We’ve all experienced discontentment at some point in our lives. Whether it’s our job, home, relationships, or situations in life, we can always find something to be discontented with. That discontentment can lead us away from God and cause us to rely on someone or something else to fill the void we perceive in our lives. If we allow it, though, discontentment can sometimes move us closer to God. Sometimes, He ordains our discontentment to refine and align us with His plan. Such as when we feel our spiritual growth is lacking. However, trouble arises when we hang onto feelings of discontentment and look to other people or things to satisfy us.

The Lord is at work in my heart about this very thing. He has exposed some areas of my life to reveal my discontent. He has shown me that my heart is not always wholly His. I’m looking to other people and things to fill needs only God can fill. It is not lost on me that this time of conviction and pruning is occurring just after I finished the last class I needed to graduate with a seminary degree. I’ve completed two years of studying theology and will be able to use what I’ve learned to minister to women in various settings. I believe the Lord is showing me that I need to deal with some things in my heart and be wholeheartedly devoted to Him to serve Him well.

Typically, I’m not particularly eager to write about something I’m going through until I’ve made it to the other side and have nice, tidy application points to share. However, I feel God is leading me to share what I’m learning along my journey to contentment. I don’t know how long this will take. I don’t plan to write about it every week, yet I do want to make it a habit of sharing what I learn as appropriate. And I know that discontentment does not just magically go away. Like other aspects of the Christian life, being content requires a daily intention to stay that way. It does not take much for us to become discontented. Therefore, we must remain grounded in God’s Word and be on guard when discontent arises.

The picture you see above is one I took on our recent vacation to England at a castle in the Cotswolds. While we walked around the castle, I could hear the sheep bleating. I just had to find them, and find them I did. When I look at this picture, all I can think is He is all I need. No person, place, or thing will ever replace what God, through His Son Jesus, can provide for me. And the sooner I learn it, the quicker peace will reign in my life.

I don’t want to leave you hanging without encouragement if you are facing discontentment in an area of your life. I don’t have a three-step plan to help you become content with your life. However, there is a step you can take right now to begin the journey to contentment…Admit to God your discontentment and any reasons you think are causing it.

The Psalms are a great place to start. The Psalmists poured out their honest emotions before the Lord, holding nothing back. God wants to hear our frustrations, concerns, and disappointments. He stands ready to show how He can meet all our needs regardless of the situation. 

Psalm 73 expresses the Psalmist’s frustration over people prospering who were not dedicated to God. As the Psalm progresses, his attitude turns to praise and an acknowledgment that God is his strength and portion forever. I encourage you to read this Psalm as you pour out your heart to God about your discontent. 

If this post encourages you, share it with a friend!

The post He is All I Need: Embracing Contentment in God’s Provision appeared first on Jennifer Booth.

I have a confession to make. I am a recovering perfectionist. Maybe it’s in how I’m wired to be a rule follower, but I tend to let perfectionism get in the way of how I live out my faith. And, being honest here, perfectionism has hindered progress in most areas of my life.

Doing things with excellence is great. But if we allow perfectionism to take over, we can become paralyzed and not do even the smallest tasks we need to do.

Perfectionism has often kept me from having a meaningful quiet time with God. And as I’ve talked with other women about their quiet times, they make statements that make me think perfectionism hinders their efforts to spend time with God.

In this episode, I will share four reasons perfectionism is keeping you from having a meaningful quiet time with God. These reasons are ones I’ve noticed in the lives of other women who say they don’t have time to go deep with God.

Thanks to the internet and social media, we have more resources than ever to help us have a meaningful quiet time with God. However, we also have images and videos that show women having the “perfect” quiet time. I 100% believe what we see online has impacted how we view our quiet time. Like anything on social media, we can create this ideal or perfect quiet time in our minds and then feel like a failure when we can’t replicate it.

If you’re anything like me, you may tend to quit doing something because you can’t do it perfectly. But we’ve got to get over this perfectionistic tendency so we can grow in our faith, follow Jesus, and deepen our relationship with God.

Before I share how perfectionism keeps us from having a meaningful quiet time with God, let me define what I mean by quiet time. Because you may be listening to this and have no clue what I’m talking about.

A quiet time is when you set aside time to spend with God. Usually, it involves reading your Bible, whether you’re reading through a book of the Bible or using some other resource like a devotional book. It would also include a time of prayer and silence as you listen for God to speak with you. Some people like to journal during this time. And others use the Scripture Writing Plans I create during this time. It’s a time to talk to God and let Him speak to you through His Word.

Reasons Perfectionism Hinders Our Quiet Time

We think we have to have a quiet time at a certain time of day.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve associated having a quiet time as the first thing you do when you wake up. Jesus modeled meeting with God in the mornings. Sometimes it was early in the morning before sunrise.

And while I think it’s essential to at least acknowledge God first thing in the morning, I don’t think having our dedicated quiet time has to be the first thing you do in your day. Depending on your current season of life, you may need to carve out that time after the kids go to school or even on a lunch break.

A couple of years ago, I felt so defeated in my quiet time because I just felt like I was not connecting with God well. My morning routine consisted of trying to read my Bible and praying as the first thing I did after waking up. But I realized my energy level was not so great upon waking up then. So I permitted myself to read the newspaper first, then do my quiet time. I felt I had so much more to offer God at that time once I was fully awake.

I do want to reiterate that we do need to have some connection with God first thing. As I mentioned earlier, it could be that you say a prayer to start your day, or you could even turn on worship music when you get up. Anything that would help you focus your thoughts on God. Even though you could wait until the afternoon or evening to do your dedicated quiet time, connecting with God in some way is essential before your day gets away from you.

We think we have to spend a certain amount of time with God.

No rule in the Bible or anywhere else says you have to spend a certain amount of time with God. Ideally, we include Him in all parts of our days. But for the quiet time we’re talking about, only you can determine what is enough for you.

