"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."~from ISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog

APOLOGY to READERS who followed a SEARCH to HERE & didn't find it

On July 18, 2017, I drafted almost 3000 blog posts that I had published since 2008 when I began blogging, rather than edit each one. So if you clicked here from somewhere else and ended up with the post unavailable or error, I am sorry but this is why. It'd be too much work for me to go back and fix them. There's an explanation on 7/19/17 as I'm still learning.

Sunday, August 4, 2024

FOCUS: August ONE WORDS


Hopefully after this month of August, 

we will find ourselves better

ROOTED - REFRESHED

and all the One Words in between

will firmly plant, grow & make

our relationships deeper

STILL

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In the month of August, these will be the 4 One Words for us to "Focus" on:

ROOTED
week of August 4

RESTORATION
week of August 11

STAY
week of August 18

REFRESHED
week of August  25

{surely there must be a correlation in these "roots"}


For this 1st week, we will FOCUS on

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ROOTED

"Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong." Ephesians 3:17 NLT

Surely this will make or keep us ROOTED!

I found that I like this scripture verse even better in:

The Voice
"... so that through faith the Anointed One will reside in their hearts. 
May love be the rich soil where their lives take root. 
May it be the bedrock where their lives are founded so that together..."

and the Amplified actually uses our One Word:

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. 
And may you, having been [deeply] ROOTED and [securely] grounded in love,... 
Ephesians 3:17 AMP

Using Life Search I found that there are 44 verses containing ROOTED.

The author uses these others scripture verses:

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV
John 15:5 NIV
Colossians 2:6-7 NIV
Matthew 13:6 NIV

"Jesus, ROOTED in You, I stand secure."

possibly more to come on this

You can STOP here now

but please skip to the part at the bottom after the

next image of 

LIVING WATER

(and 5 of <> these)

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Definitely more to come in the following 3 One Words:


in the 2nd week of August, we will FOCUS on

RESTORATION 

This is what the LORD says: "When I bring Israel home again from captivity and restore their fortunes, Jerusalem will be rebuilt on its ruins, and the palace reconstructed as before. Jeremiah 30:18 NLT

Other Scriptures given for devotional:

Psalm 147:3 NIV
Isaiah 57:15 ESV
Jeremiah 17:14 NLT
1 Peter 5:10 NLT

[of course, other forms of RESTORATION may give us more choices for verses with the 
One Word, such as RESTORE, RESTORED, RESTORER, RESTORES, RESTORING]

"Jesus, in my brokenness, You RESTORE."


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in the 3rd week of August, the FOCUS: One Word will be:

STAY

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV

The other scripture verses for this devotional:

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
Hebrews 6:10 ESV
Acts 20:24 ESV
Hebrews 10:36 ESV

Yes, Lord

I will STAY where You instruct me, lead me, and

whisper to me the word

STAY

let me know in what ways You want me to

STAY

still & be still,

as I loosen my grip

give me a sense of Your Peace

so my heart and mind know

that being still is/was the

right move.

And as I

STAY

even when or if it is hard

this will be when I will grow the most

firmly ROOTED and RESTORED

confident in You as You move

Listen, STAY alert, stand tall in the faith, be courageous, and be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 Voice



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and in the last week of AUGUST (25th-31st)

the FOCUS: One Word will be

REFRESHED

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Psalm 23:3 ESV

In the devotional, these are the other scripture verses:

Jeremiah 31:25 ESV
Psalm 19:7 ESV
Proverbs 3:7-8 ESV
Acts 3: 19 NIV

"Jesus, when I drink {deeply} You REFRESH me."

{reworded so that I use the One Word}

I am REFRESHED!

We can be REFRESHED!

Drink in deeply as you wake every morning

be REFRESHED in

your soul

by God

Dip, soak, and plunge into

His Living Water

[image credit]

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As you may notice I have shared all 4 weeks of FOCUS for AUGUST in this one blog post along with the author's (CCR) main chosen scripture and the other verses included 
to go with her devo. I still hope that you will only do One WORD each week 
and then come back here or to the current week blog post to share from
the FOCUS devotional by Cleere Cherry Reaves.

At the time that I am preparing this post, I have not yet read any of the devotions nor have 
I decided how, or if I will be able to expound further due to a personal family situation.
I will fill in each week (possibly more, especially empty boxes) or share a new post.

But I will still be reading and FOCUS on each of these One Words each week.

