Day 21: A Review Day

TIME

I will be honest and upfront here. A Review Day is best spent all day and night long. It’s best as a retreat where we can spend as much time as possible in the review, so we can savor it fully.

I’ll confess. I’ve been known to spend more than one day on a Review Day. In fact, more often than not, I devote several days (two days to seven days) in order to do the best review. If you are doing this on your own, you might consider doing the same. After all, no one ever said you have to finish this in 40 days. The only concrete must, and requirement for this Devotional Bible Study, is to do this study every single day for forty days at the minimum.

But, do what you can today and in the future. It’s okay to return to all of this after you finish Day 40 and do more of a review at that time and as time allows. Also, review this study, and your prayer journal of it, every year or more. Again, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.

RE-READ DAY 1.

Re-read Day 1 and the parable. Prayer journal anything that comes to mind. Then, in your prayer journal, answer this: How am I coloring each moment and each day of my life? How have I colored each day over the last week? Then, write day 8, day 9, etc. and say how you’ve colored that day. Was it a dark one? An invisible one? Bright? Full of experiences and memories, so really bright and colorful, regardless of whether the moments were good ones or bad?

RE-READ REVIEW DAY 7’S REVIEW AND PRAYER JOURNALING

Then, re-read your Review Day Prayer Journaling, and I mean all of it, you did for your Day 7’s review.

Things to prayer journal and contemplate as you re-read day 7 review and prayer journaling both:

Instruction: Make sure to answer each question below for each word, sentence, paragraph, page, AND day that jumps out at you from your day 7 text and your prayer journaling from day 7.

What jumps out at you? Why does it jump out at you?

What questions do you have?

How does this inspire and motivate you?

What does this mean to you and your life?

How can you apply this to your life—starting today? Write out an action plan to apply this to your life.

Why is this important to me to remember?

What am I saying to God?

What is God saying to me?

Take your time and be through as you re-read and prayer journal.

RE-READ REVIEW DAY 14’S REVIEW AND PRAYER JOURNALING

Then, re-read your Review Day Prayer Journaling, and I mean all of it, you did for Day 14’s review.

Things to prayer journal and contemplate as you re-read day 7 review and prayer journaling both:

Instruction: Make sure to answer each question below for each word, sentence, paragraph, page, AND day that jumps out at you from your day 7 text and your prayer journaling from day 7.

What jumps out at you? Why does it jump out at you?

What questions do you have?

How does this inspire and motivate you?

What does this mean to you and your life?

How can you apply this to your life—starting today? Write out an action plan to apply this to your life.

Why is this important to me to remember?

What am I saying to God?

What is God saying to me?

Take your time and be through as you re-read and prayer journal.

RE-READ DAYS 15-20.

Re-read Days 15-20 and as you do, prayer journal about anything that jumps out at you, even in you prayer journaled about it before. What you write this time will be different than what you wrote last time, even if you write down something again. (The key is to notice those differences when you re-read your prayer journal.)

Things to prayer journal and contemplate as you re-read days 15-20:

Instruction: Make sure to answer each question below for each word, sentence, paragraph, page, AND day that jumps out at you from your daily readings.

What jumps out at you? Why does it jump out at you?

What questions do you have?

How does this inspire and motivate you?

What does this mean to you and your life?

How can you apply this to your life—starting today? Write out an action plan to apply this to your life.

Why is this important to me to remember?

What am I saying to God?

What is God saying to me?

Take your time and be through as you re-read and prayer journal.

RE-READ YOUR PRAYER JOURNAL DAYS 15-20

Re-read everything in your prayer journal, including things you wrote today. And, as you do prayer journal about anything that jumps out at you. As you do, prayer journal all of the questions below for everything you write in your prayer journal:

Things to prayer journal and contemplate as you re-read:

Instruction: Make sure to answer each question below for each word, sentence, paragraph, page, AND day that jumps out at you from your prayer journal.

What jumps out at you? Why does it jump out at you?

What questions do you have?

How does this inspire and motivate you?

What does this mean to you and your life?

How can you apply this to your life—starting today? Write out an action plan to apply this to your life.

Why is this important to me to remember?

What am I saying to God?

What is God saying to me?

