Have you ever been in a bad mood or just feeling down or depressed? Of course, we all have emotional ups and downs. Sometimes we just don’t “feel” happy or motivated. Sometimes we allow our human nature to get the best of us and we don’t live up to our God-given potential. Sometimes, we are just in a bad mood.
So, the question is “how do you honor God in these times?” I believe the answer is to return to the basic fundamentals of being a follower of Jesus. Here are a couple of good quotes I found about the importance of returning to the fundamentals.
"Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. You’ve got to get the fundamentals down because otherwise the fancy stuff isn’t going to work." — Randy Pausch
“Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.” — Michael Jordan
There are many things we can do to grow and thrive in our relationship with God but there are a few basic things that are necessary—these are the fundamentals we should focus on before we we move on to other practices.
Read and study the Bible. The Bible is the basic manual that we must read to learn about God and to understand God’s message for us. The Bible contains the information we need to live a life that honors God. The Bible is not a set of rules but rather, the history and plan of a loving God determined to save and care for His people.
Even when you don’t “feel” like it you should be reading in your Bible everyday. I use a Bible that is divided into 365 daily readings to make sure that I read through the whole Bible. I have been reading through the Bible every year for quite a few years. This is a commitment I made to God because I believe the Bible is God’s inspired word to all of His people. After reading through the whole Bible my understanding of God and living a Christian life changed since I had a greater understanding of God’s love and I began to gain a better perspective of how to live a Christian life.
Looking at this from a different perspective I believe it is hard to honor God if you are not reading and/or studying the Bible every day. Attending church and Sunday School one or two times a week is great but it is not enough in my humble opinion.
We honor God when read the Bible even when we don’t “feel” like it.
Pray continually. This is Paul’s exhortations to the Thessalonians (2 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is communicating with God. Prayer should be a dialogue, a discussion, between God and ourselves—not just monologue with us doing all the talking. A good discussion requires that we listen at least as much as we talk. It is impossible to pray every minute of every day so I believe praying continually is more about an attitude of prayer. This is done by keeping God in the front of our thoughts—when things happen share them with God. Share all your thoughts, ideas, plans, and dreams with God and see what God thinks about them. Before you talk with anyone else talk with God. This not only includes things we need and want but words of praise and thanksgiving for the many ways God showers His love on us.
We honor God when we pray continually even when we don’t “feel” like it.
Trusting God completely in all situations. Even though the first two I mentioned are absolutely important, trusting God completely might be the most important of the three. Our complete trust in God will greatly effect our Bible reading and studying and our prayer. We must trust God is who He says He is, that He loves us, He is able to communicate with us. We must trust He will give us the strength and ability to do what He calls us to do. We must trust in His salvation and His promises.
We honor God when we trust God completely even when we don’t “feel” like it.
There are many other important things we should do in our relationship with God but these three fundamentals are important to continue regardless of the circumstances in our life if we intend to honor God. These three things also help us in our warfare against evil forces.
Blessings
Tim