What is it you feel led to do during this time? Are you reading through the Bible, using a devotional book, writing Scripture, or studying Bible? Maybe you have an extensive prayer list, or you like to journal. Just decide what you want to do during this time. Then you can see how long it would take you to do these things. You may discover that you are trying to do too much in the time you have, so you may choose to spread some of these activities throughout your day.

Don’t compare yourself to someone who may have an hour to spend with God when 15 minutes is all you have. Like I said earlier, God should be in every part of our days. That means you can have a running conversation with Him all day long if you choose to.

We think we have to have the perfect place and atmosphere to have a quiet time.

I’m sure you’ve seen someone on social media with their Bible, journal, a candle, and a cup of coffee. They are cozied up in an overstuffed chair covered with their favorite blanket. The caption to their post tells the lessons they learned from God that day.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with these things. I personally love to have coffee while I’m doing my quiet time. But when you see these perfect quiet time images, often you may think you’ve got to have a perfect atmosphere that includes a quiet space in your home.

If you’ve got kids still at home or even if it’s just you and your husband, sometimes it’s hard to find a quiet place to get away to spend time with God. I think it’s important to acknowledge your current reality, and if you can’t find a perfect place, then do what you can with what you have. Maybe that means staying in your bedroom to spend time with God. Or, perhaps you have an outside space you can get away to.

I also think it’s important that we allow our family to see us making the space to spend time with God. Especially our kids. When they see us doing our quiet time and know that it is important to us, they will be encouraged to spend time with God. If you have kids at home, you may want to include them in part of your time with God. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t have a quiet, comfy chair to spend time with God.

We think we have to have the perfect resources to spend time with God.

So many tools and resources are available to us to help enhance our quiet time with God. But you know what. All you need is your Bible. Maybe a notebook or journal if you want to write down something you’ve learned or keep track of your prayer requests. You can read the Bible and learn something from what you’ve read. You don’t need a Bible study or devotional to have a meaningful time with God. Those things are great, but I’ve learned that reading through a book of the Bible without any study notes or guides can be transformative.

So don’t think you’ve got to spend a ton of money on resources or time searching for free ones. Just open your Bible and ask God to speak to you.

I hope that by hearing these reasons perfectionism keeps us from having a meaningful quiet time with God has made you think about how perfectionism is at play in your life. Also, I encourage you not to compare your quiet time with someone else’s. Yes, we can get inspiration from what we see online, but we must guard against envy or coveting what someone else has.

If you want some accountability around setting up your quiet time and exercising the discipline to follow through, I encourage you to check out the free Live It Out Community group. Many incredible women in this community try to live out their faith with clarity, courage, and consistency.

The post 191: 4 Reasons Perfectionism is Keeping You From Having a Meaningful Quiet Time with God appeared first on Jennifer Booth.

I’ve talked a lot about reading the Bible lately. And I have sensed that God is moving me toward encouraging women to read the Bible consistently. I’ve learned that when I read the Bible consistently, I can better live out my faith in a way that honors and glorifies God.

Maybe you want to read the Bible consistently but just can’t get motivated to start. It could be that you find the Bible hard to understand. Or you don’t know how the Old and New Testaments relate to each other. It’s possible you think you don’t have enough time to read the Bible where you’ll understand it or get something out of it. Any one of these reasons could make prioritizing reading the Bible a challenge.

I want so badly for you to experience the fullness of what God has done for you through His Son, Jesus. And I want you to fall in love with the Bible just as much as I have. Now this is not to say we are idolizing the Bible itself. I’m talking about loving it as God’s Word and desiring to read it to know what God has to say to us.

So in this episode, I will share three reasons for prioritizing reading the Bible. Hopefully, these will resonate with you and give you some ideas about prioritizing your Bible reading.

As I’m recording this episode, I have just finished two seminary classes and am starting a new class. The new class I’m taking is on the New Testament, specifically the books of Acts through Revelation. I’ve watched the first week’s lectures and am amazed at what I’ve learned.

My professor spent several of the lectures explaining the history between the Old and New Testaments as well as a high-level overview of the Old Testament that would have been on the minds of the writers of the New Testament. I wish I had the time to share all I learned. Maybe I can do that in some other setting.

I share this excitement and amazement with you because this class has further deepened my desire to read and study the Bible. And as I mentioned in the introduction, I want you to experience the joy, excitement, and amazement that comes from reading the Bible and beginning to make connections from the promises of God in the Old Testament to the fulfillment of those promises in the New Testament.

I’ve shared numerous times on this podcast that my seminary professors have said that to be able to understand the Bible, you have to read it and read it a lot. I’ve come to see that play out in my own life. Today, the passage from my devotional reading made me think of another place in the Bible that discussed the same topic. I’m beginning to make connections much more easily these days.

That being said, I know the main reason I am reading the Bible more consistently is because of my classes. I have to prioritize reading the assigned books of the Bible so I can get through them all.

I’ll be honest and share that there have been times when I didn’t prioritize reading the Bible. Yes, I’ve had times when I used a devotional resource. Or I participated in a Bible study that required me to read the Bible. But going straight through a book of the Bible has not always been a priority for me. As I’ve mentioned in other podcasts, we have to read the Bible as a whole to start making connections and seeing what God has for us.

Three Reasons for Prioritizing Reading the Bible

Reading the Bible consistently is the way we learn how to handle the Word of God accurately.

2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

If we are not reading the Bible consistently, how can we interpret and apply it correctly? We, as Christians, have to address so many issues in our world today. We can’t keep our heads in the sand and disengage from the world. Reading the Bible will help us understand God’s perspective on current events to know how to engage with the world.

Also, handling the word of God rightly means we are accurately interpreting what it says and applying it to our own lives. For example, I hear the verse Psalm 46:5, “God is within her, she will not fall,” interpreted as God will help the woman reading the verse not to fall because He lives within her. This verse refers to Zion, the city of David. We have to be so careful about not taking verses out of context. And the best way to do this is to keep reading the Bible to learn how everything fits together.

