Tag: faith

3.6.21
[[Reposted and some updates on 4.12.21 as I turn these into individual blog posts]]
Ephesians 1:4-5
How have you been able to break through stereotypes because of your confidence in who God made you to be?:
Not sure I have broke stereotypes. People see my confidence in what I do and naturally believe in me, allow me to lead. I demonstrate knowledge and confidence in that knowledge, make decisions, and that has allowed me to show what God has given me, my skills, my passion, my desire, and allows me to build trust and confidence in others. To lead when it is needed. People trust that my decisions are sound and right.

3.5.21
[[Reposted and some updates on 4.12.21 as I turn these into individual blog posts]]
Psalm 139:7-12
The keys to this section are “Faith is the answer” and “Pray your way out”
How do you respond to the love God expresses in this verse?:
Staying in Gods love, remaining Faithful and practicing Waiting and Patients. By doing these God shows us Love and Grace.

4.12.21 So much more to say on this one now. I think I will redo the 40 Days in a couple of weeks and really expand on these as I do them again.

3.4.21
[[Reposted and some updates on 4.12.21 as I turn these into individual blog posts]]
Philippians 4:6
Beginning with a prayer of Thanksgiving for what God has already done in your life, make your requests known to Him in this space, believing that He regards those who honestly seek him:
I have listed my prayer requests in the book. I do not think I will do so here.
That said Prayer is powerful. I have prayed for years and years, long before I wert to Church, not as regular as I should, not as committed as I should, but prayed.
I do believe my Prayer connection to God is strong. Even though I do not pray as often/as much as I should, I know that when I do, it is powerful in its response. I need to double down on this. I need to surrender myself to His Faith and dig deep into prayer.

4.12.21 I have started a Prayer Journal at the advice of my Pastor. So I list most of the things I praying about and who for in that daily as I pray. ALSO my beautiful friend PS gave me some scented oils to use depending on the situation, so I journal when I use those also.

3.3.21
[[Reposted and some updates on 4.12.21 as I turn these into individual blog posts]]
Hebrews 11
Reflect on a time in your life when you acted in Faith. Is there an area in your life right now where you could use some Faith?:
I dont know that I have ever truly acted in Faith. Not directly. I have always believed. I have always known God is Good. I have prayed and things have happened. But I have never truly surrendered to Faith. As explained in previous posts, God points me in a direction, I go that direction, but then instead of waiting for Him to show me the next step, I reason it out and I take the next steps.
I need to Trust in God for the next steps. I need to have Faith that he is there with me. I need to surrender to Faith, put it into practice in my life.

3.2.21
[[Reposted and some updates on 4.12.21 as I turn these into individual blog posts]]
What is one way your perspective on Hope has shifted during your time journaling on this topic?
I need to believe in Gods’s timing for me. I need to put into practice Waiting, Patients, Anticipation and Grace.

Identify an area of your life which you could apply something you learned about Hope?
All of them… Waiting and being Patient are big areas of reflection for me. I tend to hear God’s word, face myself in the direction he wants me to go and then not listen and just reason the way through it. I need to Stop and Listen along the way.

Which aspect of Hope (Waiting, Patients, Anticipation, Grace) are you committed to working on right now?
All of them need work to be sure. Grace is the one I will focus on right now. “Go and Do” make a difference in peoples lives by Showing Love and Helping My Neighour.

3.1.21
[[Reposted and some updates on 4.12.21 as I turn these into individual blog posts]]
John 10:10
¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

How can you live out Grace today?:
At Church on Sunday (2.28) we studied the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). It seems to tie directly into this… (timely huh?)
How I can live with Grace today? Open my heart to others, even those I may have hardened it too. Practice Grace with others.
Love your neighbour is how you show God love.
Love is Action.
At the end of the Good Samaritan story, Jesus says “Go and do likewise”, take care of your Neighbour! Go and Do!
Pastor said, Push past loving in your heart and do something about the situation.
Go and Do.
So I can show Grace, by working to Love My Neighbour, Go and Do. Love is Action.

