As I sit in my kitchen and look around at all the Christian inspired wall art hanging on its walls, I feel convicted. Convicted because I'm always encouraging other people to seek Christ and to develop strong relationships with Him through his Word...but am I practicing what I'm preaching? How is it that I'm always talking about God and claiming to know Him but lately I've hardly spent any time with Him. Of course, I listen to my worship music and maybe read the daily devotionals that pop up on my phone, but that's not enough...and I KNOW it's not enough. Christ wants us to seek Him daily just as we would in a natural relationship with someone we love. If I were dating someone, they'd likely expect to hear from me every day and do things to show that I'm interested and I value them. God is the same way.
If we choose not to seek Him and know Him, God will allow things to happen to get our attention. Think about it. If everything is going well in our lives are we on our knees crying out in thanksgiving? Chances are, the answer is no. On the flip side when something goes wrong (in out plans, His plans are never wrong) we're on social media asking for prayers, on our knees and pleading with God for answers. So if we aren't on our jobs and holding up our end of the relationship, He will make things look bad and like they're never going to happen or change, just so we will be pushed into a space of seeking Him.
Here's a personal example of why it's so important to stay in His face and keep His word at the forefront of our minds. Just recently my husband made a comment to me that "The way we view God determines how we live". If we truly believe that He is a waymaker, a provider, performs miracles and ruler of everything, that's how we should live. He made this comment to me when we ran into a few roadblocks that tossed our monthly budget out the window and I was completely discouraged and panicked. Him on the other hand, he was calm and hopeful, because he knew that we would be fine because God said we would. My reaction to adversity was to immediately get down, cry, get sad and complain. I was in no way behaving in a way that said I view God as a waymaker and provider. I literally had to ask for forgiveness for doubting who He is and capable of. The way we view God determines how we live our lives. If we take Him seriously and know that His words and commands are not to be played with we won't want to live in the "gray area"; we will choose Him.
I say all of this to say, we each need our own relationship with Christ. We can't rely on all the praying grandmothers of the world but for so long. How can you develop a relationship? Here are three easy things you can do to get started:
Accept God into your life as your Lord and Savior.
Read the bible daily. You can google anything and put "what does the bible say about" in front of it (ex: what does the bible say about money) and you will find practical points to guide you and apply to your current life situations.
Worship and thank Him through prayer and praise. We all know that music is powerful and moving, get lost in this worship playlist I created.
I sincerely love to see people thrive in their walks with Christ. I know it isn't always easy but it's possible and so important to every aspect of our lives; marriage, parenthood, friendships, money and so much more.
Feel free to connect with me on social media to chat in more detail, I'd love to hear from some of you!
Written by Ash'leigh Gunn
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