Meet ‘n Greet & Fellowship

• Jenglander

I’d like to start doing this maybe once a week or so. We have a lot of believers on here! I think it would be a great idea for us to have a small space to get together and meet and talk. I think I’ll throw up a theme for us to comment on plus the meet ‘n greet 🙂

This week…what is your favorite way to start the day with God?

Mine is a french press, brewed strong, sitting in the bay window at home reading my Greek and Hebrew Bible and feeling Jesus’ arms all around me holding me tightly 🙂 Best way to wake up with me. Now, we have three kids and they wake up super early, so this doesn’t happen every day. But it’s still my favorite.

Love to hear from you!

Blessings!

Joel

50 thoughts on “Meet ‘n Greet & Fellowship”

  1. My favorite way to start the day with God… Is sitting at my desk with a guitar in my arms and worship on my lips. I want to have a heart of worship throughout the day, so starting out that way helps me fix my eyes on Jesus and reminds me of my own weakness and of my Abba’s strength. I am weak, but He is so strong and so worthy of my praise at all times.

    Thanks for posting this! It’s a fun idea, and I will try to remember to check back every now and again to see what other people say.

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    1. Hi Sarah! Oh that sounds great! A guitar and worship, I wish I was talented musically enough to pull that one, or at least knew how to play the guitar! That sounds like beautiful worship and a great way to start the day with Jesus! I know what you mean, I need the morning worship because I am weak and so easily distracted throughout my day. I have to start the day with my eyes on Jesus or I’m in trouble!

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  2. This is a great idea Joel! Thank you for sharing it with all of us.
    I start my day with a wonderful strong and stout French press as well (with home roasted beans of course😊), sitting by the fire in my living room as the rest of my family sleeps. It is so peaceful and intimate, such a strong presence of our Lord. I love it!

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    1. That’s good! I do that every day it seems…my commute is usually about 30-40 minutes so I’ll get some good time in with him during then. Of course, I still get easily distracted :/

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  4. My absolutely *favorite* way is to start before anyone else is up by cooking breakfast (usually eggs with spinach, onion, and red bell pepper and pan-fried potatoes) while I pray for God to prepare me to hear from Him. Then I sit with my Bible, a journal, pen, ruler (for underlining — I know, I know… I have issues), either phone or laptop (for Thayer’s and BDB just in case), any small-group Bible study that we are currently doing, a nice strong French press of dark coffee, and breakfast. I go through the small group study, then read the Word as much as possible, looking up words as time allows or if I feel I need clarification, and have a grand old time while basically taking up an entire half of the table with all my junk. Then I will take a long walk with my Father and the dogs and talk everything over.

    A more common pattern starts basically the same way somewhere between 4:30 and 5 but usually involves me staring stupidly at the eggs cooking while waiting on my brain to come online instead of praying. Then I may end up with tea instead of coffee because I’m old and foods are not always your friend after 40. Then the youngest gets up at 5:30 and soon after says, “Sorry to interrupt, but my Bible curriculum tells me to copy Galatians 5:23-24 but I already know it ’cause we memorized it, remember?” (because of course I really, really need to know that detail at that precise minute). Then the other two get up and it’s all packing lunches and forcing the 13-year-old to eat something before reminding the youngest… again… to put her math book down so we can all read the Bible together before finishing the morning madness and heading off on the hour round-trip to school. But at least I get half that time to talk with God… usually! 😉

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    2. Hahaha! I think I recognize the themes here!! Haha! This was spoton. Yeah, that’s how most of my mornings with God work out. So I guess if I peel back the onion layers of starry eyes on my answer to the question, it’s actually much closer to yours!

