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Day 7 of 7: How? and WOW!

Thank you for understanding my “disappearance” from social media yesterday. (Click here for more information about #enditmovement. I’m willing to #shinealight on this! I’m in it to end it!)

I’m super grateful God let me personally walk through the purpose, the time and place, and some methods for Bible study right before a new month begins. (I told you in the very first post on this blog how I love “clean slates!”) I’m reinvigorated to really make my personal with God be a time of praise, study, and prayer—and to be intentional about being consistent! How can my light shine if I haven’t recharged the batteries? (And I think we all know what that implies about us when our lights [attitudes] start flickering….)

So let’s end WRW Month with a few thoughts and then call it a month!

* We need to schedule our time with God at our best time of the day! He created us, loves us, sent Jesus to die for us, leads us, protects us, provides for us…and so much more! So, the least we can do is be intentional about planning one-on-one time with Him every day! (Always remember: two minutes and fifty-six seconds!)

* Find the method for study that works for you! The method I shared on Tuesday (click here to read through the steps) is a great, sure-fire plan to study God’s Word consistently. Find a word that God is impressing on you to study (such as love, kindness, joy, hope, etc.), look up verses on that word or topic, and start (keep) learning!

* If you need some specific help with verses or passages to read for the five-step method, I’m including a link to my church’s reading plan. Our new reading plan just started this past Monday, so you’ve barely got any catching up to do. Our pastor is starting a series (from now until the end of the year) called The Radical Red Letters. The summary is that we’re going to be studying, as a church family, everything Jesus said that is recorded in Scripture—and then be transformed by 1) following His example, and 2) knowing that He literally meant everything He said! Woo Hoo! (I’m excited—can you tell?) As a church family, we read the same passages throughout the week, and then on Sundays, the goal is that we’re “all on the same page”—with prepared hearts! Click here for the link to the downloadable, printable Radical Red Letters reading plan. (I’m soooo thankful for a pastor with a heart for the Gospel and for equipping us with tools for Christlikeness!)

* If you click on the Recommended Reading tab above and select “Bookshelf” from the drop-down menu (or click here to make it easier!), I have posted a few Bible study resource books that I’ve used or read, and they are some of the ones that I personally know to be helpful. This mini-version list barely scratches the surface, but it gives you some ideas to go on.

* Finally, I want to say a ginormous thank you for helping this month to be a little cheerier, more exciting, and yes, faster than I even hoped it would be! When I first announced WRW Month, I figured a few of my friends would encourage me to walk more, I would encourage them to read more, and we’d all send a few extra day-brightening e-mails to each other. Well, the most intelligent response I can think of is: WOW! You blew me away with a jaw-dropping number of people participating! Let’s just say that with some sending daily point reports and some sending weekly point reports, I have over 2,000 e-mails and Facebook messages! I’ll be reviewing those points, making sure everything is entered, and then announcing the winners on March 15th! (Yes, it’s going to probably take me until then to get all these points entered!) You may send points through midnight on Friday, March 1st.

We started February with a prayer, so let’s end it with one too, okay?

Loving God,

Thank You for the privilege of prayer. Thank You for your precious and holy Word and the things that you want to teach us through it. Thank You for the freedom (for some who are reading this in other countries, only the private freedom) to share Your truths with others.

Please take what we learned by reading, what we gained by walking, and what we shared through our notes, e-mails, and letters and use them to bring praise to Your name. May our praise in March be multiplied because of our purposeful choices this past month.

As we end this month, I personally want to thank You for entrusting us with and enabling us for another month of life. Just as we asked You at the beginning of February, we ask You on this last day of February to let us plan our days and live them in a way that demonstrates our desire for Your will to be done.

All that was accomplished was by Your grace and for Your glory. Thank You that we can come to You in prayer through the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ.

—Amen.

 

By Petals from the Basket | February 28, 2013 | Bible Reading, Contests, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Life Changes |

Day 5.75 of 7: How ? (& Putting it into Action)

I am writing this on Tuesday night, February 26th. I was just this evening made aware of a special day taking place tomorrow, and I have chosen in this late hour to participate.

