Devotionals are (generally) based on a verse or two of scripture and the devotional writer’s thoughts and response to the verse. They may include a story to demonstrate the main idea of the verse or something from the author’s experience in applying it.

Making the Word Personal

The Bible was meant to be personal. The Bible reveals who God is and who I am because of Him. It’s the story of God and His pursuit of His bride. It’s God’s heart for mankind.

Following a Bible reading plan – reading straight from the Word – allows me to engage with God in a uniquely personal way. Without the influence of other’s words, I am free to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to me directly through His Word.

Devotionals are birthed out of other’s experiences in the Word and they can be an encouragement as I see how others relate to God, but I don’t want to ride the coattails of someone else’s relationship with Him.

I want to experience the Word for myself. I want God to speak to me right where I’m at – and He does! (To be clear, not every day do I receive an earth-shaking insight!)

Devotionals are like a snack. Reading the Word is like a meal. Both are good. But one is going to bring us greater satisfaction. 

I have learned so much about God and life through diving into the Word myself. As I have taken time to meditate and study on a particular verse that seemed to stand out in my day’s reading, I’ve been changed. I’ve been encouraged. I’ve been rebuked (ouch!). I’ve been strengthened.

The Word is life-giving and getting it into your heart can be one of the greatest joys of life.

I want to challenge you to pray about what reading plan God would have you follow. Post in the comments where He is leading you!

The Up Close Journals

The Up Close Journals were birthed out of my own quiet time routine. They provide a simple 4-step strategy that helps me stay focused on God as I engage with His Word. I love having a record of my quiet time conversations with God and what He’s shown me about Himself.

Up Close: a 90-day journal and quiet time companion works with any Bible reading plan. Up Close with the Gospels uses the same format and includes a plan to read through Gospels in 90 days.

The journals are a great resource for your personal time, but also perfect for one-on-one discipleship or small groups!

Can I just be honest here for a second? I don’t think I actually have deep thoughts. I would try to come up with profound insights and ended up with a whole lot of nothing.

So this year, I just started making bulleted lists and my fingertips flew over the keyboard and quickly filled up the screen.

I ended up answering four questions that helped me think through the year and I’m satisfied that I captured the most important parts of 2023.

1. What were the highlights of 2023?

Looking back through my calendar, my gratitude journal, and my social media posts, it was so much fun to remember all the good things that happened! 

2. What didn’t go as well as I would have liked?

This wasn’t the most fun list, but it was an important one. Not to bring self-condemnation, but to bring self-awareness. It also gave me some direction for the 4^th question.

3. What surprised me?

No matter how carefully I plan for a new year, there are always unexpected things that pop up. Some good. Some not so good. I only have one thing on this list. Something that was completely unexpected and had a big impact on the year.

4. What am I hoping for 2024?

This part was so much fun to write! I wrote down small things and big things. Anything that I could think of. I’ll be working through goals for the year this week and I’ll be pulling from this list.

I journaled all of these things using the DayOne app. I LOVE this app. You can create as many journals as you like so I have one for daily, one for photo-of-the-day, one for health & fitness. You can add photos, videos, and more. I love how it gives you an “On This Day” view and it shows you all your entries from the same day through the different years. I’m not an affiliate for it, I’m just a huge fan.

It was the week of Christmas. In Walmart. I was alone among the thousands (that might be an exaggerated number!) of frazzled shoppers and I was having an anxiety attack.

It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened to me so I knew I wasn’t having a heart attack no matter what my body was saying.

This happened almost 20 years ago but I still remember it so clearly. Anxiety is no joke. And it turns out that it’s pretty common.

Anxiety disorders affect over 40 million Americans, but general feelings of anxiety affect all of us at some point. This post is for those of us who experience anxious thoughts from time to time. If you have persistent anxiety, please don’t hesitate to see a doctor!

Jesus came to give us abundant peace. He has made available all we need to be victorious in the area of anxious thoughts.

Philippians 4:6-7 gives us a plan for handling the anxiety that can settle in, robbing us of our peace and our sleep.

Let’s dig into these verses a little bit.

“Do not be anxious about anything.” The word “anxious” in the original Greek means “to go to pieces; drawn in opposite directions; divided into parts.” When I moved to Tennesse I heard a saying that I’d never heard before. Instead of saying that someone was “freaking out”, they’d say, “She just had herself a come-apart.” That pretty much sums up what anxiety feels like. Your mind is being torn into a million little pieces with the wind blowing it all over the place.

