Almost Time! {Press On Toward Faithfulness}

Hello my friends!!

Our study is quickly approaching. Press On Toward Faithfulness is our eight week study. I do hope you will join me, as we sit and study the Word of God. Diligently, we will be studying and learning from the books of Titus and 1-2 Timothy.

About the Study –

While it is New Testament books we are reading, they are only a few chapters each. And each day, we will be taking it slow and ingesting the treasures of our great God bite by bite. I promise you, the daily readings won’t be too long to read and meditate upon. We will be taking our time walking through these precious chapters.

Our goal here isn’t to see how much of the Bible we can read in one sitting. Rather, our ultimate goal is to allow Christ and His Word to take root in our hearts and change us from the inside-out!

In these books, we are able to gain wisdom from Paul as he counsels two spiritual brothers actively involved in ministry. Titus and Timothy gleaned much needed encouragement, as God spoke to them through Paul. They were encouraged, which helped them stay faithful to what the Lord was leading them to do. Many of us need this kind of encouragement.

Gathering Your Tools –

Our study begins January 15th, so it is just a few short days away. Be sure to grab your eight week Scripture Writing journal, which can be used for this study (or almost any study). It is only $6.25 on Amazon.

Next week, I will reveal our Press On Toward Faithfulness schedule – which we will be using to guide us through our day to day study. While it is a daily study, it will allow us to take in the Scripture piece by piece to get as much as we can – out of this sacred time. Each day, we will uncover new (and even once forgotten) truths that can radically change our perspective of God, ourselves, and show us the steps we need to take – as we place our trust in our Lord Jesus.

Also for those interested: We have a Facebook women’s small group ready to meet and dive into this study in a more personal setting. Consider joining us! But don’t forget about our multiple blog posts – as we go through this study! We will be spending lots of time diving into the Word together, whether it is through the blog or our women’s small group (sorry guys!).

Let’s Pray, Friends –

Lord Jesus, prepare our hearts for this sacred time. So many of us need this time more than words can say, and I know I am one of them. Prepare us physically, emotionally, and spiritually for this study. Help us to be planted in Your divine word and hear from You. As we hear directly from You, help us willfully obey – surrendering everything – so You can move in our lives, communities, and ministries. Be glorified, Lord. Amen!

Image by Debby Hudson.

Talk with you soon, my friends.

P.S. Thank you for the support you provide, to keep this ministry going! The website link may be changing, so keep an eye out for that – friends. Even when this happen, fear not! The ministry of this blog will press on. The Lord has been providing mightily for all our necessities. I received word that my laptop was no more, but the Lord provided one for me to use.

{Summer} Psalms – Introduction

Okay, here’s the deal: I have decided to scribe my way through the Psalms this Summer. Part of any Bible study journey, for me, is blogging. Versus starting a brand new blog for what could be a short or long term adventure (because let’s be real: I am not always super consistent for one reason or another).

. . . Thus, this post.

Brand New Journey

This is the start of a new journey. Same writer, just a different way of studying. Ideally, I will write out the Psalms on a daily basis. But, I have chronic illness and Summer is where it is at its worse. So, daily may not happen. There may be days or weeks, where there is this aching gap between thoughts jotted out by me – concerning the Psalms or perhaps even the Chronological Study.

One of my monsterous reasons for this Psalms journey is – I don’t want to waste this Summer. I want to be able to look through my notebooks and blog, to see how God has moved in me – during a rough season.

I need to be able to see that something good has come out of my Summer. God teaches us that He is able to bring goodness out of fiercely difficult seasons of life.

Basically, I need to see God do a Genesis 50:20 kind of miracle on my behalf. Joseph had been sold into slavery, put in prison for a crime he did not come, a high leader in Egypt, and reconnected with his biological family. Still, Joseph proclaimed that it was for the glory of God!

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (NIV).

The good I seek, in these days, are found through my relationship with God with Jesus Christ. I want to focus solely on Jesus, and allow Him to take a joyless and depressive situation and bring an explosion of joy along with His Presence and Power!

Featured image by Kelly Sikkema.

ONE Week Away – Meeting the Thessalonians

Friends, Our study is only one week away! I am excited to share this journey with you all! The study of “Meeting the Thessalonians” has been such a rich time of worship, that has led me closer to God. Honestly, God has used this study to prepare my heart and mind for the season He is allowing me to enter into. I am eternally thankful for this time of study, and that I have been able to daily commit myself to taking the time to scripture write 1 Thessalonians. As I conclude my last week of 1 Thessalonians for this study, I am thankful for this time of preparation for our study together.

God knew it was exactly what I needed. So now, I invite you, dear friend, to join me in “Meeting the Thessalonians”. This is where God is going to meet us and speak tenderly to our hearts – no matter what we are facing in our daily lives. No matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in.

Honestly, life has been tough for me lately. There was even a millisecond of hesitation of switching the study date. Fear not journal lovers (if there are any of you out there), we are pressing on and going to begin our study in one week!

While there is a lot of things I am currently facing, I also have a lot of things on my heart and mind that I believe God is leading me to share with my fellow bloggers and readers. But this study isn’t solely for me, it is for you too. God has a specific word He wants to share with you personally! God wants to meet you right where you are, even if your life seems like mine – a big mess.

Even in the mess, God wants to show us Himself. He wants to reveal Himself to us, even in times like now where life is far from perfect. These are the exact moments, where we need to draw nearer to Him. We need to experience the faithfulness and presence of our great God!

