and heart, may he embolden me to seek them out, and empower me to tear them down walking in greater conformity to the image of his Son. 

Prayer:

Revealing God, today, would you help me to see any idolatrous areas of my life?  Open up my eyes to those missed high places, and humble me to the point of repentance.  Turn me from my ignorant sins and give me a greater understanding of what it means to walk in holiness today.  God thank you for giving me your word and help me to constantly turn to it as the ultimate guide for all matters of life and faith. 

www.newlineministries.com