A New Beginning – bible studies for 2014

I wasn’t sure if I was crazy or not, but I recently started two different Bible studies at the same time. In the past it’s sometimes been a struggle to keep up with one. What’s my verdict after the first week? I think this was the best decision I’ve ever made!

The first study was one that fell into my lap by default. You see, I’ve been a leader of a Good Morning Girls Facebook group for over a year now.  One week ago today they started the winter bible study entitled Intentionally Focused.  If you recall, my one word for 2014 was Purposeful.  A lot of what I wanted to be more purposeful about was focusing on my family and getting things done around the house. The spiritual side was the one piece I needed to add.

We have had some poor participation in our Facebook group the last few times, so I forced everyone to move to a new group if they wanted to join in again and we added several new members. The posts flying back and forth have been phenomenal. Good comments on the daily readings, prayers for one another. The response has been wonderful!

The second bible study I felt called to join is based on the book Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa TerKeurst. It’s hosted by Proverbs31 Ministries.

While this book concentrates on eating and food consumption, the first few chapters I’ve read make you ponder other areas of your life where you may have replaced God with another craving.

One of the points at the beginning of the book is:

Permissible But Not Beneficial

Just because something is permissible doesn’t mean it is beneficial for us.

I think this is an area where I’ve failed in the past. Weight Watchers teaches you that everything is permissible – even things like chocolate cake if they are done in moderation (I went to WW when they had the point system). I’ve done the same while watching what I eat on SparkPeople. As long as I stayed within my “budgets” for calories, fat, carbs, etc. I felt I could eat whatever I want. Am I allowed to drink Pepsi? Sure. Can I have a donut? Why not.

But … are those edible items beneficial and helpful to my body? Nope.

This guideline could apply to other areas of my life as well where I spend too much time online, too much time crafting (on second thought, there is no such thing!) … and not enough time studying God’s Word and learning what He wants for my life.

I love that their Twitter hashtag for this group is #CraveGod.  Because isn’t that what it’s all about?

Now, why do I think signing up for both studies at the same time was such a great idea?  Because they complement each other so well!  Both of them are training me to keep my focus on God.  It’s funny how both of them last week talked about focus and running.  How you need to train and aim for that finish line.  Exactly what I need to hear as I train for my first 5K run this year … and continue to train for the Final Finish Line.

Note: If you are interested in signing up for either of these studies, you still can!  Both are free to everyone.  They are entering week 2, but there is still time to catch up.

• Registration for Intentionally Focused has closed, but if you sign up to receive the emails or read through a feed you have access to all the materials.  Information from the previous week is on their blog.
• The Made to Crave study information is contained in the blog or email subscription.  You do need to pick up a copy of the book to follow along.

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