About a year ago I started journaling while reading my bible. I would simply write down whatever came to mind, or whatever I felt God was showing me and/or teaching that day. It didn’t take long before I was able to see a consistent pattern developing in what God was speaking to me, and it was only through journaling that I was able to capture the beautiful portrait that God was creating in my heart.

The only problem that I found with my journaling was that there was no structure to it. When it comes to spending time with God is perfectly alright in many ways. However, I’m certainly a person that craves organization, and the one thing that I found was that it was very hard for me to find ‘certain’ journal entries when I went back to look for them.

If you’ve been following my Daily Dish posts, you know that I recently started going to a new church that just launched called, New Generations! It’s been amazing so far, and I am really growing in so many areas! One of which is in the area of performing for God. I have really struggled with this in my past, instead of just accepting His unconditional love and grace for me.

That being said, one of the best sermons that I’ve heard so far was my pastor’s teaching on self-feeding. He talked about a specific way of journaling called SOAP. He explained that this type of journaling has radically transformed the way he views spending time with God, and that it made him very excited to see what God was going to show him every day.  After seeing some of the benefits journaling has had in my own life, I was instantly intrigued!

img source: searchthebible.com

So, here’s how the SOAP method of journaling works…

After spending time in the Word I pray that God would lead me to a specific verse or portion of scripture. For me, that alone has been pretty amazing, because I’ve been finding that scriptures that I would have normally passed by seem to jump off the page at me! This is the scripture (or portion of scriptures) that I write down for the “S” in my journal.

The “O” is my observation of that verse, or how the Lord is bringing light to that verse for me.

Next, I spend a few minutes meditating on that scripture, and trust that the Holy Spirit is going to show me specifically how that scripture is applicable to my life, which is the “A” in my journal entry.

Last but not least is the “P” which stands for prayer. I take a moment and write out a prayer as it relates to what God has shown me that day.

Here’s a quick example of how a SOAP journal entry might look (Note: This is not an actual journal entry of mine):

S (Scripture): “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” ~Philippians 4:13

O (Observation): There is nothing that I can’t do with Christ living in me, because He gives me strength for anything that comes my way.

A (Application): Yesterday I was really doubting being able to accomplish the huge project I was working on, but I need to remember that the Word of God does not lie, and it says that I can do ALL things through Christ, and that means ALL things, even my project!

P (Prayer): “Lord please forgive me for relying on my own strength when trying to accomplish things. Ultimately I know that when I depend on myself I will be let down, and short circuit your strength and power working in me. Help me to remember this verse when I’m tempted to doubt my abilities, and help me to rely upon your strength. Help me to remember that you promised that I can do anything with your help! In Jesus Name, Amen.”

My walk with God has been impacted in so many ways since I started this type of journaling a few months ago.

Instead of having a thousand thoughts running through my mind after I spend time in the Word, I now find myself more focused, meditating on a specific Word for that day. It’s almost like I have a specific portion of scripture to chew, digest, and sustain me for the day….I guess that’s why it’s referred to as our daily bread!

It’s also improved my relationship with God because I am able to make clear connections to what He is speaking to me. I do this by titling each journal entry with a few key words that explain what He led me to that day. This allows me to easily back track to a particular scripture, and how it applies to me.

That way, when I find myself needing to be reminded of a specific promise, teaching, or word that He has shown me, I am able to flip right to it! This is also great when I’m trying to minister to other people, because I am able to look up a certain promises as they relate!

On that note, I want to add that there are many ways to go about journaling, and spending time in the Word of God, so I am not saying this is the only way to spend time meditating on the Word, or that it is necessarily what’s right for you. The Word of God is alive, powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword (Heb. 4:12). It will change your life no matter how you go about studying it! However, this is one way of really focusing on God’s promises, that has been powerful for me personally, so I thought I’d share it with all of you!!!

To read more on the ‘SOAP’ method of journaling, and to read other awesome devotionals written by my pastor, click here: NewGenerationsChurch.com/devotionals.

