A Year of Reading the Bible

 Tonight is the eve of my anniversary in the personal decision to start reading the Bible. What a year it has been! God has been so, so good to me. 

A year ago today, I recognized the despondent feelings I was having was spiritual. I grappled with what I was doing with my life, a mid-life crisis so to speak, if you consider that I am roughly halfway through the average expectancy lifespan. I was focused on writing books so I could build a better life for my tiny family someday when I have to be independent again. After my girls' father died unexpectedly, we went to live with my mom and her husband several states away. They opened their home to us, and they have been nothing but blessing to the three of us. They provided a stable home. There's nothing at all we have to worry about but to be a family. 

But up to this time last year, I was a lukewarm, double-minded Christian who was in danger of falling away. I've tried many times for 8 years to find my way back to Jesus. I barely prayed. I barely paid any attention to Christian-based content. I didn't often read the Bible more than thre or four times a year. There was a short time I did do devotional in the morning, but then that stopped too. I did sometimes sing verses from popular church songs and sing in tongues. But... nothing seemed to click. I felt bad that I put God at the bottom of my priorities. I kept asking Him to help me find my way ack to Him; I felt lost.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, I knew immediately it was the Hand of God. There was something about the invasion that woke me up like nothing else ever did. It was one of the most obvious indicator that Jesus was coming back very soon. Like, sooner than we ever were before. And what the hell was I doing writing secular books? I did my best to make them wholesome. But they were written with very surface level Christian values. None of those books are going to matter in the grand scheme of things: teaching the Word of God so people can be brought to Christ and discipled. That's our most important work right now in this war against the enemy.

So, how then do I find my way back to Jesus? I messaged a close friend who said I needed to read the Bible intentionally like we do when we brush. And that's what did it for me. Reading the Bible where it contained everything I needed in order to know Jesus. Oh, my God! Did that make a huge difference. I started small because I am prone to being overwhelmed, so I started with reading the Verse of the Day on the Bible app.

Up pops the very verse I most needed to read: Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn and keep on coming to me with all your heart, with fasting, with mourning, and with weeping, [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored] (Joel 2:12).

That contained all the instructions I needed in order to come back to God with a whole heart. The next day, I started fasting, and the verse for that day was Matthew 4:4, which states, Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God." This confirmed that I absolutely must read God's Word every day just as we need to eat food and drink water to live. 

I have not missed a single day of reading God's Word according to the streak on the app which is 365 days today. This has made a huge difference in my life in many areas! It has also led me to meeting someone very special who is also on fire for God. 

Over the past couple days and today, I've been meditating and thinking about where God is sending me. There's been some prophecies where this month of March, many Christians who are chosen will be given marching orders to step up in this war against the enemy. The war in which our focus is to bring people to know Christ and into maturity through discipleship. I've discovered that God had been chipping away old parts of me these past few days and I know I have leveled up in my prayer life today. My prayers have changed. It is amazing! I understand better what the angels are doing and their roles in this war. We are to partner with them in prayer according to Father's Will.

I'm looking forward to what this next year is going to be like! It will be a strange time, for we are already in a strange time. But our focus has to always remain on God. Do not let yourself be distracted by the shchemes of the enemy or wonder what they are doing, or even fight them. Praise God and ask Him to fight the battle for you.

Read the Word. Pray for God's Will. Praise and worship God to have victory over the enemy.