Spiritual Growth

I have been a christian for about 30 years.  However, my relationship with Christ has changed over the years.  Christ has changed me over the years.  I was raised in a christian home.  We went to church on most Sundays.  I even went to a christian school.  I was in 9th or 10th grade when I invited God into my heart in a Bible class at school.

My quiet time this morning started with me reading Hebrews 5:7-14. This really hit home for me.  When I first became a christian, I was excited.  But in time, the excitement wore off.  Something was still missing and I couldn't figure out what it was.  It took a very long time for me to realize that what was missing was a relationship with Christ.  Verse 12 says "You have been believers for so long now that you ought to be teaching others.  Instead, you need others to teach you again the basic things about God's word."  If we stop seeking a relationship with God, your knowledge of His ways start to fade and the old ways of life start to slowly filter back into your life.

I was taught that you never stop learning.  In fact, you should strive to learn something new every day.  That is true with my relationship with Christ.  I need to learn something new every day.  Although it is true that I do learn things from the church services that I attend, that cannot be where it stops.  I must continually pursue a relationship with Christ through the reading of His word as well as other books.  I also need to remember His teachings and be constant in prayer.

Christ has called us to love one another just as He loves us.  But how can we grow spiritually if we don't spend time with Him in order to learn more about His love for us?  Romans 12:9-13 says "9 Love is to be sincere and active [the real thing—without guile and hypocrisy]. Hate what is evil [detest all ungodliness, do not tolerate wickedness]; hold on tightly to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another with [authentic] brotherly affection [as members of one family], give preference to one another in honor; 11 never lagging behind in diligence; aglow in the Spirit, enthusiastically serving the Lord; 12 constantly rejoicing in hope [because of our confidence in Christ], steadfast and patient in distress, devoted to prayer [continually seeking wisdom, guidance, and strength], 13 contributing to the needs of God’s people, pursuing [the practice of] hospitality."  In order to grow spiritually, I must work on these things.

Is there something that you are working on in order to grow spiritually?  If so, let me know what it is in the comments.  Who knows, it may be something that I need to work on as well. Also, if you feel like there is something that you need to work on but can't figure out what it is, ask God to show you what it is.  He will direct your path.

Blessings

Today as I sit to write I ponder all of life's blessings.  My daughter is almost 19 years old.  She has a full time job and may be promoted to supervisor.  She is also going to Community College and paying for it 100% out of pocket with no student loans.  In the next 2 weeks she will be moving out and into her first apartment.  A few months ago I would have viewed this as a negative situation.  God has worked on my heart.  He has shown me that I have been preparing her for this day.

So again my positivity will win.  This is a major win.  But I must give all of the glory to God.  I could not do this without Him.

Ladies Retreat

For the past 3 years I have been blessed to be able to go to a ladies retreat with other ladies from the church where we are members.  I have had a good time each year, but this year was different for me.  In past years, it was about getting closer with the women that went with us from our church.  However, this year for me it was more about my relationship with Christ.  I spent a lot of time in prayer since I was part of the prayer team.  I felt God moving in the lives of other women who were in attendance.  More importantly, I felt God speaking to my heart.

I have been so caught up in my negative emotions that it was getting in the way of my prayer life with God.  My husband and I talked about it, and even though my husband and I are reading a book about prayer, it wasn't until I went to the retreat and focused on what God had to say to me that I truly thought about how negative I had become.

Another part of being part of the prayer team was praying for others.  I pray for others often, but this was different.  I could feel the Holy Spirit speaking through me & could see the work that he was doing.

I can't wait to see what He has in store for the future.  Changes are happening all around me.  It's exciting!

Word for 2018

Someone posted a YouTube video that really inspired me.  It gave her word for 2018 &  asked others to share their word for 2018.

My word for 2018 is positivity.  Have youyever noticed how your negative attitude affects not only you, but everyone around you?  I have... Even my kids attitude is based off of how I respond to certain situations.

My husband and I have been reading a book about prayer called "Prayer Partners.". In one of the chapters the author talks about how a bad attitude can interfere with our prayer life and ultimately interfere with our relationship with God.  I certainly don't want to be separated from God over my negativity.  Therefore, this year I am striving to be more positive.

Am I saying that I am perfect & that every day is going to be sunshine and rainbows?  No, but with God's help, I can have more good days than bad 😀

If you have read my blog before, you will notice that I have deleted most of my previous posts.  There are a few reasons for this.  Number 1 is that they were negative.  Number 2 is that my intention was never to have anyone pity me, & when I read the old posts now, I can see how it can look like I just wanted a pity party.  Number 3, and the most important of all, they did not glorify God.  Therefore, my hope is that my writing will be more of an inspiration to others in the future.  My goal is that God be glorified as I use the talents that He has given me.

Learning to Wait

Patience is a virtue - one in which I do not posess.  In life we always seem to be waiting for something.  Whether it is waiting for a phone call or waiting on an answer from God.  This is a constant source or frustration for me.

For several years now, a big part of my relationship with Christ is music.  I love to sing.  In fact, mom and I used to sing together in church.  Below are a few songs listed that I use in my everyday life:

In His Time by The Rochesters
Keep Me in Your Will by Jessica King
Right on Time by the McKameys

I have several issues going on in my life right now.  Most of them have been going on for quite some time.  As I look back on them, I can see that God is sorting them out for me one by one.  I know that everything happens for a reason.  However, I just wish I knew these reasons when things were happening.

As I walk through my day, I wait on the Lord to show me His will.  Patience is a constant struggle in life in general.  Each day I pray for God to help me to learn to be patient with Him and with the ones I love.

Why We Have a Budget!

I know that in my home, we have to follow a budget.  House payment and all household bills must be paid before we can do fun activities outside the home like going to the movies or eating out.  Each week our family has a certain amount of money after bills to pay for food, gas to get back and forth to work, and the remainder is put into our fun fund.  If after that there is additional money left over, we put it on the credit cards and other loans to help us to try and get out of debt faster.

I have found that if I go into the grocery store with a list of what I need for the next week's meals, and know that the amount it will cost to purchase those items it close to my budgeted amount, I am less likely to buy things not on my list.  It also helps to know that if I do go over my budget, that I then have to remove that money from the fun fund.  Knowing that going over budget takes away small fun things not only for the family, but individually for me as well, helps keep me on track.

Gas money for the week is a must.  I can remember when I was younger, my brother was always coming and asking my mom to borrow money for gas.  By not budgeting for gas, he had caused 2 problems:  he must borrow from someone else in order to be able to get to work & he would then start the next week in the hole by however much he borrowed.

The fun fund was started by my husband when we were first married.  We were making very little money and our schedules often were opposite one another.  Therefore, on the occasion that we both had a day off together, we did not want to waste it indoors.  Living in the south at the time gave us the opportunity to do quite a bit without spending money.  However, it was just nice to be able to go out to dinner or out to a movie every now and then.  The fun fund doesn't have to be spent each week.  It is nice when it adds up and we can do something special with the kids like taking them to an amusement park for the day.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes I get frustrated when it seems like there just is not enough money to do the things we want to do all of the time.  However, I know that every time that we have an extra couple of hundred dollars, it is put on a bill to get it paid off early.  For every bill paid off early, we are a little closer to our goal of being debt free!