2.28.21
[[Reposted and some updates on 4.12.21 as I turn these into individual blog posts]]
Genesis 22:1-14 (Parts of the Story of Abraham)
Reflect on a specific time when God provided something in your life:
So like Hope, Waiting and Patients, not sure I can name a specific instance. I have not lived my life in this way, this thought process, again I have Believed always, but I have always Believed more in a “He has given me gift/abilities/skills, to use as I need or want” when in reality, He has given me these to use for His Kingdom. So while I have used these skills and abilities, I have not specifically used them for Him, but for what I believes was right.
So this entire process is me looking at the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of who I am, what I have been Blessed with, and how to now refocus what I have been given.
I have always known where my abilities have come from, but again, I did not consider them in that way… I did not consider them for a specific purpose, or view my Blessing from a specific angle or light. I know what he wants of me, but have always approached it from a “He has given me a path (not a step by step one, but more of a direction) and left it to me to walk that path”
Have I been wrong in that interpretation? Someone Close to me (PS) would say that I probably have been wrong, or I should have been more focused on the Path and asking about the “How and Why” of it for clarity.
I need to Focus more on His Word, His Direction, and move He has asked.

2.27.21
Luke 2: 25-38
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss^[a] your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹  which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”
³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
³⁶ There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.^[b] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. ³⁸ Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

What are you currently Hoping or Waiting for? How can you keep moving forward in Patients as you wait on Gods timing?:
Selfishly I am Hoping and Waiting on my Forever. As already said in Hope and Waiting I am not good at this.
I need to trust that what I pray if coming but that I am Patient in Gods word and his timing to fulfill it.
To move forward I need to stay obedient to the Word and focus on the Word. His timing is His and it is what I need to accept and follow.

2.26.21
[[Reposted and some updates on 4.12.21 as I turn these into individual blog posts]]

Psalm 27:13-14
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Write about a time of waiting and what you learned from it:
I have never really “waited”. What have I learned about Waiting by not doing it? That I need too.
I allow my head to get involved. I hear the first part of a message, then I reason my own way through it…Instead of listening to God or my Heart and Waiting for the whole message, I go to work on it with my Mind and problem solve it to get the rest of the message. I need to Wait. What is God trying to tell me? What am I missing?
“Waiting on the Lord isn’t for the faint of heart. While we can know deep in our heart that His timing is the best, that doesn’t make the waiting any easier.” Page 18 of 40 Days of Intentional Living says, and it is right. It is NOT EASY to Wait. As humans we want to go forward, we want to move. As someone who is very intelligent (or at least I think I am hah), why Wait when I can Reason out the rest of the message? Because I maybe wrong. Even if I am right, I did not wait, maybe there was a Blessing coming in the Waiting? And I missed it…
I need to learn Patients
I need to learn to Wait
I need to Listen and not act until I know what the Path or Message is
I have to work on this.

2.25.21
[[Reposted and some updates on 4.12.21 as I turn these into individual blog posts]]
Read Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

What does hope mean to me?
So first this book started out on a crazy cool note, they quote The Two Towers in it… Sam says ” Its only a passing thing, this shadow. Even the darkness must pass. A new say will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer.”
So for those that know me, I am a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan, so literally page 1 of this Faith Exercise quote LotR… SO what Faith book quotes Lord of the Rings? AMAZING!

So how has Hope carried me in the past? What part of my life do I need hope right now?
Hope is how I have lived in many ways. I believe Hope is self generated, its a gift from God, but he instills Hope in us, for us to use as we need. We all have the power of Hope, we just have to use it.
I hope to find my Forever.
I hope to be successful.
I hope to have the Time and Money to contribute to His Kingdom in a big way.
Hope keeps me positive and going. It helps me see the Good in things. Seeing Hope in myself and other things make it easy to get up in the morning and be confident in all that I do.