Thursday, December 31, 2009

Aspirations



1a.  I plan to read the Bible from cover to cover in 2010.  I will be using this Bookmark System recommended by Ann's blog, A Holy Experience, in her post  Eat This Book .
(Thank you Ann !)

Here are some other Bible Reading Plans should you
aspire to make this your goal as well:
One Year Bible Online

And here is a great article about
Family Scripture Memorizing
by Family Reformation.
The original article was
written by Ruth Beechick.
(Thank you to James & Stacey MacDonald for this wonderful Ministry.)

1b.  I am also going to read Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life by Donald Whitney, and also will work through Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life:  Study Guide .

1c.  I have committed to being a stronger Prayer Warrior.  I intend to keep a list of intentions close-by, and to spend considerably more time in focused prayer.

Favorite Passages concerning Prayer:
(1)  If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.  (Psalm 66:18-19)

(2)  “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”  (Jeremiah 33:2-3)
(3)  “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.  (Matthew 6:6-13)

(4)  “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:23-25)
(5)  And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:2-13)
(6)  Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14)
(7)  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  (John 15:7)
(8)  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,  (Ephesians 6:11-18)
(9)  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)
(10)  I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; (1 Timothy 2:8)
(11)  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  (Hebrews 4:15-16)
(12)  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:3)
(13)  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  (James 5:16)
(14)  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.  (1 John 5:14-15)
(15)  “I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from me you can’t do a thing. Unless a person remains united with me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, where they are burned up. “If you remain united with me, and my words with you, then ask whatever you want, and it will happen for you. This is how my Father is glorified — in your bearing much fruit; this is how you will prove to be my talmidim. (John 15:5)
(16)  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)




2.  I plan to spend considerable time memorizing Scripture in 2010.
(Thanks again to Ann !)



3.  In 2010, I aspire to eat better and to exercise more ... not for vanity's sake, but rather in an effort to be healthier.  I am turning 39 next month, and have been having trouble with my back and my hips.  As they say, I'm not getting any younger.  But it seems that I should feel better overall.  So --- I need a change.  After much prayerful consideration and research, I am going to use The Total Wellbeing Diet book which includes recommended eating plans, recommended exercise programs, great recipes, and more.  It's a life plan, not a diet.  (I am secretly hoping DadToCherubs will join me with the program.  It's much more fun to exercise with someone else !)

4.  In 2010, I have committed to Cherub 2 and Cherub 4 that we will sew more together.  Somehow sewing has fallen by the wayside since our move.  We found some neat websites with free patterns and tutorials that we are going to work with for now.

5.  And finally, I have been feeling a strong conviction concerning feminine attire.  Every day.  I made a commitment to this several years ago, but then with gardening and horses and children and other activities, somehow the skirts and dresses gradually disappeared from my daily attire.  During my quiet times, Bible in hand, and during my prayer time, I have felt led back to this again and again.  So, I am recommitting to a Year Of Feminine Dress.  (And I am secretly hoping that Cherub 2 and Cherub 4 will join me in this commitment.  We shall see.)

Here are some links that I found encouraging and helpful (there were far too many to list !):
Through The Week In Feminine Dress
Feminine Dress Regained
Maidens For Modesty
Modest And Feminine Attire
"Does God Really Care What I Wear ?" (Nancy DeMoss's radio program)


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Are you making any Commitments for 2010 ?
Resolutions ?
Changes ?
Please share them (comments) ... that we might be able to encourage one another !!
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1 comment:

5buntings said...

Tammy, I like coming to your blog because you're always looking forward. I tend to blog backwards, not forwards- you challenge me in this. Thanks for sharing. Tonya R.