Tag Archives: live

How Can I live a Vital Life?

6 Replies

How Can I live a Vital Life? #WOGSlinkup

I want to live a vital life in Christ. This week I learned the secret.

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

I learned from Oswald Chambers that rest does not mean lying down.

  • It does mean rest from being weary or burdened.
  • It means freedom from worry and strife.
  • It means release.
  • It means vitality and joy.

It is like getting out of jail. – running into freedom. Getting far away from where we have been kept in captivity.

It’s expansive. It’s expressive.

Our chains have been let go.

How Can I live a vital life?

Here is Chris Tomlin singing Amazing Grace My Chains are Gone.

Vital

Come to Me – says Jesus
Yes run to Him
Then fly in His freedom

Oswald Chambers says: “I [Jesus] will imbue you with the spirit of life, and you will be stayed by the perfection of vital activity.”

Christ makes Himself the touchstone (Oswald Chambers)

Perpetual vitality – do you want it? Live in the Kingdom of God NOW.

Come to Jesus for a life of vitality.

Find that quiet time to rejuvenate.

May I pray for you and me?

Lord Jesus, help us to come to You. To be in Your Kingdom each day, to find the rest needed to be vital for Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Tweets:

Life in the Kingdom of God is expansive, expressive. It is full of life. (tweet this)

Perpetual vitality – do you want it? (tweet this)

I am very excited to announce the publication and arrival of my books of The Kingdom of Thrim. You can find out more at my bookstore.Thrim Pregnancy

Don’t forget you can get 2 free ebooks by signing up to my newsletter.

Today is Word of God Speak – linkup – #WOGSlinkup Please use this hashtag when you tweet.


 

My Word for 2016?

Word of God Speak – Linky – What is my Word for 2016?

33 Replies

Word of God Speak – Linky – What is my word for 2016?

My Word for 2016?

I have been praying this week to find my word for 2016. I have mulled over many things. As we celebrated Christmas I focused on all that meant to me. This week I found myself thinking about “after Christmas”. What does that mean?

What does “after Christmas” mean? (tweet this)

I thought about the magi and wrote a post for Community Moms for this coming week. I really thought about those wisemen. They knew something important happened. They had seen a sign.

Am I watching carefully enough to see a sign from God? (tweet this)

I decided to look over the past 4 years – ever since I started choosing one word for the year. You can see my walk by clicking the links below. I went from trust, to live, to follow and then this year be intentional.

I don’t know what my word for 2016 is – yet. I know that I need to take this week to spend in prayer and study. I won’t be posting any regular posts until next weekend.

While I am searching for my word, I ask you, do you have a word for this year? (tweet this)

Here is my history of words.

2012 The Year of Trust

2013 The year to Live

OneWord2013LIVEweb

2014 – The Year to Follow

OneWord2014FOLLOW

2015 – Be IntentionalMy-Word-2015---Intentional

At the time of posting this I think I might have my word – stay tuned.

Join us at Word of God Speak Community both here and on Facebook.

In our Facebook Word of God Speak Community we look more into how to express scripture through art and memory work.

[inlinkz_linkup id=594253 mode=1]

Five Minute Fridays – In Between

4 Replies

Five Minute Fridays – In Between

dance like no one is watching

I find if I live in the present moment and do what is required for this day – which might mean working ahead – then there is no stress. It might be singing, dancing, reading or just looking at all that God is doing.

Every morning I take time to pray, to study the Word and to plan my day (sort of ).

Things get accomplished, plans do change but God is in it all and I am at peace.

The in between is NOW and I plan to live it
and live it to the full. (Click to tweet this).

Jesus says:

 I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10, NIV).

You can read my Word of the Year – LIVE – where I talk about the joy of living.

And today on Under the Cover of Prayer, God is speaking to me about calling upon God NOW – embracing Him. Do You Have Freedom When You Pray?

Linking in with Lisa-Jo Baker and Five Minute Fridays.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here (to Lisa Jo) and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog footer}
3. Go leave some comment props for the five minute artist who linked up before you {and if you love us, consider turning off word verification for the day to make it easier for folks to say howdy}

It’s a great way to catch your breath at the end of a long week.

 

5 DIFFERENT WAYS OF VIEWING PRAYER

Leave a reply

5 Different Ways of Viewing Prayer

by Janis Cox

cropped-cover2.jpg

My “word” prayers have changed over the years as I am sure yours have. I go through dry spells, pleading spells and content spells. I do lists, I pray in the Spirit, I try focusing on the person I pray for, I try acronyms and lots more.

One thing I have learned and I know to be true:

God loves me with an indescribable fierceness. Click to Tweet.

When I pay attention to what is happening outside of me I can see Him at work.

Isn’t that prayer?

Being AWARE of God and growing closer to Him – isn’t that prayer?

I have thought of 5 different ways to talk to God (other than formal prayers) and I am sure you can add to this list.

