Retrain self

We need to retrain ourselves regarding our lives.

The lives we live on earth are temporary. We are here shortterm. However, we are given the time on earth to prepare for heaven.

We are to live for heaven today.

We need to retrain ourselves as we realize fully every word we read before this sentence in this blog post.

We need to remember we can't take it with us...however we define 'it'.

The only thing we will take with us is our faith, along with our crowns. The more loyal we are in our faith, the more crowns we will have in heaven. But, that is not why we should act and be stronger and more loyal to our faith each day. Rather, the crowns should be accidental.

We need to quit saying God and his Word come first. We have good intentions whenever we say it. Rather, we should live lives which reflect this principle. If we do everything mentioned up to now in this Bible study, we are off to an incredible start.

~ Stacy Duplease

Sent from my Kindle Fire

Panera Bread and learning about unfaithfulness

As you might have guessed, I am at Panera Bread. And this proves the Amazon Kindle Fire is wonderful for writing and for Bible study. (Yay!)

As I sit here and write, I am learning a great deal about unfaithfulness. It is making me pause and think. I cannot help but realize how there is a great deal I need to learn about faithfulness.

I cannot help but hear the conversations around me since we are packed like sardines.

How often do we talk just to talk? And do we ever listen to ourselves? Do we honor the Lord with every word we utter? Do we choose our words carefully? Do we waste our words and say more than necessary?

I think if we prayed at least as much as we spoke, our lives would be drastically different.

Do we talk others like we would to Jesus? Or do we condescend, yell at, complain, and get frustrated?

Honor God with every word you say. Every.

Grab your journal workbook.

# Write your thoughts.

# What did God say to you about this blog post?

# What did you say to God?

# List a few ways you will apply this to your life:
A
B
C

--Stacy Duplease
Sent from my Kindle Fire

Christlikeness

Another sign of being more loyal to your faith is your search to learn what it means to be more Christlike. In addition to searching for the meaning, you will also try to apply what you learn to your life. You will then try to grow more Christlike every day.

How do we become more Christlike? You might ask.

You will do what he did while he was here on earth. That is the short answer. How can you learn what he did? Read the gospels: the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Write notes as to what he did with the word and with his Father. Also keep notes about what he told other to do. Then, apply all of that to your life. That is the more thorough answer.

Another way we can learn to be more Christlike is through reading the Word, doing what it says, and pray without ceasing.

Let Christlikeness be our goal as we strive to have a more loyal faith.

Grab your journal workbook and answer the questions below.

# Write your thoughts.
# What spoke to you as you read this post?
# List at least three ways you will use as you strive to become more Christlike:
A
B
C

-- Stacy Duplease
Sent from my Kindle Fire

The Word and Faith: Psalm 119:105

Please read Psalm 119:105 at this time in your favorite Bible and in your favorite version. Don't forget to pray before you read, as you read it, and afterward.

You might want to read it a few times and allow the words to sink in deeply. For one of your readings, read it very slowly and pause between the words.

This is one of my favorite verses. After all, it describes how precious the Word of God is supposed to be in our lives. This is the attitude we should have all the time as we go through life. This verse describes a person of an extremely deep and loyal faith.

Re-read it a few more times after you pray again for the Lord to speak to you through this verse and for help understanding it in the way he desires.

Please grab your journal workbook at this time. Then, pray before you answer these questions.

# Write your thoughts about this verse.

# What did God say to you about the verse?

# What did you say to God?

# How will you apply this verse to your life?

-- Stacy Duplease


Sent from my Kindle Fire

Are you taking care of yourself inventory (template)?

If you are like everyone else in this world, you are busy. So, let's be honest with ourselves and analyze some things we need to keep in mind from time to time.

Grab your journal workbooks and answer the following questions. theya re not emant to make you kick yourself or make you feel uncomfortable. They are for awareness only. If you want to make some changes after you complete this inventory, make sure they are small. Do not tackle them all at once. Be kind to yourself. No stress. One bite at a time.

259 Do you exercise at least 5 days a week? If not, how many?

260 Are you fit? 

261 How is your weight? Where the doctor says? Over or underweight?

262 How is your eating lifestyle? Do you eat healthy? Just the right amount? 

263 Do you get 8 hours of sleep per night?

264 When was the last time you took a vacation?

265 When was the last time you took a Sabbath? 

266 Are you healthy?

267 How are your moods?

268 How is your thought-life? 269 Do you focus more on the negative or the positive? 270 How much do you think/focus on God and his Word?

