Connecting With God On A Personal Level

Have You Ever reached a stagnant point in your walk with the Lord? Did you ever just feel disconnected in a way you could exactly describe? Have you ever just needed reminding how amazing God's love is for you?

It is completely normal to hit that point in your Christian walk where you just get caught in a valley where you feel like you are disconnected. It is not always easy to maintain the mountaintops experiences you have with the Lord. 

The truth is your faith walk is not going to be a series of mountaintop experiences. As christians we have valley experiences. But the good news is that in the Lord our mountaintop experiences will far out weigh the others. 

In everything we do we look to the Lord. if ever there is a time when we feel disconnected or just simply not on fire as we usually are, take that time to pray to God that he may fill your heart and ignite that fire. 

One of my favorite verses to quote and just think back to is Hebrews 12:29 "Our God is a consuming fire!" We are always consumed in his love. But there will most definitely be those times where we feel the fire is not as hot as it should be. All we need to do is look to the Lord and know that we are consumed in his love. He picks us up when we are down and is with us even when we feel that we are alone in all of the stress that we may have.

It is extremely hard not to let all of the little things run our lives. As humans we get so caught up in the planning that we feel obligated to do. We stress ourselves out involving every minute detail. That in itself is how we draw away from God. Where our focus should be on our AMAZING Heavenly Father, our focus is instead on things of this world. 

For we do not belong to this world and the ways of it. We belong to our Lord and Savior who resides in the home of our hearts. We are not home yet. 

And while I can't give you a step by step procedure on how to have a more personal relationship with Jesus, I can tell you that no matter where you are or what you are doing; it is never too late to come home to the one who loves you more than you could possibly even fathom. 

It is so immensely important to take time every day to speak with the Lord and just tell him how much you love him. He loves you so much, even if you feel as though your fire has dimmed in this particular moment. 

The most exciting thing about walking with the Lord is that no matter what you are his beloved. 

Remember that he loves you the very first, last, and of course the best. He knows your name and will come when you call on His. Ultimately the Lord will take away every bad thing in your life until you have gain in him. 

Connecting with God on a personal level is something that never ends. Everyday we grow and want more and he is there always. We need only call on him and he will remind us of his consuming fire and there we can cozy up and be warm and spread that warmth to others. 

New Beginnings Make New Endings

"No one can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." 

There are so many things that we start and finish. But in that ending there sprouts a new beginning and ending for something else. We don't start over; but we begin again right where we are, making things better in our lives. 

One of my very close friends just recently experienced the end to a relationship. For her this ending is just a moment. She doesn't know what the future holds for her and her guy. In this time she has asked herself; "is he the one?" "was this supposed to happen?" "Why did this happen?" "Why does it hurt so much?" "What is God's plan for me?" We don't know what tomorrow holds for us. Only God knows our beginnings, endings, and everything in between. 

Recently I realized that I don't have everything together and I realized that I am not ok with that. I broke down and I let the Lord know that I need Him. But we aren't supposed to have everything figured out and together. If we did everything would be in it's place and we need the Lord for that. He is in control. He makes the decisions and we trust in Him through all of our ups and downs. 

Through everything we must daily remember to ask the Lord for help, that we may grow deeper in love with Him each day. 1 John 1 says that "From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in--we heard it with our own ears,  saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands." All of our beginnings are mixed in with our ends and with God everything is one long beginning. 

So no matter where we start, what our beginning, the Lord is there. We live through him. And through him our whole life is one long beginning that comes from the end of the worldly things that we don't belong to. 

All of the aspects of our lives, everything that we do has a beginning and an ending, from those beginnings there are endings. Endings bring new beginnings and the Lord is present through all of it. 

The Lord's wisdom is ever present. It is made clear in Proverbs that"For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul." God doesn't leave us or forsake us and He gives us the wisdom to know he is King and that He is in ultimate control. 

It is ok to fear what is going to come from an ending. The Lord has every second of our lives planned out. He has planned for every ending to bring a new beginning and in Him we find our strength and solace. 

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

The Lord is and will always be present through our beginning, middle, end and no matter what we may be going through or have been through we can always look to him and come home to the house of the Lord. 

Like the story of the prodigal son; whatever we may choose to do in our new beginning, it will never be too late to come home. 

Struggles are moments; little blips in the big story of our lives in Jesus Christ. The ending of this life, we choose to put an end to our attachment to all things worldly that take our focus off of him, figuratively of course, and give everything to Him. Every single moment is planned out by him. So no matter where we are or where we are going there is a plan, and we can Always go home. 

Our home is in The Lord. 

The end in fact is a new beginning. So put your faith and trust in the Lord and know there is a purpose for every moment. 

All Of The Moments...Start And End In Jesus

There are moments,

These moments are pre determined because the  Lord takes so much care in our lives to plan out each and every little thing. The minute details are often the most exciting and important. I love the fact that our lives are a series of moments, moments where the Lord constantly loves us, no matter what.

Some moments in my life...
Finding God in the smallest things,

Like a smile 

A laugh 

The sun 

A question  

Words 

Moments we await... 

Awaiting the moment...That's natural

Wanting a boyfriend, someone to spend time with and be romantically close to

Well of course thats ok and important to want that moment, those moments. But it is not a moment we can choose and plan out for ourselves. There is an amazing someone out there for us. The Lord took careful time in picking them out. As the Lord is growing in our lives, he is growing our hearts to be open to the love of another. It is such a gift. A gift worth waiting for. So as I wait...As we wait...we know God will always be at the center and he will be forever great!

