A Thirst for Living Water

Well, I cannot believe that we are on our last day of the year 2014! This year has definitely had it's ups and downs, but I'm grateful for it.

As I look into the face of 2015, the third year of my life plagued by cancer, the year I will turn 30 (yikes!), and the year I will celebrate 5 years of marriage to my best friend, I have so much to be thankful for and so much I want to accomplish!

As I look at 2015 and think about what I'd like to do with the next 365 days the Lord has granted me, I have one all-consuming thought....I'm thirsty. I'm not talking about physical thirst, but spiritual thirst. Let me explain...

I have been a Christian most of my life and have gone through seasons of great spiritual growth and seasons of dry stagnancy. Lately I've realized that as much as I pray and seek the Lord, there are some deficits in my spiritual walk that I would like to see made right.

~I'm still waiting for healing. Complete physical healing from the Lord
~I'm still hoping for a future with David and a family
~I still struggle to trust the Lord with every part of my heart.
~I still struggle to hear the Lord speaking to me in a real way.
~I still struggle to fully worship without distraction by myself.
~I still struggle to know my bible inside and out.
~I still struggle to know the context of scripture and remember where to find familiar verses.
~I still struggle to memorize scripture on a regular basis.

I have these deficits in my spiritual walk and I want nothing more than to conquer them in 2015. But how do I do this? Try harder? Do better? It's just not that easy.

Enter this article that I read a few weeks ago.

This woman in the UK drank a gallon of water every day for 4 weeks and saw some amazing breaktrhoughs. Her skin was healthier, her eyes brighter, her weight decreased, her energy up.
All because she drank water. Water! The simplest, most readily available resource we have.

So how does this apply to my spiritual life? How can I change the health of my spiritual walk? How can I improve my countenance with the Lord? Drink from Living Water! I need to turn to my most readily available resource....the Word of God!

I'll admit, I spend a lot of time in prayer, but I've always struggled to be disciplined in the area of bible study. I can go many days sometimes without even opening my bible because of my busy schedule. It's sad, but true.

After reading this article, it hit me so profoundly. If I want my spiritual complexion to change, I need to be studying the word daily. Not just flipping through the bible and reading a random verse. Not just finding some online words of wisdom and calling it good. Daily, drinking in the word of God and internalizing it.

So this is my challege for myself in the year 2015 and I challenge anyone that's willing to take it with me.

I am committing to the Lord to spend time in bible study every day in the year 2015, no matter what.

It may only be for 15 minutes, but I will drink from the living water everyday this year. It seems so simple, but I'm a little nervous! Now that I've made it public I can't fail! haha

I am writing a private journal entry with the things I'm struggling with spiritually as my "before" picture.
On December 31st 2015 I will take my "after"shot and assess myself again to see how drinking in the word every day has changed me.

I'm trusting the Lord for good things!

And so I don't get defeated before I begin, I've been reading Jen Wilkin's book Women of the Word to help me gain some valuable study skills. I will most likely use devotionals and commentaries to help me get started, but I'm hoping to just take a book at a time and study it. Learn it. Drink it in.

I will start tomorrow with the book of James.

If anyone wants to join me, let me know! I'd be more than happy to help you! If the Lord shows me something amazing, I might share it on facebook or instgram and use the hashtag #LivingWater Please feel free to do the same!

Please join me and challenge yourself! I would love to have a lot of company on this journey!
I pray that you all have a blessed and peaceful last day of 2014 and are trusting the Lord for amazing things to come in 2015!

I think 2015 will be the best year ever!