1.  I read His Word in the Bible and listen to Him speak.

2.  I write a poem, a blog, a journal, and post about Him and I am with Him while I write. (I wrote at Inscribe about this)

3.  I try to memorize His Word so that it will be on my lips and in my heart. ( I am memorizing Romans 1, 8, and 12 – well I am working on it with the Romans Project)

RomansCover

4.  I try (there is the operative word?) to relate to others as He would have me do – with the Fruit of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)

5.  I look around me at people, creation and see the details of His Hand upon each creature and living thing. (The JOY DARE by Ann Voskamp; visit me Mondays at www.janiscox.com)

Prayer is LIFE with God. Prayer is JOY in God

Life is being with God in our daily living prayer.

As we live we pray. Click to Tweet.

Don’t shut Him out of your life.

My Word for 2013 is LIVE:

L – Living
I – In
F – Fullness with God
E – Every day

Here are two quotes to think about this week:

“Am I continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life” (Oswald Chambers – January 26th)?

” The longer we walk in the garden, the more likely we are to smell the flowers” (Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace, page 155).

Related articles

Janis Cox

Janis Cox - Author and Illustrator

Jan, a former school teacher and small business owner, found a new passion in writing in her retirement. She has published two devotionals and a number of articles for magazines and a Bible study. She is owner of Under the Cover of Prayer and moderates the site. Jan has completed a children’s book called Tadeo Turtle. She is the watercolour illustrator. Word Alive has published Tadeo Turtle. See more information at Jan’s Website.

2013 – THE YEAR TO LIVE

6 Replies

2012 – The Year to Live

by Janis Cox

dance-2

Last year I chose the word “trust” as my word for the year. It meant a lot to me having that word wrapped around me. I will continue to keep that word close to my heart.

This year I prayed and prayed for one word. What I finally came up with is LIVE. For the past couple of weeks everything I have read and heard has pointed to this.

“A person’s days are determined;
you have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed” (Job 4:15 NIV).

If this is true, and I take it to be true – God already has my days on earth planned – how many days I will be here and when I will be with Him. So each day God is giving me a gift of life here on earth. That brought to mind the words of Let there be Peace on Earth. “Take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.”

I checked out the difference between “existence” and “living”?

Existence – “the fact or state of being”. Its antonym is non-existence which is death.

Living – “possessing life – full of life; the condition of being alive”. The antonym is still death.

To me living – is more active. Full of life.

I want to live – I don’t want to just exist.

In order to do this I need Jesus – I need:

  • to NOT fear
  • be brave
  • dance as though no one is watching
  • boldly go where no man (or woman) has gone before

“Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NIV).

Dolores Ayotte, an author friend who has written 4 books, has a slogan “Live, Laugh and Love”. I like that. I have seen it on rugs, wall hangings, pictures.

Here is my attempt at a Haiku poem:

Live

Laugh, love

Observe, Listen, Touch

Open my eyes to wonder

Breathe

And I love Acrostic poems too.

L – Look to

I – Initiate

V – Vitality

E – Everyday

This year I will be observing as much as I can. I want to be Wonderstruck – with all that God is doing around me – in people, in governments, in nature, in life. I will be LIVING the year of 2013.

I want to LIVE astounded by God.

What is your WORD FOR 2013? Feel free to share below.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for all you do. Thank You for opening my eyes to see more and more of what You want me to see. Thank You for leading me to all the wonderful Christ followers who want to learn more about you. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.

Related articles

Linking in to:

Jan Cox

Janis Cox - Author and Illustrator

Jan, a former school teacher and small business owner, found a new passion in writing in her retirement. She has published two devotionals and a number of articles for magazines and a Bible study. She is owner of Under the Cover of Prayer and moderates the site. Jan has completed a children’s book called Tadeo Turtle. She is the watercolour illustrator. Word Alive has published Tadeo Turtle. See more information at Jan’s Website.

WIDE – Five-Minute Fridays

5 Replies

Wide – Five-Minute Fridays

Linking to Lisa-Jo’s Five-Minute Fridays. Today’s word is WIDE.

Wide – The Grand Canyon

I started to write on Friday – yup – I did. The word this week is WIDE. I thought about the Grand Canyon – now that is wide –  which at some point is 29 km (18 miles) wide.

Then I went wider to outer space – infinite to us. The immensity of God’s creation.

Then I rested on God. The mind of God. Isaiah 40:28 says:

“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.”

His understanding no one can fathom – that is wide.

Those were my thoughts on Friday. Then I got sidetracked. I do get scattered easily.

My question was: “Maybe WIDE is not good for me?” Maybe I need to NARROW my focus as I remembered that the narrow gate is important.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it (Matthew 7:13 NIV).

That led me to prayer. Always to Prayer. Prayer is my FOCUS. Always pray – and the answer was there.

Always stay close to the Father and I can live as wide as God wants me to live. Because His love is wide. Paul has a prayer for me that I :

“may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,” (Ephesians 3:17-18 NIV)

I love being able to live WIDE – with a narrow focus in Jesus. Totally free to be me.

Do you live Widely in Jesus?

Linking with Lisa-Jo on Five-Minute Fridays.
Five Minute Friday