Tools for Living Your Faith Intentionally
Believing in Jesus is one thing; having faith he will do what he says he will do is another thing entirely. That is what living your faith is all about.
What is Living Your Faith?
“But what does living your faith look like?” you might ask. For me, it is trusting God when he promises to give me rest and taking a day, or even an hour, off when I have a million things to do. It means staying calm in the midst of a storm (or a pandemic). It means knowing that God’s plans and his timing are best, even when it seems he’s forgotten about you. The hardest part is to keep taking action to live in God’s will even when it seems you aren’t making any progress.
It’s taken me most of my life to have that kind of faith. I’m only just now learning how to live it every day. Although the story of how I got here is material for my upcoming book, today I’ll share some of my favorite tools that help me to live my faith day in and day out. I think you will find benefit in at least a few of these.
How do you start Living Your Faith?
As always, the new year is a great time to start new things, but fortunately, it isn’t the only time! You can incorporate these tools into your life at any time. In fact, I’ve added each of these one at a time over a number of years. I encourage you to pick the one or two that sound most exciting today and try them out for a while before you add any of the others. If one doesn’t ring true to you, no worries, just skip over that one and try a different version. You can also do something similar but altogether different. The point is to get you thinking about your daily practices to help keep you plugged into Jesus. The goal is to discover his will is for you each day so that you are living your faith daily.
You’re Going to Need some Grace
Will you miss a day on occasion? I’m sure you will. Will you forget to do one or more for weeks on end when life gets busy or throws you a curveball? I did, but when I could I simply started where I was and kept going. In fact, there are times I’ve messed up so bad that I’ve started completely over. Anytime we change a habit, we have the potential of changing our whole life, but as you already likely know, changing habits can be simple, but doing so isn’t always easy. I have programs that offer support around helping clients make the changes they need to get the life they want, so I want to share just a few tips here today.
Hopefully, these tools I use will give you ideas of things you can do to make your journey a little easier. Just remember, whenever we strive to make changes we rarely do so perfectly right from the start so you’ll need to allow yourself a degree of forgiveness anytime you change your habits. But I promise you if you incorporate these tools into your daily routine, your life will change drastically. So here is to a new day and some new ways to go a little deeper in living your faith!
Get into Scripture
The one component here that is absolutely necessary is that you have to be in scripture to really be living your faith. Because without being in the Word, you may not even be clear about what actions God is asking you to take. Besides, there is so much wisdom and advice within the Bible that we miss the best of life if we leave it on the coffee table unopened.
I’ll be honest, when I started really digging into my Bible, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me. It wasn’t until I started using daily devotionals and attending Bible study sessions things began to make sense. Another big improvement was the Bible that I use when I study. For years now, I’ve been using the Life Application Study Bible – The New Living Translation. The reason I love it so much is due to the explanations it gives in the footnotes. Truly, the explanations often bring the message to life for me. There are many versions of the Bible available on all kinds of platforms, many of which are free. I encourage you to find one that works best for you.
Devotionals are great, too!
I’ve also used dozens of devotionals through the years and enjoy them all for different reasons. They, too, help me understand the practical applications of the verses they share. I will put a list of a few of my favorites below so you can check them out. Keep in mind, this too is something where you simply have to find the one that speaks to you where you are in life.
Another huge find for me was the Abide Meditation App which is a daily meditation on scripture. A free version is available to listen to and for about $40 a year you get unlimited access to the daily mediation and tons of specific topics and bedtime stories. Each piece is beautifully read and so insightful and relaxing. Each day there is a new scripture and they give great examples of what it is like to live your faith. This truly is the best part of my day some days and I rarely miss it. If I do, I always go back and catch up as I hate to miss one episode.
Allow space to Listen
The next two recommendations are about clearing your mind to be able to listen when God speaks to you. Too often we clutter every minute of every day with noise from the TV, radio, or videos. As a result, we don’t give our minds the opportunity to think nor do we give God the opportunity to speak directly to us. Try to extend your quiet time after studying your bible and go about your morning routine without any outside noise. Be sure to use this time to ask God for guidance and clarification on issues you may be struggling with.
You will be amazed when your mind actually has time and space to think clearly so you can hear when God whispers in your ear.
