A DAILY CHOICE

Every day we face two choices:

1 Choose today as my day alone and in my way.

2 Choose today as God's. 

So, which will it be?

(Photo Credit: Stacy Duplease 2011-2013.) 

Are you double-minded?

Grab your journal and let's look at some tough stuff. I need to warn you. We might be uncomfortable for a bit. But, it should lead us to action.

223 QTP (Question to ponder) Are you double-minded? (Do not read ahead! It's important. Great. Now I put that thought in your mind. I hope you won't act on it. I am praying for your self-control!  Hee-hee.)

224 Define what it means. (Again, no peeking.)

What is being/acting double-minded. It's having two different loyalties. In the Christian realm, it's keeping your foot in the world while trying to follow Christ. It's being part of the world and falling for all of its traps--while we try to honor and please God. 

Whenever we do this, we trip and stumble. We sin. We fall flat on our faces. So, double-mindedness never ends well.

Here's a hint. Whenever we are double-minded, we are not being loyal to our faith. Most importantly, we are not being loyal to God or hsi Word. We are going against his wishes and what he commands. No, it is not a request. He wants all of us. Period. End of story. He is a jealous God and will have no less and deserves no less. 

Yet, isn't that what we give him? We tend to give him the scraps of our lives and not the big fat morsels. 

225 What are your thoughts now? 

226 Re-answer this question. Are you double-minded? 227 How are you?

227 What has God just said to you about this?

228 What have you said to God?

229 What three things or so can you do to make sure you have single-point precision focus on God and his Word alone while you continue with your life and work and raise kids (or go to school, whatever the case may be)?

A

B

C

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

How to just be, and not act, with the Lord

It is just as important to be with God than to take action. Actually, it's probably more important.

Just be.

What does this mean? 

It is turning your heart and mind to him, but not doing anything more than that. As a matter of fact, this is how you pray without ceasing. 

You are just being with God when he is constantly in your awareness. The trick is to figure out how to put him more on your mind and heart minute by minute, day by day, month by month. 

Is there another example of what this means? You know you are comfortable with someone when you can sit in silence together and you you do not have to fill in the silence with noise. That is being with the Lord. 

Being with God is resting in him. 

It's hanging out with him non-stop. 

It's being focused on God and his Word.

Please grab your journal workbooks at this time.

219 How have you been with God today (Whether you realized it or not)? 220 This week? 221 This month?

222 How can you just be with God more? List five ways or so on how you can be with the Lord more each and every day.

A

B

C

D

E

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

A blessing list: A template

214 List 10 blessings of your life in your journal along with the reason you count them as blessings.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

215 Take each of those and write why you thank the Lord for those blessings and how they have shaped your life. 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Wait a few minutes and then repeat 214 and 215. Make sure to include new blessings--or ones you've listed before. (In other words, do not repeat blessings.)

Wait a week and repeat 214 and 215.. 

RECOMMENDED: I recommend doing this once a week ideally. But, one every two weeks or once a month is another option. 

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Short clips and adages

Today and yesterday, I started to add short clips and adages in order to get our attention about a topic. It's meant to get us to think.

SUGGESTION: You might want to spend time journaling about them. They provide more ways for you to grow more loyal in your faith. 

It does not matter if you do them today or tomorrow, or a month from now. They might be all you can do in a day, or they might be just the right length to add a little more time when you crave more time with God and you already did a lesson or two from this Bible study blog.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

Lonely?

Do you ever feel lonely?

When you do, have you tried to add a great deal more alone time with God and his Word in your life? You most likely are craving time with him.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Some Alone Time

I do not know about you. But, I crave alone time with my spouse. It is quality time that seals the bond between us. I cherish it deeply.

Of course I feel this way. The relationship between husband and wife mirrors our relationship with God.

Do you feel stir-crazy? Blah? Like something is missing in your life? Like something just isn't right? 

Well, there is your answer. You are craving alone time with God.

Take some. Nourish your heart, mind, body, and spirit.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal FaithFind my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

Complacency

Are you complacent in your faith?

Neutral? Not moving? Not growing? So-so? 

Grab your journal workbooks and write your thoughts. Then, answer the following question.

