Early Mornings and Coffee with Christ

Being a mother of four little ones, time to myself comes in small moments throughout the day, unless I wake up before the sound of pitter patter, more like thump thump.  Children usually wake up with full energy and so their morning greetings can be a bit too much for either parent who hasn't had their morning cup of coffee and ample time to wake up the brain. Wisdom has taught me that getting up a half hour before them allows me not only time to wake up, but more importantly, uninterrupted time with the Lord. 
Time in the Word each morning is time with Him.  (1 John 1)  Pursuing Christ first thing before the house wakes up, allows my heart to find peace and security before the unexpected things of the day try to steer my emotions.  All other pursuits cannot give me the stability that Christ does.  When I run to anything else to bring what only God can bring, I have made an idol.  Reading the book of Jeremiah speaks of idol worship and how God's people left Him for idolatry.  It has reminded me to ask God to search my heart and show me if I have begun to create idols in my own heart.  In the Old Testament, idols were usually carved images made out of wood or stone.  During the time it took one to carve the image, the heart was beginning to look for another way of satisfaction.  The worship came after the image was carved.  God is faithful to show me that the idol I am molding in my hand needs to be thrown down and not to be worshipped, always reminding me that the idol will never fully satisfy.  Though we may not carve stone images as they did in the past, the heart behind it still needs to be examined. 
In today's American culture, we have taken God's blessings and tried to remove Him as provider, leaving us as provider and leaving us exhausted and empty.  I see so much of God's warning in 1 John 2:15-16.  We have come to love the world, it's lust, and it's pride.  It is masked as success.  Yet God hates and opposes this way of living.  It is opposite of Heaven.  How can one tell if this way of thinking has crept in one's heart?  I think of the verse, "Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also."  What is your heart pursuing above all else?  What sacrifices are you making for this treasure?  How are you treating others that get in the way of this treasure hunt?  Are you neglecting your time with God and His people?  Are you fulfilling the Great Commission? Are you sitting on the sidelines spiritually and not producing spiritual fruit?  For me impatience and unkindness are my first marks of a wandering heart.  They are the first evidences that I am not filled with His Spirit.