The next part of the verse says, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God.” Here’s where it gets interesting. The word “everything” in the Greek means “one piece at a time; viewing the whole in terms of the individual pieces.” There’s the word “pieces” again! What God has been teaching me is that when I get anxious, I need to lay it all out before Him. Every single piece – from the seemingly insignificant to the most glaringly obvious.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” . . . Let’s look at the word “peace.” It means “all the parts joined back together completely whole.”

A few days ago I decided to start going through my bedroom and organizing stuff. I started with the top left drawer of my dresser. I dumped all of the contents out onto my bed and I began to sort through it. This drawer was my . . . ummmmmm . . . let’s just use the word “unmentionables” drawer. But in that drawer were headphones, a gift card, note cards, and other things that were clearly not “unmentionables”. I picked up each and every item and made a decision. Some I set aside all the things that needed to go somewhere else. Some things went straight to the garbage pile. And other things I put neatly back into the drawer because they belonged there.

See where I am going with this? Just like the definition above says, I dealt with the whole chaotic issue one piece at a time. I repeated this with three other drawers and by the end of the evening, I had 4 very peaceful dresser drawers.

Philippians 4:5 reminds us that God is right beside us. He wants to help us sort through all the anxious thoughts pinballing around in our minds. He wants to show us the ones that we need to get rid of and the ones that don’t even pertain to the situation. He will help us break it down to what is the truth and that’s what we can hold on to.

But wait! There’s more! The last part of verse 7 talks about how peace works. It guards our hearts and minds – like a military sentinel. A military sentinel that is poised and ready to take out any enemy that comes near. God’s peace is so different from the world’s peace. It’s beyond what our human minds can comprehend. It’s a supernatural thing that, fortunately, we don’t have to understand, we can just let it do its thing.

Jesus came so that we could experience abundant peace. The enemy loves for our minds to be in turmoil because it makes us ineffective believers. Allow the truth of Philippians 4:6-7 to help you navigate your way through the next round of anxiety that comes your way.

That definitely describes my life! Wherever I look, there is abundance. Abundant family. Abundant chaos. Abundant blessings. Abundant bills. Abundant provision. Abundant love. Abundant “issues”. It’s all there. And I strive to live my abundant life joyfully. It’s not always easy and I don’t always succeed at being joyful, but I know that God is working in me to make me more like Him (and if I’d get out of the way, He’d be able to work so much faster!)

WHY ANOTHER BLOG?

Years ago, a friend posted on my Facebook wall. Her post said, “so last night I had a dream that you had a blog…. just thought I should tell you, in case it was God speaking.”

Since that time, I have started and stopped and started and stopped. Because it turns out that blogging is hard, y’all!

Before I made it public, I had ideas out the wazoo. (Is that even appropriate? What is a wazoo, anyway?)

I purchased a domain name. I purchased hosting. And nearly every idea I had dried up. Just like that.

I almost gave up entirely. I even gave up my domain name.

THE 10-10 MYSTERY

At some point  I started realizing that everywhere I looked, I saw 1010. Whether it was the time when I checked my phone, or a text or email that arrived at 10:10, or a street sign. In fact, just this week, as I was preparing to write, I was checking out an Instagram profile and noticed that the person had 1,010 posts.

I know. I know. It’s weird. My phone is filled with screenshots with the number 1010 somewhere in it. I didn’t know if it was a date, a time, an amount, or what! Or if I was just a complete freak.

Then it hit me. John 10:10 . . .

Abundant Life. My domain name. 10-10.

Is it God speaking to me? Well, I can assure you it’s not the enemy speaking. Is it me speaking to myself? Maybe.

But I’m willing to step out in faith, believing that God has placed the desire to write. Believing that He has a plan and a purpose behind this. Believing that if I keep my eyes on Him, He will guide me through this process.

MY VISION FOR A JOYFULLY ABUNDANT LIFE

1. To glorify God. If this is not my number one reason for writing, I may as well give up right now. Through this platform, I can share the greatness of God so that the world will know of His great love for each one us.

2. To encourage women to discover and experience the abundant life Jesus has promised. As a pastor’s wife, it breaks my heart to see women stuck in the trap the enemy has laid for them. I want to see women break free from the lies that keep them settling for a less-than-abundant life. I want to encourage these women and cheer them on. Not because I have achieved perfection in this area, but because I am on the journey too and we need each other!

Are you ready to join me? Are you ready to reach out and grab hold of the joyfully abundant life that He has promised us? Let’s do this!