I have an inkling that this month & these 4 One Words are probably going to be

a very important connection and especially significant in our maturity as

Christians, followers of Jesus Christ

anointed by the Holy Spirit

in a fresh way!

<>

The Father is calling us to really

FOCUS

and deepen our spiritual lives even more

[it's CLEERE (I mean CLEAR)]

The combination of these 4 One Words seem very powerful!

I pray that our Heavenly Father touch you as you trust

Jesus Christ in making His home in your heart

even deeper still so that you are

ROOTED

into God's love even more 

and your faith roots

will keep you

strong

as you receive

RESTORATION

and 

STAY

close to the heart of Jesus

and find your 

life journey

REFRESHED

by His Spirit

alive in

you

[image credit]

4 comments:

  1. ROOTED ... "... We do not become tall flourishing trees to impress others with ourselves; ...

    {good to know as a person of short stature and growing shorter like the bush reference, but I know some short "bushes" with seemingly deep roots - back to the rest of my quote}

    ... we become tall, flourishing trees to remind others of what it looks like to be ROOTED in Jesus. It is the foundation, what is underneath, that is life-giving source of all the things we do see."

    {for me, there are parts of this devo by CCR that I currently do not agree with, but I do agree that we need to connect ourselves to His power system - however I will refrain from discussing my disagreements. I do know that finding "ways to encourage and be refreshed in Jesus" is important & "provides us with soul nutrients, knowing we are ROOTED in a deep relationship, which is the heart of the kingdom." My "underneath" in this short & plump physical body is mainly in my heart (and hopefully my soul and what's strong in my mind still), I was planted before ... {I'll stop there}

    Yet the FOCUS TIP is a really good suggestion (whether tall or not) (whether responding in anger or not; and neither in sarcasm or spite) ... I will stand firm, trying to refrain and hold back from any of my fleshly responses to that person or situation because I know and will remember always, and have, that being ROOTED in Christ has more to do with this than the situation at hand ... it is exactly what I hold and hang on to daily to get me through with God alone who is my strength of my ROOTS and my life. And a particular sister & friend!!! Also all the Holy Spirit does as He deepens and widens my root system in God's Word, as I educate and better come to understanding of who the Trinity is and His character so that my heart remains secure amid the storms & winds & rains. I will soak in His Word & His Presence because "that is enough. He is enough." Yahweh, You are enough ... and I will be content in every circumstance" even when it doesn't appear that I am ... because I depend & rely on You, My Sustainer, Provider, Protector, Strength, Peace, Comfort and yes, even JOY and so much more You make available to me and in me. I am planted, rooted & established in Christ Jesus! Thank You Lord for this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. another devotional book of 100 prayers ... (4) on Romans 8:38 reminds me of the same

      "...forever kept at the front of our minds the fact that no matter what happens (an argument, distressing news), God still loves us with an everlasting love? No situation or person can change that. That means that no matter where we go or what we experience, God’s love still covers us."

      and like I sang above "and that is Enough! You are enough" "... Jireh, You are enough!" Amen. No matter what " You always enough!"

      my prayer from JG(4) Lord, thank You for increasing my understanding and belief that nothing can ever interfere with or separate me from Your amazing love. No situation, no words, no misunderstandings can ever keep me away. Thank You for Your precious, unfailing love. Not even the powers of hell can separate me from it! Give me an ever-increasing awareness of how Your love fills me, surrounds me, covers me, and protects me. Help me walk consistently in the peace and confidence that Your great love provides. May I be ever convinced that nothing will diminish Your love for me. In the remarkable name of Jesus, 🙏🏼
      Romans 8:38

      Delete
  2. From the book: “ the only way to deepen and widen our root system is to bury ourselves in the soil of His word”. Amen!

    I'm looking forward to this month!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with your choice from the book (as my first comment) also was from the book and then I intermingled in my last paragraph, that part right after ...sister and friend!!! With the Holy Spirit that follows but forgot to put in quotes because it really was not a direct quote however that is the exact part I was personalizing.

      We can always look forward to the next month as we begin again but I'm happy to read that you are ... with these really good One Words, right?

      Delete

Bless you for your visit and encouraging words! I thank you and I am humbly blessed by YOU and the time you spend with me... Peace, "Mazmagi" Peggy


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DIOS TE BENDIGA
GOD BLESS YOU

always

Peggy