To Do-ers List: Without Complaining

Bonus Day

To Do-ers List: Without Complaining

14 “Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.”

Philippians 2:14-16

24 “The people refused to enter the pleasant land,

for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.

25 Instead, they grumbled in their tents, and refused to obey the LORD.”

Psalm 106: 24-25

It has taken me a while to figure out complaining is not a spiritual gift.

In Christian circles complaining is an acceptable sin. It is not as messy as other more shocking sins. Why is it so acceptable? Because everyone does it. Not everyone has a debt problem. Not everyone has an issue with addictive behaviors. Most of us don’t have an armed robbery conviction (all of which are forgiven and covered by Jesus), but EVERYONE complains.

On a daily basis.

Well, hourly.

Ok, it’s a way of life.

We rationalize: Complaining isn’t really that bad. Everyone does it. Millions of people can’t be wrong. Note: Complaining is not without consequence. It will produce a harvest, not of nutritious fruit, but of weeds and tares. Complaining is sin because it casts doubt on the goodness, wisdom, and sovereignty of God. We complain because in our pride we think we know more than God.

Complaining needs an audience.

The Greek word for complaining is goggysmos.

Goggysmos?

The word just looks like trouble, doesn’t it? I can imagine the following conversation:

How is your husband today?

Oh, he’s been very goggymos, I had to get out of the house!

Goggysmos means, murmuring, muttering, a secret debate, of the cooing of doves, of those who confer secretly together, of those who discontentedly complain. Study the definitions of goggysmos. Do you notice anything interesting? Complaining is a team sport.

One little complaint has the potential to loose an avalanche of grievances. To be completely honest … I must confess … sometimes I enjoy complaining. I like having a good grumbly story to tell my friends and then wallowing in the sympathy that is sure to follow.

Complaining affects our destiny.

Read Psalm 106 again. What did the Israelites do instead of entering the land God prepared for them? They complained.

They missed the Promised Land.

Instead of living the abundant life in God’s presence, they had to wander the desert. (Our God inhabits praise, not complaints Psalm 22:3). Complaining will keep us out of our Promised Land and hinder our walk with God. We will wander through life and miss God. We can believe or complain, but we can’t do both.

Once we decide to quit complaining and trust God, what do we do instead?

Instead of complaining, praise and pray.
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Praise Him for how He is going to work your tough situation for His will. Thank Him for how He is using this present pain and suffering to shape you into the image of Christ. Pray for Him to change to the one thing you can control in this trial, your attitude. God’s Word says to give thanks in everything, not because everything is good, but because God will use everything for good.

Hard things.

Ugly things.

Hideous things.

God will give beauty for ashes.

You may have reason to complain, but you do not have the right.

For Today:

Ok. This one is going to be hard. We can do this. No complaints. Not one. No bad words about anything or anybody-including ourselves! We have a choice: We can speak words of life or words of death into our situations. What will we choose? Thank God out loud for what He will do and how He is using annoying things to shape our character, thus our destiny. Remember, the book of James states our words act like the rudder on a ship, steering us to good lands or stormy seas.

Study Guides:

To help you organize your daily study and record your experiences, please download and print the following PDF, or download the journal app to your favorite Apple device. I’ve added a new graphic organizer today, Journal 101 (This one is my favorite. I use it often for Bible study and I LOVE it.)

Journal 101: Bible Journalgraphics
To Do-ers List Study Guide PDF
Days Lite: My Wonderful Life App free app from App Store.

Resources:

The Secret to Avoid Complaining

Don’t forget to comment on your experience in the comment section below!

If you are starting late, please access the first seven days of the study on the links below!

To Do-ers List Day 1: Love God

To Do-ers List, Day 2: Love Others

To Do-ers List, Day 3: Pray ’bout Everything

To Do-ers List, Day 4: Walk by Faith

To Do-ers List, Day 5: Word in Me

To Do-ers List: Day 6: Always Do Good

To Do-ers List: Day 7: Trust God

Be a doer of the word.

To Do-ers List: Trust God

Day 7

To Do-ers List: Trust God

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5

Whom do you trust?

When I was little, my sister, Carol and I used to play a game called Trust. To play Trust, two people stand one behind the other, both facing the same direction. The person behind (the catcher), puts out her arms and says fall. The person in front (the faller) closes her eyes, stiffens her body and falls straight back into the arms of the catcher. The catcher of course catches the faller, thus building a relationship of trust. Fall and catch again. Perhaps, you are wondering why we bothered to play such a predictable tedious game.

It gets better.

After completing round one, the catcher takes a step back and the process repeats.

After a while the game gets a little dicey … will she catch me?

The stakes get higher … will I hit the floor?

