Experiencing God--Abiding

Last week I started another Experiencing God Bible Study and I encouraged any of you who were interested to pick up a copy of the Experiencing God workbook and join me. Many of you did, and it's very exciting!

I am slowing going through the workbook, and I'll be highlighting any areas of interest on this blog. I haven't pick a specific pace. Instead, I'm focused on letting these truth take root deep inside us rather than trying to hurry through a section.

Today, I'd like to talk about abiding. The memory verse for Week 1 is:

Scripture verse:
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Meditating upon God’s Word means to put it into your heart and mind, ponder it, pray over it, and let God use it to speak to you. It also means keeping that passage before your attention until the truth of the verses has become a reality in your life!

The first thing I like to do is picture what this means in my life.

In my mind's eye I think of these things: vine/Christ, branches/me, remain/permanently connected, bearing fruit/fruit of the Spirit, apart from me/broken away, nothing/fruitless.

Here are some good questions to ask:

Am I abiding in Christ?
Am I bearing fruit? What kind of fruit am I bearing?
Am I seeing Christ ministering through me to accomplish His work?
What are the indications in my life if I am no longer abiding in Christ?
Are the things I am doing done on my own power and initiative or on Christ’s power and initiative?

As I ponder these things God brings many answers to my mind. Memories come to me of times I've depended on God and He's accomplished His work. But ... I also think of many areas where I try to plug away in my own strength. I do this too often!

Pondering these things takes the Scriptural truth and makes me think about how to make this truth real in my life. Even now I'm pondering taking 2-3 minutes and praying every time I open the Word documents for my book manuscripts. I pray for the books I'm writing in the morning, and I often pray as I write, but I think this can be another reminder for me to realize it's God who works in me to bear fruit. And I must abide in Him. And without Him I can do nothing. It's a good way to apply this truth.

What about you? When you ponder the above questions above what in your mind and heart?

What is God asking you to do? I'd love to hear about it!

Sunflower Serenade Blog Tour!

Sunflower Serenade, book 12 in the Home to Heather Creek series released last month! I loved writing this book and I hope you enjoy the story! To celebrate its release I'm giving away the ENTIRE 12 books in the series!

Enter the City Girl Goes Country Contest for your chance to win!

Playing on one element of the book - big city entertainers vs. old county fair – share your funniest story (about you or someone you know) about a time when you as the “city girl” went to the country or the “country girl” goes to the city.

The best story (as chosen by me) will win an entire set of the Home to Heather Creek series and a selection of other great books from Guideposts - including my friend Dawn Meehan's Because I Said So! Just leave your story here on this post!

Here are the first few stops on the tour:

8/10

Camy at Camy's Loft

8/17

Wendy at Wendy's Book Corner

I loved the gentle wisdom Charlotte used and shared throughout the book. There were also plenty of spots with humor to keep things light. While I'm not exactly a city-girl, I'm not as familiar with country life, so this book was like stepping into another world for me - it was refreshing and fun, and I'd like to think that I learned a few things along the way about country life, and that I'm feeling a little more inspired by the miracles and gifts God has given us.

Deborah at Comfort Joy

8/18

Mikki at My Bible and a Cup of Coffee

This is great book to read to finish out your summer reading list. I enjoyed the light, but very interesting story and characters in this book.

8/19

Mindy at Ponderings of the Heart

For me, this story spoke to how God orchestrates things in our lives just Trica Goyer orchestrates the lives of her characters. Read this book. You won't be sorry!

Margaret at The Cappuccino Life

We have another delightful book in the Home to Heather Creek series!

Scoti at Springs Writers

Go here for the rest of the tour stops!

His plans are beautiful.

In Fall 2007 I was leading a small group of 10 people in the Experiencing God Bible Study. One of the women in the group is from the Czech Republic. She moved to the US nine years ago and was introduced to Christ seven years ago and finally dedicated her life to Him.

We became quick friends because I fell in love with the Czech Republic during a research trip in 2000. There is no way to explain this love except to say God placed this country and its people on my heart.

During the EG class one of the lesson talked about international people within your congregation. Sona is one of the only internationals in our church, and our class began praying for the Czech Republic.

One night, as we were both cleaning up at church after Wednesday night supper I felt God's Spirit speaking to my heart, "Czech Mission Trip." I dropped the broom and ran to Sona. Her eyes were wide and she told me that God had placed it on her heart too and she'd been praying about it all week. We immediately went to class and asked the group to pray with us.

After that I started looking into mission trip possibilities. Word got out within church and soon there were ten people interested (including my husband and three teens). For months we prayed and I let the word out among my writer friends that if they knew of any opportunities of service in the Czech Republic to let me know.

In January, I heard of a missionary couple in Prague. I emailed Melissa Lewis and she told me she'd check about opportunities with IMB. (Yes, she was part of IMB!) Melissa got back to me a week later and told me there were no opportunities for that year. We continued praying, and by this time more people got on board, interested about the trip. We also met as a small group and prayed.

During one of the small group meetings we talked and prayed about what type of opportunity we felt would work best for our interests, talents, and the desire God put on our hearts. We decided a family camp would be perfect, and we began to pray in that direction, assuming it would be for the following year.

Well, two weeks after speaking with Melissa she contacted me again. It turns out that a Czech Baptist church was in need of a group of 15-20 people THAT summer (2008). We talked to the IMB regional director and found out that another church had committed to traveling and teaching but they didn't get the volunteers and support they needed from their church. Sadly, they had to back out from serving at the ENGLISH FAMILY CAMP.

It was nearly March by the time we found 20 people. Then the fundraising began. We needed $2,500 each by July. We worked hard and God provided in amazing ways. We left with all the money we needed and even returned with $4,000 we hadn't used! The camp was amazing and we went back for the second time this year--in fact we just got back last week! (For photos and videos go to: www.facebook.com/tricia.goyer)

This is truly an example of "Look what God is doing and join Him." Now, two years later, reaching the Czech Republic for Christ is one of the main mission goals for our church ... and I'm even more in love with the country and people than when I first started.

This years' camp we returned to our FRIENDS. Their hearts were open and ours were too. It was a wonderful time of sharing about God and the hope we have in Him. Now, my continued prayer is, "Lord, show me where you want me to God. Use me where You desire."

His plans are beautiful. Perfect.

And the winners are...

The winners of the Blue Like Play Dough blog tour contest are:

Here are your random numbers:

12: Patty Wysong
3: Nichole Osborn
1: Tracey
6: Shinyhalo316
5: Melissa in Mel's World
10: cceeyore

Timestamp: 2009-08-18 20:23:39 UTC

Congrats! Send my assistant (amy@triciagoyer.com) your mailing address and she'll get your books out ASAP!

And...don't forget to enter the latest contest. Are you a city girl gone country? Or a citified country girl? Tell me all about it here and enter to win the entire set of the Home to Heather Creek series!