Intentional Living Plan

Rooted and grounded in love with all the same attributes of any other human. I can still be quick to judge sometimes but do not speak until I have settled it in my heart. I am kind and loving and have a great care for all creatures on this earth as well as the earth itself. I am often times misunderstood whether it is the way I articulate things or the way I speak it. I know I can be very direct and to the point which others find hurtful or even spiteful. This is an issue I have tried to bring to a resolution however I have not had much luck. Since I have developed a relationship with our Father I don’t feel he wants me to be quiet, meek or humble. I know we are created in his image and there is no one alike. I believe he has given me many gifts and talents and I am blessed. Although, I am sure of many things and I believe the Bible to be complete truth. I find it difficult when the Church suggests otherwise and that I must let go of all things that I love, music, theater, movies etc. because of the message that is behind all of these art forms. My Pastor believes that no good can come from these things because of the evil behind them. This is why in order to love God we must let go of all things, in essence lose ourselves. I have done this for a year and am having

The book is divided into seven parts. The book focuses spiritual growth and it is a manual for building a Spirit-filled life in a world where perfection can only be found in God’s loving vision. Ortberg helps us gauge your spiritual health and measure the gap between where you are now and where God intends you to be. As the author emphasizes on

Personally, I enjoyed this article because I look forward to being able to integrate the Bible and Scriptures into my own counseling practices. I feel that both my knowledge of psychology and the Word of God will allow me to help people through anything. God’s word will be the basis of my treatment plans; I will also need my background and insight from psychology.

In Shaped by the Word, by Robert Mulholland Jr., one finds a way to read scripture in order to provide a deeper understanding of God and allow His Word to shape one’s spiritual life. In the Introduction, in chapter 1, the reader is introduced to the idea that there is a movement in the church that seeks to become deeper and stricter in spiritual formation. He claims there are many books written for this purpose, and his intending purpose for this book is for God to use however he may want in the reader’s spiritual life. Mulholland provides the reader with a prayer to pray in preparation of reading this book and states there may be points where God is knocking and calling the reader’s attention to something new.

I’d like to state the most obvious observation that I’ve made about spiritual formation; that is that I will always need to be seeking for ways to nurture my personal spirituality throughout my life. I know that to most people this may sound like a “duh” statement, but for me it has truly become a reality and one that I must admit I have been struggling to embrace. I was brought up in a church that, like most traditional churches, stayed happy living in the “comfort zone” of their Christianity. They took everything that the Bible said at face value without digging in to find out why they believed what they believed. I had never been challenged to look deeper into the text. In the past few years I have felt the need to tunnel out of this

For those who have left the church behind but don’t want to entirely abandon spiritual practice, and also for those who were never a part of the church but are still seeking to foster meaningful spiritual development, Rachelle Mee-Chapman’s new book, Relig-ish: Soulful Living in a

As I read this text by Dr. Crabb, I was very challenged in my deficit motivations in which I have been functioning under since my divorce. My fear of rejection causes me to allow others to treat me negatively way beyond that which is healthy. I realized that my motive for leaving my spouse was biblical in that I believed then and now that it was the only way to help point him toward true repentance and wholeness in Christ. I was challenged to face my patterns of attempting to find happiness, soothing of self, rather then joy, godly contentment in the midst of trial (NIV, James 1:2-8). Although due to the spiritual abuse my spouse had imparted on me created a fear in me to trust my faith or my ability to understand God’s will for me an area that would be defined as a new motivation deficit under Dr. Crabb’s theory. I believe I would need to process and redefine everything that happened rather then just claimed as a deficit to untangle it from the truth faith I have, which consequently led me to seek the counsel of a church counselor this week.

I have a request. You might find it silly, or worse, insulting. It will take about half an hour to complete. First, find a quiet place, then take a pen and paper or a laptop and try to be brutally honest with yourself. When you finish writing, do not share what you’ve written with anyone, not even your spouse. What you’ve written is between you and God. Mull it over. Then destroy it. What am I asking you to write? I am asking you to take an inventory of the deep-seed, hidden prejudices. Try to avoid the common temptation that accompanies self-analytic tests where the test taker intuitively gravitates toward desirable responses rather than being concerned with accurate self-assessment.

