Imagine the last time you went on holidays. You had to pack your bag with your clothes and other essentials. The dog was taken to the kennel, the mail was held and the house was all in order. It was time to go! The holiday could now begin. But that was only after weeks or months of preparation. What did this preparation time do? It gives us the ability to enjoy our holiday more.
The Israelites were in the same position when God told them to depart Egypt in Exodus. They had to get everything ready. They even had to ask their neighbours for supplies, which they gave them. God also told them to institute the Passover so they could remember and celebrate this day forever. Unlike us, the Israelites were going on a journey to a new place. This involved new levels of preparation -they had to take everything.
I have recently been to a huge ladies’ conference in Sydney, Australia. Not only did I have to prepare as set out above, I needed to prepare my heart. I needed to have a level of expectation that God was going to meet me in that conference and impart to me the things that He wanted to impart to me.
The same method that I used for conference, we need to use on a daily basis to prepare ourselves for life – who we might meet, the words we should say to someone or the actions we need to do. We need to be in continuous preparation for the adventure we will find ourself in.
How do we prepare? The same way Jesus did.
1. Read the Bible – Jesus was schooled in the Bible from a very young age and had to memorise it as they didn’t have access to Bibles like we do today. He only had the Old Testament to learn from as His life and what happened after was the New Testament. We need to read the Bible to find out the heart of God, who we are in Christ and more importantly who others are and can be. God told us to ask for wisdom in James but the wisdom will come from the Bible. So we need to read it and see what it says. However, it is not enough to read it, we must obey it. Read it and then do what it says!
2. Pray (talk to God) – Jesus spent nights in prayer. I am not saying that but we need to be continuously in communion with God through talking to Him or listening to Him. Sometimes this is hard but we need to practice being in the presence of God. When something good happens, celebrate with God and when something bad happens- tell God and seek His direction.
As we do the above two things, our hearts will be open to do what God wants us to do. Preparation will happen continually and expectation will follow. This week read the Bible and pray and be open to what God wants to do in and through you. Have a blessed week and keep living the life God intended for you.
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