Take your time and be through as you re-read and prayer journal.

BIBLE VERSES

What are the top seven Bible verses that spoke to you the most this week? Write them, word for word, in your payer journal and answer the following:

Things to prayer journal and contemplate as you re-read:

Instruction: Make sure to answer each question below for each of the seven verses.

What jumps out at you? Why does it jump out at you?

What questions do you have?

How does this inspire and motivate you?

What does this mean to you and your life?

How can you apply this to your life—starting today? Write out an action plan to apply this to your life.

Why is this important to me to remember?

What am I saying to God?

What is God saying to me?

Take your time and be through as you re-read and prayer journal.

MEMORY VERSES

Practice your memory verses and prayer journal about them. What is God saying through them? What can you apply to your life and how? What are you saying to God?

SUMMARY

Now, write a summary for everything you’ve prayer journaled today. The longer a summary you write, the better. After all, once again, the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it.

PRAYER

Write out a prayer to God about the last six days, plus today. Make it a lengthy prayer. Pour out your heart to Him. Then, listen to Him for an hour or more after you finish saying your prayer.

Make sure to prayer journal all of this. Prayer journal your prayer and everything He says to you. 

Day 14: A Review Day

Day 14: A Review Day

TIME

I will be honest and upfront here. A Review Day is best spent all day and night long. It’s best as a retreat where we can spend as much time as possible in the review, so we can savor it fully.

I’ll confess. I’ve been known to spend more than one day on a Review Day. In fact, more often than not, I devote several days (two days to seven days) in order to do the best review. If you are doing this on your own, you might consider doing the same. After all, no one ever said you have to finish this in 40 days. The only concrete must, and requirement for this Devotional Bible Study, is to do this study every single day for forty days at the minimum.

But, do what you can today and in the future. It’s okay to return to all of this after you finish Day 40 and do more of a review at that time and as time allows. Also, review this study, and your prayer journal of it, every year or more. Again, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.

RE-READ DAY 1.

Re-read Day 1 and the parable. Prayer journal anything that comes to mind. Then, in your prayer journal, answer this: How am I coloring each moment and each day of my life? How have I colored each day over the last week? Then, write day 8, day 9, etc. and say how you’ve colored that day. Was it a dark one? An invisible one? Bright? Full of experiences and memories, so really bright and colorful, regardless of whether the moments were good ones or bad?

RE-READ REVIEW DAY 7’S REVIEW AND PRAYER JOURNALING

Then, re-read your Review Day Prayer Journaling, and I mean all of it, you did for your last review.

Things to prayer journal and contemplate as you re-read day 7 review and prayer journaling both:

Instruction: Make sure to answer each question below for each word, sentence, paragraph, page, AND day that jumps out at you from your day 7 text and your prayer journaling from day 7.

What jumps out at you? Why does it jump out at you?

What questions do you have?

How does this inspire and motivate you?

What does this mean to you and your life?

How can you apply this to your life—starting today? Write out an action plan to apply this to your life.

Why is this important to me to remember?

What am I saying to God?

What is God saying to me?

Take your time and be through as you re-read and prayer journal.

RE-READ DAYS 8-13.

Re-read Days 8-13 and as you do, prayer journal about anything that jumps out at you, even in you prayer journaled about it before. What you write this time will be different than what you wrote last time, even if you write down something again. (The key is to notice those differences when you re-read your prayer journal.)

Things to prayer journal and contemplate as you re-read days 8-13:

Instruction: Make sure to answer each question below for each word, sentence, paragraph, page, AND day that jumps out at you from your daily readings.

What jumps out at you? Why does it jump out at you?

What questions do you have?

How does this inspire and motivate you?

What does this mean to you and your life?

How can you apply this to your life—starting today? Write out an action plan to apply this to your life.

Why is this important to me to remember?

What am I saying to God?

What is God saying to me?

Take your time and be through as you re-read and prayer journal.

RE-READ YOUR PRAYER JOURNAL DAYS 8-13

Re-read everything in your prayer journal, including things you wrote today. And, as you do prayer journal about anything that jumps out at you. As you do, prayer journal all of the questions below for everything you write in your prayer journal:

Things to prayer journal and contemplate as you re-read:

Instruction: Make sure to answer each question below for each word, sentence, paragraph, page, AND day that jumps out at you from your prayer journal.