213 What three things can you do today to ensure your faith isn't mediocre, complacent, neutral, and not growing. 

A

B

C

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Are you settling?

Are you settling with your faith?

Are you settling for a mediocre, at best, faith?

Journal your thoughts. Does this apply to you?

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

Have you thought how your faith impacts other lives?

Have you thought how your faith, and your lack of it at times, impacts the lives of others?

When our faith is low, we are less obedient to the Lord, and are acting more distant with him. As a matter of fact, we are more likely to be engaged in sin. 

So, if we do not lay the seed of faith in everyone around us, their faith will not be as strong either. After all, everywhere we go, we leave seeds. We leave healthy seed of the fruitfulness of faith, or we leave seeds of weeds that can take over everything around them. 

Do you hear the responsibility we have in our faith? We need to grow so we do not keep others from having as fruitful and faithful lives--as well as all of the other reasons.

Grab your journal workbooks, please.

205 Write your thoughts about what you just read. 

206 Have you thought of how your faith and your lack of faith impacts the lives of others this month? 207 This week? 208 today?

209 What did God say to you after reading this blog post?

210 What did you say to God after reading this? 

211 How faithful do you want to be now?

212 How will you live differently, starting today, because of this. List three ways you will start to apply this to your life:

A

B

C

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

Clean my heart, Lord

I know my heart and mind can be full of sin and wrongdoing.
Clean my heart, Lord. Purify me. Help me to only be open to You and Your Word.

~ Stacy Duplease

Adage of revival

A loyal faith is synonymous with revival.

~ Stacy Duplease

Question

The closer we are with God, the more intimate, the more loyal of faith we will have.
How can you know when your faith is waning? You will feel distant from the Lord.

~ Stacy Duplease

Adage: An ignited passion

An ignited passion in Jesus Christ and the Word is a mark of a loyal faith.
How is your passion? Ignited or blah? Or is it something in-between,

~ Stacy Duplease

An Adage: One of the many definitions of 'a loyal faith'

A loyal faith is reading the Word, studying it, applying it, and remembering it.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Remember the Simplicity of Your Faith ~ The Basics of Faith ~ John 3:16

REMEMBER THE SIMPLICITY OF YOUR FAITH

Faith in Jesus Christ is not supposed to be complicated. You either believe--or you do not. 

Hence, you are either going to heaven or to hell. Either you will spend eternity with the Father or absent from him. Either you have a new self or are the same old self. Regardless, you are a sinner and you do wrong things, think wrong things, and feel wrong feelings at times. 

That's it. It is that simple.

Please grab your journal workbooks at this time and answer this question--again, please. 

195 QTP (Question to Ponder) Are you a Christian? Do you believe?

196 QTP What does it mean to believe? 

Please grab your Bibles at this time. At least three versions are suggested with one being The Amplified Bible (AMP). We are going to take a look at John 3:16. 

197 What do you learn in John 3:16 from your first version of the Bible?

198 What do you learn in John 3:16 from your second version of the Bible?

199 What do you learn in John 3:16 from your third version of the Bible?

200 What does John 3:16 mean to you?

201 Answer QTP 195 one more time, but with this new information.

202 Answer QTP 196 one more time, but with this new information.

203 What does this mean for your life?

204 How can you apply John 3:16 to your life today? 

HOW DO YOU BECOME A CHRISTIAN?

It is simply through believing what is said in John 3:16. 

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

Remember the Simplicity of Your Faith ~ The Basics of Faith ~ John 3:16

REMEMBER THE SIMPLICITY OF YOUR FAITH

Faith in Jesus Christ is not supposed to be complicated. You either believe--or you do not. 

Hence, you are either going to heaven or to hell. Either you will spend eternity with the Father or absent from him. Either you have a new self or are the same old self. Regardless, you are a sinner and you do wrong things, think wrong things, and feel wrong feelings at times. 

That's it. It is that simple.

Please grab your journal workbooks at this time and answer this question--again, please. 

195 QTP (Question to Ponder) Are you a Christian? Do you believe?

196 QTP What does it mean to believe? 

Please grab your Bibles at this time. At least three versions are suggested with one being The Amplified Bible (AMP). We are going to take a look at John 3:16. 

