Thoughtful Hour
Here is a quote from an Author who coined this amazing concept, Quote; “Many attend religious services, and are refreshed and comforted by the word of God; but through neglect of meditation, watchfulness, and prayer, they lose the blessing, and find themselves more destitute than before they received it. Often they feel that God has dealt hardly with them. They do not see that the fault is their own. By separating themselves from Jesus, they have shut away the light of His presence. It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross. As we associate together, we may be a blessing to one another. If we are Christ’s, our sweetest thoughts will be of Him. We shall love to talk of Him; and as we speak to one another of His love, our hearts will be softened by divine influences. Beholding the beauty of His character, we shall be “changed into the same image from glory to glory.” 2 Corinthians 3:18. {DA 83}
Now the best part repeated, “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.” This is like being “Marinaded in the Love of God as found in Christ Jesus.” There is a second part to this quote, that is most interesting, “We shall love to talk of Him; and as we speak to one another of His love, our hearts will be softened by divine influences. Beholding the beauty of His character, we shall be “changed into the same image from glory to glory.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.” When you hear people chatting, how often is it about the Love of God? What God did in their lives is often years or decades ago, God to them is a God of the Past, and like ancient Israel, God did things “once upon a time, long, long ago, in a land far far away.” But, God will restore and recreate, but that is way in the future, their concept of God was only “Past” and “Future.” Is your God “Absent in the Present,” just a God of the Past and a God of the Future?
Now the best part repeated again, “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.” God is “Present,” and “Current” and “Here” but are you connected to this living stream, or has “the cares of this life” filled in and dammed up the channel of life connecting us to Heaven? King David had a living daily connection, as in this Psalm, Psalm 46:1-11 “God [is] our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; [Though] the waters thereof roar [and] be troubled, [though] the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. [There is] a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy [place] of the tabernacles of the most High. God [is] in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, [and that] right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts [is] with us; the God of Jacob [is] our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts [is] with us; the God of Jacob [is] our refuge. Selah.”
In your “Thoughtful Hour” you will always find that “God [is] our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” God is current, God is Present, he is very near, we just need to let him into our thoughts, to lead and to direct by the “Holy Spirit,” so how “Thoughtful was your Hour,” or did it shrink to a “Moment” or did procrastination put it off to a more convenient time. Acts 24:25 “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” Felix died without ever having a second chance, so we can so easily Procrastinate ourselves right out of Heaven and into the waiting arms of Satan, into everlasting bondage, sin and death.
Luke 9:10 “And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.” There are a few occasions when the crowds and press became so much for Jesus and the Disciples, that they fled across the lake to the other side, so that they could even eat and talk together, but the crowds usually found them again and came running to them once more. Jesus often arose before dawn, went out to a quiet place to pray and to talk to his Father in Heaven, and some nights were spent entirely in prayer and communication. So how well do we spend a “Thoughtful Hour?”
