Here is a recap of my journaling through Illustrated Faith’s devotional for the month of March called Joyful Obedience.
It’s been a while since I shared a monthly faith journaling recap! These recaps are a collection of the same reflections that I share on Instagram, but sometimes with a bit more detail.
Last time, I shared my reflections from the February devotional called Preparing Hearts. In this post, I’ll share about March’s devotional called Joyful Obedience, and it’s a special one because I had the great pleasure of being the author!
In it, we walk through the book of Philippians and look at what it means to live a flourishing life. We look at how we’re called to live for God’s glory and follow after the example of Jesus Christ in doing so. We also look at living to know God in order to love Him, and to do all of this while focused on the joy before us.
I didn’t know this then but I started writing this devotional, before it was even an idea, back in 2021. That year, I had the word “Flourish” as my focus for the year. In wanting to understand what that meant, I was led through an in-depth study of Philippians. The years following that study were filled with trials – opportunities to practice what I learned. So, the devotional is in part commentary on the scripture but it’s also written from a practical point of view having lived it. I just love how He leads us and prepares us!
So, what is a flourishing life?
A flourishing life is new life in Christ by God’s grace. It is the abundant life promised to those who have put their faith in Him. It is a fruitful life; meaning that it shows evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is a life that is purposefully lived for the glory of God. Therefore, it is a surrendered life, one that is obedient to the word of God.
As such, a flourishing life resembles the life of Jesus Christ. It is His example that we follow as His disciples. If we look at the beatitudes in Matthew 5, we can see the characteristics of a godly life and how they correspond to the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit.
What is Joyful Obedience?
Obedience has been defined as doing as instructed right away, all the way, and with a happy heart. Is it really obedience if we’re doing what God has instructed, for our good, but the posture of our heart is not joyful? It’s understandable to lack joy when the task is difficult or contrary to our desires. However, the response to that challenge should not be to drag our feet or outright disobey, it should be to recognize our failings and ask for help.
whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 4:11
We ask for help based on His promises and His trustworthiness. He rewards that act of faith and humility by not only supplying the joy we need to endure and overcome, but also growing the fruit of joy in us in the process.
This joy becomes our testimony to His faithfulness. It strengthens the faith of others to witness it. It gives them hope. And it encourages them to see their challenges in a new light and to seek Him in the same way.
We change the world around us when we live this life with the perspective of a disciple of Christ. As disciples, we are always learning, and growing through the trials sent our way to practice what we’ve learned. As disciples we are following Someone and helped by Someone on the journey – our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ!
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
Psalm 28:7
I had the honour of collaborating with Illustrated Faith to do the kickoff for the devotional on Instagram during the first week of March. During that time, I shared more of the heart behind the devotional and expounded on what I wrote. You can find more on that on Instagram under my profile or Illustrated Faith’s.
The following weeks had different contributors sharing their journaling and what they were gleaning. It was a beautiful and encouraging month seeing what God was doing in our Illustrated Faith community. I enjoyed taking inspiration from them to create the following pages.
I tried my hand at some mixed media with Mary Wangerin; artist and IF designer.
These pages below were inspired by Chantel @my_little_crafty_corner , guest contributor, who encouraged us to use fabric and thread to create layers. This was such fun and I’ll never look at thread the same way again!
The last week was led by Bekah @simplyBekah, IF creative team member. Her art journaling inspired my page below in which I reflected on how living like Jesus leads to a life of rest – the whole message behind this blog.
I hope you enjoyed and were inspired by this recap! You can check out the #IF_JoyfulObedience hashtag on Instagram for more inspiration. Also, visit IllustratedFaith.com for the kit (if still available), the digital version if you prefer, and/or any related products. Stay tuned for April’s recap on Proverbs 31 coming soon!
