Intentionally Focused Week 1 Wrap-Up

For the next eight weeks I will be doing the Good Morning Girls bible study entitled, {Intentionally Focused.} At the end of each week I will write a post about what I've learned throughout the week and how I am instilling the Word of God into my heart so that I can live my life more for Him and less for me.

Some of my goals for the study are:
1. Stay committed and finish all 8 weeks.
2. Memorize at least 5 of the 8 memory verses.
3. Stay up to date with the Facebook group I lead.

This week's study was an introduction into living our lives intentionally focused on Christ. The main verses we studied were:

Ephesians 5:1--Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

Psalm 90:12--So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Hebrews 12:1--Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Ephesians 5:15,16--See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Philippians 3:14--I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

My first challenge in completing this study was figuring out a time to set aside for my bible study. I have an eight month old who is not quite on a schedule throughout the day so planning to do the study during her naptime would not work. She usually takes a three hour nap but not at a specific time (not by my choice.) So I prayed about it and 5am was what Jesus laid on my heart. I actually have been balking at this time for quite some time now (at least 6 months). My fleshly desire for sleep outweighed my desire to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit until I was desperate to make changes in my life. Since I'm doing a study called "INTENTIONALLY Focused," I think it be important I make INTENTIONAL effort to do that. So 5am it is! 5AM! FIVE AM!

So Monday rolls around and I wake up at 5am. Drag myself out of bed. And practically sprint to the coffee maker. Haha I open my laptop (it's an online study BTW) and pull out my notebook and bible. I say a quick prayer and I turn to the first scripture for the week Ephesians 5:1-14 and read. I write out verse one for my SOAP journal entry and just stare at the words for what seemed like an eternity (I'm still not fully awake.)

Then it hits me. I sent a few verses to one of the teen girls in my church about Jesus getting up and going out to pray {Luke 6:12 and Mark 1:35}. I'm reading about imitating God and those verses about Jesus getting up in the morning before daylight literally snapped me out of that half sleep mode I was in. It was at that moment I was absolutely determined to be up every morning at 5am to make sure I am able to put in the time and focus on Christ before the busyness of the day hits me like a tidal wave. I am committed to my 5am time with Jesus at my dining room table Monday through Friday.

Now that I am finished with this week's study I see a thread woven throughout the scripture passages that I studied. If you are to be an imitator of God, you need to first use your time wisely because your time on earth is so limited and you don't know how long you really have here. So you need to remain focused on imitating Christ's example everyday so that you can gain a heart of wisdom. You also have other examples of men and women of faith to learn from. The specific names are listed in Hebrews chapter 11 but you are reminded of this "cloud of witnesses" so that when you are tempted to sin you can remember how these witnesses remained faithful to God and finished the race well. To run the race well, you need to be cautious, diligent in your walk and once again pay close attention to the time you have available and capitalize on every opportunity to live for Jesus. Then, and only then, can you see the grand prize in the distance. But you can't give up. You need to continue to strain every muscle with an outstretched hand towards the finish line until you can grab hold of your prize, the heavenly call of God.

{Memory Verse}

Crystal


Post in the comment section below...
How are you being intentionally focused in your walk with God?

What are some changes you need to make in your life so that you can live more intentional for Christ? Read Psalm 90:12 and Psalm 39:4,5.

Women Living Well Book Club--Week 1

I am following along with Courtney Joseph's book club of her new book, "Women Living Well." The book club is at her blog www.womenlivingwell.org. For each chapter, I will be answering the questions that go along with the book club.

Chapter 1--

1. On a scale of 1-10 (10 = great; 1 = stinky) , how is your walk with God right now?

Through 2013 I desired to have a better walk with Christ. I struggled with staying disciplined with my quiet times because I had a very difficult pregnancy the first half of the year and then struggled with finding balance with everything in life with being a new mom. So for 2013 I would say I was about a 3 or 4. I am determined to change that in 2014. I have several goals that I am pursuing to make this happen. I am reading through the bible this year along with a teenage girl I mentor. I will be keeping a journal focused on the word Submission. I will be reading Women Living Well and being involved in the book club. And I am doing the Good Morning Girls bible studies throughout the year starting with “Intentionally Focused.” Through all of these I am sure I will have a much better devotional life this year than I did last year.

2. What would you say is your greatest hindrance to carving out time to meet with God in your busy day?

My biggest hindrance to carving out time is not having a schedule. Having a newborn has made for a very unpredictable life but now that my daughter is nearing her first birthday I am seeing her naturally entering a schedule that I can work with to make time with God.

3. Grab your Bible and read (or google) Hebrews 11:5-6. What does verse 6 state that we must do and believe if we want to be like Enoch?

We are to have faith in God. We need to believe who He is and diligently seek Him. We must be devoted as Courtney explains in her book. Enoch’s name means devoted. Enoch lived his life completely focused on God. I’m sure everything he did, said, and thought was always focused on pleasing and glorifying God. That is how I want to live my life so that my daughter and anyone else I am around sees this and sees Christ ultimately.

