“On your feet now – applaud God!” Psalm 100:1 MSG

It’s day one of Simply Thankful here at Refocused Bible Study! I don’t know about you, but I need to focus on giving thanks to the Giver between now and Thanksgiving Day. I already feel a huge weight lifted after the first morning coming to Him with a heart of praise. He definitely gave me praise instead of heaviness today.

I will be using different versions of the bible, but this week, I will be sticking with the Message paraphrase because the Lord is leading me straight where my heart needed to go with it…to have a PEP RALLY IN MY PRAYER CLOSET.

Yeah, it sounds kinda wacky. But when you get a little mopey and start dragging around like Eeyore from Winne the Pooh, sometimes you just need to go there. I didn’t even intend to get that into it, but, the Lord just set it up for me that way.

I turned on some worship music (I’ll link below) and the first thing the leader said was, “let’s rise to our feet to posture our hearts correctly.

On your feet now.

So I did, and then once I started applauding God and thanking Him for the many things he has done, my hands could not quit clapping to Him.

applaud God.

As the minutes went on, JOY was welling up inside and I felt like I was back on the cheerleading squad in high school, spirit fingers and all.

He’s so good, yall. So worthy of all our applause and thankfulness. He wells up joy – pure joy from our hearts when we enter His courts with radiant thanksgiving.

Try it, sisters. In your car, your kitchen while you cook, the rocker as you put your baby to sleep, or your bathroom as you hide from the children. Thank Him. Clap to Him.

I can’t wait to share about what The Lord is showing me about the gift of laughter to God tomorrow.

You can download the plan here:

It’s almost November, ya’ll!!! I can hardly believe it. However, the fact that my kids were asking for candy at breakfast quickly confirmed, it’s true.

We will blink our eyes a few times, and it will be Thanksgiving day. Here’s the thing, I want to really be thankful. I want to really give thanks to the Giver. I want to give back.

Here’s what I don’t want to do: get stressed about things or miss out on the slow, simple gifts that he’s placed right at my feet.

I want my kids to know what this season of gratitude is all about, and to know the Giver.

So, I made this scripture writing plan:  Simply Thankful. (We did this 2 years ago here at Refocused and I want to do it again!I hope you join us!)

It’s a simple plan:

Write out the verse of the day.

Thank God for one thing.

Do one simple, slow activity a day to enjoy the Giver. (take a walk, pick flowers, gather leaves, bake muffins, etc.)

Give back from an overflow of God’s love & as an act of worship.

I’ll be sharing on the Facebook Group (Link here: Refocused Bible Study FB)

I’ll also be sharing on my Instagram account and twitter.

Download the simply-thankful plan and make gratitude intentional in your heart and home this month!  

Amy

A Psalm for giving thanks.

Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

✨Cultivate your child’s gifts ✨ by parenting through the lens of these Biblical principles:

1) God has a plan for your child. (Jeremiah 29:11)

2) God has gifted your child to bring glory to Him and know Him through these plans. (Romans 12:6-8)

3) You are a vessel to let God’s Spirit pour encouragement of these gifts to be cultivated and to point them to hold Jesus’s hand and let Jesus walk them step by step into these plans for good, for a future, and for a hope!

I enjoyed going through the passage in Romans 12 and reflecting on which of these gifts I see emerging in my children. I hope you did too!

6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

This week I have been quick to encourage my daughter as she serves our family by helping me cook and prepare meals. She ALWAYS wants to pull a chair up to the stove and help me. Two nights ago, she insisted on making us our salads. I knew this passage was coming up in our bible study, so I encouraged her using the word “serving” and telling her God had given her a special heart to serve others. I lifted up some prayers asking God to continue to stir her heart to serve others through the love of Christ. And I will continue to allow her to help me serve.

EVEN THOUGH IT IS MESSY! EVEN THOUGH IT TAKES A LOT MORE TIME! Why? Because I see the radiant fulfillment and joy on her face when she hands her daddy his salad, with half the juice from the green olive jar mixed in with his salad dressing. Because this is how God builds and encourages his church.

We were ALL given a special gift that makes all the parts of his body work together in perfect harmony. Because God knows the plans he has for my daughter. And you can be sure, he will not let this gift go to waste. I don’t know how, or where, or when she will be serving others in the future, but He knows.

So we will keep praying, bringing the decisions that we make for them to the ONE who knows what their future holds. I pray we all do this and trust the ONE who knows their future.

✨New Here? This post is part of the Bible Study: “Refocused: Fixing your eyes in Jesus for the road ahead.”

Download the study free HERE

OR

You can can buy the study here: Refocused Bible Study

Praying for you!

Amy

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”

“A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:1-8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

1) Look back at last season

As the season changes from summer to fall, let us reflect on His faithfulness behind and gain greater faith in Him for the stretch of road ahead. As you read through the list above, which season do you feel like you just walked through with the Lord?

“A time to laugh.”

This was my season during the summer with my kids. We swam, we jumped, we traveled. We read funny books. We laughed together. I quit writing, as I usually do during the summer, and I just was with family and the LORD, soaking up the summer until I could not bear to untangle another knot from my chlorine-dry hair. I can truly say, it was a season of a lot of laughter and fun.