We need to learn what the Bible says for ourselves so we can discern when it is being taught incorrectly.

This reason connects to the one I just mentioned in that we have to read the Bible to know what it says and interpret and apply it correctly. But we must also do this for ourselves and not always rely on pastors or other Bible teachers to teach us all we need to know. I’m not saying quit listening to your pastor. Being a student of God’s Word helps you understand what the Bible says.

We live in a time when many false teachers present their viewpoints online. And some of them say things that sound true but offer a little twist that makes what they say untrue. And then you’ll see people take the Bible and twist it to make it fit their agenda in life. Another verse in 2 Timothy speaks to this. “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” (2 Timothy 4:3)

So we must read the Bible to know if what is being taught is correct. One of my professors encourages us to be like the Bereans and search the scriptures to make sure what he tells us is accurate. Acts 17:11 describes the Bereans this way. “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” They were excited about what Paul and Barnabas shared concerning Jesus and his fulfillment of God’s promises in the Old Testament. So they searched the Scriptures to make sure what they said was true.

Reading the Bible helps us to share the gospel.

1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

We have to know what we believe to be able to explain what we believe so others have the opportunity to believe in the saving work of Jesus. I think the last part of that verse that talks about sharing the hope of Christ with gentleness and respect is key. If we better grasp what salvation means by reading the Bible, we will be better equipped to share the gospel. I know for me that it’s intimidating and sometimes scary to share the gospel. And I think I’ve felt this way because I had not read the Bible enough to connect what the Bible says about salvation with my own salvation experience.

We don’t have to have all the answers. But it’s clear from this verse that we need to grasp what it means to experience salvation to share it with others.

Join the Live It Out Community.

The post 3 Reasons for Prioritizing Reading the Bible appeared first on Jennifer Booth.

Hey, friend! Last week in episode 188, I discussed why we don’t have to do it all. In that episode, I encouraged you to figure out what tasks or responsibilities you can let go of that are either unnecessary for you to do because someone else can do them or are ones you are doing to please someone or meet someone else’s expectations. The goal is to quit thinking we have to do it all.

 I’m taking my own advice and will take a bit of a shortcut with this week’s episode. I’m swamped with finishing up two seminary classes this week as I’m recording this episode. I have two research papers due in a few days, so I need to focus all of my energies on completing those well.

So, I’ve dug into the archives and found an episode that I thought was relevant to where we are in the month. This episode is going live on May 31, 2023, so that means I’ve released a new Scripture Writing Plan for June. I thought it would be helpful to talk about Scripture Writing as we’re moving into the second half of the year. Maybe you’ve been using my Scripture Writing Plans for a while, and you want to uplevel how you are utilizing the plans. Or perhaps you don’t use the plans, but you are looking for a way to go deeper in your personal Bible study.  

I’m repeating episode 122, which originally aired in February of 2022. I talked about what Scripture Writing is and six different ways you can enhance your Scripture writing practice. 

A few things to note, one is that I mentioned when you click on the Scripture Writing Plans tab on my website, you would be taken to a page where you can see all the blog posts related to them. When you click on that tab, you will be taken to a form to fill out to grab the latest plan.

And two, I mention in the episode about The Planning Woman Community group. That group is no longer active. I now have a new free group called the Live It Out Community, where I house all the past Scripture Writing Plans.

I’ll be back next week with a fresh episode. I hope you enjoy this refresher on the Scripture writing plans.

Today I’m going to talk about scripture writing. Maybe you’ve heard of scripture writing and wondered what it was. Perhaps you’ve seen various scripture writing plans either online or on Pinterest.

Scripture writing is just what it sounds like. It’s writing out scriptures. You could basically just pick out any place in the Bible and start writing out the verses. But as you might guess, I like to have an organized plan. Way back in 2016, I started writing out scriptures because of a need I had to grow deeper in my own relationship with God.

I wanted something that got me in the Word deeper than just reading a few verses from a devotional book. So I saw these scripture writing plans on Pinterest that put different passages together by theme, and they were set up. You’d have 30 days of scripture passages to write on that theme. At that time, I was already blogging and looking for a way to help my readers grow closer to God. So I began producing them for the first time in 2017. The response was so great that I have been producing them ever since.

2022 marks my 6th year of offering them through my website. So some of you may be wondering how you can get a copy of one of my plans. The simplest way is to go to jenniferbooth.com and click on the Scripture Writing Plan tab. You will find a form to sign up for the latest plan on this page.

Some people ask me how I develop the topics and choose verses for each plan. Honestly, I just started by looking at the ones I saw on Pinterest. I found ideas for topics there, and then I just googled to search for related verses. I’m super picky, though, about the verses I choose. Sometimes when I research a topic, the verses that are suggested, in my opinion, don’t really go with that topic. It seems like they are a stretch to be related to that topic, or they don’t relate to that topic at all. So I try my best to ensure the verses follow the topic. Some of the plans I used that year before I started creating my own often had passages that made no sense in relation to the topic. So I do try my best to provide verses that truly fit the topic and expand your knowledge about that topic.

I don’t have any rhyme or reason for assigning the topics to the months, except for November and December. I try to focus on gratitude in November and Christmas in December, but for the rest of the year, I randomly choose which topic goes in each month. So I’ve got to share something with you, something cool that usually happens every year. It never fails that either something happens personally to me where the topic I’ve picked for a particular month coincides with what I’m going through at that time, or I get an email saying how timely a specific topic was for that person.

A good example will be from 2020. Most of the plans during the early part of the pandemic were topics everyone needed during that time. And again, I had picked those topics back in November or December of 2019, before we knew what was going on before we even had an inkling of a clue that a pandemic was headed our way. So I think God used these topics in a tremendous way for the people who were writing out Scripture during that time.

