Scripture Writing Challenge ~ Abiding in Christ

Hello friends,

God wants to have a relationship with you. Yes, you! God is all about relationship – in fact that is why Jesus hung on a cross – to bridge the gap between us and the Father. Some people shy away from this relationship as they don’t believe that they are worthy of it — Jesus is the One that makes you worthy. Other people shy away out of fear — fear of the unknown — fear of having to give things up — fear of ___________(fill in the blank). God continuously tells us in His Word to fear not Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

One facet of our relationship with God involves “abiding”. Have you heard the phrase “abiding in Christ”?

Abiding in Christ is to have a close relationship with Him. It involves intimacy —-into me I see —-. Abiding in Christ is not merely acknowledging that He exists but being one with Him.

In order to be truly intimate with someone we need to get to know that person at a deeper level. Last month we spent focusing on God’s Promises and as a result we were able to learn more about Him and how He feels about us. This month we are going to dedicate our time to learning about what it means to abide in Christ.

Abiding In Christ

We are also going to discover what we need to do to be abiding in Christ. In order to grow the fruit in our lives ( love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – Galatians 5:22-23) we must abide in Christ.

Throughout the month we will be encouraged and edified. Some of us may even be challenged. We may become more mindful of our personal walk with the Lord and even how sin has entangled us. There maybe things that are still driving a wedge between us and God and as a result we aren’t experiencing as close of a relationship as we would of otherwise.

Are there things that you are holding onto? Relationships that are toxic? Attitudes? Habits? Behaviors? Are you straddling the fence – one foot in the world and worldly ways and one foot in following Christ? We are to be all in. My prayer is that you will go all in as You discover the truths in a His Word.

Luke 9:23 ~ “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Having a relationship with another involves both people engaging in the relationship. Without dual engagement the relationship will falter. It is important to remember that when we abide in Him, He in turn abides in us. Abiding in Christ involves trust and submission.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ~ “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”.

Scripture Writing Challenge – Abiding in Christ

I want to invite you to participate in this Scripture Writing Challenge for the month of July (you can do it during other months if you choose).
A scripture writing challenge is basically spending 10-15 minutes everyday writing out a passage of scripture and reflecting on it. This months theme is “Abiding in Christ”.

We will be reading and writing bible verses mainly out of the New Testament this month. My prayer is that you will be encouraged and edified as you dig into God’s word. The more of God’s word that you have in your heart the more victory you will have in your life. God desires to have relationship with you, and one of the ways that we can attain a relationship with Him is by getting to know Him through digging into His word. Once we have established this relationship, it is important to maintain this relationship by spending time daily reading His word.

I have created this plan that you can follow everyday. It is a simple and effective tool that you can use to enrich and grow your relationship with God. It will also help you to learn and apply more of God’s word in your daily lives.

Directions

Every day read and write out the corresponding scripture with the day of the month. Keep the following questions in mind as you write the scripture down:

1. What is the word saying?
2. What does it mean to me personally?
3. How can I take action on it?
4. How does it enhance my view of God?

You can use any bible that you like. I prefer using the Amplified translation, NIV, or NTL. A great website that has numerous translations to choose from is Biblegateway.com. An additional resource that you may want to check out is biblehub.com. I like reading the different scriptures from the various different translations as it gives me a deeper perspective and a greater understanding.

If you are needing some further instruction on how to go about doing this challenge please read the post in the link – Scripture Writing – What is it and How to implement it

Prayer

I want to encourage you to end your writing sessions with a prayer. If you would like you can pray the following:

Father God, I want to thank You for Your Word and all the golden nuggets of truth that it contains. Thank You for putting in my heart a desire to know You and Your ways better. Help me to apply the knowledge that you have given me to my life.

I ask for Your forgiveness for being on the fence concerning _______ (fill in the blank). Help me to break clean of this offense and put You first in my life. I pray that You will give me peace as I walk away from the things (you can name them) that I have allowed to enslave me. Today I am choosing to be all in. Convict me of anything that comes between me and You. Help me to stay on the narrow path. I am grateful for Your Spirit that leads and guides and teaches me.

May Your Word reside deep within my heart. My desire is to be abiding in Christ every day of my life. May Your Word draw me even closer to You and change my life from the inside out. I ask for knowledge and the wisdom to use that knowledge in my life. Thank you for You everlasting love and Your abundance of grace. In Jesus’name ~~ amen

Gratitude

I have made it a practice after doing my scripture writing to daily write down five things that I am grateful for in the past 24 hours. This is a practice that I have been doing for over twenty years and it has become a life changing experience for me. I encourage you to start doing the same. We can always find things to be grateful for if we look for them. When we walk in gratitude we are walking out a victorious life. If you are looking for additional gratitude activities click on the following link: 9 Gratitude Activities For All Ages.