the gospels

A local minister shared that he is always reading one of the gospels so he can have the life of Christ ingrained in his mind while he lives this life.

I was getting bored with reading and rewriting Psalms so I switched to reading Matthew. My plan is to read through the gospels and then begin again. Anyone want to join me?

I am using The Message, by Eugene Peterson. It's the Bible written in contemporary language. It's so easy to read, and simple to comprehend. The Message is the best-selling paraphrased translation of the Bible, and the most popular reader friendly Bible available. It's written as though God is speaking directly to you. You gotta love it....

Dotsie, you know I pass by this church nearby frequently. THere's a sign out that writes, "Forty Days of Purpose" I'm not sure what that means but since the caption almost always captures my attention, I though I'd find something Godly to do on my own.

I think this is it! I'll at least try to be as faithful to this new Godly task as possible. When do you want to start?

"Forty Days Of Purpose" is the campaign that is based upon Rick Warren's awesome and inspiring book journey, "The Purpose Driven Life"

After I completed that book and my "40 days" I signed my name in my copy with the words "Inspired Life Ministries" and the date and passed the book onto someone else.

The next day I began the paperwork and the online framework for the non-profit corporation, Inspired Life Ministries.

My life has not been the same since and seems more blessed than I could ever have imagined.

______________________

Dotsie, I am in - when do we start?

Sugaree, I've also read Warren's book. My husband and I did the study at church. It can be life changing if you take his words to heart. I wish we lived closer. I'd give you my book. I'm sure you can get it at the library.

I've already started. I'm reading Matthew. I read Chapter 6 today. There's no rhyme or reason to how much I read each day. I underline and journal as I write.

Maybe we can share some of our thoughts, journal entries, concerns, revelations, etc, in this forum as we move along.

How's that sound?

I'm excited to have others join in the fun.

I'll start by sharing some of my thoughts from Chapter 6:

Try not to focus on hoarding stuff.
Focus on the reward of heaven.

Use my eyes to let in the light, stay optimistic, and count blessings.

Worship God and forget the earthly things that I can't take with me when I go.

Focus on how He cares for the birds and the flowers.
Recognize their beauty and realize He cares for me more!

Focus on keeping my heart on Him because I know my body and looks will change, but His love for me won't.

Accept His message to relax, focus on my gifts, and find peace knowing He is my God...not money or the things of this earth.

He has my attention. I have total faith that I can deal with whatever comes my way as long as He is by my side...and He is.

This is nothing I'm proud of writing. This is what I jotted down as I went along. Not meant to be published!

Oh, I go MIA on business and have missed the action. Thanks DallasGirl. I wasn't sure what that meant but my heart was intent on leading a truly purposeful lifestyle, at least for forty days.

I recall, as a little girl, my grandmother visiting with the elderly, sick and shut in, and so forth. We'd do special things for them. I always enjoyed the times. Now I enjoy recalling the times with my grandmother that realized this about these folk. I guess that's why her funeral was one of the largest turnouts in the small town, ever to date.

Anyhow, Dotsie, you're up a few chapters on me in Mathews. As you can see, it's pretty late now but I have time tomorrow to plow thru and catch up and then I can post my response(s) to these chapters in Mathews.

God bless,

Sheree

BTW-> excellent accounts of how reading this made you feel and realize certain aspects.

Dotsie I'd like to hear more about your "finding your gold nugget" series

I don't know that i have a nugget - but maybe a speck...


sometimes
I feel that I understand nothing
sometimes
I hold the key to the universe
sometimes
I roar like a lion
sometimes
I run like a mouse
sometimes
the tide is way, way out
sometimes
the beach holds the full sea
sometimes
my faith is a tall tree
sometimes
an un-germinated seed
but always
…You

Julie, beautiful. I think we all feel this way at times.

Julie, all of us have 24 hours a day. What we do with them is what makes a difference in our lives.

People say they don't have time to pray, read the Bible, draw nearer to God, etc.

I propose we have the time, we just need to figure out how to incorporate Christianity.

Instead of reading secular magazines/books, we can read The Bible, Christian magazines, or Christian books. Keep them in your purse, car, etc. and pull them out when you have a sec.

Instead of listening to secular music, find a Christain radio station or CD for a quick little pick me up in the middle of the day.

Read The Bible before you pick up the paper in the morning.

Pray when you exercise, empty the dishwasher, fold clothes, vacuum, etc.

There's lots more, but I think you may get the idea. God is everywhere, why not choose to meet him there? He is yearning to connect with us. And it's all for the sake of ourselves.


We made a list of everything we did the day before. EVERYTHING. Then we went back and considered if we could have done something different to incorporate God. The results were amazing. We DO have time to pray.