What jumps out at you? Why does it jump out at you?

What questions do you have?

How does this inspire and motivate you?

What does this mean to you and your life?

How can you apply this to your life—starting today? Write out an action plan to apply this to your life.

Why is this important to me to remember?

What am I saying to God?

What is God saying to me?

Take your time and be through as you re-read and prayer journal.

BIBLE VERSES

What are the top seven Bible verses that spoke to you the most this week? Write them, word for word, in your payer journal and answer the following:

Things to prayer journal and contemplate as you re-read:

Instruction: Make sure to answer each question below for each of the seven verses.

What jumps out at you? Why does it jump out at you?

What questions do you have?

How does this inspire and motivate you?

What does this mean to you and your life?

How can you apply this to your life—starting today? Write out an action plan to apply this to your life.

Why is this important to me to remember?

What am I saying to God?

What is God saying to me?

Take your time and be through as you re-read and prayer journal.

MEMORY VERSES

Practice your memory verses and prayer journal about them. What is God saying through them? What can you apply to your life and how? What are you saying to God?

SUMMARY

Now, write a summary for everything you’ve prayer journaled today. The longer a summary you write, the better. After all, once again, the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it.

PRAYER

Write out a prayer to God about the last six days, plus today. Make it a lengthy prayer. Pour out your heart to Him. Then, listen to Him for an hour or more after you finish saying your prayer.

Make sure to prayer journal all of this. Prayer journal your prayer and everything He says to you. 

Day 12: Philippians 4:4-8, Part 2

This is a new year and a new beginning in our lives. It doesn’t matter, once again, if you are reading this on 01 January or the 30 July. Therefore, we’ve worked the last eleven days on how to apply the Bible to our lives to plan to make it the best year yet.

Philippians 4:4-8 has become near and dear to us (or at least I hope it has). Let’s do one more round of studying it and gleaning the most we can out of it.

Let’s look at some verses which should help us know what to pray and how to pray for the next year and our new beginning. With each verse listed after this section, prayer journal these 7 things about EACH version of this verse:

1 What jumped out at you and why?

2 What did you learn from this verse?

3 How did this verse differ from the others and how does that difference deepen your understanding of the verse?

4 What did God say to you through this verse?

5 What does this verse mean to you and your life today, this week, this month, this quarter, this year, etc.?

6 How will you apply this verse to your life from now on? Make an action plan.

7 Write out a summary of everything that you’ve learned and what jumps out at you most from your journaling and from the different versions of this verse, Psalm 90:12.

Philippians 4:4-8 GW

4 Always be joyful in the Lord! I’ll say it again: Be joyful! 5 Let everyone know how considerate you are. The Lord is near. 6 Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. 7 Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable.

-- GW: Scripture is taken from GOD’S WORD®, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group.

Philippians 4:4-8 NKJV

New King James Version (NKJV)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

-- NKJV: Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Philippians 4:4-9 MSG

4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

-- MSG: Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Philippians 4:4-8 (NCV)

4 Be full of joy in the Lord always. I will say again, be full of joy.

5 Let everyone see that you are gentle and kind. The Lord is coming soon. 6 Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. 7 And God’s peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Brothers and sisters, think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.

-- NCV: Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Philippians 4:4-8 NASB

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

-- NASB: Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

PRAYER JOURNALING AND CONTEMPLATION QUESTIONS

1 How will you apply these verses to make this the best year yet in your life?

2 How will these verses help you keep the proper perspective and keep your priorities in order this year?

3 Write a summary.

4 Write what God has said to you.

5 Write a prayer out to God. 

Day 11: The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength, Part 1

SAY YOUR OWN OPENING PRAYER

Fellow travelers on this road of life and faith, I am writing a very personal prayer today. Therefore, if you are going through a similar thing, claim it as yours. If not, please, pray your own prayer. Write it in your prayer journal.

OPENING PRAYER ABOUT A LIFE CHALLENGE

Lord, You know everything on my heart right now, which is plenty. Thank You for always being here, even when I wander and am stubborn. Thank You for Your grace all day and night long. I know I sure need it. Thank You for getting me through a life challenge, which I am still in the middle of. I know I am only going to get through it with you, as You give me strength and as I cling to You and Your Word. In Christ alone.

