How I read my Bible in a Year

Handmade Knits by Tracy

Hello there friends!

Last year I decided to read my Bible in a whole year. Yes one year. You see I had decided to do this many times in the past. I just had not gotten very far when I got behind a day or so. Then months went by and my daily reading the Bible was a thing of the past.  I would just resolve to try again next year.  I easily gave up but I realize now that I was giving up on God. I was giving up on something like spending time in the Word for the World even if I was "behind" according to these expectations I had set up for myself.

God doesn't care about a reading plan! This is a lesson I learned this year while doing this discipline which by the way is what it is. The spiritual discipline of reading our Bible daily.  We have to learn to do things in our Christian faith that doesn't come naturally like reading the Bible.  How else will we know what it says.  For some of us reading is not our favorite thing to do.  I actually enjoy reading when I actually stop doing other things and sit down and read.

So for me to dedicate time to read this year this is what it looked like :

1.  Set a time to read/spend time with God, set an alarm if you need to.  I would write this down in my planner so I would schedule the time and not forget.

2.  Gather your supplies for your reading time such as Bible, journal, planner, notebook and pens and place them where you can easily have them together.

3.  Prayer time before and after reading my Bible. This is so important and should come naturally while reading your Bible. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate the time spent in the Word because to be honest we wont understand everything or always know what is going on sometimes while reading. This is the beauty of the Bible. We can live a lifetime and never know everything in the Bible.


The last lesson is that you dont have to read the entire Bible in a year.  I do think we should at some point do it but do it at your own pace.  I also study slowly other books of the Bible if you follow along, you know that we have studied this past year 3 books of the Bible in   KNIT THE GOSPEL INTO YOUR HEART GROUP
Reading through the Bible this year has grown my intimacy with God so much this year.  The more you are with Gods Word the more of a desire He places in you to share Him with others.  I had not had that desire before and this year God has shown me He equips us for the work of ministry even when we doubt and have insecurities.

I will be doing this another year. In 2019 I will be reading through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in the THE DAILY WALK  You can find all kinds of reading plans but I like using a Bible with dates and a guide for me to read as I go.  Last year I read through the Everyday with Jesus Bible
It was a really great one to read through because it read some from the OT, NT, Psalms and Proverbs everyday.

Here is my challenge to YOU!

Just start!

Just begin with me and so many others January 1st reading your Bible. It will change your life.   I wont tell you it will be easy to start something new if you have never done it before but I will tell you that God will show up in your life if you show for Him.

Let me know if you will be joining me again this year and we can encourage each other! I really enjoyed all the encouragement I received this year and I believe you will too once you join the community.  Share pics on social with the tag #bibleinayear so we can cheer each other on in 2019!

Blessings
tracy

Encouragement from Ruth

Hello friends!

These past few weeks as I have been studying the book of Ruth with you guys, I have learned so many nuggets of truth through God's Word.  Isn't it great that as we draw near to God He draws near to us! James 4:8 tells us this.  I am humbled everyday that you can come empty to the throne of God but you wont leave that way. He refuels our life.  I know I have let my tank get low to empty for sure. God will fill us up if we get quite with Him. He gives abundantly more than we can imagine.

So I wanted to share some of these encouraging thoughts I had from studying Ruth.  Kinda what God revealed to me over these past few weeks.

1.  God is our hope in seemingly hopeless situations.  I mean Naomi and Ruth were left widows with no help. They trusted God, turned to Him. They did not turn to the world or other Gods.

2.  Find God in our situations and circumstances instead of searching for a new circumstance, or situation.  We often ask God to give us "what we think we deserve"  like change our job, move us from this situation to another. Although there are situations in life I believe God does move us from and to. I believe God wants us find contentment in Him first.  He is saying, Find ME.
I mean don't you think if you were a widow and left to find a family redeemer, food and provisions you would be praying for change of circumstances too?  I think Naomi and Ruth were content to trust God through the season they were in even though it was hard. We are not promised a easy road to walk in faith that is for sure but God did tell us He would be walking with us and we can find our refuge in Him.  I loved the references to Gods wings being our covering for refuge and hiding place in times of need.  Like Ruth asking Boaz to be her redeemer and cover her. That is what our Redeemer Jesus Christ does for us.