But we can’t stop time. I heard someone explain eternity like this lately: today is one small dot on a never-ending line. We just have the dot. We have today. We can’t hold on to yesterday and expect today to be just like the day before; especially since they closed the pool down and now, it’s green 🙂

Plus, what kind of life would it be to just laugh every day, every season? Sure, it would be fun, but what about reaching out to those who are suffering, and accomplishing work, and having purpose? Those are all meaningful things God has instilled in our hearts too.

2) Look for Potential Beauty in this Season

I think it is just beautiful the way God has arranged seasons in our years, and seasons in our lives. As the leaves turn into an array of sunset before they fall, so let us feel the changes taking place in our hearts and lives, declaring they are good and needed and ask the Lord what He wants us to focus on this season.

Use this prayer or pray your own words and ask the Lord what he has for you to hold onto and focus on this season.

Lord,

I am seeking you first this fall season. Please, show me the priorities you have for me over the next weeks and months.

What rhythms do I need to put into place to walk closer to you this fall?

What rhythms do I need to put into place to grow closer to my husband this fall?

What rhythms do I need to put into place to grow closer to my children this fall?

What rhythms do I need to put into place to create more peace in my home this fall?

3) Invest in this season for Beauty next season

Look at your answers, and now re-read Eccelsiastes 3:1-8. What verse or part of a verse is the Lord highlighting to you after reflecting on this season of your life? What is it time for?

Sisters, this can create so much peace, freedom, and room for Jesus. We have got to be intentional about asking the One who knows what He has for you and your family this season.

For me,

it is a time to plant.

I took the summer off. I’m rested and ready. I want to plant more seeds of faith and goodness in my marriage though prayer. I desire to see God’s Word be heavily planted in my children’s hearts this school year. So it’s time to get to work.

I’m clinging to this verse,

“I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

And I’m trusting as I plant, others water, and most importantly God is going to bring growth.

My husband and I growing closer to Him

My children growing closer to Him

My home reflecting a place in heaven where peace is growing.

I’m expecting a beautiful season of planting here at Refocused Bible Study, too!

Which verse from Ecclesiastes 3 sums up what it feels like it’s time for in your life this season? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3:20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What if Jesus was really standing there knocking at your door.  Would you care about what your house looked like?  Or would you be more concerned with what your heart looked like?

Of course, if you know him, then you would answer that you would be much more concerned with the condition of your heart at that moment. If you don’t know him, have never studied his word, or haven’t talked to him in prayer lately,  you might have been misguided to the perception that he would care about the physical surroundings and judge your worthiness upon them.  But no sister, he wouldn’t.

He would look into your eyes, and see the depths of your soul.  He would love you right that second with a grace-filled love.  Then he would sit down without bothering to brush the crumbs the kids left in the chair from breakfast.  He would insist on helping you make a homemade meal from whatever was in the kitchen.  Then, as the verse above states, he would sit down as your friend and share the meal you prepared together.  His gaze would not wander to the food splashed on the baseboards at your feet that you haven’t gotten around to scrubbing yet.  He would be so intently focused on your conversation and hearing your heart expressed that he wouldn’t notice the dirty blinds on the window that need attention.  Oh, what an amazingly full and joyous visit that would  be!

I bring this visual to you, sweet sisters, because we are halfway through our 4 week spring cleaning bible study series.  I don’t know where you are on your journey.  You may be like me, right on track heart-wise in your study book, feeling cleansed and refreshed, but a little behind on the house cleaning.  Or you may be breezing through the house cleaning but having trouble getting in the habit of praying while cleaning, feeling kind of distant from Jesus.  Or maybe, you are right on track.  Your cleaning list is up to date and you’re in constant conversation with Jesus in the midst of a home that is sparkling.  Way to go!

Wherever you are on this journey to a clean heart and a clean home, remember that Jesus is most concerned with the cleanliness of your heart.  His blood has the power to wash off the deepest, set-in stains.  The ones that you thought were utterly hopeless so you placed a perfectly staged pillow to cover them.  Those are the ones he would touch and heal if you saw him face to face today.

This afternoon, with a “magic eraser” and nail polish remover, I scrubbed away nail polish splotches on my bathroom counter and floor from my little girls.  I banned them from any use of nail polish. Ever.  Now my bathroom floor is clean.  Like it never even happened. I prayed for them while the chemicals tore the skin on my fingertips.  Oh I could have been so mad.  But instead, it was an opportunity for God’s grace to cover my precious little mini-women.  This is what I love about this journey.  Every dirty, greasy, stain is an opportunity for prayer, thankfulness, and a fresh start; that you can actually see with your eyes as your hands make your house clean, and Jesus makes your heart clean!

So keep praying and scrubbing sisters!  We are halfway there.

Buy the study and join in >>>http://www.amazon.com/Spring-Cleaning-Your-Heart-Home/dp/1530583446/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460854158&sr=8-1&keywords=Spring+Cleaning+bible+study