      So on the common pattern of staring stupidly while waiting for the brain to come online…I decided the other day I was going to try to break myself of being so ingrained in all the things I do every day. I was going to stop listening to music on my drive and at work and I was going to drink less coffee. Well it was the same morning I got coffee with my friend and I realized after I left that I had forgotten my sunglasses. That said, I am incredibly light sensitive. Daylight right after sunrise typically causes me to squint hard. So I’m leaving starbucks. I’m tired because I got up early with my friend, I didn’t drink a lot of coffee, and I forgot my sunglasses. It was the WORST car drive ever. I kept squinting my eyes because of the sunlight while also trying to keep them open enough that I wouldn’t want to go to sleep lol! And also, if I had music on, I’d have something else to focus on, which I typically use to focus my attention on Christ. Well, Isaid no to that too. If you could have seen me, I would have been staring stupidly in front of me, spiritually too, completely not talking to Jesus. I think the day I did my “purge” I probably spent less time with him and thought of him less than almost any other day. #fail

      4:30am to 5am??!! Oh gosh! I don’t believe that is something I can do. I don’t have to be at the office till a little after 9am, so I don’t wake up till like 8am on mornings when I don’t get up early with the kids (hopefully that’s tomorrow morning, today was my turn and I’m getting a tad tired!) . 4:30-5am is impressive, especially if it’s not coffee every morning. My wife does the same thing though…she’s a superwoman, I have no idea how she does it without an IV of coffee hooked into her veins. I need the IV too!

      Car rides are the other problem for me. I say I spend all of my commute time with God, I don’t. I still struggle with that. I usually do, or try to, but then I’ll end up just staring into space. I still feel awful about that one, every day. :/

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    1. A nice Japanese sunrise with a cup of coffee, right Lene? 😉 That sounds really good. Hey, if Jesus and coffee are present, we’re in good shape as far as I’m concerned!

      Thanks Lene!

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      1. Hey – it’s the land of the rising sun! 😉 ha ha. Unfortunately my view from where we live now isn’t what I had grown accustomed too when we lived in Yokohama – but I have shared some of my most precious moments with Jesus when we watched His sun rise together – with coffee in hand.

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      2. lol! touche! Did you have an ocean view in Yokohama? I don’t have an amazing view, but it’s what I have been handed from God and I will be happy with it…and be looking forward to a morning when his kingdom comes that it may be a different, slightly more epic view 😉

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  6. Two things; I’ve done the first since grad school. Every morning, the day’s devotion from Portals of Prayer, Concordia Publishing. Right after that I pray my prayer list for church, country, family, and friends.

    Second is checking out what the Christian community here is saying. I often find inspiration, comfort, and good thoughts to start my day. Thanks for offering your site up as a forum like this! Well done!

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    1. I just checked out Portals of Prayer – looks good! I love your routine! I do the same, but I have heard God tell me he doesn’t want me checking on WordPress or social media or anything else until after I spend my time with him first thing after coffee is made (and during the coffee brewing lol). Then after I spend my time with him, then, usually first thing (unless my family is up and around) I’ll get on here.

      Thank you for the complement! I really appreciate that!

      Hey just out of curiosity, what’s your degree in? Have a blessed night!

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      1. BA and MFA in Theatre & Acting. I started out as a stage actor; Shakespeare, etc. But in very short order I decided I needed to do something else to be the husband and father God intended me to be. Acting is not a pretty not-sure thing!

        Tell me, I often hear people say this; “I heard God say to me…” Is this a strong feeling, a voice? I’ve never had that…sensation, but I tend to know or get a “twitch” that something is or is not the way to go. The “I heard” verbiage tends to leave me wondering. There are certainly times when I wish I could say I really “heard” God. I truly am curious about this. Have you read Killing Christians by Tom Doyle? Jesus is actually appearing to Muslims in the Middle East who are seeking but don’t know what for. They really have heard…and seen Him.

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      2. Oh that is cool!! I’m jealous! Haha! That’s super cool. I’m always talking about John Eldredge and he’s got his MFA in theater, I believe and he’s done wonders with story and theater and art and the Gospel, well the Spirit. That’s so cool! So you out of the theater and acting all together now?

        On God’s voice, yes, I hear him. It’s not an audible voice it’s a voice, an unmistakable one that comes from deep within me. I sometimes have to sift myself to make sure it’s not my own mind, and with maturity I got over that for the most part. A twitch is part of it too. Actually I’ve heard him for a long time, but I went through a season where I chose to really discount whether that voice was actually his. I knew he was talking but I didn’t want to believe, most because I didn’t want to confuse his voice with my own. I haven’t read that yet! Is it good?

