Some Encouragement...And a Request...

Hi there! I'm still not feeling well, so I thought I'd let a friend do my blogging today. I received this in my email this morning, and it ties in with yesterday's two blogs about tools for transformation. Enjoy, and pray for me...3 out the 4 of us are sick...

One month into the New Year . . . How's your Bible reading?

Are you still going strong or have you fallen off the wagon?

If your time with God could use a boost, here are some simple tips for getting back on track . . . OR for getting on track for the first time!

1. REALIZE that the wagon doesn't come by just once a year! If you've fallen off, dust yourself off and get back on!! The truth of the matter is you can start reading your Bible any month, any week, any day of the year, not just January 1! It's true!

2. PRAY that God will put you back on the wagon and help keep you there! Ask Him to give you a passionate desire for His Word.

3. START NOW. Don't put off your reading until tomorrow. START today. In fact, the rest of your e-mail can probably wait until later! ;)

4. CONSIDER investing in a compact Bible that you can carry with you throughout the day to help you make the most of even spare minutes in your schedule.

5. THINK BOOK BY BOOK . . . NOT FRONT TO BACK. Don't worry about starting in Genesis. Start with an easy book like 1 Samuel or the Gospel of John and mark your progress in the Table of Contents as you go.

6. Try some CHUNK reading to give you a jumpstart. What's CHUNK reading? It's clearing an hour or two to read and then diving in. Skeptical? Try it and be prepared to have God amaze you through His Word!

7. Do a SEARCH and REPLACE on the time-wasters in your day. Substitute spending time in God's Word for some of the time you spend watching television, reading the newspaper or magazines, reading other material, or playing video games. Video games? Remember, many of today's adults are the Atari generation.

8. EXPERIMENT and find out what works best for you. Not everyone is a morning person . . . and not everyone is going to be a morning reader.

9. START a small group for accountability. (If you need a book to help you along, I have one I can recommend! ;) Face it, if you know someone is going to ask if you've been reading, chances are you're going to read. If not, who know? Is this a crutch? Maybe, but it's one of the best crutches out there!

10. ALWAYS APPLY what you learn and let God transform you from the inside out!

This list will be available for download and reprint as soon as my wonderful husband/webmaster gets back from his business trip!

About the Father's business,
pam :)
www.deepandwide.org

That book she mentions is called "Ablaze" and it is worth checking out. I like her fresh approach to an important subject. If you have any questions, feel free to post or to email me, as always, at thedeena63@hotmail.com . I'll get back to you as quickly as possible.

Our study begins this Saturday, and I'm sick...**waaaahh****koff**koff**waaaahhh**...please pray for healing so that I can be there and not pass this on to anyone else:-)

Love and blessings to you, and then to someone else through you!

Deena