The information that was most helpful to me was the Life Careen Planning Pyramid. Why? Since it is giving me an idea how to plan on how to reach my goals in life. Starting with the bottom of the pyramid is the foundation, which is the values, skills, personality, and interests. Relating this to myself is knowing if I am actually meant to be a child psychologist. I will get to know my personality more by taking time into knowing my self. For instance, by taking a personality test. Meaning I will be discovering myself and finding out more about my inner interest that I never knew. From understanding yourself, you develop your long term goals for your life and career. To illustrate, I will be choosing if the career I am taking as a child psychologist

Father Dom of Our Lady of Lourdes Church’s personal interpretation of contemplation is that it is ‘finding a way to separate yourself from the world around you and connect with God, allowing Him to speak to you.” (Father Dom, 23rd February, 2016) Contemplative practices in Roman Catholicism are primarily prayer and meditation. There are two methods of contemplative prayer, called Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina. (Father James, 2016) Centering Prayer is a type of prayer that is performed in silence to enhance the experience of sensing God’s presence within the individual praying and places emphasis on prayer being a technique to improve one’s relationship with God. (Contemplative Outreach, 2016) Lectio Divina on the other hand, Latin term for ‘Divine Reading’ (The Order of The Carmelites, 2016), is a way of reading the Biblical Scriptures where one’s self lets go of their own personal agenda and opens up to receive what God wants to say to them. There are four stages of practicing Lectio Divina. Those four stages being, Lectio (reading the word of God), Meditatio (reflection of the text), Oratio (response to God’s word) and finally, Contemplatio (rest and letting go of any and all ideas and plans). (The Order of The Carmelites, 2016) Catholics seek an everlasting and sturdy relationship with God to enhance their possibility of achieving eternal afterlife in Heaven and contemplation is a method of accomplishing this wish, making contemplation in Roman Catholicism an important

Thus, I need a guidance from the Spirit in both aspects of my spiritual journey – "being" and "doing". I want to deepen my connection with God and bring a good

The personality assessment inventory tests provide results on my individual personality, values, motivation, decision making, communication, team skills, conflict skills, organizational structure preference, and stress. These results are broken down briefly in three parts and do not include any personal speculation or analysis as to their meaning. The application of these results are further applied and explains how the results noted from the tests and in the first step will make me a better employee, co-worker, and manager within my organization. These tests mentioned above are applied in conjunction with particular examples on how I can achieve becoming a better employee, co-worker, and manager. An explanation of how my personality and experiences were affected by the Holy Spirit is also discussed. Particularly, how potential weaknesses have become strengths with the guidance of the Lord.

The two spiritual rules of Benedict I Identify the most with are: The instruments of good works and humility. He says to love God with everything and love our neighbors. We love our neighbors through practical faith (good

Before reading Dr Branden’s “The Art of Living Consciously: The Power of Awareness to Transform Everyday Life”, I was ignorant of such a notion as living consciously. To say this book has been an eye opener for me would be an understatement. Through his use of layman terms, personal experiences from himself and clients and sentence completion exercises he weaves a web that captures our interest and retains it. For me, it was a source of untapped knowledge that my mind readily absorbed.

I. Personal Profile: As I ponder over my thoughts and reflect on where I am in my journey of spiritual growth, all I can do is just thank God for all He has done. My spiritual journey has been full of ups and downs, but I would not change any of it because I had to go through the things I have went through to get to where I am today. Before I started living fully for Jesus, I was just existing and living my life without a purpose. I was lost and was seeking validation from everyone but God. My spiritual journey did not start until I realized that I was searching for happiness in all wrong places, and that my happiness was found in God. Once I discovered that and began building a relationship with God, my love began to increase for Him and all He has done. I began to see things clearer and God started removing toxic people out of my life and molding me into what he created me to be. In this season of my journey, I believe God is taking me through the pruning phase. In john 15:2 it says, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it do that it may bear more fruit.” Jesus is stripping me from everything that no longer serves a purpose in my life. He is setting me apart and preparing me for my purpose on earth. God is changing everything about me from the inside out, and removing anything that is not of him and making me more like him. He is making me very uncomfortable, so that I have no choice but to learn to fully