HOW CAN THE JOY OF THE LORD BE OUR STRENGTH?

It’s rather ironic. (Actually, it’s God’s providence and hand.) This topic has been planned for me to write for several days now. God has put me in the perfect place to write this. I’m not in a peachy, life-is-so-wonderful, frame of mind. That’s for sure. I’m going through a life challenge. It’s a doozy. I’m heavy in spirit, but not sad. Just heavy.

My husband and I have a fourteen year-old Beagle named Zack. For you dog or animal lovers out there, I am sure I do not need to continue. But, I will.

He’s getting up there in years. He’s been such a faithful companion. The best dog ever. He has the sweetest personality and loves people, smelling things, sleeping, and food. It depends on the day as to his priority order.

Zack has doggie dementia. So, he’s on medicine and it is mostly controlled. But, he has his bad days and/or nights. He darts. That’s the best way to describe it. He also forgets his name and his commands. But, he sure still loves to be loved. He may not know who we are at the time, when he has one of his spells, but he sure trusts us still.

But, last night, it wasn’t his dementia that kept my husband up all night. We got maybe two hours of sleep. He was suffering. Maybe heartburn. Not sure. So, he got extra special love from both of us. It’s just miserable watching him suffer. He still seems blah this morning, but he seems as though he can finally rest at least a little. He’s eating, drinking, doing the outside thing… I’ll keep a close eye on him today. We are going to make a vet appointment. We needed to take him in any way for some bloodwork. So…

Why do I share all of this?

It’s not to get your pity. Your prayers would sure be appreciated, though. But, there is another reason. It’s because of this:

HOW can the joy of the Lord be our strength—through good times and challenging times?

Right now, I’m fresh out of answers, but I sure know here to turn. And, that’s to the Word of God, the Holy Bible. It’s always the Answer, for He is.

Before we go there, though, allow me the privilege to share one more story with you.

I LOVE HOW GOD WORKS

You need to know I am a nut. I do some crazy things and am a little crazy. When you get to know me, you’ll agree, but it’s in an endearing way—most of the time.

I say I am a nut because this year, I have two perpetual calendars. One is of Mary Engelbreit and one is a Thomas Kincaide Bible Verse a Day calendar. Well, both apply to what hubby (whom I will call B) and I went through last night.

Mary Englebreit’s says, “Have faith.”

Amen.

The Thomas Kincaide one is of this verse:

Psalm 27:1 HCSB

The Lord is my light and my salvation—

whom should I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—

of whom should I be afraid?

-- HCSB: Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Talk about a hug from God.

\Why don’t you prayer journal about that verse. Take a moment and hang out with God and absorb this verse. Don’t rush through it. Open yourself to His Word, this word, and to Him.

Again, why do I share this verse and this story? (I hope you are starting to see I say and do everything in this study very deliberately. I have my reasons. God has given them to me and it’s meant to reach you where you are—and reach me where I am for that matter.) One reason is to show God is at work. Another reason is to remind us to look for God working at all times, not just in the good, the challenging, or the indifferent times, but at all times. For, He is always working (see John 5:17-21, particularly verses 17 and 19—and prayer journal about these verses).

Now, let’s really look at how the joy of the Lord can be our strength, after we look at our memory verses.

REVIEW YOUR MEMORY VERSES

Write them in your prayer journal without peeking. No cheating. See how far you get. Then, after a couple of minutes of trying to find the words, then peek and write out the rest and make corrections as necessary.

Then, prayer journal your thoughts today, right now, on those verses.

They are: Philippians 4:4-8 and Psalm 90:12.

WHERE DO WE FIND JOY?

Yesterday, we learned something very important about joy. Do you remember what it was? Write your answer, or lack thereof, in your prayer journal and please do not read ahead until you do.

We learned what about joy yesterday? Where do we find joy?

It’s found IN THE LORD.

That is how we can make our joy in Him strength. Because He is our strength.

Let’s look at some verses which should help us know what to pray and how to pray for the next year and our new beginning.

1 Samuel 2:1 NCV

Hannah prayed:

“The Lord has filled my heart with joy;

I feel very strong in the Lord.

