Nourishment 8

Today, think about the things that you believe in your life. What do you believe about politics, religion, human nature? What about yourself? What do you believe about your abilities, your intelligence, your personality, your social abilities, your limitations and strengths? What do you believe about the most important things happening in your life right now?

As you think about these things, follow them back as far as you can to the places where these beliefs were born. Were they from things people told you? Where they from the environment that you lived in? Were they things you just assumed about yourself? Question the sources that founded your beliefs. Test their motivations, reliability and legitimacy. When you can reprocess the beliefs that you have typically accepted without question, you will gain ownership over them and your confidence and identity will grow much more strong. You can speak with confidence as to why you hold the beliefs that govern your life.

Prayer: Pray that God would help you search through the murky waters of memory to help you reach the source of your beliefs as you try and process them.

Nourishment 7

This week we want to look at some core attibutes that define who we are. Most, if not all of our actions are a result of a predetermined factor or something we have learned. This week we want to start taking these things apart, see where they came from and test whether they match up with our life direction.

By now we have already experienced some amount of change in our lives and grown comfortable with some tools we have learned. We may already feel more confident in some areas where we didn't a couple months ago. This is a good time to look back over our purpose statement. At this point we can refresh ourselves on what we wrote in December, or we might want to edit it based on some areas we have recently grown.

Remember, this is your reference which we will continually use to measure your direction.

Prayer: Pray for wisdom and direction for your future.

Nourishment 6

Saturday
Look back on your log for the week. See what kinds of patterns you find in how you live. You might want to separate them into categories to see how much energy you give to certain things.

What did you learn about yourself? Are you encouraged by anything that you have learned? Do you see some areas where you can improve? Comparing your findings to your purpose statement. Do the findings look like you are on track and headed the right direction for yourself?

Prayer: Pray that God would show you the path you are on in your life compared to the path you want to be on.

Nourishment 4

Today consider your physical body. What trend would you say you are on with your health? How you take care of yourself today determines how well you function tomorrow.

Think about what kinds of food you eat and think about how well they are giving your body what it needs. How much do you exercise? Is it enough that you can feel a difference? When was the last time you got a physical check up or had a dentist appointment?

Prayer: Pray that you would pay attention to the value of your body as the vessel you have been given for your whole life.

Nourishment 3

Think about your finances. It's a really good idea to look at your bank account and add up what you spend your money on. Sometimes we spend way more than we expect on things that we might think are trivial or unimportant. Our money is often a sensitive conversation, but it's something that we as responsible stewards need to master in a healthy way.

What we buy isn't just a statement about us, it is important because we are financially supporting everything we buy whether we agree with it or not. If we are buying things that we don't believe in, then we are directly contributing to the building of a world that is contrary to our values.

Prayer: Pray that God will help you to be honest with yourself about your spending and give you wisdom in this sensitive area.

Nourishment 2

Think about what kinds of media you let into your life? What kinds of books, magazines and newspapers do you read? What do you spend time doing on the web? What kinds of TV or movies do you watch?

After you think of these things compare them to your purpose statement (Blog: Stewardship – December 7) and see if they are lining up with the things you believe in and the direction you want to go in your life. If you were your own boss evaluating your life performance vs what is stated as in your purpose statement how would you rate yourself?

Prayer: Pray that God would help you sort out these things and show you how they relate to your life.

Nourishment 1

As we have mentioned in the past, we only have a limited amount of time per day, per year, per life. We want take this week to inventory our days hour by hour the best we can. Don't be a perfectionist about it. Just keep a list by your bed and jot down what you did during the day.

Prayer: Pray that God would start to show you the patterns of importance in your life.