Spice Up Your Life

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1595. Today's Devo is called Spice Up Your Life.

Hey there, we're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Good morning, My Morning Devotional. I love saying my titles with lots of like joy. Spice up your life. Welcome to Spice Up Your Life. Okay, that's it. I'm done. I am going to close up this week. Happy Friday, by the way. You made it. You made it to the weekend. It's time to go enjoy your weekend. A nice summer weekend. I hope you are on a vacation or staying at home doing nothing because both are very restful and nice. But I want to talk about spicing up your life with new routines, freshening the life air, per se. I'm reading from Isaiah 43, 18 through 19 in the NIV version, and it says, forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you perceive it? I want to talk about how every new season God brings us into requires fresh faith, fresh obedience, and highlight this fresh routines. I have two kids, a third on the way, married five years, full-time job, families on both sides. If you want to talk about routines, let's talk about routines, okay? My life is on a routine. I know exactly where I'm gonna be at 9 a.m. on a Sunday. I know exactly where I'm gonna be at 8 p.m. on a Monday. Truly, I there's not much room for spontaneity right now in this season, which let's be honest, can get a little monotonous sometimes. I like new, I like fresh routines, I like spontaneity. I was the queen of spontaneity, and then you know, you want to settle down, and they they get you, they put a ring on you, and you fall in love with them, and then you got two babies, and now you gotta wake up at 6 a.m. because you gotta pack lunchboxes, okay? So be careful, be careful who you fall in love with, or they might have you packing lunchboxes every morning at 6 a.m. Okay. Anyways, let's go back to the point. Fresh routines. We all love the idea of God doing something new in our lives: a new opportunity, a new job, a new ministry. But I do want us to remember something. Every new season that we step into requires new rhythms. And you can't step into what God has next while trying to live exactly the way you did before. In Isaiah, God says in the in the Bible, forget the former things. I am doing a new thing. God was not asking them to erase their memories, He was asking them not to become so attached to yesterday that they missed out on what God is doing today. And maybe God is challenging you today that it's time to break off of the routine of yesterday because God's trying to do something new today. And honestly, we can become so comfortable with old routines that we resist the very thing that we've been praying for. We ask God for a new season, but we cling to old habits. We ask for change, but we keep living the same way. And it's normal to think this way. I I'm I find myself in this rut all the time. But I'm just gonna be that friend today to you that encourages you to try something new. Spice up your life. I the truth is every season it has its own assignment. The season that you're in right now has an assignment attached to it. And the routines that served you in the old season, it may not serve you in this next season. And I have noticed that the best way to freshen up your life is to practice a new spiritual routine before you start practicing a physical routine, right? And to build a new routine that helps you stay close to Jesus in this next season. So take a few minutes and ask yourself number one, what season am I in right now? And then ask what habits need to change so I can thrive in this season instead of simply survive it. Maybe this season it requires waking up a little bit earlier to spend time with God. You're gonna devote every day this week, just trying it for seven days. Doesn't have to be months and months of a new habit, just for seven days. I'm gonna wake up at 6 a.m. and I'm gonna worship God for 20 minutes. I'm going to read my Bible and pray for 20 minutes. I'm gonna pray for other people. Maybe it means, hey, every day this week at 7 p.m. we're gonna have family dinners and we're making home-cooked meals. And if we don't have the time to make the home cooked meal, we'll bring in Toggle Bell. Who cares? But we're sitting at the table, 7.30 p.m. every day this week. Maybe it means saying no to little things that just don't fit your life anymore. What's maybe pulling you away from a healthy routine with God and your family instead of bringing you to it? Maybe it's time to say no. Maybe it means creating space to rest. On Saturday, no phones. We're gonna Sabbath. Maybe it means calling a friend every Wednesday just to pray with them, or to go for a morning swim and a workout session with only worship music. Let me just encourage you, don't be afraid to build new rhythms. God often does his deepest work in the ordinary habits we practice every single day. Spice up your life. Try something new this week. Try something new this weekend. It doesn't have to be over spiritual, it doesn't have to be super deep, but just try something new. Try something different. If you're married, do it with your spouse. I can tell you right now, I'm about to give birth to this third baby, and I told my husband yesterday, we need to pray together two minutes every day, from now until the baby comes. Because I know this season is gonna shift. The pressure is gonna be on when this third baby comes. And we need to make sure we are prayed up so you can do the same thing with you and your spouse, with you and your friends, make it short, make little short goals. It only has to be a week, two weeks, so you can actually complete it and see what God can do in one small change of your routine. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you are always at work in us, that you are always widening our paths, you are always ordering our steps. And God, we thank you that you encourage us to step into new seasons. Like I said this week, you don't want us to live in the past. You want us to just throw ourselves into the future. And with the future comes new routines, new rhythms, new parts of our lives that can spontaneously bless us in ways that we never imagined. So, Father, allow your Holy Spirit to be with us, to guide us, to speak to us. And God, I pray that as we try out these new rhythms, as we try out these new habits, and as we let go of the old, that you will just give us a fresh outpouring of your joy, God, and that your joy will be our strength, that it will bring such a happiness to our life that we just look back and say, I don't know how he did it, but I just feel fresh and new again in this new season that God has brought me. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you've found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.