Aloha Ya'll! Had a decent sleep last night but I think my body clock is pretty unhappy with me right now. Dealing with an 11 hour time change means I'm up when I should be sleeping & sleeping when I should be up. Weird...
Marge & I had a great day with family yesterday. We got to see both of our parents and my brother Jeff and neice Hannah. After years away what a blessing to be able to just 'run down' and see your folks! I so appreciate our loving parents & the support they give us as we trapse all over the globe serving. I know they miss us as much as we miss them but we are all called to sacrifice for the greater good & they get it. I love my family.
It's been a a while since I touched on the details of the 5MC (5 minute challenge) and some of you might be wondering what in the world that even means. I try to stop once in a while to define it, in case you want to play along...lets make today one of those moments!
The Lord revealed this to me a few years ago on Maui as I was working with the youth there & racking my brain on how to get them into God's Word daily. I thought what is the least amount of time to ask them to read daily? 30 min? Too long. 15 min? Too much. I settled on a very, very realistic 5 minutes. The challenge has evolved as we've served in different places and the challenge was used again recently as we worked with the young adults at Village Baptist in Florida this summer. Here's the challenge in a nutshell.
The goal...to spend time in God's Word EVERY day. I strongly recommend first thing in the morning. Before you grab your phone, check your email or let the day's problems fill your mind, grab you bible & fill your mind with God's wisdom. We had a saying at youth camp this year, "before you go to your phone, go to the throne."...ha, love it! Before facebook, games, instagram & snapchat claim your mind, take time to spend with God.
Start your 5MC with a short prayer asking God to bless your time in His Word. Ask Him to help you understand what you read on a deep, deep level. This is a critical step...the Holy Spirit will step in & help you process what you read if you ask. Next set a timer or glance at a clock & read for 5 minutes. If you're just starting I recommend you start in the book of John. (4th book in the new testament) When the 5 minutes is up STOP, don't keep reading! The goal is not to read for 30 minutes one day & none the next day and on & on but to simply read for 5 minutes EVERY day. Mark your spot, this is where you'll start tomorrow. After reading relax, take a few minutes to be quiet and simply listen to God speak to you about what you read. I prefer to journal and write about my 5MC, it's so fun to be able to go back a few days or a few weeks and revisit the lessons God spoke into my life. I also recommend you try the 5MC with a partner for accountability. It serves 2 purposes. 1) accountability to help you on those days you feel you are too busy to fit it in & 2) someone to discuss the daily readings with.
So what exactly is the challenge you ask? To repeat this process for 30 days IN A ROW. No skipped or missed days. You'll notice a few things as you start. First, it will seem near impossible to find even 5 minutes to do this. Things will pop up out of nowhere to challenge & hinder you. Satan doesn't want you spending time in God's word so watch him start throwing up the obstacles & roadblocks. Secondly and the best part, as you start knocking off day after day you will start to experience the rich blessing of hearing God speak to you through His Word. As His wisdom, truth and knowledge start permeating your heart you will be changed. You will start seeing the world as He sees it not as you see it. This is my prayer for all of you, that you embrace the goodness & power of the God-breathed scriptures and make them an inseparable part of your daily routine.
Any questions, let me know, I'm here to help!
Take time to make someone smile today...
