Category: Bible Thoughts

Posted in 2020, Bible Thoughts, hope2020, Mental Health, thoughts

My Quiet Time Routine

Posted on by Kenzie S

Hey y’all!!! How’s life going? I know, probably pretty crazy. With everything going on in my area with COVID-19, its been insane. But that’s why this post is SO important. We ALL need Jesus. We can’t do life without spending time with Him. So, today I want to share my quiet time, or God time, routine. I love my routine, I think I have finally found the best kind of time for my life to really grow closer to God. Enjoy this post, but even more than that, let this post be your incentive to find your best routine for God time!

why does everyone call it ‘quiet time’?

ok, honestly – I am not exactly sure why. But, I think it is because this is the time where we separate from the noise of this world and QUIET our minds and hearts so we can commune with God, our glorious Heavenly Father. It doesn’t mean we don’t have music blasting and singing along with our whole hearts to worship the Awesome God who made EVERYTHING(cause I know I do!). So, the quiet comes from quieting every other distraction from the world and devoting that time to focus on our one true and perfect and good God.

I like to call it my God time, or my time with Jesus. Simple, I know. 😅 But this is probably my favorite part of my day. I usually kind of split it up into two times, just because I do a lot of Bible studies and I am not able to do everything at one time. I love it; I really do.

That is the most important thing: we need to LOVE our time with God. We can’t do it begrudgingly, because then we will really never grow closer to Him. We can’t do it mindlessly either. We will fall away more than actually growing closer to Him. So, if you see that you really don’t enjoy your time with God, ask yourself why. Ask yourself what has been placed above God in your heart. Pray that all idols will be taken out of your heart. Pray that you will love your time to commune with God more. Pray that you will love your Heavenly Father more. Pray to be a scholar of God and what He had told us.

my God Time routine

My God time is split into two times: one when I get up, while having breakfast; and the other one, when I have extra time throughout the day. My early morning time is pretty simple, while my second time is usually a lot more in-depth studying the Bible. I know some of y’all are already like “oh she’s such an overachiever” but I really don’t mean it in that way. I have had some tough times in my life and I don’t know what I would do without my time with God. I need my time in the morning, and if I could do all my time then I would. But I have a lot of pain and soreness in the morning, so I can’t write that much until after I have put my oils on and exercised. (tip – find a pattern that works for YOU)

early morning…

Normally I start my mornings doing a short devotional. Right now I am doing 100 Days to Brave by Annie F. Downs, and it is probably the best devotional I have ever read. I usually write down the key takeaway that is on the side of the page, and the verse that she starts the day with. It is really making me so much braver than I was before, and I’m only halfway through!

After I read my devotional I write down three quick affirmations. I just started doing this at the beginning of March and I am really seeing a difference in my day! My three affirmations for March are:

  1. I belong to God, and nothing could ever change that.
  2. I can make today a great day, only by God’s strength.
  3. I am kind, and I will serve others willingly.

I’ve heard about people doing affirmations every morning, and I always kind of thought it was weird. Not sure why, but I know I was WRONG. These have changed my day, and I am so excited to come up with new ones each month.

And that is my morning time! This usually takes right around 10 minutes, yet in really gets your started off right! And, of course, I am listening to the Passion 2020 Vibes on Spotify the whole time. 😂 Such a good, God-focused, yet fun playlist! (tip – find a great worship playlist that you can’t get enough of!) Then I exercise and keep on with my day!

later…

Later in the day, really whenever I have a good chunk of time, I have my main time of studying the Word. I prefer to do it in the morning, but really whenever I have time to focus and learn more about God. I know a lot of people encourage having a set time to do devotions, but for my life and health right now I can’t set a time and be able to do it regularly. I just need to do it daily, but not every day at the same exact time. A little controversial, I know, but as I have said, we need to be able to make our God time our own. Which includes WHEN we do it.

So, when I have my God time, I usually sit on the floor next to my prayer corner. My prayer corner, as you can see in the photos, isn’t that big, plus it kinda is a 3-in-1. I do devotions here, workout on the mats, and do my hair in the mirror. For me this is the best spot for me to have time with God. When I am really not feeling good, I do it on my bed, but I prefer to keep it in one specific spot.

I will have a post coming all about prayer sometime soon, so I won’t dive into why I chose to do a prayer corner. But this has really grown my heart to commune with my Heavenly Father.

