Confirmation of God's Will

Next Sunday evening, my Sunday evening discipleship class will begin a Kerry Shook's study of Fresh:  Reviving Stale Faith, a six-week study of some of the spiritual disciplines, including meditation, fasting, and silence.  Now, watch how God works to revive the faith...

This morning as I left our opening service to attend my Sunday School class, I picked up a copy of the latest Journey:  A Woman's Guide to Intimacy with God, (our church provides these for free each month!).  As I read this month's topic, my heart jumped for joy, for it so clearly confirms my choice for our discipleship study topic.  Spiritual Dry Spells....and remember the above title Reviving Stale Faith. 

I shared this insight with my Sunday School class (all women) and encouraged them to pick up a copy of the magazine and read it throughout this month.  Just had to share my thoughts also on how God is working...in our lives, in our church, always giving us confirmation and blessings as we need them.  I chose the study back in December...the authors of the this month's Journey, no doubt, chose this theme months ago.

God knew, though.  He knew just how to correlate these resources and begin to rebuild our faith.

Today's topic  in Journey is "Increase Your Hunger."  That is what I want in the Lord for myself this year.  Hungry for Jesus Christ!

Have a blessed week!

My One Word

Last year, I learned about the My One Word challenge while listening to KLOVE on the way to school.  This became my students' first blog post assignment for the year, as it will again this year.

My one word last year was peace.  I knew immediately then what the word would be...just as I immediately knew what 2012's word will be:  quiet.  Peace and quiet.

First, did I accomplish my one word last year?  My gut answer is "kinda."  I am more at peace with myself than I have been in several years.  For this, I am grateful...and grateful to One Word for disciplining in such a unique way.

As I perused their site, I noted they concluded their most recent blog post with these two questions...to which, I have added my responses:

• Think back to the person you were when you initially picked your One Word and compare it to the individual who’ve become. Did you expect to see the amount of growth you have experienced over the past few months? How did God use your One Word in ways you weren’t expecting?
• As I stated above, I am more at peace than I have been in several years.  Choosing this word had such an impact on my life this year, for at various times, yes, those stressful times, I would recall this commitment and change my prayer to this one word:  peace.  Here's the true testimony:  a peer told me near Christmas that she could really tell the change in me, especially in our English Department meetings (one of my greater stresses over the last several years).  I want that testimony to continue and to grow even more.

• Read Haggai 1:5 - Now this is what the Lord Almighty says:  "Give careful thought to your ways."  What are some lessons you’ve learned over the past year? If you had to sum up your experience in one sentence, how would you do it? Why did you answer in the way that you did?
• One Sentence Summary:  I am more at peace than I have been in several years. I know...that is
  the third time so far that I have stated that.  It's true!  It's my testimony...maybe it's just finally sinking in!

For 2012, I want to keep the word peace close to my heart and soul...and add quiet.  I chose this word for a couple of reasons, mainly because I want my spirit to be quiet and still.  To me this is just the next step/phase in the blessing of peace.  To simply bask in the Holy Spirit.

To accomplish this, I need more quiet time with the Lord, more time to read and study, more time to learn, more time to hopefully affect those with whom I come in contact.

Interestingly enough, the next Bible study I chose for my Sunday evening class focuses on this very topic:  "spiritual disciplines such as meditation, silence, and fasting," part of the descriptor for our next discipleship training study entitled Fresh:  Revising Stale Faith.  Ah, confirmation for my word choice is so comforting....silence...quiet.

Please consider taking the challenge.  I so look forward to the difference God will make in my life....my quiet life...in 2012.

My Renewed Commitment

I want this blog to be alive, to be enlivened throughout 2012.

As I reviewed the blog posts thus far, I count four posts, yet I had so much to say/write for the Lord.  My prayer is to have the time to reflect on here, for this to be a visual testimony of my life.

With this post, I renew my commitment to this blog.

K-Love's 30-Day Challege

http://www.klove.com/30day#.Tv1gK8iquOY.blogger

Scripture Challenge: Verses 2-3

This year is flying by!  Already time for Memory Verse 3...and I have yet to post Memory Verse 2 for the Beth Moore Memory Verse Challenge!  So....here goes...

First, though, let me explain my verse choice rationale.  My husband and I are reading the Bible through in a year, and I am allowing this reading to guide my verse selection.  Thus, as I read, I choose one of the verses that "spoke" to me over the previous two weeks.

Memory Verse 2:  January 15-31 (From my January 10 reading)

Proverbs 3:5-6 (New Living Translation)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.

6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

Career-wise, this is such an unsure time in my life.  Not a spot that I ever would have thought I would be in having now nearly completed 20 years of teaching.  Thus, resting in the Blessed Assurance, I know that He will guide my footsteps further, which just supports my chosen word for the "One Word Challenge" for 2011...peace.

As I sit here typing this, down in my soul, I have peace.  The war is won.  I now how it ends.  Thank you, Lord, for the peace to endure the battles until the victory flag flies.

Memory Verse 3:  February 1-14 (From my January 31 reading)

Matthew 21:21 (New Living Translation)

21 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.

With this verse, I claim my sister Janet's healing from the severe psoriasis she suffers. Because of her, I now know another reason my daughter was born with her heart/lung condition...God knew that one day Janet would need Holly's testimony to increase her faith.  And faith she has.  And so do I.  In my heart of hearts, way down deep in my soul, Janet is healed.  Again, the war is won.

As I told her, to claim a testimony, she has to live the root word of testimony:  test. 

What mountain do you need moved?  All it takes is faith.

What I have  realized, though, is that only God can give the gift of faith...then He rewards you for accepting that faith as you claim that mountain.

Just ask me sometime, I will tell you all about my daughter Holly's mountain, entitled Pulmonary Atresia.

Nothing is impossible.  Nothing.

______________________________________

Interested in such a challenge as this?  Then, I challenge you to accept it, face it, begin it.  Your life can only be enriched for having taken the challenge.

God's Masterpiece

My scripture for the Beth Moore Scripture Memorization Challenge:

Ephesians 2:10 (New Living Translation)

10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

I have never been so challenged in memorizing anything in my life!  Today, I even attempted putting these words to song!  Thank goodness, I have four more days!

Here's a list of ways I have seen God use this scripture in my life thus far:

1. On Saturday, I was praying as I drove to town for my husband and about a situation in his life.  When I returned home, nearly the first words out of mouth proved God was already answering that prayer.  Powerful.  Humbling.
2. My husband and I are reading the Bible through in a year...already we have discussed several passages.  This I like.  This I covet.
3. On Sunday, the song leader and I sang "We Are Standing on Holy Ground" for special music.  What a blessing!  I could feel God using us.  Powerful.  Humbling.  Thank you, Lord, for using us. 

I will memorize this verse.  Satan will be defeated. 

Thank you, Lord!

Out with the Old...

Ending this year with a day of cleaning...and beginning 2011 with a day with family and friends over, for what I hope, will be a good meal!

I am joining Beth Moore's scripture memory challenge...and this is my first scripture:

Ephesians 2:10 (New Living Translation)


10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Beth Moore recommends also putting these scriptures in a journal, which I think is an excellent idea, for there, I want to reflect also on God's use of my chosen scriptures.

Just so you know...I am a day ahead on challenge!  Feels so good!




This scripture I chose as I was thumbing through my The One Year Bible for Women (which I plan to read through in 2011) and feel that this scripture is appropriate for a basis for all my "intentions" -- not resolutuions! -- for 2011, for if I am God's Masterpiece, I need to act like it more.