Writing out Scripture is super simple. All you need is paper, a pen, and your Bible. Many people just start using a simple notebook, but others choose something like a nice bound journal. I’ve seen others use planners where they write out the verses on each day. I say use what you have to get started, then shop around to find what works best for you.

Scripture writing in its basic format of just writing out the scriptures for that day usually takes 15 minutes or less. You can incorporate it into your morning quiet time, or you may want to do it in the evening as you are winding down for the day. Let me caution you not to write out the verses, then close your Bible and move on. Take some time to read through what you’ve written, especially in the context of the month’s theme.

Pray and ask God to show you what he wants you to learn from that passage. And doing this will enrich your quiet time with God and help you learn more about Him, his character, and what he would have you do with what you’ve written out. If you’ve been doing these plans for a while, you may be ready to step things up for 2022. So I’ve got you covered. There are several things you can do to go deeper with each passage. I’ve devised six ways to let Scripture writing take you deeper into God’s Word.

Write the verses on one side of the page, then journal what you learned from them on the other side of the page.

Or write a prayer based on the verses, asking God to help you apply what you learned. So imagine your journal or notebook open where you write the verses on the left-hand page. Then on the right-hand page. You either journal about what you learned or write a prayer. It’s a super simple way to do Scripture writing, but adding in the journaling or prayer will help you look at the verses in a deeper way.

Write out the verses, then use highlighters to color code them.

You can set up a simple color-coding system to see when God is speaking, attributes of God, when Jesus is speaking, Jesus’characteristics, and things you should do as a believer or something you shouldn’t do. There are so many ways you can color code the verses. I advise you to keep it simple starting and use an index card or note paper to write out the color coding system you come up with. Maybe keep it to six colors or less. You can always add more later as you get more confident in your Bible study skills or as you start wanting to know more about different topics in the Bible. But start out keeping it simple.

Write the verses using a translation you don’t normally use.

Doing this will give you a different perspective of what you’re reading. But I have another caution here. Some verses or versions are not literal translations. So you must be careful about thinking what you’re writing is absolute truth. Often these versions make the Bible easier to read, but they don’t always give the accurate translation and meaning of a particular word or phrase.

Do a word study.

Pick out a word from the passage, maybe one that seems to repeat itself, and use apps like Bible Gateway or Blue Letter Bible to discover more about what the word means. As suggested in the first method, write the verses on one side of the page. Then do your word study on the other page. Learning more about words or phrases in the Bible will also help deepen your understanding of what you’ve read.

Read through the verses aloud after you have written them.

Read them several times, emphasizing a different word each time. There’s just something about hearing the word of God spoken out loud. I tend to notice other things when I read aloud than when I read silently. So this is a great way to ensure you understand what you are reading.

Pick a verse to memorize.

Now, I’m not saying pick one verse from each passage daily for the month. No, that would be a whole lot. I would choose one or two verses to memorize for the month. Or maybe one of the passages one day speaks to you, and you want to memorize it so you can internalize it and remember it forever.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Live It Out Community

Scripture Writing Plans

The post 189: 6 Ways to Enhance Your Scripture Writing Practice appeared first on Jennifer Booth.

A lie that has been going around for decades now says women can and should do it all. What I mean by doing it all is having a career, raising a family, being a good wife, and caring for your home. And as Christians, we’ve added being a good Christian to this list. You know, having the perfect quiet time with a cup of coffee and a lit candle with the perfect journal and highlighters.

While all of these things are good in and of themselves, they can become idols when they become our primary focus instead of God. And this lie that women can and should do it all is just that, a lie.

As believers, our main purpose in life is to honor and glorify God in all we do. From there, our lives can look drastically different from one woman to another and one season to the next.

In this episode, I share how we can stop believing this lie and learn to focus on what God has called us to do in our current season of life.

I have a love/hate relationship with social media. On the one hand, I love how social media has allowed me to connect with people from my past, my extended family, and new people that I’ve met. On the other hand, I wouldn’t say I like how it has caused me to measure my life by what other people are doing. Specifically when it comes to living out my calling or purpose.

And I’ve noticed that I compare my life with other people’s lives and find myself coming up short. Their homes seem to be cleaner or more fashionably decorated, their kids are well-behaved and excelling in school, sports, or music, and their husbands seem so attentive to their needs. While I feel that my home lacks in some way, my kids don’t always do the right thing, and my husband doesn’t do the things that some other husbands do for their wives. So it’s really just a toxic place to be sometimes.

Then, as I mentioned in the introduction, we’ve been led to believe this myth that women can and should do it all. The value of a woman who chooses to stay home and raise a family instead of pursuing a career is criticized. If you’re not doing all the things, then obviously, you are not doing life right.

The truth is we don’t have to do it all. There are only so many hours in a day to do what we know God is leading us to do. If we try to add in more than what we can handle, it will only lead to chaos and stress. On top of that, we will leave our callings unfulfilled because we are busy doing too many things.

I’ve talked about this in a couple of past episodes recorded several years ago. I feel that social media, especially, has perpetuated this lie exponentially over the last few years. So I think it’s important to revisit this topic to remind ourselves that it is a lie and that we must do it all.

There are three reasons we believe this lie.

We see other women who are supposedly doing it all.
Sometimes we really believe we can do it all.
We are people pleasers at heart.

It’s hard not to believe the world when you always hear this message. And now, with video and images being so prevalent on social media, we can see this lie in action. I confess I spend way too much time watching IG and FB reels that show women cleaning their homes, restocking their pantries and refrigerators, or showing off their beautifully organized homes. Sometimes those videos inspire me to do something in my home, but more often than not, I feel defeated, thinking that I’m not measuring up.

And there have been times when I really believed I could do it all. And when I believed this lie, my family suffered. I was spread too thin, often neglecting some of my family’s needs.

I’ve also had times in my life when I tried to please people rather than God. And I’ve discovered how to know when I’m falling into that habit of pleasing people.