Also, if you currently journal while spending time with God, or you decide to try out the SOAP method, I’d love to hear about it!

Over the past few months, I’ve received many emails from people asking me how I’ve stayed on track with living a balanced lifestyle longterm, while not falling back into old unhealthy patterns. I’ve found that it’s pretty easy for people make the initial decision to change, but often times they have a very difficult time ’staying on track’, which leads to feelings of guilt, shame, and failure.

I’ve come to realize that the question that everyone is truly asking is, how do I “get free” and “stay free?“ … (Really this can apply to any area of our lives where we are struggling to find freedom).

First of all, if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, then Christ lives in you, which means that He has set you free from all forms of bondage and slavery to sin. In fact, in Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

However, it goes without saying that even though Christ lives in us, we will still experience trials because we live in a fallen world! So the question is, how do we possess the freedom that Christ provided for us while we live in this world?

First let me start by saying that I wish I could say I have all the answers and never struggle with anything myself anymore…But in fact, there are times, especially when I get tired, stressed, or overwhelmed that I find that I’m much more likely to be tempted to fall back into my old way of thinking and doing things.

So, although I do know that being tempted is a reality of living on this earth, the bible does promise us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that, “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Therefore, we know that we can be the over-comers that God called us to be in the midst of temptations and trials, and here’s how…

First of all, we need to look at what is happening on a daily basis when we find ourselves giving into tempation. Although it’s likely that we want to solve our problems as a whole, and therefore we want an answer that will fix or change us once and for all, we need to recognize when we are at our weakest in order to overcome sin when we are faced with it.

The place we need to start is to recognize satans schemes. Satan is constantly working over-time to get us out of the fruits of the spirit which are peace, joy, love, gentleness, and self control, in order to get us into feelings of fear, doubt, stress, anxiety, etc. When he succeeds in getting us out of the leadership of the spirit, we start to get into our fleshly nature, which allows us to get over into temptation and sin.

The good news is, with the Holy Spirit as our counselor, we don’t have to be subject to our flesh any longer. The first step to being over-comers is to ask the Holy Spirit to remind us when we are getting out of the fruits of the Spirit. When we recognize that we are doing so, we have to stop and ask ourselves why we are getting out of love, joy peace, etc.

Is it something that we have control over and are able to change? If so, we should stop and make the choice to not let ourselves be ruled by our flesh. (Thats what Galatians 5:1 means when it says ’stand firm’….We have to make the choice to walk by the spirit and not get over into the negative emotions of our flesh!)

On the other hand, if it’s something outside of our control, we still have to make the choice to stay in peace, joy, love, etc. regardless of our circumstances, because ultimately, it’s The Spirit of God who will guide us out of our current situation into a place of freedom!  So we must choose to walk with Him even in the midst of our trials, so He can lead us!

As you can see, we have the choice every day whether we will choose to walk by the Spirit, or to let ourselves be controlled by our emotions and ruled by our flesh. When we start to let our minds get into fear, worry, doubt, etc. and get out of God’s love, joy, peace, gentleness, and self control, we are making the choice to get out from the leadership of the Holy Spirit, which makes it difficult to resist temptation, (because lets face it, we can’t do much using our own strength!)

I am in no way perfect myself, but I know the One who is perfect, and He is building me day by day.  When I find that I am getting into worry, doubt, fear, stress, etc. I ask the Lord to help me stand firm in His peace, joy, love, etc. I make the choice to reign in my emotions, and cast my cares over on the Lord. It’s truly amazing, because by doing so, I find that things that used to tempt me no longer even affect me. That’s how He changes us, one day at a time, from glory to glory!

All this being said, don’t allow yourself to get into condemnation if you do fall…For there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus! After all, we are ALREADY RIGHTEOUS regardless of our actions because of what Jesus has done for us…It is Him who has made us right with God!!!

Simply get back up and ask the Lord to help you do better next time, and realize that each day His mercies are new! Start to see yourself as a victor and over-comer, because In Christ you ARE, and you can do ALL things through Christ who lives in you!