Exemplify Online has a monthly Kettle Club, where questions are posted at the beginning of the month and those who participate can jump in at the end of the month to share their experiences via their blog.
It just so happens that the theme for December has been Knowing Christ better and how to do that. For some time I’ve been struggling in my personal daily walk with the Lord. It’s hard to “schedule” Quiet Time when I have trouble scheduling anything… But I’ve been craving more time with Him and knowing Him again in a daily relationship. Having decided to commit to that, the Kettle Club just gave me a little push in the right direction…
KC Question 1: What tools did you use in getting to know Christ better this month? (devotionals, study, prayer, Scripture…)
I downloaded a Bible study from Cindy Rushton many months ago and decided to print it and walk through it in December. It’s a study on the life of Hannah and I’ve been able to spend many hours really taking in the work of the Lord in Hannah’s life. I’ve also been committed to MORNING TIME with the Lord on a daily basis – as committed as I am to coffee, my coffee time is being shared with the Lord. It’s not just about praying but about listening and asking God to speak to my heart and be real to me throughout the day.
KC Question #2; Did you learn something about yourself through learning more about Jesus?
It has been eye-opening. The more time I spend with Jesus, the more I want Him in my life. I am so self-absorbed and not so full of the Spirit – and I am asking Him to continue the painful process of dying to self in my life. I have really lived so long in my own power and don’t have a grasp on the full power available to me in Christ, and I am praying for Him to continue to reveal Himself to me in new ways.
KC Question #3: Did you find Him waiting to be found by you?
SUCH a great thing about God. He relentlessly pursues me and if I only stop and turn – there He is. He has been so close to me in some brokenness in my life this month – and I have been drawn closer to Him because of it. I’ve had some tough weeks of late – my miscarriage, my Algebra class (which I ended up withdrawing from and will have to retake at a local college next year), and stomach flu for each of us the week of Christmas. I’ve been broken more often than not, but God has poured out His grace and mercy over me and I am being drawn closer to Him.
I think the biggest effect it has all had on me is this CRAVING I have for time with Him – in His Word – in prayer – listening to Him speak – discovering more hard places for His hand to soften – yielding more of myself and allowing Him to till up the soil for more planing. It’s not easy. It’s not. I don’t like to give up what is “mine” to anyone – and yet in surrender, I’ve found such great peace in Him.
Next month, I’m going to study the book of James. It’s a hard book but it’s one that God has been speaking to me about, so that is my next in depth Bible study. After reviewing a bit of the “inductive Bible study” method” I am going to take a deeper look at what God has to say to me from the book of James.
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