197 What do you learn in John 3:16 from your first version of the Bible?

198 What do you learn in John 3:16 from your second version of the Bible?

199 What do you learn in John 3:16 from your third version of the Bible?

200 What does John 3:16 mean to you?

201 Answer QTP 195 one more time, but with this new information.

202 Answer QTP 196 one more time, but with this new information.

203 What does this mean for your life?

204 How can you apply John 3:16 to your life today? 

HOW DO YOU BECOME A CHRISTIAN?

It is simply through believing what is said in John 3:16. 

A Bible study without application is pointless

How many Bible studies have you done where it's a fill in the blank or ask a specific question about the text--where if you read it, you learned all of that?

Most Bible studies are like that.

I have a question for you. Have they produced a permanent change in your thinking or behavior that you can trace back to that study? What about many instances of this? 

Let's face it. The Word is meant to be known and to be lived. If we don't, we aren't getting out of it what we should and we miss the entire point. 

The Word is meant to be lived. We are to apply it to our lives and we should see changes in our feelings, thoughts, behaviors/actions, and choices. If we do not, we missed the point. 

It makes me sad how most Bible studies out there do not talk about application. And those that do give general examples. But, what about you and your life? What does the verse or passage mean to you? That is what is most important. Otherwise, you waste your time and miss the point. 

That is why this Bible study is set up the way it is. It is to help facilitate this in your life.

When you write the applications down, you can remember you wanted to work on that. And you can review and analyze your progress later. Through writing it down, you will start to see more and more concretely about how God is working in your life, around your life, and through your life. 

Be careful with the Bible studies you do outside of this study. If they don't offer you these things, you might want to avoid them--or supplement them by doing this on your own. Do not let the Word be null, void, and pointless in your life. Let it create a change in your life where you develop a greater intimacy with the Lord. 

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

Why This Format? Part 2: Why write things down?

WHY THIS FORMAT OF BIBLE STUDY?

Why write things down? You may grumble under your breath or you may rather find the idea intriguing. 

A The main reason is we tend to forget. It's to help us remember.

Let me make the point. Name 5 of the things God told you from March to April in 1999. Or, if you were not a Christian at that time, list 5 of your biggest blessings at that time or 5 of your strongest memories. 

If I didn't journal, I would never be able to answer that question. However, I can. I am not saying this to brag. No. I am the chief of sinners. I have nothing to brag about. Nevertheless, I say that because I want to tell you that I can track my journey with God. I can tell you where I continually slip-up, the monuments/mile-markers of my journey, and so on. This is the most valuable thing I have in my effort to continually grow a more loyal faith in the Lord and in his Word. And I bet you would like to say the same. 

B It's to help us implement the application of the Word into our lives. In other words, it's to help us apply the Bible to our lives on a daily basis--and to remember what we have learned and are working on in our lives. 

C It gives us a testimony to share with others. We've been there, done that.

D It helps us to review and see what's worked and what hasn't.

E It allows us to see when we grow in closeness in relationship with the Lord, or when it diminishes--no matter how slightly.

F It helps us remember what God has said to us and what we have said to God. 

G Etc.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

Faith is not just doing: It's being and relationship.

No action is required on our part as Christians in order to be forgiven for our wrongdoings and so we will live eternally in heaven. All we need to really do is believe.

Be with the Lord. 

Seek him first and above all. 

Doing is less important than relationship. Our faith should be full of acts of a changed life and a changed person who follows the Lord and his Word. However, we should have the change in behavior because we want to draw closer to God--not because we think we have to. We don't have to. We are already forgiven. Our actions do not lead to more forgiveness. It leads to a closer relationship. 

However, another, more simple way of saying all of this is: 

If you actively and intentionally seek a closer relationship with the Lord, you will naturally do what brings you closer to Him.

What are these doing things I refer to? 

A Reading the Bible

B Prayer

C Bible Study

D Journaling Notebook

E Worship

F Etc.

Is this Bible study a must? No. But, it will bring you closer to the Lord and bring you to have a deeper relationship.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: My writing life verse: John 21:25