My prayer corner

what I do in my quiet time

So, now I am in my quiet time. I first read my She Reads Truth Bible, or whatever Bible I am currently using. I love my SRT Bible, I think its such a good resource! Currently I am working through the New Testament, first in my SRT Bible, which is the CSB translation. I am planning to read through the whole NT in 3 versions: first the CSB, then the ESV and finally the NIV. Right now I am reading Acts and it is really changing my relationship with God for the better.

I also use the Enduring Word Commentary while I’m reading. I don’t like to read it every day, because I want to rely on God’s Words, and not another person’s words. But it is a really helpful resource.

I usually read through the passage once, then look at cross references and commentaries. Then I grab my pencil and start underlining, circling, and writing notes. Then I read through it one more time, highlighting everything. I am using a highlighting key for my SRT Bible. I like it, but I also like just highlighting in random colors. It will probably go back and forth whenever I get a new Bible. Currently in my SRT I am using these gel highlighters. They’re not my favorite, but they work fine!

My highlighting key

After I study God’s Word, I pray and talk to God. Again, more on this coming later, but this is such an important part of growing closer to God. That’s why it’s getting its own post. 😉

Then I either read a book and take notes, or I work on a Bible study. I am currently reading through Visual Theology, and it is really good. I also have a youth group Bible study that I work on every so often (this is the Bible study we are doing currently). This changes frequently, and sometimes I don’t have this time.

ok, wow. I can’t do that much.

Yeah, I know. After writing all this down, I see how much I actually do. It’s so good, but it’s not the normal. So, I just want to encourage you to do as much as you can. Whether it’s listening to sermons on your long drives, or reading for ten minutes two times a day. Just get in the Word. Lean on the Lord. He is only one who can truly help you. I sometimes spend up to two hours focusing on God, but it wasn’t always like that. Sometimes it was hard for me to have my God time last for more than 20 minutes.

It’s something I believe we all need to grow in. We all need to enjoy more time with God, myself included. But even if you feel discouraged sometimes, don’t give up!

I’m here for y’all. Whatever you need, let me know. I would love to help in any way I possibly can.

Love you guys! Stay in and stay safe!

Mackenzie 💕

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Posted in 2020, Bible Thoughts, Chronic Illness Things, Health & Wellness!, hope2020, Lessen Anxiety & Depression, Mental Health, thoughts

Why God Time is So Important – Plus FREE Worksheet!

Posted on by Kenzie S

Woah, I can’t believe that we are at the end of all the tips! Don’t worry, we will be having one last post to recap and give some extra super important tips that can change this whole battle. 😉 But this post is kind of my testimony of how God has gotten me through my battles with anxiety and depression. And some encouragement to fight this battle. I hope you are blessed by this post.

my story

I’ll be honest. There has been a LOT in my life. And some of it I’m not ready to share. But I want to share the part of my story when I really started to see why I needed my time with God.

My story starts the summer of 2017. I had an amazing winter and spring season, with getting to know many new people and friends through a retreat I went to. I was so blessed by everything that was happening. There had been some family stress going on, which was very overwhelming. But, I was able to keep myself going. Around the end of April my health started to go down hill. Not a ton, just more food restrictions. It was just one more thing, ya know?

So, with everything that was going on in my life, in June to July, depression hit HARD. I wasn’t able to be a part of some activities that I wanted to be in. I felt like I was excluded purposely, but now I can see it was just kind of what happened. It wasn’t anyone’s reason, just life.

It kind of wrecked me. I became so withdrawn, gained weight, and I didn’t want to do anything. That sounds really extreme when I write it down, and I kinda don’t want to keep it in here. But it’s the truth.

The only thing that kept me from drowning in my own emotions was the summer Bible study that I was a part of. We were going through this book on the Psalms. Every week I would hear the perfect message that I needed. Especially this one week when we went through Psalms 42 & 43 (fun fact: they were originally one psalm!). Here is the main refrain of the two psalms:

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Psalm 42:5-6a

I studied this that week in July. And I went, kind of not wanting to go, that night. But then, on God’s timing, we talked about how this psalm was about depression. And leader was talking about these six steps that I have listed & talked about in this series. I started thinking about it more, but it still wasn’t getting out of that pit yet.

A couple weeks later, in the middle of August, I was drowning in my anxiety and depression again. Late at night, I was in a panic attack, and I didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. So, in desperation, I grabbed my Bible and flipped to Psalm 42. I read it, and I cried. Then I read it again, and cried again. It became alive to me that one summer night.