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      3. My work has involved a lot of travel for years, so there’s been no way to do any theatre. I’ve two screenplays, one of which was read by Dolly Parton’s Sandollar Productions, but was rejected. Still, getting read is a big deal. Also two novels. I self-published one, The Substance Hoped For, at Authorhouse.com. I haven’t done anything with the second yet. Send me your email, and I’ll send you a PDF of it. Just give me an honest response on it, OK?

        I’ve never perceived a voice of any sort. Just sometimes a strong feeling.

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      4. Absolutely! I would love to! Click on my contact form and it will shoot over to my email. I like to do it that way so I’m not publishing my contact info directly just for privacy reasons.

        Oh that’s cool! Getting read it a big deal! I had one of my novels get read, but it got rejected. And definitely not by anyone big! I’d love to check it out and I’ll give you honest feedback!

        Feelings are legit from the Spirit I believe. But also, I think we can have a conversational intimacy with him as well. Here’s a first question I would ask in a situation like that, which is obvious but also sometimes overlooked, but have you asked him to perceive his voice?

        Hope you’re having a good evening!

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      5. I have often asked God to let me hear Him clearly as I’ve read others have, but nothing. I want a reassurance that I’m doing what He wants. Or if He wants something else from me, please just tell me. Maybe it’s like St, Paul asking for the thorn to be removed, and God said no; that’s not what He wants for me – maybe more/better faith.

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      6. Hey Jeffrey, I can’t help but think you probably hear God more than you think you do. Don’t let the vocabulary get in the way. Colossians says about Christ being in all and of course Christ is the Word so it is absolutely legitimate to acknowledge the ‘voice’ of God in the little nudges, the very small sense one way or another.
        My dad used to think for years that he couldn’t hear God and he really struggled with it. Especially when people would challenge his decisions and ask if he’d ‘heard God on it’. This was actually such a destructive question because it shook the little faith he did have when he was actually acting from the wisdom, faith and love for God that he had been given. A definite breakthrough moment for him was when he found out his name meant ‘hearing one’! So often, when he has acted in faith on the tiny tiny little sense of something it has been incredibly powerful.
        Sometimes I think our problem is not so much that we’re not hearing God, it’s that we have expectations for things to work out in a certain way when actually God has given us so much freedom to explore, a Kingdom that doesn’t look like the world. He’s not standing over us waiting for us to take a step wrong so He can clamp down on us but He’s urging us into more of His freedom, life and joy. He’ll direct us along the way, you can be sure of that.

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      7. Thank you, Melissa for your encouragement. I hear people talking about talking to them, but I don’t have any such conversations. I end up wondering what’s wrong with me. I know I shouldn’t, but I do.

        Thank you for sharing your dad’s story. I get “twitches” and feelings of certainty one way or another that normally play out well. Maybe that’s the sort of thing you’re talking about.

        I appreciate you taking the time to write to me!!

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      8. You’re very welcome! In my case I would say it comes with practise. When you begin to acknowledge the little things, like you mention, as God, you allow yourself the freedom to recognise Him more.
        Also, and I want to emphasise this, God will use your experience of not hearing so freely from Him now. There may be a very specific purpose for which He is allowing you to have a stronger relationship with the written Word than with the spoken at this time. In my dad’s case, God lifted him up to be a voice of wisdom and a solid rock in a time when my, very prophetic but not so much Bible based, church went wildly off track and fell into the hands of a false prophet. My dad himself is now grateful for that time of not hearing and feeling the odd one out, even as he is experiencing the freedom to hear now.

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      9. Mellissa! Altough I slept well last night, there was a period from about 2-4 when I felt wide awake, my mind reviewing a particular thing over and over, as if this is part of my question. I also came to the conclusion you gave me here! In fact, it’s an opportunity to witness to my youngest daughter who has fallen away from Christ. Your words here are virtually prophetic! Thank you for your efforts for me!