271 What can you do to live a healthier lifestyle? Make a complete list. Then, number them in priority order. Then, for the next three weeks, work on that. Then, add #2. Continue with #1, but also do #2. Then, continue with the rest using the same ratio.

272 What did God say to you?

273 What did you say to God?

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Prayer Monday #1: Introduction to Prayer

ONLY PRAY ON MONDAYS?

No. Do not only pray on Mondays. Monday is when we look at the theme of prayer and when we give prayer extra attention. 

We are to eventually learn to pray without ceasing (stopping, halting, pausing, etc.). But until you are able to do so, pray daily and pray several items a day. 

WHAT IS PRAYER?

SIMPLEST DEFINITION: Prayer is both talking to God and listening to him. (The latter mentioned is most important.)

The more loyal to him we become, the more listening we will do. However, at first and when you begin to intentionally pray, you might pray 75% of the time and listen 25%. In time, intentionally move to more and more listening. Nevertheless, with that being said, if you have a lot to talk to God about--and it's NEW, then talk away. He welcomes it. He would rather you babble than never talk to him at all. But, if you are repeating yourself over and over, listen more. This is a general rule of thumb.

HOW DO WE PRAY?

First of all, we need to remember that we are not talking with a buddy. Although, God can be your friend. We are talking to God, the Father, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Amen, the I AM, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Jehovah, Abba, Father, Lord. He is holy, holy, holy. He is perfect. He knows all.  He is all powerful. Do not ever forget who you approach. 

In other words, show him respect and give him the respect he deserves. At ALL times.

Whenever you start your prayer, acknowledge who he is. Call him one of your favorite names. then, pause. Remember he is GOD. He is above all. He is holy, holy, holy. Then, move into your prayer--whatever style of prayer you are doing. 

TIP: I highly recommend journaling before, after, and sometimes during your longest prayer sessions of the day. If you are limited on time, journal at the end and make sure to at least write a summary of what God said to you. If you have more time, write what you said to God. 

HOW CAN I PRAY SEVERAL TIMES A DAY?

Whenever you wake in the middle of the night and/or toss and turn, pray.

When your alarm goes off in the morning, rather than grumbling, pray. I highly recommend hitting snooze at least once so you can devote the first 10 minutes or more of your day to prayer--before your feet even hit the ground running. Make him your priority. 

When you are going to sleep, pray.

When driving, turn off that radio and pray. Pray at stop lights.

Pray when on hold.

Pray when standing in a line.

Pray during your breaks at work--rather than getting caught up in gossip. 

When on errands, pray. 

When exercising, get rid of the music or the TV and pray. 

Every time you take a bite of food or a drink, pray. 

Find cues to remind you to pray. For instance, when you drink and eat, whenever you look at a clock, etc. 

Tip: At some point in your day, do at least one longer session of prayer.

PRAYER MONDAYS

We will look at the different types of prayer on Mondays, by the way.

WHAT TO TRY TODAY:

Pray your prayer requests for yourself, your family, your friends, the nation, your church, you state, your city, etc.

These are the ones you want to make sure you write down. Write every single one of them. Then, make sure to journal about when they were answered (time and date) and how. 

YOUR TURN

Give the prayer request prayer a try at this time (or whenever it's most convenient today). 

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

Daily themes and now TWO blog posts per day

So, how can you gain a more loyal faith in God and his Word and not be bored out of your mind--or so busy doing that you lose sight of what really matters...God? Also, how can you get a more loyal faith by using different spiritual disciplines (or practices?) The answer is easy. It's through daily themes.

Our blog bible study is now going to be more thematic. Every day is a journal workbook day, though. How can you remember unless you get it written? Also, every day is a bible study day. We can always learn more about the Word. 

Monday--Different types of prayer (being and simplicity)

Tuesday--Memorize the Word (doing)

Wednesday--Worship, Praise, and Thanksgiving (being and doing)

Thursday--Praying the Word (being, listening, reading, and simplicity)

Friday--Review, Analyzing, Confession, and Repenting (thinking)

Or, more simply:

Prayer Monday

Memory Tuesday

Worship Wednesday

Word Thursday

Review Friday

There days are mere suggestions. If your Thursday is Monday, according to this book, so be it. 