At some point in time a smart faller calls it quits. After all, you are only as safe as the one who is catching you.

(Uhh … one time I did drop my sister. It wasn’t my fault … my mother called me.)

In the game of life, God calls us to trust Him.

He is standing right behind us saying fall.

You lose your job … God says fall.

You receive news from the doctor … God says fall.

Your husband is transferred … fall.

Your marriage becomes stormy … fall.

Your child drops out of college … fall.

Trust God and fall into His everlasting arms.

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God is omnipresent. Because He is everywhere, at every time, all at once, He is always able catch you. It may seem He is stepping back, but He is never any closer to you at one moment than any other. Fall into His will concerning your new job, your move, your transfer, your sickness, your debt, your marriage, your singleness. You are as safe as the One who is catching you. Trust God.

Trust God with all your heart.

Read today’s verse again … with all your heart. Not part, but all. How well would you function with part of your heart, say only the right ventricle? Yet so many people try to. I know I have. I can trust God with my job, but my children?

Trusting God with part of your heart will leave you with a heart condition. Not healthy. You may sustain life, but you will never be able to run, soar, and live the abundant life with part of your heart. You will limp along in the shadows, living a half-hearted life. Trust God with all of it. He wants it all, every corner of your heart: relationships, career, school, friends, children, family, love, hate, hurt, blessing. He says fall and you let go. He’ll ask you to trust Him with more of your heart, bit by bit, until you finally trust God with all of your heart. Trust God.

A little warning.

Trusting God will not always make sense. Some people will think you’re crazy. Others will TELL you you’re crazy. You may lose friends over it. I have experienced all three. Trust God anyway. My greatest victories have come when I have listened to God and trusted Him, despite the voices of others.

Remember, God will never call you to do any thing which contradicts His Word.

For Today:

Take a moment and pray. Ask God to show you what areas or situations of your life you need to entrust to Him. Don’t hold back. If He wants you to speak, do it with all your heart. If He wants you to pray, do it with all your heart. If He wants you to reach out in a new way, trust God and do it with all your heart.

Use the To-Doers List Study Guide or a journaling app to plan and journal your day.

Note: the To Do-ers List Study Guide will greatly enhance your time with God.

To Do-ers List Journal Study Guide PDF
Days Lite: My Wonderful Life App free app from App Store.

For ideas on how to trust God, please check the resources below.

How Trusting God Can Transform Your Life by Joyce Meyer

Please take a moment to pray and ask God for His strength to do good to everyone you meet today (and the people you live with). Don’t forget to leave a comment in the comment section below. Have a blessed day!

To Do-ers List, Day 1: Love God

To Do-ers List, Day 2: Love Others

To Do-ers List, Day 3: Pray ’bout Everything

To Do-ers List: Day 4: Walk by Faith

To Do-ers List: Day 5: Word in Me

To Do-ers List: Day 6: Always Do Good

by Mary Kane

To Do-ers List: Always do Good

Day 6

To Do-ers List: Always do Good

15 “See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying.”

1 Thessalonians 5:15

There was a saying when I was growing up, “It’s payback time.” Eye for an eye. Tooth for a tooth. If someone did something to you, you did it back to them and then some. It was the law of the street. One of the problems with paybacks, however, is they never end. The cycle of hatred churns and escalates.

Hatfield and McCoys.

Cain and Able.

Notre Dame and Michigan.

Do we even remember what we are fighting about?

God has a different idea.

Do good. Always do good. Instead of payback, pay-it-forward. Good for evil. Blessings replace cursing. Help instead of hate. Always do good.

Why?

Because that’s what God does; it’s who He is. It’s what He did for us. While we were yet sinners, Jesus died on the cross for us. We were enemies of God by our wicked works and He died for us. What if He had waited for us to do something GOOD until He did something good? He’d still be waiting while we spent eternity in hell.

What is good?

In the Greek, good translates as agathos, which means good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, honorable, upright, excellent. Part of the word means sacrifice. To always do good, we must

sacrifice our right to be angry, our right to be hurt, and our right to be bitter.

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It’s part of the abundant life.

This one is hard for me. Really hard. I learned and lived by the law of the street. I can payback like the rest of ’em. It’s a wonderful witness when you convey a rude gesture and have a fish sticker on the back of your mini-van. I still struggle with it today. Why? Pride. I’m better. I act better. I think better. How dare you do that to ME. It’s ugly and sinful. But, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, I’m making progress.

Long time ago I came across the following maxim:

Satan repays good with evil;

Man repays evil with evil and good with good;

God repays evil with good.

Always do good.

It’s a choice we make … to love instead of hate, to bless instead of curse, to always do good. We were created in the image of God. Like Father, like daughter. He is good; therefore, we must always do good.

