“I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]” Philippians 4:13

I can do what?

All things

What?

All things

What?

All things.

Through Who?

Christ

Through Who?

Christ

Through Who?

Christ.

Who does What?

Strengthens me.

What?

Strengthens me.

What?

Strengthens me.

I made up this chant as I pedaled up a mountain…twice.

I was in Mount Tremblant, Canada, in a triathlon bicycling up a mountain. Good Lord, what was I thinking? Obviously I hadn’t thought much that the name of Mount Tremblant would, in fact, include A MOUNTAIN! Duh.

If you’ve never bicycled up a mountain, I’m sure you get the idea, it ain’t easy.

I made it to the top, twice! And back down again, and ran the six miles without stopping to to the finish line!(After swimming across a lake at the start line).

This physical challenge was just an example of the life challenges we had followed God into in the last few years. My husband and I had signed up to go into ministry, homeschool our kids, and adopt a child all in the same three year period.  I lot of days, I literally felt like I was pedaling up a mountain in life, trying to stay steady and not fall over, but going very slow and hard labored. The triathlon was a way to show us, we could do ALL things through Christ, even physically, who strengthens us.

Have you been there, friend? On a section of life that seems like a long mountain?

It’s hard, but it’s where your relationship with Jesus gets really, really good.

It’s where you realize you can’t do ANYTHING WITHOUT HIM.

Like, you can’t even pedal one rotation on the bike without making up a chant for Philippians 4:13.

If you’re on a mountain now, take this passage, Paul’s testimony, my testimony, and put it to the test.

Jesus is so faithful to be our strength.

I love the amplified bible above that says,

“I am ready for anything and equal to anything through HIM who INFUSES me with inner strength and confident peace.” 

In Christ, you have the strength of God running through your veins.

You lack nothing. ❤

What area of your life could you use a little Philippians 4:13 chant in? Try it!

Affirm He is your strength with your tongue and your heart.

Love Him with all His Strength inside of you!

Two more days of growing in loving God with all of our strength and  we wrap up the “ALL of ME” study! Stay tuned for a special announcement about what’s next for the month of March leading up to Easter!!!

What’s going on here?

Tell me about the Study!

It’s a four week study

Week 1: Heart

Week 2: Soul

Week 3:Mind

Week 4: Strength

Each week has 5 days of study that you need just 15 minutes to complete

Each day of the study consists of two pages. The first page starts with a short prayer, a short passage of scripture to read, and reflective questions.  The second page is a beautiful display of His Word, with a sequence of receiving His Word in love, Giving God love in return through applying His Word to our lives, and making a plan to love others, helping us to be intentional about fulfilling the greatest commandment!

I’ll be blogging through the study right here everyday, so don’t forget to follow the blog  to receive emails on weekdays.

I will also be posting one video a week on Sundays to get you motivated and keep you ready to start the next week with some insight and encouragement to help you along the way!!!

Can’t buy the study? No worries!Here’s a FREE SCRIPTURE WRITING PLAN that correlates to the material and posting it here on Monday.We want you here to engage in God’s Word in a personal way and know Jesus more intimately!

Other ways to connect:

Join the Facebook group where I post daily questions on the study: https://www.facebook.com/groups/190148844667205/?ref=bookmarks

Facebook:  Like  Refocused Bible Study Page,

Instagram: Follow @RefocusedBibleStudy

The downloadable, printable ebook is below! Thank you for your support of this ministry to encourage and equip women to engage in God’s Word in a personal way, and know Him more intimately!

Buy the “ALL of ME” Study Here:

After you purchase, click “Return to Merchant” and you will be taken to the page for the download! So excited to journey through loving Him more! ❤️🎉

$10

All of Me: Loving God with ALL your Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength  I hope you will join us as we journey through the greatest commandment!

For more info in the study, click here 

If you can’t buy the study, screenshot this free Scripture Writing Plan instead:

I hope you’ll join us!

Praying for you,

Amy

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

It’s day two of loving God with ALL of our STRENGTH week here at Refocused Bible Study. Yesterday, we started the week by looking at how to depend on God’s endless energy and power for strength. Today we continue down this path of dependency on Him for strength, this time, looking at a passage where Jesus calls all who are weary to come to Him and be rejuvenated by getting away with Him.

