The Dance

I wanted to share with all who will be following my blog a daily habit I have learned. First though I must warn you with this disclaimer: IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. So you are warned...This is my fourth year reading The Year Through the Bible for women. I am not one of those that sets an exact time every day and reads my Bible for 30 minutes and then prays for another 30 minutes. I do my best to read daily and pray with out ceasing. Sometimes it is the early mornings, sometimes it is late at night when all have gone to bed. Or it might be the middle of the day when I feel drawn to spend time with the Lord. I say all this just to make it clear that I am in no way perfect...just striving for the abundant life. I like to refer to this as The Dance. It is being keenly aware of your personal spiritual condition, having the ability to recognize when you need to retreat. This practice of reading (a holy discipline) has caused me to hunger and thirst for the Living Word in a fierce way. I have discovered these last four years to put into practice four disciplines:

1. Simplify
   
2. Silence
3. Solitude
4. Surrender

These are taken from a book called "Intimacy With the Almighty" by Charles Swindoll. If you begin on this journey of reading the Word on a daily basis I can almost guarantee that these four disciplines will follow.

It is my desire to share on this blog what the Lord is speaking to me through reading His Word on a daily basis. I enjoy journaling my thoughts, problems, fears and conversations I have with the Lord. Over time these writings have become precious to me. I enjoy reading over them and remembering the things the Lord has done and spoken to me. (Psalm 77:11-12) This is important to note because sometimes His voice is so quiet it is hard to hear. This is when I begin to doubt Him, I let fear creep in and rob me of the victorious life. I move from the spiritual to the natural and let my flesh rule untamed. So I have learned to remember what the Lord has done. I believe this is something the Lord told the Israelite's many times to do...stones of remembrance so they could tell their children and their children's children. (Joshua 4) This is a natural progression for me. This season of life for me, living with cancer, facing chemotherapy, all the unknowns...I need to remember what He has done for me. I hope you too can remember ALL he has done for us.

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved."
Ephesians 2:4-5

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Hebrews 4:16