I recommend committing to one new discipline and making it a habit. After months pass, pick another little discipline. Keep adding. You will be blessed.

I can share more if you're interested.

[ May 17, 2005, 12:59 PM: Message edited by: Dotsie ]

Thanks for sharing those thoughts, Dotsie. I've often berated myself for not spending enough time in prayer. But when I actually started to take stock of my days, I realized that I'm rarely NOT praying or chatting with God. I don't spend hours just sitting and praying, but the few minutes that I do are enough for the time being. Like you, every activity is a chance to incorporate Him into my day-to-day life; I constantly chat His ear off...while doing dishes, baking, gardening, washing floor; any mundane task becomes a chance to pray for people who have asked for prayer; even coming here to BWS, I don't come alone. He's everywhere I am; what an incredible comfort that steadfast companionship is.

Prayer does become a habit, so much so that I'm often not even aware of it going on. Now I try to be more aware of Him as a friend who might also have something to say now and then!

The one thing I've been trying to do lately is replace reading the newspaper at breakfast to reading inspirational writings. I do read a daily meditation every morning before I even get out of bed (it helps me roll out!); now I want to extend that over breakfast. Reading the paper has been a habit for half my adult life, but lately it has been so disheartening to start off my day with such negativity and bad news. It's a much harder habit to break than anticipated. So I'm starting with two days a week, then will hopefully progress from there.

Your insights and suggestions are always so helpful and inspiring to me. Sometimes the simplest things can be impossible to see until someone else points out the possibility.

I thought one of the clever things about 40 days of purpose was that it created a daily reading habit for people who haven't had one before...me, I've always had a reading habit...

here's another way to put God in your day - I spend a lot of time web searching at work - you can search a bible reference on google and lots of different online biblical tools will come up and it is so quick to read and compare

but you also need to exercise discernment when reading biblical content online because there can be a lot of "fringe" thinkers pushing particular ideas...always check the authority of the source!

Eagle, you point out listening. That's so important. I also appreciate your reminder that we go nowhere alone.

Julie, thanks for pointing this out. This is something I haven't experimented with. I frequent www.christianwomentoday.com and receive some email devotionals, but I've never really searched Biblical truth online. Thanks for the idea.

Maybe everyone knows, but I love www.crosswalk.com. There is so much information there it is astounding. You can search ten or fifteen different versions of the Bible for a phrase or a word. You can look up any passage by book and verse. You can view several different versions at the same time. You can access commentaries and sermon helps and all kinds of things.
You can also get various devotionals emailed to you daily. I love the ones I get.
And it's all free.
smile

smile, thanks. I added it to my favorites. I'd never been on that site before.

Smile, It is a great site. I sent it to my daughters. Thanks for sharing it with us.

chick

Yes, Smile. Great site. I've been there reading for an hour now.

Dotsie, I'm behind on my reading again with all that's going on but I'll catch up and post re: Matthews soon.

Good Day!

Dotsie, so slacking on reading Matthew...I seem to be absorbed in Proverbs and Psalms right now - but that is what my life needs at this moment - praises and wisdom to be a better mom to my stepdaughter and open my eyes to more needs of my family.

I am reading the posts though and making note of yours and others observations.

I'm still doing the "Matthew thing" and lovin' it. I'll keep working my way through the Gospels this summer. Got to have something to keep me on the right path...

Smile, thanks for the crosswalk site.

Dots, I've often wondered <and made the mistake of actually asking someone one time...I was roundly put down for my question <g>> does God want us to tithe Him 10% of our time? That would be 2.4 hours each day. I've read that Augustine said his day was so full and busy he didn't dare start out without praying for 4 hours first!

I make the attempt to read 5 chapters of the Bible every morning. My Daddy teaches by example and he's read the Bible through every year, for 40 years. He starts in January and he's finished by mid-November so he reads a chapter here and there until it's time to start again in January. Mom "does" Bible studies but she also is in the Word every day...great examples, both of them.

I do know this...when I've not taken time to read the Bible in the mornings, people can tell it the rest of the day...unfortunately. God keeps me centered and focused on Him and when I fail to put my effort into centering and focusing on Him...my attitude goes tidy bowl.

The most important thing I had to say was my favorite chapter in all the Bible is Psalm 116. I gave some Bibles to a new Russia girlfriend and told her Psalm 116 was my favorite. A few weeks after we returned home, the rebels killed a lot of students in a classroom. Ekatarina e-mailed me and said she had frequently read Psalm 116 and it had also brought her comfort.

I love knowing that people all over the world are reading Scripture and praying to God. I love knowing there's that connection.