This passage has meant so much to me over the years. It is packed with so much beauty and goodness about the Jesus’ heart to teach us how to learn unforced rhythms of grace from staying connected to Him.

Matthew 11:25-30

“At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!

“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

How is your workload?

Are you about to break under the weight?

If you are, come to Jesus.

Let Him teach you. Look at the Message paraphrase of this passage:

 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Study through his word how Jesus carried out His good work on this earth:

Jesus stayed connected to the Father, dependent on Him to carry out his mission. 

Our Heavenly Father is a good father who gives us the perfect work that we were prepared ahead of time to do. When we get overwhelmed, He calls us gently to Him to be rejuvenated by His strength.

Stay connected to our Father, sister.

Get away with Jesus daily and find real rest, so you can have His strength to carry out your mission.

This is how we will love Him with all of our STRENGTH!

Here are a few ideas for you daily retreat with Jesus:

Decide where a there is a quiet space in your home to retreat to for time of prayer and focus on Him. It may even be a closet! Go there when you feel weary.

Wake up earlier than anyone else in your home and spend time in His Word and prayer.

Go on a run or walk and pray to Him while you are away. 

Recognize what time of day you become weary, and give yourself permission to retreat with Jesus at that time. Don’t just pick up your phone and mindlessly scroll! If it’s a time when you can’t be alone with Him, still make it a point to listen to worship music, or listen to the Bible app read scripture out loud, etc. Commit to run to Jesus in weariness with no excuses and without perfect scenarios!

I’d love to hear when you feel weary and how you run to Jesus then or how you plan to run to Jesus then! ❤

Stay tuned for an announcement for what is next leading up to Easter!

What’s going on here?

Tell me about the Study!

It’s a four week study

Week 1: Heart

Week 2: Soul

Week 3:Mind

Week 4: Strength

Each week has 5 days of study that you need just 15 minutes to complete

Each day of the study consists of two pages. The first page starts with a short prayer, a short passage of scripture to read, and reflective questions.  The second page is a beautiful display of His Word, with a sequence of receiving His Word in love, Giving God love in return through applying His Word to our lives, and making a plan to love others, helping us to be intentional about fulfilling the greatest commandment!

I’ll be blogging through the study right here everyday, so don’t forget to follow the blog  to receive emails on weekdays.

I will also be posting one video a week on Sundays to get you motivated and keep you ready to start the next week with some insight and encouragement to help you along the way!!!

Can’t buy the study? No worries!Here’s a FREE SCRIPTURE WRITING PLAN that correlates to the material and posting it here on Monday.We want you here to engage in God’s Word in a personal way and know Jesus more intimately!

Other ways to connect:

Join the Facebook group where I post daily questions on the study: https://www.facebook.com/groups/190148844667205/?ref=bookmarks

Facebook:  Like  Refocused Bible Study Page,

Instagram: Follow @RefocusedBibleStudy

The downloadable, printable ebook is below! Thank you for your support of this ministry to encourage and equip women to engage in God’s Word in a personal way, and know Him more intimately!

Buy the “ALL of ME” Study Here:

After you purchase, click “Return to Merchant” and you will be taken to the page for the download! So excited to journey through loving Him more! ❤️🎉

$10

All of Me: Loving God with ALL your Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength  I hope you will join us as we journey through the greatest commandment!

For more info in the study, click here 

If you can’t buy the study, screenshot this free Scripture Writing Plan instead:

I hope you’ll join us!

Praying for you,

Amy

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint.”

Isaiah 40:31

It’s our last week of “ALL of ME,” loving the LORD with ALL of our HEART, SOUL, MIND, and STRENGTH here at Refocused Bible Study! Make sure to stayed tuned to see what we will be Refocusing on in March as we prepare our hearts for EASTER. Announcement coming soon!

This week we are Refocusing on loving the LORD with All of our STRENGTH! If you missed the intro video for this week, make sure to check it out below, so you can hear our main focus: depending on God’s strength within us and not striving to “do good” on our own.