For Today:

Today will be tough. Look for ways to do good to those who aren’t good to you. Doing good to another can be a kind deed, graceful words, or prayerful thoughts. Look to do good to everyone, regardless of how they treat you. Do we always do good because others deserve it? No, we always do good because it’s the right thing to do.

Use the To-Doers List Study Guide or a journaling app to plan and journal your day.

To Do-ers List Journal Study Guide PDF
Days Lite: My Wonderful Life App free app from App Store.

For ideas on how to always do good, please check the resources below.

Overcoming Evil with Good

If you missed a few days, you can catch up by clicking the links below.

To Do-ers List, Day 1: Love God

To Do-ers List, Day 2: Love Others

To Do-ers List, Day 3: Pray ’bout Everything

To Do-ers List: Day 4: Walk by Faith

To Do-ers List: Day 5: Word in Me

by Mary Kane

To Do-ers List: Word in Me

Day 5

To Do-ers List: Word in Me

16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

Colossians 3:16

I love to eat. I am an organic, farm-to-fork foodie kind of girl. Three meals a day, with snacks in between and don’t forget about dessert! Our sense of taste is a gift from God, given to us for our enjoyment. Sweet, sour, bitter, and salty flavorings spice up the eating experiences. Eating is necessary to maintain life, but there is something more important to life than consuming food; consuming the Word of God.

I need His Word in me.

Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Every Word. I need every Word for life.

The more Word I have, the more life I have.

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How much life do I have? Just John 3:16? Just enough to keep my heart beating, but not enough to sustain life beyond birth? I don’t want to settle for just life, I want abundant life. Abundant life requires the Word in me.

Today’s verse instructs us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. The Greek word for richly is plousis, which means abundantly, wealthy, plentiful, and full. When we are filled to overflowing with God’s Word, it will splash on those around us, soaking them with God’s Holy Word. Dry and thirsty souls doused in Living Water. God’s Word in me benefits everyone.

Benefits of God’s Word in Me

What does scripture do for us? Read the partial list of benefits below. God’s Word …

Defeats our enemies. Ephesians 6:17
Transforms us into the image of Christ. Romans 12:2
Makes us strong. Joel 2:11
Heals us. Psalm 107:20
Imparts peace. Psalm 119:165
Guides us. Psalm 119:105
Makes us wise. Psalm 19:7

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly …

It is important to note the word dwell. God’s Word needs to dwell in us, not touch upon, visit, or set up temporary residence. The word for dwell refers to a marriage relationship. A life-long, do or die, for better for worse, for richer or richer, till death do we join Him for all eternity. I need God’s Word in me everyday and beyond.

How can I get God’s Word in me?

Here are a few ideas.

Write verses on note cards and carry them with you everywhere you go today. Look at them at stoplights (instead of checking your phone), waiting in lines, while you’re doing chores, etc.
Subscribe and download a podcast to your device and listen while you’re jogging, doing chores, or walking to class today.
Download an audible version of the Bible to your favorite device. Listen tonight while going to sleep.
Set a goal to memorize a BOOK, yes, a BOOK of the Bible.
Tune in to hear your favorite speakers on Christian TV.
Turn off your TV today and spend a little extra time reading your Bible or doing a Bible study.
Look up your favorite verse at Blue Letter Bible and research key words in the original Greek or Hebrew. Follow the link for a quick tutorial: Blue Letter Bible

For Today:

Make your plan for how you will add more of God’s Word to your day. Make your verse cards, download a podcast, or get a new Bible study. Block out your time and do it! Ask God to bless you for the time you will spend in His Word. Pray and ask Him to open your heart to the wisdom hidden within His Word.

Use the To-Doers List Study Guide or a journaling app to plan and journal your day.

To Do-ers List Study Guide PDF
Days Lite: My Wonderful Life App free app from App Store.

Extra Resources:

Joyce Meyer Podcasts
Francis Chan Sermons

If you missed a session, catch up here!

To Do-ers List, Day 1: Love God

To Do-ers List, Day 2: Love Others

To Do-ers List, Day 3: Pray ’bout Everything

To Do-ers List: Day 4: Walk by Faith

Don’t forget to leave a comment in the comment section below!

God’s Word in me. God’s Word in you. Let it dwell in us richly.

To Do-ers List: Pray ’bout Everything

Day 3

To Do-ers List: Pray ’bout Everything

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Philippians 4:6-8

Be anxious for nothing.

In today’s verse, God tells us to be anxious about NOTHING. Speeding tickets … tests … denting the car (I did that this week, ugh!) … broken relationships … money … college … kids … etc.

NOTHING.

