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It Just Isn't Working and I'm Missing Something

It Just Isn't Working and I'm Missing Something

What I'm doing isn't working regarding my spiritual life. I just feel like something is missing. that being said, I feel like I'm standing on the precipice of something big. Maybe it's a spiritual awakening in my life. I'm not sure. 

So, what isn't working?

I realize that no matter how much I try to deny it, I keep living a check-mark, checklist faith. Bible in a year. Check. Praying all day long. Check. Studying the Word. Check. Fellowship with believers. Check. Prayer journaling. Check. Helping others become and be disciples. Check. 

Blah, blah, blah. (Rolling eyes and shaking head.) How boring! No wonder why it isn't working. 

I know all of that is wrong, but I fell into it's trap and spell yet again. Ugh! I know better than this. I'm bored with myself, along with my faith. So, what am I missing? 

How am I missing the mark?  What am I not getting? Understanding? Grasping? I know I am not because I wouldn't feel this way and wouldn't be doing the things I do if I did.

What else do I do? I allow my mind to wander. I get side-tracked. I fall off the path. No. I don't fall. I jump off of it. I start to follow the pretty butterfly along the walk and forget where I am and where I am headed until it's too late. 

SPECIFIC PRAYER: Lord, how can I stop this? How can I find the path and stay on it? What am I missing? Please guide me and help me to hear You when You do. Also, help me to respond immediately when You do give me instruction.

Good Morning, Prayer

Good morning, Lord. I come before You and thank You for yesterday and last night. I also thank You for the opportunity of this new day. Lord, help me to make it Your day, not mine. I want to draw forever closer to You. I want more of You, less of me in my life. Help me to live this way today. Teach me how to do so. 

Lord, keep my mind from wandering. Help me to stay focused on You. I realize I need to train my mind to do so. Please teach me how. 

You are my everything. 

Help me to ponder the things of You and Your Word, not the senselessness of this crazy, sinful, self-centered, material focused world. Help me not fall into that trap. 

You are God. No one is more important in my life. Help my day today reflect this truth. 

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease. Backyard. 2013-2014)

Previous blog posts

I'm going through and am putting previous blog posts from my different blogs on this blog, if they apply to this one, of course. Do, you will see some from well before this blog started. So, make sure to check the archives on this blog. The archives are on the right hand side of the blog and toward the bottom.

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease.)

Works and belief: Be still

Works and belief: Be still 

It isn't about what we do or don't do that matters most in our lives of faith. Now is it about what we want or need. Rather, it's about this pure and simple: Our belief is the only thing that really matters. It's believing in God, that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and the Holy Bible. That's it. 

It really is that simple. 

Read all of Romans 4, please, at this time to see what I mean. Then, read ahead to the next paragraph in this reading. 

Now, read Romans 4:4-6 in particular. 

Now, read Romans 4:18-25. 

What saves us? Answer: Belief does. 

Maybe we've put too much pressure on ourselves of what we think the 'shoulds' are in our lives regarding our faith. Maybe we've made ourselves too busy in our faith. Maybe we've missed the entire point. It isn't about doing. It's about being. Being in the most basic and is the most important thing we can do. 

After all, God could care less if we read our Bible 24 hours a day and if we pray for 24--if we are getting nothing out of it but are earning a check in a box of our TO DO LIST. He would rather us just curl up and hang out with Him. That's it. 

God and His Word are to be the center of our lives, but it's far better to focus on one verse the rest of our lives, if we get something deep out of it every day,apply it to our lives, and learn from the one verse every single day, all day long, than if we read the entire Bible cover to cover a thousand times and got nothing out of it except a check in a To Do List box. 

If you're feeling stressed, busyness is not the answer. If you're searching for answers, busyness will only make things worse. It's always best to stop, rest, reflect, be quiet, and listen to God first and foremost. If you are looking for answers, this approach also is best. If you're dealing with a life challenge, this approach is best. If you are living today, the best response is to stop, rest, be silent, and listen. This is always the case. And, isn't it usually the last one we do? 

So, let's stop.

Let's be still, be quiet, and listen--in solitude with the Lord and His Word. 

For, if we do this, we are acting a life of belief--not of works. This is where the sweetness of life, and our spiritual lives, begins, continues, and ends. This is the best of the spiritual life. It's not what we do, but what and who we believe. That's it. 

Day 26: Colossians 3 and Worldly Versus Godly Living, Part 5

SOC: STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS WRITING AND COLOSSIANS 3:12-22

Re-read Colossians 3:12-22 once again. These verses talk about our relationships with others.

Now, do a SOC about Colossians 3:12-22. Take ten minutes to do so.

PRAYER JOURNALING AND CONTEMPLATION QUESTIONS

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?

What do you need to stop in your life, regarding Colossians 3 and your prayer journaling?

What do you need to do more of in your life, according to Colossians 3?

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

Don’t forget your yearly Bible verse or your memory verses. Pray them back to God at this time, whether by memory or by looking at them. They are: Philippians 4:4-8; Psalm 90:12; 1 Samuel 2:1; Colossians 3:23-24; Ephesians 5:1-2; Colossians 3:10.