And I won’t tell you it was all easy from there on. It was a struggle. Somedays I won, and somedays I lost. But I tried to follow these steps, and I know without them I would not have made it out of that pit. Because depression and anxiety are huge, gaping pits that the devil digs for us to fall into. God is the only one who can take us out of that pit.

God time, quiet time, what does it all mean?

Now that you know where I am coming from-a place of struggle, but learning and growing-I want to explain what I mean by quiet time or God time.

Some people call their time with God quiet time, some call in God time. Others call it devotions or devos. Whatever you call it, it is a time of the day where you separate yourself from the rest of the world and take time to learn more about our God. It’s a time of prayer, of communing with our Heavenly Father.

We need this time to give our worries and doubts and emotions to Jesus. We can’t fight and win the battle with our anxiety and/or depression without our Perfect Heavenly Father.

I will definitely be posting a post specifically about my God time. But it is so different for each person, and I don’t want to put y’all in a box. So definitely find what is right for YOU.

it’s a BATTLE

Without God, we will never win this battle. Because it truly is a battle. Anxiety and depression are two huge things that the devil uses to keep us from loving Jesus with our whole hearts. We need to have the armor that is mentioned in Ephesians 6:

Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.

Ephesians 6:10-16 CSB

We need to always be on alert, with the armor of God on at all times. It’s sometimes is hard to understand how to use these pieces to fight our spiritual battles. So, I decided to make a free, 3-page worksheet to help you through these steps.

The Armor of God Worksheet ➡️Download

I used this site to help me put together the worksheet. I so hope and pray that it blesses you. Even as I was making it, I was learning more about the pieces of armor, and seeing how good God is that he has blessed us with this passage.

Enjoy the worksheet, friends. I pray that it helps you grow closer to Him in everything. And let me know in the comments below, some posts you would love!!! It’s almost the end of this series, and I am so excited to see what’s next! Let me know some ideas! Love you all. Be blessed!

Mackenzie 💕

Posted in 2020, 2k19, Bible Thoughts, Chronic Illness Things, first post, Health & Wellness!, Mental Health, thoughts

How-To Guide to Lessen Anxiety & Depression!

Posted on by Kenzie S

It’s the winter months, and this is the time of year where anxiety and depression runs rampant in our minds and hearts. I think comparison is way up during this time of year and we can be so stressed by day to day life. I understand these feelings, because I deal with anxiety and depression off and on. It is a battle. We all fight it, even those who aren’t normally anxious or depressed. We all feel anxious sometimes. We also all can feel depressed. That is the real one of the two feelings I am writing about-no one ever wants to talk about. And since it hasn’t been an easy topic, it seems like no one deals with depression. But the truth is, many of us deal with depression. And, you know what? Depression in of itself is NOT okay, but don’t blame yourself. It is OKAY.

A couple years ago I was a part of a summer bible study that was going through some of the psalms (I’ll link the study book down below). One week we studied Psalms 42 & 43 which both talk a lot about depression. The leader of this study gave us these six things to do to help get out of the “depression slump” we can easily land in.

And even since then anxiety and depression have been increasing more and more. As much as I would love to think and talk over why this is, we have enough debates everywhere else in the world right now. We need to know practical steps to battle it instead of debating it. So, I am starting a 7 week blog series about 6 steps to battle anxiety and depression. I really hope it encourages you, whether you are yourself dealing with depression or anxiety, or know someone who is in the MIDDLE of this battle.

So, that’s all for this post! But stay tuned for the next six posts ’cause they are going to be PACKED with great things. So, come follow this blog either on the sidebar here ➡️ or scroll way on down below ⬇️. Love y’all so much!

Posted in 2k19, Bible Thoughts, Chronic Illness Things, Mental Health, thoughts

Christmas with Chronic Illness

Posted on by Kenzie S

To be completely honest, I was going to post something totally different for this week’s Christmas post. But since, as I kinda announced on my Instagram (hint hint: follow @daysofsunshinediaries 😜), I’m going back to what I originally started this blog for: to encourage others, specifically Christians, who have chronic illness. And it has been two rough weeks for me. So I want to talk about chronic illness and Christmas. Because it’s my life.

As I was thinking about Christmas, and how hard it is for me, not going to the normal Christmas parties and gatherings of my church and family. Actually, as I am writing this, I am missing out on my youth group’s Christmas party, because of my flare of pain. It’s hard. And I completely understand.

