S.O.A.P.

{via}

Every Wednesday I go to Bible study at my church. I had never gone before so I wasn't sure what to expect.

I was nervous but because my brother was there, I quickly got over that.

Each week we are assigned a S.O.A.P. to do. It's where we take a scripture, any scripture and more or less, dissect it to understand it better.

I have a hard time reading the Bible because it's so hard for me to understand. I sometimes just get lost while reading it that by the time I'm done reading a chapter, I have no clue what I just read cause it's just so hard for me to follow.

So with this weekly assignment, I feel this helps me grasp God's word, little by little so that I don't overwhelm myself.

It's helping me and perhaps it can be a tool that would be helpful for others in avoiding spiritual dryness, per se. A method for daily devotions.

I hope you find it as helpful as I have!


S - Scripture - First relax. Be still. Be quiet. Slow down and prepare your heart. Pick a book and start at the beginning of a chapter in the Bible and read until you feel God has told you something. Then stop and think about it. This might be a passage that “makes you go, hmmm.” I usually read until God speaks to me. If He doesn’t speak in one chapter, I just keep reading. That’s ok. It’s not how much you cover, but what does God say to you? You want to write the Scripture down in your journal.


O - Observation – Be a detective. Are there certain words that are repeated? What does the verse previous and after your selected Scripture say? Who wrote the particular book that you are reading? Who was the audience? What is being said? What is emphasized? You want to write your observations down in your journal.

A - Application – How can you apply the Scripture to your life? What did it mean to the original hearers? What is the underlying timeless principle? Where or how could you practice that principle today? After you’ve discovered the principle, then you want to write out a sentence that describes a project or action you’ll take to apply the truth.

P – Prayer – Conclude your devotion time by talking to God about what He has shown you and making your requests know to Him. Ask God to help you with applying your application statement to your life on a daily basis.

A Whirlwind of a Year

I would have to say that this has probably been the most stressful year for us as of yet.

From two major events in our life (one not completely over however, today has just officially made it official). Making something officially official is big and not always in a good sense. However, we are taking life in strides and looking at things in a positive manner. In fact, things are going to be okay. Perhaps even better now!

We have each other.

We also have the good Lord who has seen us through our trials and helped us through them and made us wiser and stronger because of them.

What keeps you grounded?

Perspective...

I never like to put things on my car like stickers or anything. I just feel it makes a car not look nice, especially over time, that sticker soon fades.



I have thought about and liked the idea of getting one of the "NOTW" stickers or a Christian fish or saying to put on the window or as a license plate frame but never wanted to look like a hypocrite to others when I have a "bad" or "angry"moment and falter while driving.



Then I got to thinking yesterday while I was driving home from work.

Shouldn't it be God that I'm worried about looking like a hypocrite to? If anyone is gonna see when I falter, it's God. Whether or not I have a sticker on my car or not, I can't hide from Him.

It made me realize, I shouldn't care what other people think when I have these "bad" moments. I need to worry about God seeing me act like this.



I have been a lot better these days. I've learned to "chill" while driving which is why I started thinking "Maybe it's time since I'm behaving myself". It also made me think that my priorities weren't where they should have been either.

I'm Not Perfect, Just Human

I have a hard time expressing my feelings in words but I have a dilemma.

It's frustrating too!

I never claim to be perfect. I'm not. None of us are. Some may claim to be but in reality, it's impossible to be perfect. There's just one perfect being and that is God!

As I am working on being a better Christian, I tend to falter. I try and as much as I hate to admit, I knowingly falter in certain situations. So much anger will build up that I go off. Knowingly go off.

I have made progress over this past year. I have....but I still stumble.

I'm trying to set an example for my husband so that he can see these changes in me and want them for himself. When he sees me knowingly stumble, he says that he thinks that just because I'm a Christian and claim to not be perfect {and never will be}, that I think it's a "free ticket" to falter and stumble.

It's not fair!

I'm trying and I feel no matter what I do, I feel I have to watch my every move and absolutely be on my best behavior all the time otherwise my husband will think that I'm secretly thinking "Just real quick....here's my free pass to act like this". I'm not perfect....I'm just human!