Or, another suggestion, what about doing review until your days line-up? 

THIS BLOG BOOK AND THE DAILY THEMES

I am going to give you an introduction to what each of those means for our first blog post for each of these days. Then, each of these days, along with the Bible study, we will focus on our theme of: What is faithful and what is unfaithful. 

NOTE: MOVING TO 2 BLOG POSTS PER DAY 

*~*~*~*~* As of this moment, we are going to read TWO blog posts per day. *~*~*~*~*

WHY TWO BLOG POSTS PER DAY?

I will now start to do one blog post of Bible study and one following the daily theme each day. 

Why? 

We should have re-arranged our schedules at this point and are doing at least two anyway. Some might be doing a lot more than that. 

If you are not doing more than one blog post per day... Why not? Please grab your journal workbooks and take some time to journal your response. Listen to God as well. What is He telling you? How can you re-arrange your schedule so you can do two blog posts per day? 

By the way, by the time we are finished with this book, we will be taking a look at 3 blog posts per day at least. 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: SEEKING MORE

Also, for people who want to go more in-depth and have the time to do more, I will have the SEEKING MORE blog post option each day. 

Now, let's get started.

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: Amazon Kindle Fire News

Adage: More than just a journal notebook

What you are keeping is more than just a journal or a journal workbook. It's the voyage and the journey of your inner life.

It's meant to be remembered. Failing to remember minimizes the journey and you lost grat parts of your life because of it.

The more you journal, the more invaluable of a tool you have. It is the very thing that can bring you to have by far more of a loyal faith than you've ever had--and even more than you ever imagined.

Write it down. Or, it may be lost. 

Keep track.

Remember.

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

What idols?

An idol is something that comes between us and God. In fact, an idol can take the place of God in our lives. Idols distract us from what really matters and what is really important.

We all have them in our lives. For us to say we have none is a lie and we are living in denial. There is always something that keeps us from focusing on God first and foremost 24/7/365. There may be times we are single-minded and focused on him and His Word. But, there is always something that catches our eye (mind, emotions, choices, etc.) more than the rest. 

An idol can be an area of weakness in our lives. It can lead us astray. That's a problem. 

So, how about you?

257 What sidetracks you from God? List at least three things in your journal:

A

B

C

258 What can you do to keep the distractions to a minimal? List at least 5 ways:

A

B

C

D

E

Some examples of idols are: Food, busyness, work, sex, reading, writing, exercise, etc. It's when they get to an addictive form, or when they consume us, we need to take drastic measures. While I am not saying to give these up necessarily, I am saying to know when they keep you from focusing on God. Bring God into them instead or refrain. You might want to fast from them for a while. Or, you might just need to be mindful. That is the most likely. Just be aware of when they turn you from God and why. Then, try to include God in on them. If you cannot, then give up that activity as much as you are able. 

Food is the one exception. We need food to survive. Eat healthier and that will help with that idol. 

Is this clear?

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

Adage: A spicy faith

The best and strongest faith has some spice. It's lively and flavorful.

256 How can you spice up your faith? List at least three ideas:

A

B

C

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

More of you, less of me and John 3:30

Sometimes the fewest words are the most powerful. This is no exception. It's a prayer we should all pray as often as possible:

More of you, Lord. Less of me.

Take a look at John 3:30.

252 write your thoughts about John 3:30 and what has been shared in this blog post.

253 What does God say to you about this verse?

254 What do you say to God about this verse? 

255 How can you start to apply this verse to your life? List at least three ways:

A

B

C

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

Faith and 1 Peter 1:8-9

Today, we continue to learn what it faith means, how to have it, what it looks like, and what unfaithfulness is and looks like. So far, we have learned that faith is believing, trusting, having confidence, hoping in, being assured of, and being convicted. Regarding our spiritual faith, we do are to have faith, along with all of its synonyms, in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Word of God, the Holy Bible. It is not seeing but still having faith in God and his Word.

Grab your journal workbook at your time and let's get started.