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      11. Yes! I believe he is showing himself to Muslims today who have never heard of him. Did you hear about that isis executioner who saw a vision of Jesus and was given a Bible by a Christian right before he executed him. And then afterward, he quit ISIS, ran away and came to Jesus? So cool! God hasn’t given up on the children of Ishmael! He still loves them dearly!!

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      12. I haven’t heard that specific story, which is fantastic! If you can nab Killing Christians somewhere, it’s a great read. Those people not only hear Jesus’ voice, but see Him in their dreaming visions.

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  7. My favorite is getting way too early that the rest of the house is asleep. Its just me, nursing a cup of coffee and my spiritual growth- quiet time. Mornings meditating on the word of God is the always the best way to start your day.

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    1. That’s a good one! I totally agree, the best way to start the day is by meditating on the word. If I don’t, I’m off base for the rest of the day. Nursing the coffee and just absorbing the word and his Spirit. Good stuff!!

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  8. Love this! Great idea!
    Recently, I have been really enjoying my time with the Lord when I go out walking on the trail. I just walk and talk to him! My mind is less distracted from everything and all the busy-ness.

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    1. That sounds great! I’ll get out and go jog and talk with him in between being out of breath! But I just love sharing the outdoors time with him under his big sky and lovely creation. Great choice!!

      And thank you!! I thought it might be fun and a change of pace on here! 🙂

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    1. Thank you Julie! Haha! I frequently hit the snooze button. I’ll usually reset the alarm to 5 minutes later and then lay there and talk to Jesus until I can will myself up!

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      1. I am a night owl I love to sit on my porch and look up at the sky and watching the different phases of the moon. I have my best conversations with God during this time. It is so quiet and even in the darkest night the beautiful stars still shine like little beacons of hope.

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      2. I’m a night owl too…sometimes a little too much of one! That’s a great space to spend time with him, under the vastness of the stars. I love stargazing too with the telescope, and all of what we can see is small considered to how big God really is!

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  10. My favourite way to wake up with God… well… sometimes, and ever so sometimes, God wakes me up singing a new song into my spirit. It is the most beautiful thing. I lay in bed a little and let the song take root, playing over in my heart, and then I record it. If I happen to be in a room with a view and a sunrise too then it is pure perfection. I will most likely stay there a good while, responding in worship and praying in tongues. Bliss.

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    1. That is really beautiful! What a great way to wake up with Jesus! Love that. Do you actually record it, musically yourself, or just mentally? I love worshiping him in his arms before getting out of bed to start the day. Great word to describe it, it’s total bliss 🙂

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      1. 🙂 I record it on my phone. Worship through song is a gift He’s given me and occasionally I get to develop the little spontaneous pieces into full songs. Something I intend to commit more time to!

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      2. That’s really awesome 🙂 Worship through song is a gift he definitely has not given me haha! But that’s really wonderful to be able to do that for Christ! Love it!

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    1. Amen, I need that from him every day. We all do! I also love it when he just peeks in on me in the middle of work. It’s like 10am or 2pm, and I’m deep into doing some work and just all of sudden he comes in out of nowhere to say, “I love you!” He’s a wonderful God!

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  13. Hello – discovered your blog today. Can I just but in on this conversation – what a great idea this is. Re the comments flowing from Jeffrey’s question above – I ‘hear’ from the Lord fairly often. Not in the form of audible vocals, but as a firm thought that comes into my brain ‘from nowhere’. What I mean by that is if I think carefully, there’s no way my mind could have made up that thought. If you think about it you soon know if that is the case or not. and you can also from the content of the thought discern whether it could have come from the enemy. If in doubt, ask the holy spirit to guide you.. – Patricia

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    1. Hi Patricia great to meet you! Yes that makes perfect sense and agree, that’s exactly how I hear him talk to me as well, a firm thought that comes from nowhere. And I’ve seen him verify it in my life for me, he’s told me little things that would happen and they’ve happened. And there’s no way my mind could make that up. Then there’s also this comforting embrace from the Spirit that surrounds his voice. Great thoughts!! Joel

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