June Scripture Writing Plan: Who I am in Christ

Happy almost June friends!

The new topical plan for this month is over the topic of Who I am in Christ. 

If you ever struggle with who you are, (and if you are enough)

 this list of Biblical truths will reveal exactly who God made you to be.

You need to truly know who you are in Christ so that you can live your life as God intended.

God's opinion is the ONLY one that matters. 

My prayer is that every verse will be a reminder of your true position in 

Christ because of victory won at the Cross.

I made the plan 31 days and plan to do that with

 all topical plans in the future so that they can be done any month-
not just the month I write them for.

You can find a copy of the plan in English and Spanish
and a plain copy of each in the folder HERE.

At the suggestion of a blog reader, I also decided to do
a fun iPhone lock screen with the plan on it.
You can download a copy of it HERE.

This is the plan for the month of June from last year
which is topical plan on Forgiveness.

You can copies of those plans to print out for yourself in the folder  HERE.

For those that have asked, there is also a blank form 

to write your verses on that can be found HERE. 

Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

I had the great honor of speaking at a women's retreat this past weekend

 and it was such a sweet and precious time.  

As an added bonus one of my college roommates is the women's ministry director 

for the church so it was a fun time getting to visit and catch up with her. 

Her church is full of some sweet, precious, and FUN ladies who 

love the Lord and each other and we had such a great weekend!

The theme for the weekend was Anchored and one of the topics 

I spoke on was being Anchored to God's word.  

I truly believe that God's word anchors us to Him and is what 

directs us to fulfill our purpose in life. 

It is God himself that gives His word power, 

and it is in and through His word that we encounter Him. 

Reading and meditating on God's word builds our relationship with Him stronger. 

Several years ago after my brain surgery, I had a few weeks where reading 

or listing to anything was very difficult for me.  

Not being able to read my Bible truly changed me and

 made me want to read and memorize as much scripture as I possibly could- 

in case that were ever to happen again. 

In America we have such amazing access to God's word- 

(I personally have 15 bibles in my house and access on my computer, phone, iPad, etc.)

but that is not always the case and who knows when that access could be taken away. 

I the Lord Do Not Change

Everything in our lives changes. 

Seriously, EVERYTHING. 

Relationships change. 

The amount in our bank account changes. 

Hairstyles change.

Our health changes. 

Technology changes.

Our weight changes. 

Our feelings and emotions change.

Everything changes- sometimes positively and sometimes negatively. 

Our world is moving at a crazy hectic pace 

and things seem to change in the blink of an eye. 

Change usually brings uncertainty and anxiety- even when it's good change. 

When circumstances and situations change and move and shift, 

it unsettles and often freaks us completely out. 

BUT that is only if we put our trust and faith in those circumstances. 

Your circumstances are not your savior. 

Your relationships are not your savior. 

Your bank account balance is not your savior. 

Our Lord is the ONLY thing that does not change. 

He alone is our Savior. 

His mercies endure forever. 

His love remains constant despite our challenges 

and trials and all the crap that arrives in our lives. 

For I the Lord do not change; … Malachi 3:6 

It doesn't matter what has changed in your life or what changes you will face today,

you can rest in the truth that

He WILL NOT CHANGE.

Your circumstances may seem shaky and scary today 

but there is a firm foundation, a Solid Rock, 

on which to plant your feet and steady your stance. 

What IS, NOT What IF

I have a confession to make. I am a WHAT IF girl. 

I can easily start thinking about something and spiral down into a huge pit of WHAT IF. 

Are you a WHAT IF-er? 

Do you find yourself thinking....

WHAT IF......I lose my job? 

WHAT IF....my marriage falls apart? 

WHAT IF.....someone I love dies? 

WHAT IF....the medical diagnosis is scary? 

God clearly calls us to focus on WHAT IS, NOT What IF. 

What IF is speculation and allows Satan to get a foothold in our hearts. 

Dwelling on WHAT IS- the facts laid out in the word of God- is what we are called to do. 

His TRUTH that is LIVING, ENDURING, and remains FOREVER. 

I love the Message version of Matthew 6: 33-34 which says...

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

This is a perfect passage to remind us to focus on WHAT IS, NOT What If in our lives. 

God WILL provide what we need. 

Worry is needless, senseless, useless, faithless, godless, ridiculous and pointless. 

1 Peter 1:25 says....But the word of the Lord endures FOREVER! 

My prayer today is that we would focus on WHAT IS, not on WHAT IF!

NOT TODAY SATAN

I have a confession to make. 

At least once a month I think 

(and sometimes say out loud)

"I'm quitting writing scripture writing plans. NO MORE. I am DONE."

Now as I write that I realize it sounds ridiculous. 

But let me explain. 

I get tons of emails each month from some sweet readers of my blog 

and followers of the scripture writing plans and I LOVE those emails. 

Seriously you can't imagine how much those sweet emails mean to me! 

They are full of stories of how the scripture writing plans have 

touched them, caused their relationship with Christ to grow, 

and how they are using them with friends, family members & those in their church. 

I can't begin to tell you how much I love those emails, am thankful for those sweet people 

who take time out of their busy schedule to write me & how much joy they bring to my heart. 

I love hearing how God is using my tiny works for His good 

and He is so very gracious to show me through those emails. 

However in addition to those precious emails....

I also get a handful of emails that I do NOT love. 

The kind that upset me and make me utter the statement above about quitting. 

Those emails are ones that complain & do so not very kindly.

Complain about the topic I chose for the month. 

Complain about the fact that there isn't a general plan for the month. 

Complain about the fact that there isn't a short plan. 

Complain that the new plan for the month hasn't been posted yet.

Complain about how the plans print on their printer. 

Just complain. 

And those emails make me sad. 

And sometimes I'll admit, angry. 

Angry because I do the plans in my spare time- of which I do not have much- and for FREE. 

(Fun fact: I don't make a single penny off of my blog and in fact running my blog COSTS me money
No sponsorship. No ads. Nada.) 

Like many of you, I have a super busy full time job, 

lots of volunteer opportunities I'm involved in, 

a family to love and take care of, a Bible study to teach, a blog to write 

and a million other tasks to accomplish each day. 

Writing a plan takes time and isn't something that I do quickly or take lightly. 

It takes time in the word to research and read. 

It takes time to create it, have it proofed, have it translated, format it, post it, etc. 

And I love doing it but when I get those emails it honestly makes me want to cry. 

And sometimes it does. 

As I was thinking of the latest not kind email I received late last night I realized something- 

those emails are having the EXACT effect that Satan would like for them to. 

He is CHEERING when they upset me and make me think of quitting. 

Because he would LOVE to cause me to quit writing those plans. 

Because he hates anything that would cause us to grow closer to the Lord. 

And that made me wish I was wearing this shirt of mine that I love: 

Because stupid, stinky Satan will not win. 

I will NOT quit doing something that I know God has called me to do. 

NOT TODAY SATAN. 

Galatians 6:9-10 says....

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Such a sweet reminder that when we are weary 

(and that's when Satan loves to attack us) 

we are to carry on doing good. 

So my prayer for you and for me this morning is that when folks 

around us are used by Satan to make us angry

 and want to quit doing those things God has called us to do- 

that we see that clearly and say loudly: 

NOT TODAY SATAN! 

PS If you have to write someone an email to complain, please try to at least say something kind in it too! 

PSS Y'all are so sweet! Thank you for your kind words on this post- I promise that was not my intent when writing this. 
But know that you have blessed me greatly with them!