Make Time to Move
Further, although movement is a great way to keep our bodies limber, it is also an awesome way to get our minds engaged and thinking creatively. One of my favorite ways to accomplish this is to go for a walk. Unfortunately, here in South Dakota, more often than not, days are either too hot, too cold, too windy, or too wet. On the days I can’t get outside and walk, my exercise of choice is a program called Body Groove. The routines are only suggestions and there is no set way to do it, which is why it is so much fun. You simply listen to the music and move the way you want to based on suggestions from the incredible Misty Tripoli. In addition to slow swaying songs, there is a little country, a little jazz, and a little reggae. There are even some yoga and pilates that have a flowing, Body Groove feel to them. I’ll probably never go back to the traditional way of exercise because this one feels so good! There are several ways to access the program, so you get to decide what works best for you.
Pray about everything!
My next recommendation is a book that is written for entrepreneurs, but I wish I’d have found it years ago when I was in my previous career. The book written by Kim Avery titled, The Prayer Powered Entrepreneur is a 31-day journey designed to help you build your business with less stress and more joy. The principals here easily carry over to any work or life situation you might encounter. I’ve just begun my second time through it and am sure it won’t be my last. Kim is currently doing a 31-day challenge…join us on Facebook or let me know if you can’t find it!
Include Jesus in your planning
My last recommendation is one I am excited to give you two more opportunities to learn more about in the weeks to come. It is my new daily planner which is so much more than a daily planner. It is the Blaze Planner and it is designed to incorporate your faith life into your daily routine so that you can live your faith intentionally. Since Purposeful is my Word for the Year, I am excited to see if this planner will shine above all the rest in keeping me on track. I love its faith-based perspective that helps me live my faith.
The creator of the planner, Sandi Lucas, is my guest on Longing for More on January 12, 2021, and will be discussing how God encouraged and helped her to create the planner. She will then be my guest on a special masterclass for my Living Your Faith Mastermind. This class is open and free to the public on January 28, to explain the concept behind the planner called The Blaze Lighthouse Process™ – which equips women to put the principles of the Bible into practice every day.
You don’t need to have the planner to enjoy my conversation with Sandi or to come learn about her unique process for incorporating your faith into all aspects of your life. Be sure to register for the masterclass now so you don’t miss it!
Living Your Faith even More!
So those are my favorite tools I use daily these days to help keep me on track. I find everything goes so much better when I live my faith intentionally. I hope you will check each of these out and if you have any questions, you will send me an email. If you are interested in joining the Living Your Faith Mastermind Community, we are just getting started with a new group and we’d love to have you join us.
Thank you for stopping by today. I know how valuable your time is and it means a lot that you spent part of your day here. I also want to thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support by listening to the podcast or reading my blog these last few months. We reached a new high of over 10,500 total downloads of the show while I was on break and I am grateful for each and every download!
We are on Pandora!
Longing for More was recently added to Pandora and I want to thank all my listeners who have already found me over there! I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be featured on such apps as Pandora and Pray.com!
As hard as it’s been to be away from the podcast, I am loving my time writing my book. It is coming together nicely though I have a long way to go. My plan is to release a new episode whenever I am able but only God knows when that will be. I hope you’ll subscribe to the show on your favorite platform so you don’t miss an episode. And if you have’t already, go back and listen to some of the previous shows. I sometimes marvel at the thoughts the Holy Spirit prompted me to share.
Be sure to check out the podcast episode 126 released on January 12 for the interview with Sandi Lucas of the Blaze Planner and sign up for the masterclass to learn The Blaze Lighthouse Process™ – to be held on January 28, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. CT.
A FEW OF MY FAVORITE DEVOTIONALS
Live in Grace – Walk in Love, a 365 Day Journey by Bob Goff
The One Year Book of Inspiration for Girlfriends…juggling Not-So-Perfect, OFTEN-CRAZY, but Gloriously REAL LIVES by Ellen Miller
Secrets of the Proverbs 31 Woman – Fresh Perspectives on Biblical Wisdom for Women by Rae Simons
Savor – Living Abundantly Where You are, As you Are by Shauna Neiquist
The Power of Being Thankful – 365 Devotions for Discovering the Strength of Gratitude by Joyce Meyer