How are we to be anxious about nothing? Instead of worrying, God gives us something else to do. Pray. Pray ’bout everything. Big things, little things, hurtful things, fun things, special things, ordinary things … everything. The Greek word for everything used in today’s verse is the little tiny word pas, which simply means every thing. As my favorite Bible teacher says, If God tells us to pray ’bout everything, it’s because everything can be affected by prayer.

When you pray, tell God everything on your heart. Pour out your feelings. Finally, (gulp, big leap of faith) ask Him to answer your prayer according to His will.

What happens after we pray?

And the peace of Christ will guard your hearts and minds …

I have dealt with stress in my life; I know this one. Anxiety has left its mark upon my soul. But, God promises to guard our hearts and minds if we offer Him our prayers and supplications (confiding in God about personal needs) with thanksgiving. In general, when do we offer thanks for something? When someone has completed a service for us. God knows our prayers before we offer them. He is already acting before we say Amen. That is why we can thank Him.

When I have finished praying, I can’t say I have always felt peaceful. But, this is where faith comes in. Remember,

this life we live as Christians is a walk of faith, not feelings.

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If something is true, it is true regardless of how we feel. Truth is not based on feelings. If God says He is guarding our hearts and minds, we can believe it, despite our feelings.

After we pray ’bout everything and thank God for acting according to His will, we have one more job to do: we meditate. Meditate on what?

Good things.

True things.

Lovely things.

Beautiful things.

Praiseworthy things.

Why?

Because prayer is a battle of the mind.

Satan will try to knock us off track. The world will entice us to worry. Our mind will try to lead us back to our familiar comfortable habit of worry. We must control our thoughts and focus our mind. What we think about is our choice. Stop the worry cycle. Turn your worries into prayers.

Worry-prayer-thanksgiving-true thoughts.

Prayer-thanksgiving-true thoughts. Leave the worry out.

Pray ’bout everything.

For Today:

As you go about your day, pray ’bout everything. Laundry, dishes, driving, washing your hair, mowing the lawn, exercising, texts, phone calls, chores, friends, enemies. Cover it all in prayer. Pray ’bout everything.

Use the To-Doers List Study Guide or a journaling app to plan and journal your day.

To Do-ers List Study Guide PDF
Days Lite: My Wonderful Life App free app from App Store.

Prayer Resources:

The Prayer Notebook App I love using this app! You’ll never forget a prayer request again. The Prayer Notebook even comes with an alarm for specific requests.
How To Pray Read this post for suggestions on how to enhance your prayer life.
Prayer Strategy: When You Don’t Know What To Pray This post outlines a strategy for praying through life’s difficult and tragic situations.

Start the day off on the right foot. Pray now for God to show you things to pray for and to remind you to pray throughout the day (or set the timer on your prayer app). Don’t forget to leave your comments below. I can’t wait to hear from you!

Have a prayerful day.

In case you missed the first two days, click on the links below.

To Do-ers List, Day 1: Love God

To Do-ers List, Day 2: Love Others

Mary Kane

To Do-ers List: Day 1, Love God

Day 1

To Do-ers List: Love God

“37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38

God is a list maker.

He made the greatest list known to mankind: The Ten Commandments. Immediately after giving His people the commandments, God reveals the Greatest Commandment. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and with all your strength. What is the heart of the Greatest Commandment? Love. More important than keeping a list of rules is a heart that beats with love for God. The Greatest Commandment is the key to keeping all the other commandments.

Love God.

How do you act when you are in love with someone? You think of them constantly. You spend every moment possible in their presence. You can’t wait to hear from them. You constantly listen for a text or call. You know their voice anywhere. You find ways to please them. You learn everything you can about your Love.

Loving God.

First on our To Do-ers List is love God. How will that look for you? How will you love God at work, at home, while running errands? How will you direct your thoughts God-ward? When will you be in His presence? How will you listen for His voice? What will you do to learn about Him?

Perhaps you feel anxious about today’s To Do-ers List because you know you don’t love God as you should. Talk to Him. Tell Him you are willing to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He will change your heart. Don’t wait for your feelings. Do the love thing.

Right feelings follow right actions.

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For Today:

Spend a few moments in prayer. Ask God to help you love Him with all your heart. He will give you a new heart that beats only for Him. Look for ways to show your love for God in everything you do today.

Use the To-Doers List Study Guide or a journaling app to plan and journal your day.

To Do-ers List Study Guide PDF
Days Lite: My Wonderful Life App free app from App Store.

Below are a few resources to help you spend time with Him.

Don’t forget to leave a comment in the comment section below or leave a comment on our private To Do-ers List Facebook page.

Love God.

Have a blessed day.

To Do-ers List: Without Complaining

Bonus Day