Christianity Oasis Forum

[Zemirah]

Serving God with your mind .... Wow, I read this line today and it really jumped out and ..... bit me! and hit me! Somehow even knowing the verses relating to whatsoever things to think about and the need to take our thoughts captive; the idea of that what we think about or don't think about is part of serving God never really came to me before. Writing this because I'm acknowledging it; not because I'm being negative about it ..... but it makes me realise how so much of the time my thoughts are focused on the negative and I'm not doing the part of taking my thoughts captive; and in so doing that means I'm also not serving God with my time. So (and this is thinking aloud and questioning) this means .... when I'm entertaining negativity ..... instead of God I'm serving? the enemy .... and myself ..... and I also know there is a very strong holding pattern there which is hard to break out of; but in Christ, all things are possible! and I know that what is described in the rest of the notes for day 6 is a big part of this.

[xxJILLxx]

Amen!

This doesnt happen over night, at least not for me... I still struggle with this one . But everyday that i choose to take the thoughts captive in Christ i feel a lil growth of Him inside me. ty Lord! Keep at it sis am praying for ya.

God bless
♥Jill

[Zemirah]

thanks a lot Jill praying for you also with this

[Grace0713]

[b][/bZem,
Thank You for this post...it gave me alot to think about as well, I catch myself doing the same things as well, sometimes God speaks to us through others, maybe this is one of those times.. I will keep you in my prayers...God Bless you Zem

[Dora]

Zemi!

Take the chart in small steps and build on them if you must.

If you rarely read the bible writing down that you'll read one chapter of the old testament and one from the new testament will be difficult and probably will be setting yourself up to fail. But to read ONE verse from the Psalms, ONE from Proverbs and one from the new Testament each day would be more attainable and can be accomplished through out the day and you may find yourself instead of reading one verse, reading two, three, four, or a chapter. The point is to establish a habit of reading Gods word daily. You can't begin a marathon with out practice. I don't know what your reading practice is, I just encourage you to not set a goal that is so high that you will get discouraged and quit. Sometimes just reading the verse of the day on a calendar is the first step.

While some may wish to sit and write a psalm each day as one of their steps, that would be very huge for others. Myself included. :D BUT to turn on a worship cd or Christian radio station each day would be attainable! And counts!

Consider what are your gifts and talents? I wasn't sure of mine. So I began to dig into my childhood to find what it was I use to dream about before the world stole away my passion and dreams. Some seem silly, but still to this day it's one of my most favorite things to do. Such as my favorite place as a child was in a field of daisies. To this day one of my favorite things is to pick bouquets of wild flowers in the fields. I feel closest to God when I do this. Probably sounds very silly to others who don't experience this, but to me it must be where God wants me. And so it brings great joy, peace, and pleasure. I also loved to use artistic abilities to create. Still to this day that is a passion of mine. I encourage you to spend some time seeking what that inner child loved to do, what brought her the most joy and begin to experience those things again. Did she love reading but you find you have no time to read? Write that on your chart to read 30 minutes a day of a book that brings you joy and peace. Did she love fishing, but you never go anymore. Make that a goal, to make progress on a daily basis to get out fishing. Not fish on a daily basis but to take steps to make this happen.

One of my favorites on my chart was to pray in the spirit. Some think this means to speak in tongues. I don't think so. I think it means to allow your spirit to commune with Gods spirit. A deep deep deep one on one time where troubles and problems just disappear and it's just you and Him hanging out. I often find I forget everything and don't even notice what is going on around me during this time. I often forget to take the time to seek him this deeply and so adding it to my chart was a daily reminder to take time for this one on one very personal moment with our Father.

Zemi I hate flossing my teeth! It hurts! They bleed and hurt for a long time after. But good dental care is important. Just ask my dentist! He'll tell you! He tells me every time I see him. So I put as one of mine to floss my teeth at least a few times a week. I didn't put daily cause I knew I'd fail and then just give up on the entire chart. My dentist says daily, but I knew it was not going to happen for me at that time cause I hate flossing. That was a few years ago. I'm flossing almost daily now and my dentist is proud of me!