237 Write your thoughts on what you just read.

238 How has your faith grown already through this Bible study?

239 How are you acting more on your faith now--without seeing?

240 How are you being one of a more loyal faith? (Note: Don't forget the difference of being vs. doing--in a previous blog post.)

The beauty about growing a more loyal faith is we will always be able to grow more. It's a constant thing for us to strive for, but we will not attain until we die and spend eternity with the Father. We can have constant growth. This is the goal of a more loyal faith. We do not want to become stagnate in our faith, to fall backwards, or dig in our heels. We want to constantly trudge forward--in spite of the growing pains.

241 Journal your thoughts about what you just read.

Shall we turn our attention now to 1 Peter 1:8-9? Why don't we grab our Bibles at this time? Go ahead and read those verses in one of the translations of the Bible.

242 Write your thoughts and what jumped out at you. 

243 Did you notice from 1 Peter 1:8 how loving him, without seeing him, is a sign of how you believe, have faith in, and trust him? 

So, regarding our faith, our belief in him goes hand in hand with loving him. (So, I could very well call this series, 'a more loyal love'.) 

244 How do love and faith go hand-in-hand? 

The second part of 1 Peter 1:8 talks about what happens to us when we believe in him.

245 What happens to us when we believe in him?

246 1 Peter 1:9 teaches us--what? 

Our faith has a goal and a purpose. 

247 Read this passage in at least 2 other versions and write down what more you learn from these verses.

248 What has god said to you today?

249 What have you said to God? 

250 List at least 3 ways you can grow in your love in him. 

A

B

C

251 List 3 ways you can believe in him and his Word more.

A

B

C

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Faith and seeing: John 20:29

We are continuing our effort to define 'faith' so that we can grow it and so we can know when we act contrary to faith and are unfaithful. 

We just covered John 3:16 and have read previously:

Hebrews 12:2

Hebrews 11:1

1 John 3:23

Colossians 1:9

John 3:16

In the next blog post, we will do a review of the Scripture we have covered so far. 

Grab your Bible and journal workbooks and look up John 20:29 and see what more we learn about being faithful and being unfaithful. 

230 Write your thoughts on the verse.

231 Write a summary of the verse.

232 Are you the sort who doubts and has said before, "Well, seeing is believing"--even if you weren't talking about God directly? Explain.

233 Regarding your faith, do you have to have all the answers? Does it drive you crazy, or turn you off, if you don't? Explain.

Please read the verse in at least two other versions.

234 What new insight have you gleaned from the other versions?

235  How does this verse show light as to possible unfaithfulness?

236 What can you do in order to believe more without seeing--regarding your faith, God, and the Word?

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

The Monthly Review Template

Your Monthly Bible Study Template for a loyal faith

(aka A Monthly Review)

http://aloyalfaith.blogspotcom

INSTRUCTIONS: This template is what you will fill out each month (every 4 weeks). When you fill this in, you look at your Weekly Bible Study Templates alone. Write your answers to this template in your journal workbook.

~ 1 What are the five most important points have you learned this month?

a

b

c

d

e

~ 2 List the 5 to 7 answers you gave for: How will you apply one of those to your life this week?

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

~ 3 Evaluate each of them applications from this month:

a

What do you need to work on?

What has worked?

b

What do you need to work on?

What has worked?

c

What do you need to work on?

What has worked?

d

What do you need to work on?

What has worked?

e

What do you need to work on?

What has worked?

f

What do you need to work on?

What has worked?

g

What do you need to work on?

What has worked?

~ 4 What has God said to you this month?

~ 5 What have you said to God?

~ 6 What are the top three memories you've made this month?

a

b

c

~ 7 How have you seen God at work in your life, through your life, and around your life this month?

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

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

Etc. Etc. Etc. Is it Thanksgiving already?

Sometimes I get in my own little writing world that I lose track of the absolute obvious. The date is the 16th of November. Logic states that Thanksgiving would be next week.

I just realized this. (YIKES!)

I still need to buy a turkey and all the fixin's. 

I am shaking my head.

216 QTP How often do we get so caught up in our own little world that we miss the obvious?

I do not know about you, but I am going to journal about that right now.

217 QTP What can I do to increase my awareness so I don't miss the obvious?

218 QTP And, if I missed that--what else have I missed and what is coming up I do not want to miss?

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

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