Spend More Time With Jesus

Hi, my name is Nicki. I don’t read my Bible every single day.

Don’t judge me for being honest. I often think, “Girl, you need to sit down and read your Bible today.” But most days when I sit down, all I can do is think about all the other stuff I need to do. So I keep reading the same sentence or two over and over again. Eventually, I give up and move on to my to-do list.

Do you ever struggle too, even just a little bit?

There have been other days where I left the Bible on the kitchen table before bed, hoping that when I woke up the next morning and went out to grab coffee, my Bible would be the first thing I saw, so I’d have to read it when I sat down and drank my cup of happy. Yep, didn’t work at all, by the way.

My Bible usually sat there untouched while I caught up on email or checked Facebook and then ran out the door to get to a meeting. I’d come home to that unopened Bible and have to clear it from the table to get dinner ready. That sent me into a shame spiral that was hard to crawl out of.

I often felt unworthy because I wasn’t giving Jesus the first hour or two of my day like everyone else.

At one point and time that shame spiral led me to feel so banged up and unworthy that I just gave up trying to do daily Bible reading altogether.

Sound familiar at all?

Don’t spiral into shame if you don’t read your Bible daily!

Some days I hauled my heavy study Bible with me everywhere I went, hoping to find some quality time with Jesus at work, in the car or waiting in line to pick the kids up. But all that did was give me a back problem from carrying such a heavy bag. And at the end of the day, another level of shame was added for not accomplishing my goal.

Honestly, who needs that? Is anyone feeling me? Even just a little bit?

Let me just tell ya, me and Jesus are in a healthy place. We have a solid relationship. I love the Lord more than human words can say. But….

I honestly don’t read my Bible every single day.

Maybe that annoys you or makes you want to judge me. You might feel we can’t be friends anymore. Or you feel it disqualifies me from being a serious Christian.

You know what? I’m OK with that. You can judge all you want. Me and God are in a great place, we have a vibrant, healthy relationship. He’s my rock and fortress from the raging storms of life.

I study God’s Word and enjoy teaching His Word. I have also been extremely blessed to speak at many wonderful women’s events over the years. But… I still don’t always read my Bible daily.

Too many things often take priority over spending quality time reading God’s Word daily. We need to find the time to make Him THE priority.

I’m not wired to be a woman who gets up before the sun rises to let the Word soak into my heart and soul before I get ready to go out into the world and deal with humans. I wish I was. But I am a firm believer in the power of the snooze button.

I have friends wired like that. They are 90 minutes a day Christians and I’m happy for them. They deserve a high five, because many of these ladies also juggle multiple tiny humans each day. How they find an hour or more of time in the day for heavy Bible study while juggling a small army of temper tantrums, I’m not really sure. I personally believe they may be superhuman.

For years I banged myself up with the belief that if I didn’t get up before the sun rises and do an hour of serious Bible study, I wasn’t a good Christian.

In fact, a lot of people I know truly feel that way. They find it complete anarchy that I don’t read my Bible every single day. They also find me lacking as a believer because I can’t quote a ton of Scripture at the drop of a hat.

God didn’t wire me as someone who remembers a ton of Scripture verses at the drop of a hat. It’s not that I don’t know verses, I do! I can quote Scripture when I need to because it’s been written into my heart from all my time in the Word.

But ask me to quote Micah 6:8 at the drop of a hat and I would have to admit to you that I’m not fully sure there is an actual Micah 6:8 to quote! #keepingitreal

By the way, Micah 6:8 is a real thing! I just googled it! I have to giggle, because I had no idea what the verse said, let alone if it existed, but it’s pretty fitting for my blog topic, isn’t it?

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Notice it doesn’t say to read your Bible daily, or that 5 minutes a day is far beneath an hour or more of reading daily. In fact, I haven’t found Scripture that tells me I need to be in God’s Word for X number of minutes or hours each day in order to be saved. If I missed it and you know where it is, please share it with me!

Give Jesus top billing in your life and He will do some amazing things!

I am not advocating for you to stop reading your Bible. Or to never pick up your Bible. Or saying if you read your Bible for 60 or 90 minutes each day, that is wrong. If you do that, I think you rock!

I am crazy about the Bible and want everyone to read it more!

Bible study is important.

I believe it’s THE MOST IMPORTANT way for us to get to know who Jesus is and understand the freedom that is only found through Christ Jesus.