5 Signs You Are A People Pleaser

1. You try too hard to be seen as always doing the “right thing.”
2. You know how others feel about you, and it deeply affects you.
3. You have a hard time making tough decisions, especially ones that won’t please everyone.
4. You have a hard time saying no without giving reasons why you are saying no.
5. You become easily depressed or discouraged when others don’t affirm you.

The bottom line is we should only live to please God. He is the one who charts our course. We want to live in such a way that we seek Him daily to know what we should be doing.

My favorite verse that reminds me not to be a people pleaser is from Galatians 1:10. “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

I think this is what the lie that we have to do it all has turned into. It has turned us into followers of the world who are trying to fit in and be accepted. And to do that, we have to be people pleasers.

What To Do When You Feel Like You Need To Please Everyone

1. Learn how to set boundaries.
   We need to know God’s plan for our life. I’ve already said our primary purpose is to glorify and honor God. But there is also the plan for your current season. If you’re not sure what that is, ask God to show you. Once we know that, we can set boundaries and teach those who want us to please them what those boundaries are. That means knowing what you will do and what you won’t do.

2. Learn how to say no.
   I don’t know about you, but this is hard for me. I really want to help people when they ask; however, just because we are asked to do something does not mean we should. What’s really hard is when someone says they’ve prayed about who to ask to do a certain task or to lead a group, and they really feel like God is telling them you are the one. I’ve had that happen before, and it’s hard to argue with.

However, I’ve learned to say, “Let me pray about it and see if God is telling me the same thing.” Sometimes the answer is yes, but often it is no. If I’m faithful to pray about it, God is faithful to show me if it’s His idea for me or if it’s not the right time, or if I’m not the right person. My best piece of advice on learning to say no is don’t say yes right away. Take some time to pray and consider it if possible. Look at your prior commitments and think about what God has called you to do.

3. Learn how to take care of yourself.
   If we don’t take care of ourselves, we will not be able to serve others. If we’re too busy trying to please others, we will end up damaging our health and not be able to do what God has called us to do.

Three Tips To Help You Stop Believing The Lie You Have To Do It All

Consider What You Are Already Committed To
Once you take a good hard look at your calendar and commitments, it’s easy to see how much time left you have for other obligations.

Quit Comparing Your Life To Someone Else’s
Social media can be beneficial, but it also helps fuel this lie of having to do it all. Not only can it be a time-waster, but it can also lead to discontentment. When we compare someone’s “highlight reels” to our real life, we often come up short. So it’s important we recognize what most people put out on social media represents only the best parts of their lives. It doesn’t tell the whole story.

Give Yourself And Others Grace
The next time you begin to believe the lie that you have to do it all, give yourself a little grace. Think about what we’ve talked through so far. Is your schedule full? Are you making progress on what you need to do, even if it’s not perfect progress? Allow yourself to be content with where you are without feeling the need to do more. People in your life will thank you, and you’ll be glad you did give yourself grace because you won’t be as stressed.

On the flip side, I think we should extend grace to others and not always add on to their responsibilities and make them feel like they should do it all. We should be each other’s cheerleaders instead of encouraging each other to do more.

I hope something I’ve said today has encouraged you to stop believing the lie that you have to do it all. Maybe you don’t believe that lie, but you do struggle with people pleasing. Take to heart the tips I’ve shared about how to stop being a people pleaser.

If this episode has encouraged you, would you consider taking a screenshot of it, sharing it on social media, and tagging me @jenniferboothministries? I’d love to hear how it encouraged you.

The post 188: Why You Don’t Have to Do It All appeared first on Jennifer Booth.

Even with all the commands found in the Bible that show us how we are to obey God and live out our faith, sometimes it’s hard to wrap our minds around all of those commands and put them into practice. And sometimes, we wonder if we’re even on the right path with God.

I want to walk through Psalm 1 in this episode and present some ways you can know if you are on the right path. We’ll see in this Psalm a vivid contrast between those who are following God and those who aren’t.

I shared in episode 169 earlier this year how we can thrive in our lives. I used Psalm 1 to show what a thriving life looks like. I’ll link it in the show notes so you can listen to it if you haven’t had a chance already.

Today, though, I want to go a little deeper into Psalm 1 to show you what it looks like to follow God and live a blessed life. I’m sharing this topic today because I am currently working on a paper for my Old Testament class in seminary that is due in a couple of weeks. I’ve chosen to show how there is a stark contrast between the path of the righteous and the path of the ungodly.

In writing this paper, I’m consulting various commentaries, peer-reviewed journal articles, and other writings from people who have studied this topic before. And while Psalm 1 is a very familiar Psalm to me, I’ve uncovered so much that I either didn’t notice before or had not made certain connections with what the Psalm is really saying.

I won’t go into great detail about what I’m writing concerning Psalm 1. But I do want to give you something to think about when you are wondering if you are on the right path or not when it comes to following God.

Psa 1:1
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

Psa 1:2
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psa 1:3
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

Psa 1:4

The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Psa 1:5

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

Psa 1:6

for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

I want to concentrate our discussion on the first three verses. Verse one begins with the phrase, “Blessed is the man.” The Hebrew word for blessed in this verse can be translated as happy. Now happiness does not mean what we tend to think it means. It’s more than an emotion. Being happy or blessed means we are happy because of what God has done for us. Or more specifically for us, what Christ did on the cross. Happiness is not something that we are pursuing; running after things we think will make us happy. We are already happy because of what God has done for us.

So knowing that we are already happy or blessed if we are a believer, let’s look further at verse one and see what the blessed person does. A blessed person does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers. Notice the progression of these three things the blessed person does not show.

Walking implies going alongside someone. When you walk in the counsel of the wicked, you are still moving and can move away from what they say. When you stand in the way of sinners, it shows you’ve stopped and you are now listening to what they have to say. Then when you sit, you are deeply engaged and most likely highly influenced by the scoffers. Scholars believe that the wicked, sinners, and scoffers could be the same type of people. What’s important to note is where you are in relation to the wicked. Are you walking, standing, or sitting with them? Remember that verse one says that the blessed do not do these things. They do not follow the advice of these people, nor does their lifestyle influence them.

