When I was a kid (like fifteen years old), a dear saint, a believer, a Christian lady invited me to come with her, to leave Eubank and to go with her to northern Ohio for a mission trip. 
I had accepted Christ a short time before that day, but I did not know much about walking with the LORD, and never would I ever dreamed that I would go on a missionary journey. 
There was so much about the Bible I did not know.  Was I even ready, a “baby” Christian?

I knew several VBS stories because I had attended VBS every summer.   I knew the Sunday School lessons that children learn, and maybe they prepared me because like so many, I had grown up in church; I knew the details.
I knew David & Goliath.
I knew King David and his sordid affair with Bathsheba. 
I knew Daniel and his time in the den of lions and of his time inside the fiery furnace.
I even knew Samson and his Delilah. 
Then there’s Esther and her stand before her husband for her people.
Lessons taught, year-after-year-after-year-after…
I knew Paul and his Damascus road encounter with God.
I had heard of Peter’s walking on the water and of his 3-time denial.
I knew the Christmas story like the back of my hand.
And, I even had a base knowledge of the letters of Paul to the churches located in Asia Minor.
I knew the people, their stories, the details, and the way God spoke through them.
I KNEW……..what had been taught to me by others, but I had never studied the Bible outside of church, you know….on my own.   

In fact, I had never even considered that action; the fact that someone (that I) might actually spend time alone with God outside the walls of a church (except maybe to read through the lesson before Sunday so I could raise my hand whenever the teacher directed, “Raise your hand if you read today’s lesson”).
Like so many kids, every Sunday morning, my hand proudly shot up.  I was part of the “in” crowd, doing what was expected of me, a regular church attender.  “Yes, I read my Bible.  Yes, I had studied.  Yes, teacher, count me, see me, see my hand raised high,” I thought in my head, as I looked at others who could not raise their hands.
“Shame on them,” I thought.  They should be like me—-a reader of God’s Word. 

• Little did I realize the truth back then.
• Little did I know that I was developing a good habit (like brushing my teeth).
• Little did I understand that this habit would produce a good foundation for me.
• BUT………..Little did I know, back then.
• YES………..Little did I know that my time shared with God was not at all about me.
• Little did I know that my time with God, our time together was ALL ABOUT GOD!!!

We may have been taught the Bible when we were children.

Or maybe we were never taken to church back then.

BUT……….Today is a brand new day.

Today could just become the first day of our life…..the day we begin to walk with Jesus in an Intimate, Personal, Beautiful Relationship with our Savior!

Jesus taught His apostles.  Jesus taught them by example.
Jesus still teaches us today……by His example.
“In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there”   (Mark 1:34).

Jesus went when it was….Early.
Jesus went when it was….Still Dark.
Jesus Got Up.
Jesus Left the House.
Jesus Went Away.
Jesus went where it was….Secluded. 
Jesus was found Praying There.
Jesus (the Son of God)…….Did That.
Jesus Christ (the Savior)…….Did That.
Jesus (the Messiah and the Redeemer)…….Did That.
Jesus Did. Jesus’ Example for Us.

When this dear saint invited me to go with her on this mission trip, I was excited to say, “Yes.”
My hand is up. Pick me.  I want to go.
You see…..I was “IN” for the going, but I knew nothing about preparing my heart for the going.
You see…..I was ready for the “going,” the “leaving,” but I knew nothing about the “preparing my heart” for the serving.
I had no clue what would occur while I was there…..with her….on the mission field. 
But, God was creating within me a new heart.
Yes, God was creating something beautiful within me.
Most Definitely, God was using that wonderful saint to teach me, to prepare me, to show me, to reveal to me the one element I most lacked——A Desire for Him.
A Desire To Know Jesus More.
A Deep Need To See Jesus More Today Than I Saw Him Yesterday. 
Jesus Used Her to Help Me Begin My Spiritual Journey. 
Jesus Will Also Use Me to Help Others Begin Their Spiritual Journey. 
Jesus Will.

Soon, this morning, I will place my “going out” clothing upon my body and put on my school shoes.  I will grab my keys, my water jug, my backpack purse, and whatever else needs to travel with me for school, and I will be 100% ready for the “going,” but will I be spiritually ready for the “mission field” the LORD is sending me onto today?
Will I be able to glance back at my early morning and see any time shared with my Savior?  Just God & me?
Will I have shared any of my morning in Bible study, in prayer, in listening to the Holy Spirit leading? 
Will I be prepared for His mission field today…..on this day?

And then tomorrow, will I again be prepared for His mission field tomorrow…..on that day?
Or will we just go, just leave the security of our homes, stepping outside, hoping that what the preacher taught us last Sunday (during the message) will be enough to carry us through our day?
Is God’s sustainment a one-dose medicine that we gulp down on Sunday, tasting its lingering effects as we push forward through our week?
Is the Sunday School lesson + the Sunday sermon + maybe even an extra Wednesday evening Bible study = to enough study, to enough prayer time, to enough Bible study…….to sustain a person for a full week?
Is one or two or three “corporate” worship services enough?
Will we remain spiritually strong as we step out on the mission field, the one we enter every time we leave the security of our homes?

Are we prepared?
Are we properly adorned?
Are we mentally strong, spiritually prepared?
Are we ready?

• We need Jesus!
• We need time with our Savior!
• We need time with our LORD!!! 
• We need time with our Father God!!!
• We need time with God’s Holy Spirit!!! 
• We need time…..Time shared every day.
• We need……Personal, Intimate Time to listen to God speak to our souls……one-to-one…….Jesus and me…….Jesus and you………personal…..
• Yes, we need…….INTIMATE TIME……..JESUS & me………secluded……away from the world……..early……..before we step outside……before we face anything…….maybe while the  sky is dark, even…..as we leave the presence of others…….going to our secluded place……..going to our particular spot……secluded and alone……God & me…….God & you.

That summer (way back when I was young) God began a “NEW” work in me, provided for me through a precious, wonderful saint who invited me to join her on a mission trip to northern Zanesville, Ohio.  During that mission work, we had backyard Bible schools in the community park and taught Bible stories (the ones I had known so well from my childhood), but God taught me; God began a “good” work in me. I am so amazed today, yes even today (many years later), God is still teaching me.

During that week-long mission trip, each evening, we attended a small group session where we sang praises and studied God’s Word.   It was there that I sang Psalm 51 for the first time.  The leader brought his guitar and led us to open our Bible, to see God’s Word on the page, to see the words as we sang the words of the verses.
That was the first time I really seemed to internalize God’s Word deep inside my heart.
That was the first time I ever sang to God. I share one of those precious verses we sang together.

Thank you Jesus for an Intimate….Personal Relationship with You.

Thank you Jesus for the daily opportunity You provide as You daily renew us.

God & me.

God & you.

Thank You, Jesus, for such A Beautiful Relationship.