| "... It's a good point according to the book of 1 John: to stop, to shut down everything, and to take inventory of our lives." ~ Steve Brandon (sermon) "By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything." 1 John 3:19 |
| "1. Diligent 2. Kindness 3. Position 4. Follow 5. Discipline 6. Worship 7. Notice 8.Invest 9. Anticipate 10. Authority 11.Transformation 12. Advance 13. Alert 14.Choose 15. Forgiveness 16. Rhythm 17.Seek 18. Arrive 19. Timing 20.Clarity 21. Little 22.Honesty 23. Silence 24. Pace 25. Release 26. Prayer 27. Joy 28. Movement ... |
I am wondering (curious) which of these One Words or the devotionals so far has God spoken to you the most or the clearest - the right WORD at the right time? Amazingly, there have been quite a few for me. Or perhaps, if you go back you will find the One Words & devos that did? God never wastes a moment or a situation to speak to & with you. It's actually aMazing for me still after many, many years to see that God lines up what I read for His glory & to bless as He speaks personally time & time again. It's the perfect, melodic MOVEMENT in the middle of my crisis, melt down or trouble as if the Master Conductor indeed never missed a beat & His symphony of Grace, Love, Peace continue to rehearse and fine tune my life - syncing with His Word to me - from all different angles if I just open all all of my senses & breathe deeply. Each Word comes alive!
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These are the Reflective Questions given by CCR for the month of our July One Words in the section of "Taking Inventory". Perhaps by now, you've done them all. If not here they are altogether & if you'd like you can share 1 of them in the comments, but I suggest that you save this blog post (tuck it away in your book) so you have these four all in one place, where you can insert your thoughts (unless you don't mind and have already written in your book)
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"RELEASE 1. What burdens did you release to the Lord? 2. You cannot change the past or control the future. How, then, should you spend the present? 3. Were you able to release something from your past? Have you seen the benefits of letting it go? |
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"PRAYER 1. Do you truly believe that God hears your prayers? 2. How often do you pray because you are happy? Why would God like to hear from you in those times? 3. Did you pray for wisdom or discernment? What was the outcome? |
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" JOY 1. Did you think of a friend, teacher, or colleague who walks in joy consistently? Were you able to learn from them? 2. Did you notice anything that tended to override your joy? Were you able to overcome that and concentrate on bringing more joy to your life? 3. What did God reveal about Himself as you focused on being joyful? |
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"MOVEMENT 1. Did you notice that adding physical activity to your life helped strengthen your faith? 2. Did you notice changes throughout the week? Did adding movement to your schedule invigorate your soul? 3. How will you be integrating movement into your schedule in the weeks and years to come? |
I love these summation prayers of all 4 One Words! Thanks CCR!
"Taking Inventory" 1 John 3:19-24
ReplyDeleteDecember 6, 2015 by Steve Brandon (linked in blog post)
Key Points:
1. Look at Your Heart (verses 19-21).
2. Look at Your Prayers (verse 22).
3. Look at Your Life (verses 23-24).
Conclusion: "... We must believe.
And when we believe, we love. "But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:17-18). And we obey. "And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:3-4).
Are you in the truth? Look at Your Heart. Look at Your Prayers. Look at Your Life. Take inventory of your life, and you will see if you are really in the truth."
I (myself) am finding out that my "ask" above of choosing a ONE WORD from that list of 28 One Words is a pretty BIG ask. To go back and sort through these devotionals as to which one God spoke to you personally & the most is a mighty task of "taking inventory" even if you just check the comments of these blog posts and much more and longer if you have to go back and check (or re-read) the devotionals. It's like sifting through this last half of 2024 (or in some of our cases, it might mean an assessment or self-evaluation of our personal lives). However, sometimes the Questions in the "taking inventory" end up more than just a reflection of our current life but bring us back to stuff from our past. But hopefully it's a way to help us grow in the present and mature in our future.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the entire sermon by Steve Brandon (unknown to me as well as the church in IL - Rock Valley Bible Church), but I found the Key Points to be quite essential as we "take inventory".
Without doing the personal search through comments & devotions of CCR, I am choosing the ONE WORD: SEEK as the One that God spoke to me in the most significant way. Yet I believe that each one of these ONE WORDS for 2024 so far have been just what I needed in the week in which I read them (unbeknown to the author CCR) but not to God. Somehow, each ONE WORD and the verses God used to speak & move in my present day, so I do believe that with each ONE WORD, I did look at my heart, as I look & pray my prayers and most definitely has been a deep look into my life. As yesterday was the 48th anniversary of more than 50 some years in a relationship that impacted my entire life (so far - many were not the best & definitely not God's will for anyone, especially me) yet I have seen a faithful & ever-so-true God, not only see me through all these years and turn many hard times into good times and learning times, and much stretching, He masterfully has turned many of those years around for my good and has surrounded me with many dear and wonderful people that kept my life with Jesus on track (or got me back on track), making my life journey do-able changing my Mazes, and my Messes into blessings of kinda Miracles at least in my eyes - miraculous ways of drawing me closer as I press on and continue praying for others that need Jesus. The truth is that I could not be where I am today without Jesus and my walk & faith in Him & His Word, although I may not have followed His Word "to the T", I am getting better at it with Diligence, Kindness, and in some ways all of those ONE WORDS becoming significant to my life in Christ Jesus, my beliefs come from many of His teachings and my desire to SEEK Him with all my heart and with all my soul, which is why I so strongly believe that our nation needs a MIRACLE of Jesus to renew, revive & restore the "soul of our nation" and not by pushing our beliefs on others but by sharing the compassion that Jesus shows ALL & His Love rather than division, deceit, deception ... [far too much lawlessness & endorsement of humans being lawless & immune; no one is immune or above the law (of man or God) nor should we choose one who practices lawlessness as our leader] yet that God gave each human being a free will to choose and as we share the Gospel, not to coerce others; but openly show how Jesus has changed our lives & pray for them to make that choice too!