The Bible is our instruction manual for how to live in this messed up world as God's children. Share on X

Some days, life sucks. And even though Jesus rocks, there are some days and months my mind is mush and I don’t have the mental capacity to remember the itsy bity spider, let alone the Sermon on the Mount.

On other days and seasons of life, I am in the Word diligently and can spend 5 minutes or 50 minutes at a time doing a study that fuels my soul each day. Those days are far better than the ones where I’m not consistent in my study time. I can admit that. But on the days I struggle, I’m not lacking as a Christian. Jesus doesn’t love me any less either. The same is true for you.

Comparison leads to shame, which eventually leads to us throwing in the towel because we believe the lie that we have failed God and stink at being a Christian.

So often we let the enemy get into our minds and think if we aren’t reading the Bible for 60-90 minutes each day before the rest of the world wakes up, we aren’t as good of a Christian as our die-hard Bible-reading friend Maggie is. (FYI I do not have a friend named Maggie so don’t search my Facebook friends list to find her, she doesn’t exist!)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

God’s Word is the ultimate source of Life for humans!

A little bit of the Word in your life each day is better than no Word at all. Amen? Share on X

I believe our faith journey can boil down to one simple statement, no matter where you are in your walk with the Lord, or how many years you have been a Christian.

Spend more time with Jesus!

Let that be whatever works for you, right where you are in this season of life. Don’t try to mimic someone else’s way of relating to Jesus if it doesn’t fit you. And don’t live in shame because you don’t measure up to someone else’s idea of what a Christian looks like.

Your walk with the Lord is unique and special. Keep investing in your relationship with Jesus and you will never go wrong!

5 Ways To Spend More Time With Jesus

1. Join a Bible study. You can do one online or at your church, depending on what fits with your schedule. Grab a group of girlfriends and create a private Facebook group where you can share thoughts and be accountable to one another. It’s fun to study the Bible with others. And it helps you follow through with your commitment. My favorite source for online Bible study resources is the You Version bible app.
2. Use a daily devotional or do a daily Bible reading. I love She Reads Truth and have the app for my phone that allows me to dig into the Word wherever I go. Two other apps with great daily devotionals are the Daily Grace Co. app and the First Five app.
3. Keep a prayer journal. God answers our prayers more often than we realize. When you start writing down your prayers, it’s easier to sit with Him each day and pray. It’s also super encouraging to see how He’s at work in your life when you can physically see what He’s done over the previous weeks or months. If you’re doing a daily Bible reading plan, add your notes to your prayer journal. That way you only have to keep track of one notebook!
4. Put Jesus at the top of your daily to-do list. Like literally. If you have a daily planner write something like “Jesus Time” on your calendar each day as a visual and plan what you want to focus on that day, along with the amount of time you have to dedicate to that. If you are a computer person, schedule a reminder for your phone or your laptop and have it go off at certain times of the day to remind you to go online and catch up on your Bible reading. Set separate reminders to spend time praying for a loved one. I don’t know where I’d be without my phone reminders. I get easily distracted. I’m a squirrel!
5. Take the 5-day Grace Challenge! Go deeper in your relationship with Jesus with my free challenge. You get five days of specific Bible verses and reflection questions to help you discover and be all that God created you to be. It can be a great way to help you get back into daily study and reading of His Word.

Spending time with Jesus is good for your soul!

If you can’t get into God’s Word daily, don’t stress. Just do it as much as your schedule allows in this season of life. If that means you do it three times a week, great! If it’s just once, so be it. Just stop banging yourself up for the missed days.

Whenever you choose to spend more time with Jesus, make sure you do it with the right heart attitude. No relationship can grow deeper if you approach it with an attitude of requirement, resentment, or despair.

You grow in the relationships that you pour into. You open up your heart to the people that you trust. The same can be said about your relationship with Jesus. The best way to draw closer to Jesus is by understanding who He is. The best way to discover who He is comes from… you guessed it… reading His word!

Let Jesus meet you right where you are spiritually.

Be very intentional in the ways you choose to spend time with Jesus. You’ll be amazed at how much you desire and yearn for more. If you need ideas for other ways to get into a deeper relationship with Jesus, check out 17 simple ways to spend more time with Jesus.

Give Jesus top billing in your life and He will do some amazing things! Share on X