I can laugh at my enemies;

I am glad because you have helped me!

-- NCV: Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What a verse.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

Then prayer journal about these things:

1 What did we learn about joy?

2 What did we learn about strength?

3 How can you apply this to your life? Then, make an action plan and do it.

4 What did you say to God?

5 What did He say to you?

6 Add this to your memory verses. Find your favorite version. So, we now have: Philippians 4:4-8; Psalm 90:12; and 1 Samuel 2:1.

Now, let’s look at another version of this verse.

1 Samuel 2:1 NLT

Then Hannah prayed:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord!

The Lord has made me strong.

Now I have an answer for my enemies;

I rejoice because you rescued me.

-- NLT: Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Prayer journal your thoughts and then answer the following questions:

1 How does this version differ from the last?

2 How does this version add to your understanding of the previous version?

3 What did you say to God?

4 What did God say to you?

Let’s look at some verses which should help us know what to pray and how to pray for the next year and our new beginning. With each verse listed after this section, prayer journal these 5 things about EACH verse that follows:

1 What jumped out at you and why?

2 What did you learn from this verse?

3 What did God say to you through this verse?

4 What does this verse mean to you and your life today, this week, this month, this quarter, this year, etc.?

5 How will you apply this verse to your life from now on? Make an action plan.

Nehemiah 8:9-10 NASB

9 Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

-- NASB: Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Prayer journal the 5 items listed previously.

Psalm 28:7 GW

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield.

My heart trusted him, so I received help.

My heart is triumphant; I give thanks to him with my song.

-- GW: Scripture is taken from GOD’S WORD®, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group.

Prayer journal the 5 items listed previously.

PRAYER JOURNALING AND CONTEMPLATION QUESTIONS

1 What did we learn about joy today?

2 What did we learn about strength today? 

3 What does this mean for us and our new year and new beginning? 

Day 10: Philippians 4:4-8

REVIEW YOUR MEMORY VERSES

Write them in your prayer journal without peeking. No cheating. See how far you get. Then, after a couple of minutes of trying to find the words, then peek and write out the rest and make corrections as necessary.

Then, prayer journal your thoughts today, right now, on those verses.

A FRESH WORD

Are you seeking to see something new and different each time you think of those verses, say them, and read them? Yes or no. Write that question and answer in your prayer journal.

That should be your goal, by the way. We have the choice of focusing on a word, or a phrase, every single time we read and re-read a verse. We can do our best to see new insights of the verse and can pray to God for this. I guarantee He will answer and will teach you wondrous things about the verse—even if you’ve said it, read it, heard it several times in the past. After all, the Word is alive and active (see Hebrews 4:12 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

“SEE THE VERSE”

I probably should have stated this long ago in this lesson and will do so now. Every single time you see any verse mentioned in this study, look it up in your own Bible. Use your favorite versions or translation. And, if I ever put, “See verse so and son,” by golly, don’t keep on reading. Look it up. Then, prayer journal about it. There is a reason why I put it there. It’s to make more of a point and is to bring you closer to God and into His Word. I guarantee, without hesitation or doubt, you will get even more out of this study if you do.

Also, look up the context of the verses I quote or mention. See the next section for information on this.

THOUGHTS ON WRONGLY QUOTING A VERSE: HOW TO AVOID IT (CONTEXT IS THE KEY)

One thing that is a major pet-peeve of mine, that spins my head on its axis, and shout (not with joy) is when people wrongly quote a verse. This, unfortunately, happens more often than not, with everyone’s favorite verses.

So, how do we avoid it?

1 Look up the verse you quote. Even if you memorized it. Look it up. What if your memory about it is wrong, even if everyone else quotes it the same way you do. That being said, make a list of all of your verses you like to quote, along with all of your life’s memory verses and do these suggestions in this section.

2 Look up four verses, at least, before and after the verse or verses you quote. Do so even if you have to look back in a previous chapter or into the next, or even if it’s a book of the bible. Just make sure to do this.

Why?

It gives you context.

KEEPING THINGS IN CONTEXT

Let me give you an example of keeping things in their proper context. Look up Matthew 5:29 or 5:30. And, just look at those verses. What they tell you to do is cut off the offending part of your body. Literally. Right? Yes. It is literal, if you don’t read the context.