Let’s face it, it’s not popular to be dependent on anyone else. It’s attractive to appear to have it all together. To do it all. To be it all. But girls, sometimes, we find ourselves overwhelmed. I hear from ladies all the time that we are juggling so many plates, we don’t know which one is in our hand at the moment,

This is my story too. My hands are full, and so is my heart, but sometimes, I realize I have been running at a sprinter’s pace for a marathon, and I’m about to collapse.

Have you been there, friend?

Have you forgotten to run at your “safe pace” so you can go the distance?

I enjoy running. It’s my exercise of choice. Don’t be impressed or anything, I’m slow. I have to keep my pace around a ten minute mile if I want to make it five miles or more. But hey, I’m still running, right? I’m doing my thing. However, if I forget my “safe pace” and find myself running nine miles a minute or under, I know I’ll be done running within the next few minutes. I’ll have to quit for the day.

And that’s fine when I am just doing my daily run.

But it’s not fine in life when I want to quit on the good things God has clearly called me to do.

…like my daughter’s hair.

We are a multi-racial family and my daughter has different hair than me. When we first adopted her, I spent hours on her hair, delighting in this labor of love to help her feel adored and cared for.

But this latest season, I just got worn out with it. She is getting older and her younger styles that I used to adorn her with, she had outgrown. I needed to take time to learn some new styles but… that takes time… that I just didn’t feel like I had the extra energy for.

I had grown weary of the hair ministry.

You’ve been there, right?

Just too tired to keep up with something on your plate.

We’ve all been here. Weary of what God’s called us to do.

Weary in our ministry.

Weary in our marriage.

Weary in our mothering.

Weary in our health/fitness.

Weary in our workplace.

Just plain TIRED.

God knows. Listen to what he says when we just don’t have the strength to keep at the pace we were running: 

“I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27

Aren’t gifts the best? There’s nothing like receiving a present from someone to let us know they care.

Have you ever been given a present and not opened it?

Just left it sitting there, not experiencing what was carefully chosen for you?

Of course not! So why do we do this with a gift from the LORD?

In this passage, Jesus was addressing his followers for the last time before facing the cross. These were some of His last words. And we know that last words hold all the weight of one’s soul.

JESUS WANTS YOU TO HAVE THIS GIFT OF PEACE OF MIND AND HEART.

So how do we open this package of peace that was bought with tears, blood, and love unimaginable by the One who thought us up and gave us life?

1)Get to know HOLY SPIRIT, who is the GIFT Jesus was speaking of.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative–that is, the Holy Spirit–he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” John 14:26

This peace is a gift ministered to you by Holy Spirit. Look at the things He does in verse 26 above that will set a steady stream of peace flowing through your heart and mind.

He teaches us everything. This stuff is deep. His ways are higher. We need a teacher constantly who has an inside view, and we have One. 

He reminds us of everything Jesus has said to us. Have you ever thought of a verse at just the right time? That was Holy Spirit reminding you of what Jesus has said. Keep hiding His Word in your heart, being nourished by it. Holy Spirit will not let it go to waste. He will reming you of it right when you need it- even if you didn’t know you needed it! He’s just that good.

2) Where are you troubled or afraid? 

“So don’t be troubled or afraid.” – the end of verse 27

Ask the Lord to show you where you are troubled or afraid.

Talk to him about it.

 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.” John 14:25-27 MSG 

Prayer journal, pray out loud, go on a walk and pray about it silently. Lean in and listen to how He responds. He is worthy to be trusted.

Let’s not leave our GIFT of PEACE sitting unopened!

Let’s love the LORD with more of all of our MIND by receiving and enjoying this gift of peace He has given us. He is so wonderful to give us peace that the world could never give us!

Monday we will start STRENGTH WEEK as wee grow in loving the LORD with ALL of our STRENGTH!

What’s going on here?

Tell me about the Study!

It’s a four week study

Week 1: Heart

Week 2: Soul

Week 3:Mind

Week 4: Strength

Each week has 5 days of study that you need just 15 minutes to complete

Each day of the study consists of two pages. The first page starts with a short prayer, a short passage of scripture to read, and reflective questions.  The second page is a beautiful display of His Word, with a sequence of receiving His Word in love, Giving God love in return through applying His Word to our lives, and making a plan to love others, helping us to be intentional about fulfilling the greatest commandment!