So let me ask, what in the world is influencing you today? Are you listening to the world and adopting a worldly lifestyle? I’m not trying to be legalistic here. But it’s so important to realize that as believers, we are called to be set apart from the world. So it’s just something to think about.

Verse 2 tells us what the blessed person does instead of engaging with the wicked. He delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on it day and night. Last week’s episode was about how important it is to read the Bible and read it a lot. I encourage you to click the link in the show notes and listen to it if you haven’t already.

Knowing God’s word is so vital to be able to know how we are to live our lives. Psalm 1:2 makes it clear that being on the right path with God means we are consistently reading and thinking about His Word.

Then verse 3 gives the benefits of being the blessed person on the right path with God. The blessed person is like a tree planted by streams of water that bear fruit. Its leaf does not wither. All that he does prospers.

This verse paints a picture of a tree that has deep roots. When a tree is planted by water, it has the nourishment it needs to survive and thrive. It also bears fruit because it is rooted in a place where it is nourished.

What does this mean for us? We can bear fruit for God’s kingdom when we are consistently in God’s Word, meditating on it, reading it, and living out what it says. We’re also refreshed and able to be a blessing to others.

So let’s put together what we’ve learned from these three verses. We can know we are on the right path with God when instead of walking with the world and listening to what it says we should do, we are reading the Bible, meditating on it, and putting what we’ve read into action. When we begin to see fruit, such as leading others to Christ, overcoming sin in our own lives, or being obedient to what God tells us to do, we’ll know we’re on the right path.

Does this mean we’ll never experience hardship despite our obedience? No! But it does mean we can still live the blessed life rooted in God’s Word.

Have you noticed a theme in what I’ve shared in this episode and in the last episode? We’ve got to be women who are in the Word to live out our faith in a way that honors and glorifies God. I pray you will be encouraged to pick up your Bible today and discover what God has to say to you.

The post 187: How to Know You Are On The Right Path with God appeared first on Jennifer Booth.

Do you struggle with understanding the Bible? When you read it, does the Bible seem like a collection of books that may be somewhat related, yet you don’t understand how they connect?

If that’s you, know that you are not alone. The Bible is a complex book that can be difficult to understand at first reading. Even if you’ve grown up going to church and learning stories from the Bible, you may not understand how they all connect.

The Bible is really just one book that tells one story. It is the story of God’s redemption of His people. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible speaks of God’s intended design for creation, how humanity has failed to live up to that design, and God’s plan to restore His people to Himself.

In this episode, I will share one thing you can do that will make reading and understanding the Bible more meaningful and accessible.

I love a good story. Do you? I’m an avid reader who has a hard time putting down a book if it has an engaging plot. My husband, who does not like to read so much, does not understand how I can read all the time. I think it’s the way God wired me. I’ve been a reader from an early age.

Beyond reading books, I also love movies or tv series that have compelling plots. One of my favorite movie series is Star Wars. I just found out that this month marks the 40th anniversary of the Return of the Jedi movie in that series. That makes me feel so old! I remember going to see it with my parents in the movie theater when it came out. It was the first Star Wars movie I had seen. I ended up watching the first two on VHS tapes after I discovered I loved the movie. I wanted to know the background of the events portrayed in the Return of the Jedi.

Over the years, I’ve watched the movies that constituted the prequels of the original movies as well as movies set after the original ones. And I’ve loved watching the backstory movies that have come out, along with the streaming series that have been released in the last few years on Disney+. 

I think one reason I like this series or franchise is because of the consistency of the story and the compelling ways it has been told. I know so much about the different characters in the stories and where they fit in with the overall Star Wars story. 

The same is true when it comes to the Bible. I’ve loved reading the Bible since I was a young girl. I also love the Bibles themselves. Meaning, anytime I can get my hands on a new one, I love it. I was just telling my husband the other day about a new study Bible I learned about this week. I mentioned that I know I didn’t need another Bible, but I thought this would be a good one because of the study notes in it. And he remarked that yes, I don’t need another Bible because I have so many. But he understands why I would want one.

For more than 20 years, I’ve been involved in various Bible studies offered at my church or in my community. And a lot of these studies have whet my appetite for the Bible, making me want to go deeper and learn more about what it says.

Since I started seminary classes, that desire has increased exponentially. I’ve taken classes on the Old Testament and how to interpret the Bible. And those classes have shown me just how rich and deep the Bible really is. I’ve come to have a better understanding of how the big picture of the Bible is revealed throughout Scripture. And, to my surprise, I’ve learned to love the Old Testament. I’ve always shied away from trying to understand the Old Testament because it is full of names and events that are sometimes hard to make sense of.

However, I’ve learned so much about how the Old Testament connects to the New Testament, and that knowledge has made me so much more in awe of God and His divine design of the Bible and how He inspired the writers of the Bible over thousands of years to tell one story. I wish I had time to tell you all the connections I’ve made between the Old and New Testaments.

But here’s what I want you to take away from this episode. The way you begin to understand the bigger picture of the Bible is to become a noticer. Yes, you have to pay attention to what you are reading. As I prepared for this episode, I thought about how I could best describe what we need to do or be to understand the Bible better. Noticer was the first word that came to my mind. So I looked it up just in case I was making the word up in my head. The Collins Dictionary defines a noticer as a person who takes notice or observes.

Let me just interject here that I know perhaps you don’t consider yourself a good reader. Or maybe you’re like my husband, and you don’t like to read a lot. Let me encourage you to keep reading the Bible. What I have to share next is absolutely possible for you to do.

How to Become a Noticer When Reading the Bible

First, we have to read the Bible and read it a lot. That is the advice one of my professors gave when it comes to interpreting and understanding the Bible. And it’s true. If we only read some parts of the Bible and not others, we will never be able to fully understand the big picture of the Bible. And if we only read the Bible one time, we’ll have a harder time understanding the big picture.