While that example may seem extreme, is it? Taking a verse out of context, and quoting it wrong, can be the matter between eternity with God or in hell. And, it can mean the difference between salvation. We never want to be a stumbling block for someone else and we surely do not want to be one for ourselves.

Think about it and apply. (Sorry to be so to-the-point and blunt, but eternity is at stake. It’s something we should take VERY seriously.)

Philippians 4:4-8 NLT

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

-- NLT: Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

PITFALLS AND MIRROR GAZING

Are you ready for another pet-peeve of mine that curls my hair every single time? Remember what I said earlier about taking a verse out of context. Well, we even take something within a verse out of context. But, let me give a little more of an introduction before I continue.

Inspirational quotes tend to get to me and I am weary and leery of them. Christians should NEVER quote something by someone else, or claim it as a favorite, unless they check it first against the Bible. (That’s a simple rule of thumb about that and pretty much everything else in life.) Again, most of the motivational and inspirational quotes we like or use goes directly against the Bible—and far more importantly, against God. We must be very careful about this.

I realize we live in a very lazy and me-oriented society, where we are so busy we don’t stop and take the time to live our proper priorities. (Again, I’m looking in the mirror.) So, we do not want to take the time to check and see what others quote holds up against the Bible or if what we say does. (My reflection can sure be revolting at times. But, I still look, so I can grow in faith.)

Goodness, I sound quite opinionated, don’t I? (Go ahead and shake your head. I would.) Well, I am, I must admit. Why am I so opinionated and in-your/my-face? I’m looking in the mirror, after all. I’ve been there, done that. Not just once. But, repeatedly. I’ve fallen for taking verses out of context more often than I would care to do so. I also have taken motivational quotes and claimed them to be a life quote or one to live by—when they have gone against the Holy Bible, the Word of God. Never mind, how I have also, been too busy to open my Bible, not just for a day, but for a month or more! (Gasp. Shaking head. Feeling heart tug.) I know how slippery of a slope these things are. I know. I really, really know—firsthand the dangers of these pitfalls. (More looking in the mirror.)

WITH OR WITHOUT GOD? THAT IS THE QUESTION: A QUESTION ABOUT JOY

You’re about to see why I’ve been going on my rants and tangents about my pet-peeves. There are many of these within Philippians 4:4-8, our memory verses. I hope you’ve already figured them out since you’ve spend the last seven days repeating these verses, learning them, and allowing them to sink in down to your marrow, and have done so morning, noon, and night.

Remember earlier in the last section how I mentioned another pet-peeve of mine, that we all do or have done at one time or another? That was when I mentioned how we take things out of context—and that includes taking parts of a verse out of context from within the context of the verse itself, never mind within the chapter? Well, again, Philippians 4:4-8 are full of these blunders of taking verses out of context and parts of verses within verses out of context.

Let’s start with joy.

If I were to ask you, what brings you joy, what would you say? Or, where do you find joy? Please do not think of Philippians 4 when you answer this. And, please prayer journal your answer.

Let’s be honest. How many of us would say any of these?:

-- Joy is found within

-- Joy is a choice.

-- Joy is something we create, make, or choose?

My hair is curling. Those are wrong. Dead wrong. Those go against everything the Bible says. Nope. Try again. Now, read Philippians 4:4. What does it say about joy? Please write your response in your prayer journal.

Where do we find our joy? The answer is: IN the LORD. Not anywhere else. Not in anyone else. It’s found in God alone.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

Have you had your thoughts of joy wrong? If so, how? Answer those questions in your prayer journal, please.

I know I have had this wrong in the past and sure had it wrong recently. I forgot the phrase: IN THE LORD regarding joy. How about you?

IN THE LORD = true joy.

In the Lord is the only real, authentic, true joy. It’s found in Him alone. All other joy sources are fake and are substitutes.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

I could go on and on here. So, could we. But, let’s not. Let’s think about this all day and night until tomorrow’s reading: Rejoice in the Lord continually and always.

Prayer journal your thoughts. Take a lot of time to do this today. Spend as much time as you can, and in spurts, all day and night. Take time to rejoice in Him.