With all that said, I hope you will consider joining me for our study. “Meeting the Thessalonians” is our nine week Bible study. There will be something for each of us to read, during the weekdays. We will meet back here, during the week to grow and learn together.

As a way to prepare ourselves for this study, I advise grabbing the journal. If you can afford it, please consider purchasing the official “Meeting the Thessalonians” journal. It helps to support this blog, plus all new format to help us gain a better quiet time. The new format will be utilized in all upcoming studies. I wasn’t able to afford the journal this time around, but I am looking forward to getting one of the future ones. They look really good, and helpful to move me in the right direction in growing spiritually.

Whether you use the journal or a notebook, you will have all you need to enter into this study with confidence that you will abound in your faith and relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ!

We begin January 29, 2017. Get ready, my friends, for you are going to love all that God will show you during this time of spiritual worship!

You can find the Thessalonians reading plan, by clicking here.

Feature image by David Travis.

Two New Opportunities (For the New Year)

Hey friends,

Welcome to 2017! I have TWO NEW THINGS to share with you all today. These are some pretty nice ways to get “plugged in”. Even if you are a part of a church family, it would still be a great way to get spiritually fed this year. Bear with me, as I share the details of both.

Picture from Free Images

Bible Reading Challenge is the first big opportunity I have to share with you all. While it started on the 1st, it’s not too late to join in. The goal is simple: to get into the Word of God and to encourage one another to keep spending more time in God’s Word.

The reading plan is a combination of reading the Bible in the order that things happened, and also reading daily Psalms. For the Bible Challenge, I have set up a blog to share the thoughts/posts and a facebook place to help my friends have easy access to the daily reading schedule. Just five days in, I have already gotten a bit behind and all. But you know what, I am really enjoying this Bible challenge. I am enjoying having the opportunity to just sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to my audio Bible as I remember how God has worked on behalf of His people – and – how God is our awesome Protector and Defender who initiates a relationship with us through His Son Jesus

Our Nine Week Bible Study is next on the agenda. I feel a bit scatter brained right now, so bear with me – as I write up this post. I am looking at my already higher-than-normal word count, and hoping I don’t miss details. While I know I haven’t shared much details about our new blog study, there has been a reason for that. These past few months have been crazy and hard as far as my health and symptoms go. I have wanted to make sure I would be up for this, as I do put a lot of time and attention into each of these studies (or I try to). Anyway, I am ready to share. =)

Are you ready for this? We will be studying the Thessalonians. Both books are included in this Scripture Writing – Bible Study on this blog. Honestly, I have already begun this study and am on week 3. So, I can say we will grow a lot. God is speaking to me in really good ways. He is reminding me of His presence. So, I invite you to join me in our study of Meeting the Thessalonians!

 

Our new study will be a bit different as far as its format. I believe this will make it a better study for both you the reader and myself.

The Thessalonians study has been an amazing ride, one ride I am definitely ready to share with you all!

Big changes for our study –

• It’s a “weekday” format – meaning five lessons per week.
• A focus on memorizing Scripture.
• Our weekly blog posts will continue, but perhaps only 1-2 posts per week.
• A posted reading plan for those who cannot afford the journal (I couldn’t get one either, so don’t feel bad).

Also, there are changes within the journal too. What are some of those changes?

• A weekly prayer sheet to help us jump start our week in prayer.
• A reflection questionnaire to help us end each week well, and prepare for the following week.
• A space to actually write out the memory verse, along with tips to help us memorize Scripture.

God is going to do some very amazing things in the course of our study. It will be 9 weeks of honest conversations with God and seeking Him in His Word! Look forward to having you join us.

We will begin our study on January 29!

Psst a little secret: We will begin studying the book of Romans after this study in the same format. We will take bite-size portions of Scripture to meditate and focus on, studying Romans over several Bible study eight week “sessions”.

Click here to support Gracefully Overcoming, by purchasing our Meeting the Thessalonians Scripture Writing Journal!

ANNOUNCEMENT::: 2017 Studies

I have some exciting news to share, my friends!

I realize many of us are in a frenzy of shopping and cooking, as the Christmas countdown is going on. Only two weeks left. For me, that is hard to believe. The New Year is almost upon us!!

While this year has been crazy for me, as it has for many of you, I am looking forward to what God has in store for us in this new year.

As we continue to seek Him, God is going to do some unbelievable things in our midst. 2017 will be a new beginning, filled with all kinds of new opportunities to know Him on a deeply intimate level and join Him where He is at work!

Today, I am planning what will await us this new year. We have some good things in store.

Starting in January, we will begin a brand new study!! Meeting Thessalonians is going to be an AMAZING time of worship and getting to know God for ourselves! It will be a NINE WEEK study!

I am doing our studies differently this year, though. I must warn you. In order to make sure it is a pace I can follow (because we all know how I can make plans and naturally struggle to keep them – it is part of chronic illness, but also just part of life happening as it does for us all), I am choosing to make our studies “week day” studies. Basically what this means is – we will have two “catch up” days per week. This way… when life surprises us, it doesn’t leave us missing our Jesus time that we are in desperate need of.

The journals will have the same format as before. Well, almost. Our Thessalonians study has a reflection at the end of each week, to help us process what God has taught us during the week as well as preparing for the new week. It also includes a new format for the weekly memory verses, as well as tips to help us memorize God’s awesome word!

After Meeting Thessalonians, I do have a ‘nother set of studies I am planning and learning what I need to still do – in order to make them happen. We will spend most of the year studying a specific New Testament book in a way that helps us to grasp more fully its truths. I will share the name of that book, when the time comes.

… More details to follow!

Feature photo by Nicole Honeywill.