Going back to my example of the Star Wars movies, one of the reasons I love them is that I’ve taken the time to watch all of the movies and the streaming series, and I know the big-picture story of the Star Wars franchise. I mentioned I started with the third movie in the original trilogy, so at that time, I didn’t have all of the background information that would have helped me to enjoy the movie better. 

The same is true when it comes to reading our Bibles. When we just jump into the middle of a book in the Bible, we’re not getting the whole story. So we’ve got to read it all for it to make sense.

Before you’re overwhelmed with the thought of reading the whole Bible, I want to encourage you to remember that learning about and understanding the Bible is a lifelong pursuit. I don’t think anyone ever understands every single thing God is trying to communicate through the Bible. So don’t think you’ve got to rush through and read the Bible in one year.

My best advice is to take a reading plan of your choosing and work through the Bible at your own pace. There are tons of reading plans you can find online. Or, you may just want to read through one book of the Bible at a time with no deadline of when you’ll get through it.

Second, as you are reading the Bible, begin to notice where you’ve heard certain words, phrases, people, or places in other parts of Scripture.

Let me give you a couple of examples. I am working through the book of Titus. It is a short book with just three chapters. But it is full of great instruction that is applicable to us today. While reading through the book, I noticed that Paul mentions in Chapter 1, verse 2, that God does not lie. Then when reading further into the chapter, verse 12 talks about the Cretans, the people Titus was preaching to, as liars.

In Luke 2:22-24, we read about the sacrifices Mary and Joseph were to make at the temple after Jesus was born. This is one occasion when you don’t even have to know something about sacrifices to know that this is something important to know about. It says in verse 23 that the requirement is written in the law of Moses. So you could go back to Exodus and find where this law was first given to understand its meaning and purpose.

The point of paying attention to repeated words, phrases, people, or places is so that you can begin to connect different parts of Scripture together. As you learn more and more about various aspects of what the Bible says, you’ll begin to notice more things that seem familiar to you because you’ve read about them somewhere else in the Bible.

I encourage you to keep a notebook or notepad handy to write down things that stand out to you. This way, you’ll have a written record of what you’ve learned or what you want to learn more about. As I read through Titus a couple of times, I wrote down those themes I mentioned earlier on a sheet of paper. My next step is to go back and figure out what the book has to say about those themes and how they are connected.

Third, use some sort of study Bible or Bible that has cross-references in it. I mentioned the example of sacrifices earlier. My study Bible shows where in the Old Testament the original instructions for sacrifices are found. Using cross-references can help you begin to make connections throughout the Bible. Especially between the two testaments.

So let’s recap what it takes to be a noticer. We have to read the Bible a lot, notice repeated words, phrases, people, and places, and make use of cross-references to make connections. 

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Are you in a season where it feels challenging to live out your faith? Do you struggle with reading the Bible consistently or communicating with God in prayer? Maybe you feel like your prayers are hitting the ceiling, and God does not know what you need. Or, worse, you wonder if He even cares.

Friend, let me reassure you we all go through seasons like this where we find it hard to live out our faith. However, there is good news. We can navigate through this season and come out on the other side with renewed, fresh faith.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband ran in the Boston Marathon. As most people running a marathon will do, he prepared for several months to ensure he could run the race and not only finish it but also complete it in a certain length of time.

Most mornings each week, he would wake up between 4:30 and 5:00 am to meet other running buddies to do training runs. Whether it was cold or rainy, it did not matter. He was out there training.

I could track his progress on an app so I would know where he was and when I needed to leave the hotel for the finish line to see him. I could tell he started really well, if not a bit ahead of his goal pace. As I watched for updates on the app, I could tell something was not quite right. He missed the projected time to reach the next checkpoint. When he did cross that checkpoint, he was a bit off pace. He slowed down some and then sped up, but he could not make up for the time he lost about halfway through the race. So he did not finish the race in the time he wanted and trained for. But he still finished at a good pace and felt good overall. He said he started too quickly and got caught up in the excitement of the race, so his energy got zapped more quickly than he had planned.

I’ve been thinking about his preparation for the race, and the race itself is similar to how Paul describes living out his faith in Hebrews 12:1-2 which says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Similarities Between Training for a Marathon & Living Out Your Faith

Discipline

It takes discipline to run a marathon. Early mornings and long runs are the norm. You have to run consistently to develop the endurance it takes to finish a marathon.

It’s much the same when it comes to living out our faith. Committing to and following through with spending time with God in His Word and prayer takes discipline. If we let our Bibles collect dust and don’t take the time to talk to God, we will never grow in our faith and most likely will not handle times of crisis very well. Daily dying to self and following God’s plan for our lives takes discipline.

Plan

When training for a marathon, you don’t just walk out the door and start running. You need a training plan that will help increase your mileage and endurance over several months. A systematic approach to running will help you have a better chance of completing the marathon.

It’s also essential to have a plan when living out our faith. It can be as simple as using a daily devotional resource to participating in a Bible study. Finding a plan you can follow consistently will help you so much when it comes to staying in God’s Word and prayer with Him.

Time

Steven ran something like 900 miles in preparation for this marathon. Running a marathon takes a significant investment of time. It takes to time to run the required miles. And it takes time to develop the endurance it takes to complete a marathon.

It takes time for us to grow in our faith. Time reading the Bible. Time praying. Time learning how to apply what we’ve learned.

Competition

Unless you are an elite runner pursuing the top prize, generally, you only compete against yourself in races like these. You are usually trying to run faster than you have before, or in some cases, maybe your goal is to run more than walk in the marathon. The bottom line is you’re not comparing your running journey to anyone else.

