Thank you for understanding my “disappearance” from social media yesterday. (Click here for more information about #enditmovement. I’m willing to #shinealight on this! I’m in it to end it!)

I’m super grateful God let me personally walk through the purpose, the time and place, and some methods for Bible study right before a new month begins. (I told you in the very first post on this blog how I love “clean slates!”) I’m reinvigorated to really make my personal with God be a time of praise, study, and prayer—and to be intentional about being consistent! How can my light shine if I haven’t recharged the batteries? (And I think we all know what that implies about us when our lights [attitudes] start flickering….)

So let’s end WRW Month with a few thoughts and then call it a month!

* We need to schedule our time with God at our best time of the day! He created us, loves us, sent Jesus to die for us, leads us, protects us, provides for us…and so much more! So, the least we can do is be intentional about planning one-on-one time with Him every day! (Always remember: two minutes and fifty-six seconds!)

* Find the method for study that works for you! The method I shared on Tuesday (click here to read through the steps) is a great, sure-fire plan to study God’s Word consistently. Find a word that God is impressing on you to study (such as love, kindness, joy, hope, etc.), look up verses on that word or topic, and start (keep) learning!

* If you need some specific help with verses or passages to read for the five-step method, I’m including a link to my church’s reading plan. Our new reading plan just started this past Monday, so you’ve barely got any catching up to do. Our pastor is starting a series (from now until the end of the year) called The Radical Red Letters. The summary is that we’re going to be studying, as a church family, everything Jesus said that is recorded in Scripture—and then be transformed by 1) following His example, and 2) knowing that He literally meant everything He said! Woo Hoo! (I’m excited—can you tell?) As a church family, we read the same passages throughout the week, and then on Sundays, the goal is that we’re “all on the same page”—with prepared hearts! Click here for the link to the downloadable, printable Radical Red Letters reading plan. (I’m soooo thankful for a pastor with a heart for the Gospel and for equipping us with tools for Christlikeness!)

* If you click on the Recommended Reading tab above and select “Bookshelf” from the drop-down menu (or click here to make it easier!), I have posted a few Bible study resource books that I’ve used or read, and they are some of the ones that I personally know to be helpful. This mini-version list barely scratches the surface, but it gives you some ideas to go on.

* Finally, I want to say a ginormous thank you for helping this month to be a little cheerier, more exciting, and yes, faster than I even hoped it would be! When I first announced WRW Month, I figured a few of my friends would encourage me to walk more, I would encourage them to read more, and we’d all send a few extra day-brightening e-mails to each other. Well, the most intelligent response I can think of is: WOW! You blew me away with a jaw-dropping number of people participating! Let’s just say that with some sending daily point reports and some sending weekly point reports, I have over 2,000 e-mails and Facebook messages! I’ll be reviewing those points, making sure everything is entered, and then announcing the winners on March 15th! (Yes, it’s going to probably take me until then to get all these points entered!) You may send points through midnight on Friday, March 1st.

We started February with a prayer, so let’s end it with one too, okay?

Loving God,

Thank You for the privilege of prayer. Thank You for your precious and holy Word and the things that you want to teach us through it. Thank You for the freedom (for some who are reading this in other countries, only the private freedom) to share Your truths with others.

Please take what we learned by reading, what we gained by walking, and what we shared through our notes, e-mails, and letters and use them to bring praise to Your name. May our praise in March be multiplied because of our purposeful choices this past month.

As we end this month, I personally want to thank You for entrusting us with and enabling us for another month of life. Just as we asked You at the beginning of February, we ask You on this last day of February to let us plan our days and live them in a way that demonstrates our desire for Your will to be done.

All that was accomplished was by Your grace and for Your glory. Thank You that we can come to You in prayer through the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ.

—Amen.