But I don’t want us to give up on the reason for the season. Sometimes we can so easily think that Christmas is all about the food, the parties, and the gifts, but those are the last things we should think of when we think about Christmas. We need to think about the amazing gift God gave us-His SON came down to earth to save US!

Sooo, how do we focus on the reason but not the things?

The world wants us to focus on what we need to get or have or do, and what our social media should look like during the holiday season. But when we have chronic illnesses, and aren’t able to get and do and even just look like everyone else on social media, Christmas is different. We’re different. But, honestly that’s okay.

Sin is in the world and we deal with the effects of sin on our bodies. It’s not fun. But it’s okay. Because one day we are going to have glorified bodies forEVER! So we can life with this earthly body for a short time on this earth, but if we believe in our awesome God, we will be raised with Him and have glorified bodies and praise and glorify Him for eternity.

Jesus Christ came down to earth to live a perfect life in a ‘messed-up’ world and died on a cross-the epitome of shame!-and rose again three days later to conquer death so we may live forever with Him!

How do I still enjoy the Christmas season?

I love the reason for Christmas! But it’s hard to think of all the things that people will be doing during the holidays while you’re stuck at home. But it really is fun to hang out at home! Here is a few fun ideas to do while at home, either alone or with friends:

  • Learn a new craft-I am learning lots of embroidery this Christmas break!
  • Play fun games with your family or friends! I know my family loves all of the Forbidden Island games, plus Clue, Life, and just simple card games!
  • Read some good books! Christmas break is always a good time to catch up with some great books! I’m reading Adorned by Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth-it’s so good!
  • Watch some Christmas movies! I think Hallmark movies are amazing! Or “Home Alone” 😝
  • Listen to some good podcasts-oh I have so many favorite podcasts! But some of my most favorite ones are “That Sounds Fun” with Annie F. Downs, “The Porch”, and “ESV: Every Day in the Word.”

There’s a lot of hard things that chronic illness add to our lives, but we can also have so much fun-in our own ways.

Keep remembering the Reason for Christmas!

It’s hard around Christmas for chronic illness warriors. But I want to make things special for you all. Comment down below anything about your Christmastime. I want to support you in this season.

Products I talked about in this post!

Love you all so much!

Mackenzie ❤️

Posted in 2k19, Bible Thoughts, thoughts

The REASON for the SEASON!

Posted on by Kenzie S

We are TWO weeks from Christmas! As exciting as that is, I know that we can get caught up in the material things of this season. I do it almost every year. But I want to stop and focus on the greatest gift ever-Jesus Christ, the One and Only Son of God, came down to earth to SAVE us from our sins! 🙌🏼🙌🏼

From now until Christmas, I will be posting a couple of Christmas posts about the true meaning of the season! I am SUPER excited about this. I want to help y’all remember the true reason for the season-the coming of our Savior down to our sinful world to die for our sins and raise to life again so we may live forever in heaven with Him.

I believe that the only way we will not get bogged down but all the stresses of this amazing season is to put our eyes on the REAL reason for this season. Some of us don’t know how we’re going to get through this season. Others are so excited about doing all the Christmas things, but will get SO exhausted by the end of this season.

I am so excited about this short lil’ series! I hope you are blessed by this. It can get crazy around this time of year, and I know I can forget to be thankful for the true reason of Christmas.

Let me know some of your favorite ways to remember the reason for the season! Christmas worship music is my favorite way!🎵🎶❤️

Posted in Bible Thoughts

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

Posted on by Kenzie S

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

1 John 4:18

We do not have to be afraid of what our illnesses may do. We have Jesus Christ, and the promises in His Word, the Bible.
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It doesn’t mean we won’t be afraid, because that’s part of this sinful world.
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But we can know and believe that He will not give us more than we can take.
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Think of the last time you were truly worshipping God with you whole being. Was it at church? A retreat? Wherever it was, think on that for a moment.
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Now, can you remember, in that time of worshipping God and raising Him, were you thinking about the future? Were you worried about something? Were you afraid?
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You probably weren’t thinking of anything other than praising g your amazing Savior. And if you were thinking on something else, it wasn’t true worship.
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Why do I say that? Because “perfect love casts out fear.” We cannot be basking in God’s amazing, perfect, never ending love and still be afraid. It’s just not possible.
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So, the next time you are worried about your illness, or anything that may arise, try putting on your favorite worship song EVER. Turn it up, and sing along to it. It doesn’t matter who sees you, because you are worshipping your awesome Savior and Lord.
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