Sure, I say I'm not perfect and will absolutely never claim to be and sure, I will knowingly mess up but I am honestly trying here. These are things that I am working on as a person. I have anger problems and they just can't be fixed over night. It's so frustrating to be told how I think when I don't think like that. I never in my mind think "I'm a Christian and I'll misbehave right now but when I'm done, I'll just pray to God and he'll forgive me." That is just NOT me. That's not what I feel OR think. It hurts!

It hurts to think that my husband may see me like that. It's just he has issues with religion and hypocrites and I try to explain to him that it's not about a religion. It's about a personal relationship with God. Also, that it's harder to be a Christian then it is to be a sinner.

God knows deep down what I feel.

I pray my husband will see this as well.

Forgiven

Have you ever heard a song that you feel could have been written for you?

Yeah.....

Me too!

*HUGS*
Kimmy

My Purpose, God's Plan

It finally hit me.

It's been on my mind a lot lately, the constant "Why me?" and "What did I do to deserve this?"

My husband and I are having issues in our marriage right now and have off and on for the last 16 yrs. Things that shouldn't even be an issue and that has nothing to do with our marriage or relationship, except my husband has made it an issue. With all the things that are said, I feel like I'm being broken down. It hurts and sometimes it just seems like too much to overcome.

You see, I've always had God in my life. I derailed a period of my life but I'm back on track and still growing. My husband was raised in a non-strict Mormon home. He has his many questions and gets frustrated with people who "preach" yet "picks and chooses" from the Bible what fits in their lifestyle and not being true Christians yet hypocrites. So he is guarded. However, in March he did come to accept Jesus Christ to be his Saviour, but he's still guarded and not following God's word.

Now that I have started listening to KLOVE full-time, my husband actually enjoys the music. He is someone like me who likes heavy metal such as the likes of Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie and Slipknot and listens to it all the time still so it's encouraging to see that he likes KLOVE and the Christian music they play. It's also encouraging to see there are little changes in him.

However, we still have the main issue at hand. His issue with me which is a daily struggle for me. Right now he isn't giving me kisses that I'm so used to getting upon going to work, coming home from work or even going to bed. Nothing! Everything else though is normal, just the lack of my daily kiss. This is a daily struggle I'm facing as it has been just over 2 weeks. I'm afraid this is going to get too comfortable and then they'll be gone forever. I'm afraid this will become the new "normal". I can't live like this.

Then it hit me.

I was driving to work this morning and heard the song "Wait and See" by Brandon Heath and it all fell into place. God is using me to get my husband to get closer to him. I started to think that what I have been enduring the last 16 yrs can't possible come close to what Jesus did for us. I have accepted that and if this is what I have to endure to get my husband to come to Jesus and start going to church, then I can accept it. This is God's plan. It hurts and I'm struggling but I will just continue to pray for his guidance and strength to get me through this.

Change in progress

About a month ago my friend, two of her kids, me and my child all hopped in the car and headed south. Disneyland to be exact.

About a week before we left, she had told me about a radio station, some I'm sure have heard of it, KLOVE. I've never been one to listen to Christian music. It was always Pop, Alternative, Hard Rock, Metal or my Smooth Jazz. Yes, I love a wide variety. I've had a love for Smooth Jazz though since I was about 15 yrs old. In the last several years I've been listening to it more and more because I felt "safe" in God's eyes. It's pleasing to the ears and soul.

THEN, one day on the freeway I noticed one of those advertising signs showing my smooth jazz channel KKSF (in San Francisco) was no longer smooth jazz but classic rock??? WHAT?? I hurried to change the channel cause we were listening to a CD at the time and sure enough, it wasn't my same music. Needless to say, I was so upset!

Which brings me to our trip to Disneyland. We listened to KLOVE just about the whole trip. Sure, we had some CD's like Miley Cyrus and similar but I have really come to enjoy Christian Music. I even have a few songs that I really like. Here are a few if you would like to hear.

Revelation Song by Phillips Craig & Dean

Glorious by Newsboys

City on our knees by Toby Mac

In the hands of God by Newsboys

The lost get found by Britt Nicole

Best part, my daughter enjoys it also!! I hope I have her on the right track!