Living an ART filled life…“Creativity is a God-given ability to take something ordinary and make it into something special. It is an openness to doing old things new ways…The creative spirit is part of our heritage as children of the One who created all things. And nurturing our creativity is part of our responsibility as stewards of God’s good gifts.” – Emilie Barnes, The Spirit of Loveline
I’m posting this Bullet Journal spread for those who are participating in the study with me. (Live at my home church) These pages are meant to be used to prayerfully process and record what you have been learning the last 4 weeks!
For those of you following along online, please feel free to create these on your own. If you have any questions about the material, contact me anytime!
If you’re not following along with the study guides, I’m hoping you’ll gain some inspiration, to use however you feel led!
Happy Thursday!
Our Bible Study meets on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, so these pages start with Wednesday:)
A Spring Bible Study Session that includes Bullet Journaling
WEEK 4 / The Virtue Of Contentment
Small Group Discussion Outline
Philippians 4:4-9
Final Exhortations
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
BIG IDEA
Rejoice in the Lord always because He is near. Replace anxiety and fear with grateful prayer in every situation and the peace of God will be yours. His peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. To live “right” you must replace “wrong” thinking. Focus your thoughts on righteous things. (Noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellen, praiseworthy) PRACTICE what you the Lord has taught you.
Philippians 3:12-16
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus
BIG IDEA
Commit and take hold of the purpose you have in Christ, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. Keep moving toward the Lord, for He is the “prize” …and our goal is becoming like Christ for eternity.
Discussion Outline
Philippians 4:4-9
PG 76
-In what areas of your life do you find it hard to experience
joy? —-> roots? (Fear, worry, anxiety, pain)
PG 77
2 Timothy 1:7
Do you access God’s power in your life?
Why or why not?
Do you lack peace? Could lack of peace (relating to lack of joy) be a measure of God’s power in your life?
How can you operate (day to day) in God’s power? (Practical application)
(“Do not be anxious about anything, in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” )
– Phil 4:6,7
–What do you think Paul means when he says: “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”?
-Why do our hearts and minds need guarding?
Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. -Proverbs 4:23
“Our voluntary thoughts not only reveal what we are, they predict what we will become. All conscious behavior is preceded by and arises out of our thoughts. THE WILL CAN BECOME A SERVANT OF THE THE THOUGHTS AND TO A LARGE DEGREE, OUR EMOTIONS FOLLOW OUR THINKING.” (Insights from Tozer)
–Can you explain wrong thinking vs. righteous thinking?
(Limited human thoughts vs. thinking with a mind like Christ)
(Wrong thinking leads to wrong action which leads to conflict and distortion of truth)
READ: 2 Corinthians 10:5
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
–How can we actively take every thought captive?
-Were you able to focus on your thoughts this week? (Whatever is true, noble, etc.)
PGS. 82,83
Philippians 3:12-16
-What does Paul mean when he says “not that I have obtained all this”
(Achieved perfection, still growing…)
WEARE A WORK IN PROGRESS, NEVER ARRIVING AT THE FINAL GOAL UNTIL THE “DAY OF COMPLETION.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” -Philippians 1:6
Phil 3: 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
–Do you tend to look back or dwell on the past?
-How can this be avoided?
You don’t drive by looking in the mirror. You drive by looking ahead out of the windshield. But it’s helpful to take occasional glances in your mirror and use the information to make decisions about how to drive safely in the present and future. But if you spend too much time looking in your mirror, you’ll probably crash because you’re not paying attention to the present.
In the same way, we need to take periodic glances backward, but we also need to put the past (good and bad) behind us, accept God’s grace which enables us for the present…moving on with what He is calling us to do now
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians 2:10
-Were you able to spend some time prayerfully processing your gifts and purpose? (Bullet Journal exerice) Did God give you insight this week?
-Do you live a purposeful life? It is something you think about or talk to God about?
Below are some images of the Dutch door pages we used this week to record prayerful consideration of our purpose.
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. -Paul
Our ultimate goal is to move forward each day —>becoming more like Christ…operating in the good purpose God has called us each to, as we utilize the gifts He has blessed us with for our unique calling.
Below is a second Dutch door layout to stay intentional with our thoughts leaning into what Paul instructed in Philippians 4:4-9
AND…to stay aware of our daily goal to keep moving towards God and not away from Him.
The bottom daily “Digital Detox” area is to focus on putting down our phones so that we can be present!
I’ve included a few Doodle 101 handouts I gave to my class this week 🙂
A photo of our class project is below. We used Acrylic paint on water color paper, black microns, white uni-ball signo, stencils and stamps for background:)
I am so grateful that Jesus came for this lost sheep. I choose to look ahead and move in the direction He is calling me to go. He is in the drivers seat:)
Hope my post today is a help to you on your Spiritual Journey with the Lord! Next week, I will post a few more Bullet Journal spreads as well as a review of our study The Virtue of Contentment.
1Arthouse 