Sometimes I think we get discouraged about living out our faith because we see other people who either seem to be getting blessing upon blessing from God, have few troubles, or are succeeding in some way. You’ve been trying to succeed, yet you don’t seem to measure up. Or we can get discouraged when someone knows more about the Bible than us and knows exactly how to minister in any situation. I could give many examples, but you get the picture.

So how does this analogy of running a marathon help us live out our faith even when it’s difficult?

I think the best place to start is with the last similarity I mentioned: competition. Your faith walk is your own. You are running your own race of faith. Having this mindset allows us to proceed at our own pace with God’s grace. There will be times in our lives when we have to fight to hang on to our faith. We must fight for the time to read the Bible and do what it says. However, we’ll also have times when we can flourish and dwell longer in the Word and prayer. The key is to remember your faith walk is not a competition with anyone else.

Second, let’s go back to what we talked about with discipline. If we want to grow in our faith and live it out even when it’s difficult, we must have the discipline to read the Bible, pray, worship God, and fellowship with other believers. That may mean setting aside your phone for a while. I’ve talked about my own struggles with the phone in past episodes. And I can attest that when I put boundaries around my phone, I can spend more time with God and actually hear from Him instead of my scattered thoughts.

Third, let’s talk about time. Reading, learning, and understanding how God wants us to live out our faith individually takes time. So we have to make room in our schedules for this. It won’t happen if we don’t have a plan. When planning my week, I set boundaries around the time I plan to spend with God. I try my best not to let anything encroach on that time. There are times when I’ve realized I need to let some things go to have the time to spend with Him. It’s just a process you’ll have to work through to ensure adequate time with God.

When you put together these things: a mindset that your faith walk is not a competition, discipline, and a plan to use your time wisely, you can begin to lay the foundation of faith that will serve you well when difficult times come. The key to all of this is consistency. Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, spending time with God will continue to build on the foundation you’ve established to help you grow stronger in your faith. You will be able to navigate difficult seasons better when you have this strong foundation. 

If you want more encouragement or accountability when living out your faith, I encourage you to join the free Live It Out Community Group. I’d love to connect with you there and help you on your faith journey.

The post 185: Four Things to Remember When Living Out Your Faith is Difficult appeared first on Jennifer Booth.

Hey, friend! I’m so excited to bring to you a conversation about discipleship that I had with my friend, Angie Likens.

Listen in to learn what discipleship is and how you can be a disciple and disciple others.

You will not want to miss this insightful conversation!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Proclaim Truth Ministries

Proclaim Truth Experience

Connect with Angie on Instagram and Facebook.

The post Ep. 184-The Basics of Discipleship with Angie Likens appeared first on Jennifer Booth.

This month we have been discussing how to develop the discipline of prayer. In episode 181, I shared four requirements of prayer that can be found in the Bible. In episode 182, I busted three myths about prayer.

In the final episode of this series, I will share some practical action steps you can take to help you grow in your prayer life and develop the discipline of prayer.

In episode 182, when talking about myths surrounding prayer, I based my thoughts on Matthew 6:5-8. I mentioned that I would use the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13 as a guide for talking about practical ways to pray. And I will do that later in this episode.

But first, before we can get to the practical action steps, we need to prepare. Preparation to pray will go a long way to ensure that we can stay focused and purposeful during our prayer time. Preparation also helps to create a structure that can make it a bit easier to develop the discipline of prayer.

As I mentioned in episode 181, I don’t want us to think of prayer as something we check off our to-do list. It is a discipline, and I guess you could say technically it’s a habit, but it is so much more than just a daily task. So I want to approach what I’m going to share in the rest of this episode from that viewpoint.

Preparing to Pray

So how do we prepare? Well, first, we have to figure out when we will pray. I always suggest looking at your schedule and seeing what the natural flow of your days is like. Once you figure out when you can pray consistently, do what It takes to make sure you actually pray at that time. Set the alarm on your phone or even put it in as an appointment on your calendar to protect the time. Once you do get in the habit of praying at that time and are disciplined to show up to pray, you won’t need reminders any longer. It will just be a natural part of your day.

The second thing we need to do to prepare to pray is clear out all the distractions so we can stay focused. This means if you decide that praying first thing in the morning while sitting on your couch is the best time for you, then do what you need to do to silence your phone, let other family members know not to disturb you at that time, and put aside any other distractions such as clutter that can keep you from focusing. You may realize you need to find a more quiet place to pray.

If you decide that praying on your commute is a good time when you can be consistent, then be sure to turn off your radio and silence your phone so you won’t be interrupted or distracted.

The third thing we need to do to prepare to pray is to gather the resources we may need to facilitate a more productive prayer time. This could include your Bible, Scriptures to pray, prayer lists, or a prayer journal. We’ll talk more about these resources in a moment when we get to the practice of prayer.

So to be prepared for prayer, plan a consistent time to pray, remove any distractions, and gather the resources you need.

The Practice of Prayer

As I mentioned earlier, Jesus left us a model of prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.

You’ll notice that Jesus starts by praising God. I think we should do the same. Acknowledge who God is and what He has done in your life. This is more than just thanking Him. It is praising Him. You can look to the Psalms for inspiration on how to praise God.

Jesus goes on to ask for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. I believe when we pray to ask God to answer specific prayers, we need to do so with the mindset that we want His will to be done in each situation.

“Give us this day our daily bread” is a reminder to pray for the daily things of life. This could mean praying for provision in an area of our life, something we are struggling with on that day, or any situation that arises from our daily life.

Jesus asks God to forgive when we sin. Therefore, we need to ask for forgiveness for our sins when we pray. And did you notice that Jesus is asking for forgiveness in the way we forgive others? So I think this means we need to be willing to forgive others first before we ask God to forgive us.

And the last verse is a plea to keep us from temptation. It is good and right to ask the Lord to protect us from temptation but also to help us when we are tempted.

This reminds me of a couple of acronyms I’ve heard in regard to how to pray. One is called ACTS. It stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Another that is similar is called PRAY. It stands for Praise, Repent, Ask, and Yield.

s.

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