Sunday, June 30, 2019

July Scripture Writing Plan: Attributes of God

Happy almost July sweet friends!
The scripture writing plan this month is on the
ATTRIBUTES of GOD


I'm so excited about our topic this month! Studying the attributes of God is an incredible opportunity to grow closer to God by learning more about His nature and His character. While fully comprehending who God is impossible for us as human beings, thankfully God makes himself known in a variety of ways- both through what He reveals about himself in his Word and in his creation. When we look at His word we can begin to try to wrap our tiny minds around our awesome Creator and God. God’s attributes definitely inspire awe and wonder and reverence, but they also remind us of His deeply personal and relational nature. He longs to know us intimately. When we speak of God's attributes, we are talking about those characteristics that helps us to understand who He truly is. My prayer is that we spend the next month getting to know our creator, God of the universe more intimately.


FYI: 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.

TO PRINT: You can find a copy of the plan in English and Spanish in the folder HERE.



{Just a reminder, don't try to print the images below or they will be blurry. Be sure to click the link to download a PDF copy!}

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

How do you smell?


I think every person has a unique smell and have strong sense-memories tied to lots of people in my life. When I was in high school and college I worked at Neiman Marcus in Houston. It was a super fun job and part of working there meant I was able to purchase things at a discount (which is good because without it, my poor young self would not have been able to buy anything there!). One of the few things I purchased was a bottle of perfume. The perfume was French (with a name I cannot pronounce) and I loved that I didn’t know anyone else who wore it. For the past 30+ years, I’ve worn that same perfume consistently. While I have other perfumes it’s the one I wear almost daily and still love so. One day during the summer while I was in college, I was shopping at Target. I was standing in an aisle completely alone when I heard a voice say…”Shannon, where are you?”. Since I had come to the store alone and couldn’t see anyone, I thought this was super weird until a friend popped his head around the corner. I asked how he knew I was there and he said…”I knew you were here because I smelled your perfume. That’s your smell so I knew you were close by. I just followed my nose!”.

Did you know that everywhere we go, at ALL times, we are spreading the aroma of Jesus? It’s true. It doesn’t matter if we want to or not, much like my perfume reminds people who k ow me of me, as believers our aroma reminds others of Christ.

2 Corinthians ‪2: 15-16‬ says…. 
For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?

Because He lives in us and through us- God’s aroma is detectable by others around us. And here’s what is super important to remember: We ARE a fragrance to God regardless of if we want to be or not and regardless of the response of others. As believers of Christ we proclaim the gospel. Period. In the midst of suffering or rejection- we are still the aroma of Christ. On our good days and our bad days- we are the aroma of Christ. On the days we give lots of grace and mercy and show heaps of kindness- we are the aroma of Christ. On the days we are short-tempered and rude and crankypants- we are the aroma of Christ. It should be apparent to others that we have something in our lives that is not natural, but supernatural. We should radiate God to all those around us. We don’t get to choose when we want to be this- we are, every single day. We either smell like a 13 year old boy with BO and wearing tons of AXE body spray OR we smell like the most glorious Anthropology candle- the choice is ours. My prayer today is that others are drawn to Christ by our sweet aroma, not forced away by our stinky stench. I pray that others see Him in us and want to know Him too!

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Proof that you are LOVED

Do you ever feel unloved? Unworthy? Unimportant?
{Yep. Me too. All the stinking time.}

But here’s the good news…
You don’t have to FEEL loved.
You don’t have to DESERVE love.
You don't have to do anything to EARN love.
You simply ARE loved.
Why? 
Because God says so.

Need some Biblical proof? Here you go!

Our feeling loved or unloved has nothing to do with the reality of God’s love for us- thank goodness! 
Our feelings of being loved or unloved cannot stand in the way of God’s truth that WE ARE LOVED.
It doesn’t matter how we feel, God still loves us. 
It doesn’t matter if we are worthy of His love, God still loves us. 
It doesn’t matter what we’ve done, God still loves us.
My prayer for today is that we are reminded of this powerful truth: 
You ARE loved.

If you'd like to print out this reminder, you can do so HERE.