"One thing I desire of the Lord, and that will I seek, that I may dwell in His house all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple." - Psalm 27:4SUMMER! I feel like everyone gets excited about summer, the sun, vacations and just feeling more optimistic! I always find the summer a really great time to reset; it's the middle of the year, so reset. Reset my house, budget, calendar, priorities and relationships.
This year I will be asking myself, is the Lord my One Thing, and what does that even look like practically? Would you do the same? Just take a day, and reset... reset with the Lord, friends, family, work; just reset life.
Here are a few practical tips that I use in my own life to stay One Thing focused:
1. Every day when I wake up (some days even before I open my eyes) I pray and ask the Lord to be in my every thought, action and word that day. I dedicate my day and life to Him every morning. A lot of mornings I will pray this (or something like it)...
" Lord, I want You to be in absolutely everything I say, do and think today. I want You to radiate out of me so that others see You, not me. I am taking up my cross today, I deny myself and follow You & Your way."(Matthew 16:24)
2. I pray and declare Scripture over myself daily. One of my favorite Scriptures to do this with is Colossians 3:1-17. I change the pronouns to personal ones; so the Scripture says, "then YOU have been raised with Christ" I change it to "then I have been raised with Christ".
3. I remind myself that the Lord hears me. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) He WANTS to hear from me. So, I keep that on my mirror, on post it notes around the house, in the office.... wherever I can, so that I remember as often as I can that He wants to hear from me. It's His will that we pray without ceasing, prayer is just communicating with Him. So, when I see that verse (ALL over the place) I direct my thoughts toward Him; I communicate with Him.
4. "WHATEVER you do , work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men"
(Colossians 3:23). Whatever I do in life I try to do it for the Lord; dishes, work, singing, smiling at someone, getting groceries, doing laundry.... I do it all with integrity and as though I'm doing it for the Lord. Sometimes I'll have the though in my head that He is standing/sitting next to me, and that He can hear and see all that I'm doing and thinking... (He can of course, lol). But the point is, anything you do in life can be worship and honoring to the Lord!!