Journal

"Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart" Deuteronomy 4:9. Creating a Faithbook or Spiritual Journal can be a powerful memory tool.


Creating a Faithbook or Spiritual Journal can be a powerful way to remember what the Lord has done in your life. It is easy to forget, during the difficult times of life, how far He has brought us.


How many times do we see in Scriptures where God blessed His people in miraculous and personal ways? The pages of the Bible are filled with their tales! And yet, far too often, those same people soon forgot what the Lord had done and were swallowed up in self-pity and doubt. So how can keeping a spiritual journal help?


A spiritual journal helps us pass on our legacy of faith.


In the book of Joshua we hear the story of the crossing of the Jordan river – a miraculous provision of God for His people. It is significant that Joshua, at God's prompting command, had memorial stones brought forth from the river bed to create a pillar – so that the story would be shared and told to future generations. We can not only be strengthened by what God has done in our own lives, but also what God has done in the lives of those who come before us. Likewise, when we journal for all posterity, how God has worked in our lives we bless our children's spiritual lives as well.


A spiritual journal keeps us focused on the Lord and puts things in perspective.


Most of us are aware of the cathartic nature of journaling. When a day has been hard, a friend angry, or situation particularly tiring we can write our rawest emotions in a journal and release that in a safe way. Many have shared how writing out their feelings towards God at any given moment has helped to bring them back to a place of spiritual peace. Just look at some of David's Psalms for examples – hurt, anger, questioning, doubt, fear, guilt – all emotions expressed before the Lord openly and honestly. And through that expression came the reminder of the Lord's faithfulness. Almost every Psalm ends with a declaration of trust and obedience to the Lord. Our spiritual lives will be richer if we'll be honest with God in the same way.


A spiritual journal helps us face trying times by reminding us of the past successes.


When David went out to face Goliath he cited past occasions where God had supported and protected him. It gave him courage to go to battle. Our spiritual battles are much the same, and a journal can help lift us up when we are down spiritually. We all face times when we can't see God at work in our lives. A spiritual journal allows us to go back, see where God was active in our lives before and say “God is in control – I will make it through”.


In his book God Moments Alan Wright says, “Yesterday's God Moments are stones in the sling of faith for tomorrow's giants”. What stones are you collecting for future giants in your life?


(taken from http://angelaengland.suite101.com/spiritual-journal-importance-a25828)


(http://www.squidoo.com/christianjournaling101)
Other Resources
There are many resources out there for you if you want to become an expert at journaling.
These three sites listed below are resources to enhance your journaling experience. Check them all out, and see if you find anything that can be beneficial to you!


http://leadercast.com This site will be offering a free, downloadable Spiritual Growth Software that will have a journaling component to it. You will be able to categorize your entries by date and the best thing about this is that there is no paper or ink needed! Other components to this Spiritual Growth Software includes a Bible Reading Plan to help you read the whole Bible in a year, a Prayer Request section where you can jot down your prayers and your answered prayers, a Bible Memory section that helps you memorize scripture, and a Bible Reading section to help keep count of the passages that you've read. The Spiritual Growth Software will be coming out soon, so sign up to the LeaderCast mailing list to be the first one to download this amazing software!
http://www.hem-of-his-garment-bible-study.org/Christian-prayer-journal.html This website offers Christian prayer journal pages for free! The site has a few points on why you should journal, and offers four different types of journaling pages.
. http://store.dayspring-store.com/books-journals.html This link lists many well designed journals that you can purchase online. It features classic, prayer journals to Christian diary/journal for children.