A Most Alarming Experience

Today I am to meet Marie at 9:30 for morning coffee. I slept badly, so I decided to wait until the alarm clock went off at 7:30 to get up. Now understand that the Lord has made it clear that I am to spend quality time with Him before I start the day. Waiting until 7:30 would not have given me much time to do that. When I woke up at 5:30 I told the Lord I was too tired to get up and promptly went back to sleep. Sometime later I was dreaming about a bell ringing in a firehouse, calling the firemen to answer a call. About then the loudest noise, like an air horn, was blaring in my dream. I thought my fire alarm had gone off. Immediately, I jumped up and listened. My response to the dream was to say, “I’m sorry Lord, I will get up and spend time with you before I meet Marie.”

I know there is a call on my life to be like Anna (Luke 2:36-37), spending quality time with the Lord every day in prayer. This is a hard call. It is easier to witness in the marketplace than to discipline myself to untold hours dedicated to fellowship and prayer with Jesus. I am not proud to say this. The reward is always great, but for some reason in the past I have neglected that call. I think after this morning I have seen how important it is to set aside my creature comforts to meet with the Holy God who loves me so much He desires to spend time with me at the start of the day. How awesome this is!

In the past I have dealt with low self-esteem, but the Lord is now showing me who He made me is who He wants me to be. When I think less of myself, I need to always remember He went to the trouble to “sound the alarm” so that I would get up and spend time with Him. Thank you, Jesus, for you love. Please forgive me for putting You off at 5:30. I wonder how many alarms I have missed in the past. I pray I won’t need to be jolted awake anymore but be eager to get up and be at one with You.


Matthew 26:41 Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

A Date With Jesus

I remember years ago anticipating an upcoming date. Expectancy grew as the day wore on. Then the time arrived. The date was a reality. Some dates turned out to be far better than anticipated and some were an awful flop. Although highly anticipated, the actual date could never be predicted.

This morning as I sat ready to spend time with the Lord, out of my mouth came, “Let’s have a date Jesus.” The great thing about a date with Jesus is that it is never a flop. It is always a wonderful experience. As I thought about this, the problem is we don’t often anticipate our time with Jesus with the expectancy we do with others. Do we present our best to Jesus? A heart eager to fellowship with Him, or one that is doing its duty, like checking off the block of time allotted for “quiet time?” Doing only our Christian “duty” often leaves us without an intimate encounter with Him. How often we take our date with Jesus so cavalier. My, how that must disappoint Him! I wonder if it is a flop date for Him? I imagine He anticipates our date far more than we do. My, how that hurts my heart to think I have taken His feelings so lightly.

I have never known Jesus not to show up for a date. How many times has He quietly called me unto Himself and I have gone about my merry way ignoring His call to my heart? How it saddens me to think that I have ignored His bidding. I pray that in the future I will approach my date with Jesus with the same expectancy I have in the past with others. The wonderful thing about a date with Jesus is that I have that privilege any time, day or night. All I have to do is reach my heart out to Him and He is there waiting for me.

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.