Tomorrow, February 27th, I will disappear for the day from social media (Facebook/Twitter/Blog) in honor of the 27 million who’ve disappeared because of slavery. Disappearing from social media for a day won’t end slavery—yet—but I hope my small part (and your small part, and your small part, and your small part…) will help to raise awareness. #enditmovement

Please know that I am not saying anything is more important than learning about God and spending time with Him.

However, I am saying that in His Word, which we are learning to study—and more importantly, to obey—He tells us to let our lights shine so that people will see what we’re doing and will, as a result, glorify our Father in heaven.

Please use your newly established or reaffirmed prayer time to pray for those who are in slavery (in various forms) around the world. Pray that they will not only be freed, but they will find true freedom in Jesus Christ.

If you would like to know more about the #enditmovement, click here to go to the enditmovement website. There is a very enlightening video that was truly an eye-opener for me.

Thank you for your understanding. I am making a bonus day for all who are participating in WRW Month: everyone gets a bonus of 1,000 points on Wednesday, February 27th.

—Brenda

By Petals from the Basket | February 27, 2013 | Events |

Day 5 of 7: How?

I’m going to admit something right at the start today: I “stole” today’s post from one of the little booklets my mom wrote: “The Death of a Dream” (available for Kindle by clicking here). I have seen her personally use and publicly share this five-step method for Bible study for many, many years.

Today, I’m simply going to list this method as one of the suggested ways of having your personal time with God. Tomorrow, we’ll look at some other options. Then, on Wednesday, we’ll look at putting it all together for an impacting time of praise, Bible study, and prayer. So, here are her instructions regarding the five-step method (not original with Mom, as she would be the first to tell you):

Begin your time with the Lord with memorization. Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” We hide it in our hearts when we memorize. Work on portions that will be a blessing to recall during those sleepless times or when a lost soul needs direction to a loving Savior. Psalm 91, John 3, and John 14 all could be a blessing to you.

Then have a brief time of prayer just asking the Lord to show you something from His word that will be a blessing to you today. [She often refers to this as the “prayer for guidance.”]

Follow this with your Bible reading. II Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” This may be a time to do a word study on God’s everlasting and unchanging love. As you find verses that are a blessing to you, make notes about them in your notebook. As you have asked the Lord to show you, in a planned search, make your time with the Lord and His Word the highlight of your day.

Have a notebook. When you have finished and taken time to meditate on what the Lord has shown you, write the answers to two questions. The first is simply: What did I read today? Then: What did God show me through what I read today? Answer each question with only one or two sentences.

Conclude your devotions with your prayer time. You may wish to take one page in your notebook and line it into seven columns. At the top of each, list the day of the week. Then list those for whom you need to pray on that day. One lady shared with me that she used this method, then she had a praise section right after her prayer list page. When God answered prayer, she wrote the blessing down, so she would remember it. How prone we are to recall our heartaches and forget our blessings.

Okay—so it’s me (Brenda) again: Did you get those five steps that you complete with a Bible, a pen, and a notebook?

1. Memorize Scripture

2. Pray for guidance

3. Read your Bible (maybe look up verses on a topic you want/need to study)

4. In your notebook, record brief answers to these two questions:  What did I read today? What did God show me through what I read today?

5. Have your prayer time

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Thank you for reading “Day 5 of 7: How?”
Today’s a great day to get your journal ready
to begin having (or reaffirming) your personal time with God!
Feel free to leave a comment with your when
and where decisions.
(Example: Brenda, 5:00 a.m., treasured blue chair)
 
By Petals from the Basket | February 26, 2013 | Bible Reading, Family, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Life Changes |

Day 4 of 7: Where?

Are you ready for a much shorter post today? Good! (Me, too.) Because the answer to “where” you should have your personal time with God is: wherever works best for you—based on the “when” you came up with yesterday!