I’ll be blogging through the study right here everyday, so don’t forget to follow the blog  to receive emails on weekdays.

I will also be posting one video a week on Sundays to get you motivated and keep you ready to start the next week with some insight and encouragement to help you along the way!!!

Can’t buy the study? No worries!Here’s a FREE SCRIPTURE WRITING PLAN that correlates to the material and posting it here on Monday.We want you here to engage in God’s Word in a personal way and know Jesus more intimately!

Other ways to connect:

Join the Facebook group where I post daily questions on the study: https://www.facebook.com/groups/190148844667205/?ref=bookmarks

Facebook:  Like  Refocused Bible Study Page,

Instagram: Follow @RefocusedBibleStudy

The downloadable, printable ebook is below! Thank you for your support of this ministry to encourage and equip women to engage in God’s Word in a personal way, and know Him more intimately!

Buy the “ALL of ME” Study Here:

After you purchase, click “Return to Merchant” and you will be taken to the page for the download! So excited to journey through loving Him more! ❤️🎉

$10

All of Me: Loving God with ALL your Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength  I hope you will join us as we journey through the greatest commandment!

For more info in the study, click here 

If you can’t buy the study, screenshot this free Scripture Writing Plan instead:

I hope you’ll join us!

Praying for you,

Amy

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:9‬ ‭

It’s day 4 of studying how to love the Lord with more of your MIND here at Refocused Bible Study. Today we read Isaiah chapter 55. I encourage you to read the whole chapter, it is so good!

This chapter shows us that God’s ways and thoughts are so much higher than what we can comprehend. We cannot understand his ways, but we can trust Him. 

What we can see is that the LORD always thinks with an eternal mindset. He sees all of eternity, while we live more in the day to day.

We don’t see that he’s wasting nothing, and working every single thing in our lives together for good – eternal good.

I’ve heard people say it’s like this- we can see fibers of our lives woven together- but from above- God sees a beautiful, well planned, masterpiece tapestry!

We love Him with more of our mind by recognizing we could never fully understand his ways. It’s like we are in a paddle boat and He is the Pacific- larger than any analogy.

Tomorrow we will wrap up Loving God with ALL of our MIND week! ❤

What’s going on here?

Tell me about the Study!

It’s a four week study

Week 1: Heart

Week 2: Soul

Week 3:Mind

Week 4: Strength

Each week has 5 days of study that you need just 15 minutes to complete

Each day of the study consists of two pages. The first page starts with a short prayer, a short passage of scripture to read, and reflective questions.  The second page is a beautiful display of His Word, with a sequence of receiving His Word in love, Giving God love in return through applying His Word to our lives, and making a plan to love others, helping us to be intentional about fulfilling the greatest commandment!

I’ll be blogging through the study right here everyday, so don’t forget to follow the blog  to receive emails on weekdays.

I will also be posting one video a week on Sundays to get you motivated and keep you ready to start the next week with some insight and encouragement to help you along the way!!!

Can’t buy the study? No worries!Here’s a FREE SCRIPTURE WRITING PLAN that correlates to the material and posting it here on Monday.We want you here to engage in God’s Word in a personal way and know Jesus more intimately!

Other ways to connect:

Join the Facebook group where I post daily questions on the study: https://www.facebook.com/groups/190148844667205/?ref=bookmarks

Facebook:  Like  Refocused Bible Study Page,

Instagram: Follow @RefocusedBibleStudy

The downloadable, printable ebook is below! Thank you for your support of this ministry to encourage and equip women to engage in God’s Word in a personal way, and know Him more intimately!

Buy the “ALL of ME” Study Here:

After you purchase, click “Return to Merchant” and you will be taken to the page for the download! So excited to journey through loving Him more! ❤️🎉

$10

All of Me: Loving God with ALL your Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength  I hope you will join us as we journey through the greatest commandment!

For more info in the study, click here 

If you can’t buy the study, screenshot this free Scripture Writing Plan instead:

I hope you’ll join us!

Praying for you,

Amy