I hate having my bed a mess. I feel like a slob. I feel like I failed before I even had my coffee. It might be a weird thing about me, but it's the way I am. Sooooooooo fixing my bed daily went on my chart. And you know what, I love myself a little when I can get ready for the day in a bedroom where my bed is properly fixed. Now goodness for someone who doesn't care one stitch if their bed is fixed this would not be a good thing for their chart, but to me, it was important and made a difference in how I feel and honestly makes a huge difference in my attitude that day.

This is not a chore chart. This is not something to dread. If it feels that way then something with in it isn't right. God says his burden is light and His yoke is easy. You may need to fine tune things as you go along. You may find something just is to huge a burden. Then lighten it. This chart is a way to see to it that your goals get accomplished. You know those things God wants for our lives but never get done because we just float through life with out putting any effort today into them. Those things perhaps we never realized were Gods will for our lives.

I would love to help you set up your chart and even help you along the path. There is no fail. I am one to have to have 103% or I failed. I don't keep a score. Cause I will see I missed the mark and get mad and discouraged and quit. Even thinking of failing makes me freak. I've hidden my chart from others because what if they see I failed. Perhaps there's a better way. It seems applying His grace and remembering He is strong in our weakness would be the better way. When we miss the mark instead of freaking cause we failed we can thank Him for His grace.

[humblevisitor]

Hi Zemirah,

A lot of good stuff has been shared with you and I don't have a lot to add except remember these are suggested activities...make yours any way that works for you. like the others said even small stuff like saying good morning and good night to the Holy Spirit. Then move up. I had to redo mine too to smaller tasks because i was not getting them done...No Biggie . I am a spontaneous person. that's great for some folks and a real compliment...but i leave a lot of things undone and have to redo them or finish them later...so thats a goal for me...finish what I start...

Maybe one day I can even be like Pine and make my bed in the morning...its awful to look at my room...maybe thats one I need to try...

anyways God loves the fact that your trying and I'm sure He is more than happy with your effort

[Ingegrity]

Happy for you Zem. I am standing with you by faith and I am praying you will not be hard on yourself for being weak in the chart area...I'm bad about this too.

Stay focused on Jesus and I pray He will strengthen you daily! One day at a time zem!

(hugs)

Ing

[Zemirah]

Hi Grace, I'm glad it gave you something to think about and pray that God will help you in all of this also

Ing, thank for standing with me in this and for the encouragement Praying also for you to be strengthened in this area

Oooooh humbleflyer, thanks for that suggestion about saying good morning and good night to the Holy Spirit, I like that! I leave a lot of things undone also ... making beds, hmmm ok did you add it to your list?

(((((Pine)))))) thanks so much for all you wrote ... it really helps everything you wrote is appreciated .... and what you shared about picking bouquets of flowers to me sounded wonderful and joyous, not silly in the least

I wish, I knew what to do with this chart idea. I do that seeing I missed the mark, getting angry with myself and counting it as a failure thing easily. I also manage to do the, when things are going well and I'm meeting goals I set, I freak out and stop meeting those goals because then it would be caring about myself to do so and there's a switch that automatically turns on that I haven't worked out how to stop yet. Then I try to do them again, and try to learn it's ok to care and ok to succeed; just as its also ok not to do 100% and the same thing happens again.

I was doing well meeting a few goals I'd set for myself recently including reading two chapters of the Bible a day, walking 5 times a week, remembering to take vitamins. I was holding myself accountable to someone on those by checking in; then when it was going well, I stopped on all of them

[dantyriverside]

Zemi, I have been reading your journals to go along with the days that I am doing, after I do mine. I am glad I am not the only one having a hard time with the chart and I am sooooo glad to have read what everyone posted. I thought the only thing I could have on my chart was bible related or faith related. It is nice to know I can throw an easier one in there like remember to take my vitamins or meds. Or that it is ok that I dont keep score so that I don't panic and give up. You don't know how encouraging you are when you write comments on other peoples Journals letting them know you care and for that I want to thank you. God Bless You. You are in my prayers

[Dora]

Zim and Danty You both are such beautiful women! I am certain God is proud of every bit of effort you put into your charts. I am certain, He would like the chart to be a very personal thing between you and Him. Not just a to do list, but Daddy Daughter time, creating and building and working to accomplish them. There is no failure when you try. If you make 10 %, then that is 10% closer to your goal than you would be if you never tried. It's a gentle reminder to make progress. A little nudge that these things are important. You're both doing better than you think you are.

God loves you and so do I. Sisters!