Here are a few scripture references to check out regarding this. See.. Psalm 36:5, Psalm 17:8, and Psalm 91:1 


3. God also tells us that He will not slumber before He takes care of your need. See Psalm 121:3
Like Boaz vowed to Ruth in Chapter 3, God vows to take care of our situations.  We must have faith and trust in the waiting. I know many of us feel as though the waiting is too long and hard to bear but I too am waiting on God to move in a life close to me and it may take a lifetime. God is the only one that bring change in hearts.  That doesn't mean we give up on the situation, others or on God. We keep believing and trusting! God Never gives up on us.

4.  "Encourage one another as long as its called Today!"  Hebrews 3:13 
That is exactly what Naomi did for Ruth when they found out they had family redeemer.  She explained to Ruth what to do before she went to Boaz. She also, helped her to go boldly to him.  God will give us confidence and in Hebrews 4:16  He says approach His throne with confidence. I like to refer to it as "Christ Confidence" because He is where any confidence I have in sharing with you the gospel comes from. It is from Jesus Christ.  Ruth had that confidence and boldness. She didn't shy away from diligently working and doing the duties set before her.


I shared more over on my Facebook Live video tonight if you are a follower there.  I hope this encourages you or maybe encourages you to search the scripture in Ruth this week along with us as we continue on to Chapter 4 for our final week of bible study in the
"Knit the Gospel into your Heart" bible study group  
This is a free online private bible study group I created for women to study the Word and find encouragement together. Feel free to join any time!  Our next study will not be until 2019.
Although if you follow me on my Facebook page, my husband, the preacher and I pop on sometimes for what we like to call  "Jesus and Coffee" chats:) See you there!


I hope have a great week and find rest in the Almighty.

blessings,
trAcy

New Bible Study Starts this Month!

Hello friends!

This year I started a Facebook Bible Study Group   It is for us to study God's Word together online.  Several of you asked to do this together and I knew God was calling me to lead it.  It definitely does not take the place of your local church but gives us virtual friends a time together to dig deeper in the Bible together. Sometimes it gives you that extra accountability if you have friends online cheering you one right?

One thing I am passionate about is sharing the gospel of Jesus. We as women need encouragement and to know God's Word for our self not reading second hand knowledge of it through other writings but read and understand the Bible for our self.  It can be intimidating if you have not done it before but God meets with us on the pages and you can do it.  There is no right or wrong way.  I promise. If you are wanting learn more about a book of the Bible then lets do it the book of Ruth.

I am inviting you today to join the group and help encourage other women in studying the Bible as we study Ruth this month!
Ruth is a beautiful story of our 'Kinsman redeemer' God and His lovingkindness to his people.

We will start October 18th in the GROUP  and all you need is your Bible.  A good Study Bible with cross references is great and then go online to  www.biblestudytools.com for more helps.  I also use a good commentary either find one in your local library or online too.

I will be posting in the GROUP  each week and we will have a Live discussion each week in the group as well.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Grace and Peace friends!
tracy

Fall Pattern Giveaway!

Hello there friends!

I am so excited that my first knitting pattern has hit the online shop.  You may have seen the chunky cowls I took pre orders for in September in my shop. Well, I was asked by several of you to write the pattern so you could knit one yourself.  It is a great beginner scarf pattern. The texture pattern makes it look modern and cozy for Fall!

I actually launched the pattern last week but today I wanted to Giveaway some patterns to you guys for signing up on my email list. * Dont worry I dont send a lot of emails:)

I will be randomly choosing 10 people from the sign up list here to win the Chunky Infinity totally FREE!      Sign Up HERE

I am also offering the PATTERN for a 20% OFF  Use Code  "FALLVIBES" until October 7th!

I would love to see everyone knit this infinity scarf pattern and tag me #handmadeknitsbytracy

Dont forget to sign up HERE to be entered into the drawing!

Thanks  everyone:)

Tracy