I would, however, recommend the four following criteria for your chosen location:

1. Somewhere tucked away—so that you and God can communicate through Bible study and prayer without unnecessary noise and the distractions of other people

2. Somewhere tidy—so that you aren’t concentrating on the mess instead of on Bible reading and prayer

3. Somewhere technology free—so that the lure of Facebook, Pinterest, and texting won’t be a temptation while you read and pray; if you need to keep your cell phone nearby, remember that most callers can leave a voice message or that you’ll know by the caller ID if your kids or your spouse need to talk to you

4. Somewhere that you treasure—so that it’s a place that holds meaning; when you go there, your mind and heart know why they’re there

Okay, you know the “why” (because you boldly took steps to overcome the “why not”); you know your “when;” and now, you know your “where.” So, Monday and Tuesday, we’ll look at the “how” by offering several methods and resources that can give you ideas—or help you reaffirm your current method of Bible study and prayer. Wednesday and Thursday, we’ll wrap it up, and then on Friday, March 1st, I hope you’ll enter a new month with a new zeal for praising, reading about, and praying to our awesome God!

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WRW Month participants: Finish strong! This is a super-close contest right now between teens, grandmas, people in the United States, and people overseas! Y’all have blown me away! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

_______________________

Thank you for reading “Day 4 of 7: Where?”
If you feel comfortable doing so, 
feel free to share your “where.”
(Mine is in a horribly ugly, but comfortable, “country blue” chair!)

 

By Petals from the Basket | February 25, 2013 | Bible Reading, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Life Changes |

Day 3 of 7: Where?

Yes, you can pray anywhere; yes, you can praise Him anywhere; and yes, you can read the Bible just about anywhere. (I said “just about,” because reading in a car sorta makes my tummy tumble—you too?) However, I think we would all agree that it is imperative to have an established location (even generally so) where we are able to focus our full attention on our time with God.

Because the “where” is most likely tied into the “when,” I want to focus on that element of it today. Tomorrow, we can look at a few thoughts about the importance of the actual “where.”

God demands (this is not a mere request) that we give Him our best. Notice: we do not have to be the best; but we do have to give our best—in all we do! In the Bible, this is sometimes called giving Him the “firstfruits,” because that is the term for the produce, livestock, and crops that people were to bring to the temple as an offering to God. This didn’t mean that they were to offer to God the very first apple they picked from the tree: it might have been a rotten one or one half-eaten by worms! “First” refers to rank—not order. It meant giving Him, in this case, the best apple: the one that was ranked “number one” above the others! [By the way: aren’t you glad we no longer have to bring sacrifices and offerings to pay for our sins? Jesus took care of all that when He gave His life to buy us back from the sins that enslaved us!]

So, the same thing is true when it comes to our time with God. We are to give Him our best time. Are you exhausted at five in the morning but wide awake, at your best, and ready to reflect on His goodness at six-thirty in the evening? Then give Him your best: meet with God at six-thirty in the evening! Do you love rising early and seeing what treasures you can uncover in the Bible to carry you through the day? Then give Him your best time: give Him your early morning time!

I once heard a preacher teach, “no Bible, no breakfast”—and, though his intentions were right, it still makes me sad to remember the dejected look on the face of the new (non-morning person) believer sitting beside me! Sadly, many try to dictate Bible-reading “checklists” for others based on what works best for them. However, if you’re barely dragging yourself to the car to head to work or sleepily praying for every green light on the way to hurriedly drop your kids off at school, why in the world would you think God wants His appointment with you while you’re too groggy and muddle-minded to listen to what He wants you to hear?

I’d like you to do something today: determine (or reaffirm) your best time to meet with the Lord. That way, tomorrow, you will be ready to choose (or reaffirm) your “where” based on your answer to “when.” These five quick questions will help you:

1. When am I most alert?

2. When is my schedule free? (You can’t be late to work just because that’s the time you want to meet with God!)

3. When will I face the least amount of distractions? (Moms: notice I didn’t say, “no distractions!”)

4. What am I willing to give up to free up the time to meet with God? (Ouch, Brenda—you didn’t mention that part!)

5. When is my best time?

Remember: this is not about hours and hours of theological study. This is about you, God, and a time of relationship-building communication that deserves your best time!

Suggested reading: Proverbs 3:9, Ezekiel 44:30, James 1:18, and Colossians 3:23

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Thank you for taking time to read, “Day 3 of 7: Where?”
As you think about your “where,” be sure to answer
the five questions at the end of the post to help you
first determine your “when.”
Feel free to leave a comment about your best time of day!

 

By Petals from the Basket | February 24, 2013 | Bible Reading, Family, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Life Changes |