Recently I was given some fabulous words of wisdom that could only have come straight from the Lord, 

"Rest in God's love and the other things will come in His time when you are ready. Remember you don't need an earthly man first and foremost to define you. You are a daughter of the king with all the keys to the kingdom. You are strong in the faith...smart, beautiful, and so much more...God is preparing the perfect match to your needs. Try to be patient... Focus on refining your gifts and following the path He has given you...Just know God has a plan to give you hope and a future.. Don't doubt your significance go Him...He wants nothing but the best for you...Continue glorifying Him in all you do. Be open and ready for all that He has in store. Good things come to those that wait for his perfect timing. Don't let our people's relationships steal your joy. Walk in his love and light. Satan wants to steal your joy distract you and make you doubt. Don't give him the power to bring you down. When you start to feel sad because you don't have a guy just remember...God is hand picking your guy...Don't settle for any guy...Your Prince charming is out there. Trust in the Lord's timing and know that he only has the best plan for you." 

God is so good. His timing is something we will never understand and yet it is everything we will ever need. The moments he plans out for us are exactly what we must go through to get closer and closer to him and his amazing love.

When I look at where I am in my life right now, I am so blessed. We are all so immensely blessed. The moments of today, tomorrow, next month, and 5 years from now are already planned and in that I  know the Lord will be so much more than present throughout them all. 

If ever you are struggling with a moment, you are stuck in a moment you want to move from, just remember that there is a time for everything. In Ecclesiastes 3 it is said; "there is a time to weep and a time to laugh...a time to embrace and a time to refrain...a time to love..." Our Heavenly Father knows what our times, our moments are going to be and that is amazing!!

So why worry about that guy that who can't seem to find you? There might not be any available gentleman that are what you need or what you are meant to have. The timing is simply not right. The Lord knows your heart and your head and all of you. He knows the type of gent you need to be with and that is simply why it is not happening. Not because you are not desirable, because the Lord made you in his image. It is because you are too amazing and grounded in the Lord's love that there is no guy willing to take a chance.God's timing is not right. But it will be. 

Relish the moments. Trust that the moments are perfect. Because they are. Put your trust in the almighty Heavenly Father. For he plans out the moments. I am so in awe when I read psalm 40:5 "The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." 

Look at the moments of present, for yes the future moments are planned. So don't worry about being single, don't worry about that moment when you think you ruined an audition, that moment you didn't  do so well on a test, the moments that are unknown; those are the most exciting. Those minute moments are all part of God's plan for your life. 

Our lives are a series of carefully planned moments...

We don't plan them 

We trust in the Lord 

His timing is perfect 

His plan for each of us is beyond what we could ever imagine 

Those moments

He planned them

We are infinitely blessed

This moment 

The next 

Forever 

Are all 

In The Lord 

ALWAYS 

"Perhaps  this is the moment for which you were created."  Live it.

Stressing Is A Part Of Life...But It Is Not The Center

Why must we stress? 

There really is no concrete answer to this question "why must we stress?" And yet here we all are stressing over the simplest, most minuscule things in our lives. It is human nature to be stressed in all kinds of ways at different times in our lives. That is something as a race that we cannot seem to get away from, it is inevitable. And yet with the Lord it is so possible. 

God is so good. When we are stressed He wants us to come to Him. "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."-Psalm 68:19 Not just once in a while, the Lord bears our burdens DAILY. I don't know about you but I find so much comfort in that. So we are going to get stressed but in the Lord that stress becomes a testament of our love for our Heavenly Father who will never leave us to bear our own burdens. 

So this is midterm week at Meredith and for many, and in particular some of my close friends that can be major stressful. It is possible that you could study for hours on end, stressing yourself out over what? A midterm? When you think about that one college midterm or maybe that one relationship that didn't pan out and you harp on it you stress. But what for? Paul says in Galatians 5 that "Christ has set us free to live a free life. Take a stand and do not let yourselves be burdened again." So instead of succumbing to the stresses of school, relationships, friendships, jobs, commitments; take a stand for Him and do not let yourself be burdened by worldly things. For we are not of the world, we are are not home in the stresses and burdens of worldly things, but instead our home is in the Lord. 

If there is something you are struggling with at this very moment...stop...tell the Lord of your struggle, your stress; and give it up to him and do not let yourself be burdened. The Lord wants us to live a life in Him and be a light to those who do not know of his unfailing love. We should not waste our time stressing over worldly things that do not near compare to our AMAZING, burden-bearing Heavenly Father. 

The next time we begin to stress about some irrelevant worldly thing we must stop and remember we have a wonderful Savior who died for our sins, and daily bears the burdens that we may have a life in Him and His love. We live for him and are a walking light for His love for us. Stress does not touch Him. So therefore stress should not be something we let control our lives. The center of our lives is the Lord and shall forever be. 

We must seek His peace daily by filling our minds with His word, by lifting up our hearts to Him in prayer, and simply sitting at His feet in awe and reverence. For, it is ONLY by His mercy, grace and His never-ending love, that the stress we hold onto so tightly in our lives can be taken away. 

The Lord says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." What more could we even ask for? We are blessed by Him so immensely. So do not stress dear ones for the Lord almighty is here and always will be.