Read Devotionally with Your Very Own S.P.A.C.E. P.E.T.S.

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I'm sure at this point you have no idea what I'm talking about. In order to stop the confusion, i will go ahead and explain S.P.A.C.E. P.E.T.S. to you.

As we are reading devotionally and daily, we all have a tendency to do 1 of 3 things:

1) Take note of verses we have heard before and mark them for later use...just in case.

2) Mark cool verses that give us information that we think will make us sound like a Bible scholar later...just in case.

3) Underline verses that can be used with people who need this correction for later...just in case.

While the first two can be helpful, the last is a very wrong way to read the Bible. Regardless, we often allow our daily devotions to devolve into these kinds of discoveries. I want something that allows The Lord of the universe to speak with me on a daily basis. I want to know, how can this book change my life?

First, if you have any needs, prayer requests, or querstions for The Lord, simply write them down before you start on a little pad before you begin reading. You will be amazed as to how much you missed before as God was always speaking to you, but you weren't paying attention. That's called wisdom search and it helps us develop the mind of God do His will.

Second, use these S.P.A.C.E. P.E.T.S. questions to help focus on what God can say to you every single day:

Ask yourself as you read, "Is there a ..."

S. Sin to confess? -Black reminds me of the darkness of my heart.

P. Promise to claim? -Yellow reminds me that God's promises are golden.

A. Attitude to change? -Red tells me to stop my bad attitude.

C. Command to obey? - Grey reminds me of the original stone carved 10 commandments.

E. Example to follow? -Green means go and do it this way.

P. Prayer to Pray? -Purple is the royal color. Prayer is asking the King.

E. Error to avoid? - Mixture of red and white, pure with wrong makes pink.

T. Truth to believe? - True blue belief in God's truth.

S. Something to THANK GOD for or WORSHIP GOD as? -Orange reminds me of the jewels that walls of God's city, sapphire and topaz focusing me on God.

These simple questions kept in your Bible will help you focus on God's heart and mind. They can help keep you pure spiritually, morally, and theologically. And, you can...

PICK UP a S.P.A.C.E. P.E.T.S. card at Oceanside Church this Sunday

As a further step, I have also added highlighters to my toolbox. Make sure you get the non-bleeding (dry markers can be purchased here for as little as $3.99 plus s/h) kind that don't go through the thin pages of your Bible. Although, you wont be able to get the variety of colors I jave listed here. You can also use the feature nearly every Bible app or program has built in to it. I have listed the colors and my reasons to help you remember as you read. Of course, you can use any color you want and whatever works best for you.

Remember, the Bible was given to us not just to give us information, but to change our lives. (D. L. Moody)

Pastor Trey Rhodes

Here's a 90 Days thru the New Testament reading plan:

FREE DOWNLOADABLE READING PLAN

P.S. If you want, you can also choose a color that you use to remind you later to do further study or that is of personal interest/ interesting to you. I chose brown (my wife's maiden name, who is of great interest to me). That way I can goo back in a glance and find what I thought was interesting and needed that extra study.

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Change Your Life in 90 Days

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Is anyone tired of hearing about the newest weight loss system? How about the latest fitness craze. Truth is, most care immensely more about what they look like, rather than who they are. I have fallen into that trap and will do it again.

When I was a young boy playing peewee football for the Isle of Palms Rec department, we all went to the yearly awards banquet. I had never been to one of these before and I wanted to look just right. So, I took a bath, washed and brushed my hair (and yes, I did used to have hair!), and got dressed in some casual clothes. As we were leaving, I started doubting my choice of wardrobe. Suppose this was a more formal affair? Suppose everyone else was dressed up and I wasn't? So, I tried to call my friends and teammates to find out what they were wearing. By the time I was making the phone calls, everyone had obviously already left. All I could think about was what I would look like that night. I was one anxious little fellow. So, my mom dressed me appropriately and off we went. When we arrived, i pretty much looked like everyone else. But, truthfully, no one really cared. This was a football banquet and it was all about going with your parents to get some awards and eating some dinner. it didn't matter what we looked like, as long as we were clean and neatly dressed.

Here's the lesson: as long as you look presentable and clean, what we look like is not nearly as important as we make it out to be. But there is something that is much more important: our character. Who are we deep inside?

For the most part, once we mature, we are who we are. But there is one way to change our lives: by the supernatural power of the Spirit of God. He works in many ways in our lives, but none more than the way He works through the Bible. The Bible was given us not to have some cake on special occasions, but to be bread for daily use. It is intended to change our lives.

Colossians 3:10 tells us that "you are living a brand new kind of life that is continually learning more and more of what is right and trying constantly to be more like Christ." The more we learn about Christ, yield to Him and His will, the more we change into His likeness.

Hope you'll join us for these next 90 days as we read through the New Testament. There have already been many reports as to how the Lord has spoken in a clear and direct way in these last few days as people have opened their hearts and minds to God. It's truly an awesome thing to be a part of.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 90 DAY READING PLAN HERE

Let's see what God can do in our lives as we make the Word of God a daily part of our lives. I'm sure He's ready to change us beginning today.

Learn about S.P.A.C.E. P.E.T.S. for Devotional Reading HERE

Pastor Trey Rhodes

Coming this week...

Let's get smart with our money and learn practical and biblical principles to free ourselves. Sermon series begins this Sunday, January 13, 2012 at 10:30 a.m.

Small groups start back this week. Be sure to get to yours this week!

Calling our community this Thursday, January 17th at 6:30 p.m. What a great opportunity to minister and serve our neighbors spiritually.

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