4. What is one intentional thing you can do this week to begin creating space and solitude to earnestly seek after God?

My plan is to wake up early in the morning tomorrow (5am) and do my devotions before my daughter wakes up at 7am (her usual time). I have dreaded making this change because it is so early but sacrifice is what I need to do to make this happen. If I sacrifice my hour or two of sleep, Christ will give me the strength to get through the rest of the day. I will be forced to lean on Him and that is what He asks us to do.

Chapters 2 & 3--

1.  From Chapter 2:  When, where and how are you studying God’s word right now?

I plan to wake up at 5am each morning to do my bible study. I will sit at the dining room table and pull out my books from my bible study/prayer basket. I just recently came to the decision to create a study/prayer basket. I learned of this idea from my Pastor's wife about two years ago. I never implemented the idea and then a couple of months ago I came across a YouTube video of a woman explaining what she keeps in her prayer basket. I decided that I should do the same because otherwise I leave my books spread out all over when I'm finished and it just makes the house look cluttered. I will be study God's word using the Good Morning Girls bible studies and through studying my word for the year and scripture focus for the year. I will also be reading through the bible this year but not for studying sake. The reading is just to be immersed in God's living water each day.

2.  Read Luke 5:12-16 – what was Jesus doing here?  How can we, as busy women, follow his example?

In this passage Jesus healed a man who was suffering from leprosy. When people learned about Jesus healing the man, others who were ill came to hear the things Jesus said and be healed. Due to being swarmed with people all of the time, Jesus made sure He took time to pray. He did this by going out in the wilderness alone.

3.  From Chapter 3:  How can you improve your prayer life this year?

Before reading chapter 3 of "Women Living Well" I planned to keep a prayer journal this year. I will have a list of people and situations that I will pray over each day. I will also write out my confessions, prayers, praises, and answers to prayers. As Courtney explains in the chapter, I will start doing consistent prayer walks through my house to pray over my family and our household. In GMG we have a prayer list each week with group members' prayers that I can add to my prayer list. Whenever family or friends ask for prayer, they will be added to my list. I also will write out scripture to pray back to God. This will help me when I need to pray aloud. I get overwhelmed with praying aloud so having God's word already written out as prayer will give me things I can start prayers with until I become more comfortable. 

Crystal

How would you answer these questions above?

Towards the end of 2013 I started praying and thinking about how I wanted to do better in the new year in my walk with Christ. I felt like I wasted away an entire year. Granted I tried with doing some bible studies but I never finished any of them. I was inconsistent in my bible reading, and had an almost non-existent prayer life. I am determined to turn this around through several goals. 

1. Read through the bible in a year. I am doing a chronological reading plan and using the Chronological Guide to the Bible for background info. I have also challenged one of the teen girls at church to do this with me. We are holding each other accountable and learning from each other along the way. 

2. Word Focus. I will be keeping a journal on one word throughout the year. The word I chose is Submission. I struggle at submitting to authority and I am determined to break this flaw. I need to be in submission to my husband, my pastor, government authorities, and most of all Christ. By focusing and praying on this throughout the year I know Christ will teach me how to submit. 

3. Focus Scripture. Similar to the Word Focus I will be focusing and praying through a scripture for the year. My scripture passage is Proverbs 31:10-31. I know most would say I should choose just one verse, but this passage has been on my heart for a long time and I really need to just study it out, pray it out, and memorize it. I want, no, I NEED to become a better wife for my husband, a better mother for my daughter, a better friend, and mostly a better daughter of Christ. 

4. Bible study. Most of my bible study time will be done through the Good Morning Girls online bible studies. The first study of the year is entitled, "Intentionally Focused." This study answers so many of my prayers I had at the end of 2013. In August of 2013, I was given the opportunity to attend the Women Living Well Conference. At this conference I was inspired and encouraged by some of the most amazing Christian women I had never met!! LOL I had read most of their blogs as I searched throughout 2013 how to live a better life for Christ. My main search was a bible study on Proverbs 31. Through this search I came across www.Proverbs31.org which led me to www.womenlivingwell.org and then www.goodmorninggirls.org Each of these website encouraged me to live life for Christ through blog posts and videos. I saw that a conference was coming up and I knew I should go but we just couldn't afford it. I prayed for God to make a way for me to attend. I think a week or two later I saw that www.karenehman.com was having a raffle for two tickets to the conference. I submitted my entry and I WON!!! I went to the conference and I cannot tell you how much I learned that day. I met these amazing women that I was learning from and was just inspired to do more and live better. So I am determined to do just that through continuing to read their blogs and encourage as many women as I can to read them.



5. Prayer. Another journal I want to keep is a prayer journal. I want to write out my scriptures every day so that I can stay focused as I'm praying and when prayers are answered I can see how much God is hearing me. I tend to lose faith when I don't realize He's actually answering my prayers. It's a flaw I want to change and I think this is something that can help me. 

All of these goals will take time and discipline but I think as the year goes on, if I stay faithful they will become easier and like second nature to just get up and start my day with Christ. 

Crystal

Share your thoughts below:
What are the things you are doing to strengthen your walk with Christ?