Outake, Intake, Upkeep, Downfall

I think it is an old Navigators cliche:

"If your outtake exceeds your intake then you upkeep will be your downfall"

Fulls of hooks, but also full of a lot of truth.

I love serving the Lord and I love serving my local church.  I'm currently a deacon, sing in the choir, sing on one of the praise teams, help lead a Home Team, and about to begin teaching 4th through 6th grade boys Sunday School.  And sometimes I sleep.  Sounds like a lot, but I know there are a bunch of church members out there who do just as much if not more.  Honestly I don't think I would have it any other way.  That's just how I roll.

A few years (okay close to 30 years ago) I had the opportunity to spend a weekend studying a book written by a missionary from the Congo.  Outside of the Word of God, this book was the most life changing thing I've ever read.  My whole philosophy of ministry changed.  There were many deep truths.  The most important for me was talking about "overflow".  Ministering from an "abundant life" and "cups that runneth over" (a.k.a, your overflowing intake becomes your outtake). 

So that's why I believe that Christian's who have a heart to serve God in whatever capacity MUST have a consistent Quiet Time, Devotional Time, [insert whatever term here].  We must have more coming in than going out.  Not for more "material", but just in the name of our own spiritual growth.

The problem is that most of us treat our Quiet Time more as an outtake than an intake.  More Martha and not Mary.  So I have made an attempt to redefine it to be more of what I believe it should be.  More like how the devotional masters of old treated it.

So my working definition is as follows - An Encounter Time is "A deliberate time of solitude where you intentionally seek the presence of God through reading of Scripture, meditation, prayer, and praise."


For those of you familiar with Lectio Divina I know this sounds very similar, but I actually had this done before I ever even heard of Lectio Divina...