Revelation 21:5-7

"And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” 

Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 

And he said to me,“It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. 

To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 

The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son." ~ Revelation 21:5-7

Weakeners

There are certain things that strengthen us and certain things that weaken us. Right now I'm learning how to play the organ. It's easy for me to be a "weak" organist by not practicing often, failing to strengthen my arms and legs for the task, and just doing the same things over and over again, making me quickly bored with the organ. Did you know that it can be similar in our relationship with the Lord? There are things in our lives that can either strengthen and refresh our relationship with God, or weaken and dull our relationship with Him.

During His life on earth, Jesus told a parable about four types of people in the parable of the sower: the unsaved (Mark 4:15), the wishy-washy Christians (Mark 4:17), the worldly Christian (Mark 4:18-19), and the fruitful Christian (Mark 4:20). Let's look at the verses describing the worldly Christian: "And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful" (Mark 4:18-19). At Sunday school recently, my teacher asked us which type of soil we are. You know, I would have to say that many times, this soil describes me more than the good, fruit-bearing soil. The "cares of the world" and "desires for other things" can choke God's Word and His power in my life. I'm not as fruitful as I could be because I'm caught up with the things of this life. Let's look at what some of these things could be.

• Media can distract us and dull our walk with the Lord. We can get caught up with movies, internet, social media, emails blogs, music, cell phones, texting, etc. that we spend a lot of our time and money on media and then, we we do sit down to read the Bible or pray, our minds are so full of media that it's hard to concentrate and focus. 

• While people are important in our relationship with God (as we'll look at later), they can also be a distraction from Him. Whether it's family, friends, acquaintances, (guys!) etc. it is easy to let relationships with people become more important to us than our relationship with the Lord. The stimulation of an actual person can sometimes lessen our desire to be with God because we can't physically see or touch Him. 

• Getting caught up with books and focusing more on reading than the Lord, whether it be fiction, non-fiction, Christian books, etc. can be something that pulls us away from Him. When we would rather read a book, even about God, than read His Word, books are weakening instead of strengthening our love and relationship with Him. 

• What about money? Also in that verse Jesus talked about "the deceitfulness of riches". Into this category could fall work, finances, worry about money, etc. When we are so caught up with money and greed, we can easily lose sight of the provision of the Lord and our love of money can lesson our love for God. 

• We have such busy lives. Running from one activity to the next, there is always somewhere to be, something to do, and someone to meet. This busyness can easy weaken our love for God. For one, we're so busy that we find it hard to carve out time with Him and second, because we are so "over-stimulated" by always doing things, it's hard to rest in the wonder of the presence and love of Christ. 

You'll notice that things I mentioned above aren't bad in and of themselves. Still, any of them can easily distract us from the Lord and weaken our relationship with Him. Even from these things, many of which are good, we may need to take a break and set aside or lesson our intake in order to make room for the things in our lives that strengthen and refresh our walk with the Lord. (We'll look more at what some of those things are in our next post.) Our God always needs to be first, as He said, "you shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3).

There are also definitely "bad", sinful, evil things that have no place in our lives that can fall into any of these categories, as well as categories of their own. If we are living in sin, our relationship with God is going to be dull. We need to run from sin, confess it, and turn away from it, finding victory in Christ. As we turn away from sin and turn to God, we will be refreshed, renewed, and healed in wonderful ways: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

What weakens your love for God? What makes Christ dull to you? Along with me, examine your heart and your life so that you can be a faithful single woman, anxious only about the things of the Lord and not the things of this world:

"And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, 

how to be holy in body and spirit." ~ 1 Corinthians 7:34  

Learning more and more about Christ's freshness,

Christina

Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory!

Jeremiah 17:7-8

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

~ Jeremiah 17:7-8

Photo Credit: Alyssa H.

Is Christ Dull?

Have you ever felt like Jesus has just always been there in your life and always will be? You probably like being a Christian (usually!) but at times, doesn't it seem like Christ is dull? There have been seasons in my life when walking with Christ hasn't been new and fresh, but rather, old and stale.

At a young age, I embraced Christ and His salvation, so I can't really remember much of my life apart from being a Christian. When I was about fifteen, God really began to work in my heart and draw me into a closer relationship with Him. Everything was fresh and new. I loved spending time in prayer and the Word, communing with the Lord and celebrating Him and His love. 

After a couple of years, the novelty of spending time with Jesus wore off. He wasn't so new or amazing as He once seemed to me. Time with Him became a chore instead of a joy. I wondered if there was supposed to be more to the Christian life than just trying to be good and doing devotions. (There is so much more, my friends! We have a very real, living God!)

This past year (2014) has been one of the busiest years of my life. It was so much fun to be immersed in full-time classes at Moody Distance Learning, working two jobs, serving at church, doing ministry projects, spending time with people and more. Throughout this time, in the midst of everything, it was easy to put God on the shelf. He became just one part of my busy life, rather than the overarching reason and joy of my life. 

Looking back over the years of walking with the Lord, while I started out excited about Jesus and my relationship with Him, slowly, the joy and novelty of Christ wore away. Other things were newer and became more exciting to me. When the new year (2015) approached, I began to pray for and desire renewed joy in God. I wanted Christ to become real to me in a fresh way so that I could walk again in the absolute joy and closeness that can come only from Him.

Through different things, including a couple trials and realizing my weakness and need for Him, God made Himself real and new to me in many wonderful ways! Now, as I open my Bible, I open it with fresh eyes. I pray with fresh prayers to my God. And I'm learning to live out this freshness in my day-to-day life. Like the Psalmist, it seems to me that,

"He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. 

Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord."

 ~ Psalm 40:3

Has your relationship with God become dull to you? Maybe you've been a Christian for as long as you remember and you feel like you are just going through the motions instead of living out a vibrant walk with Him. Or maybe you are a newer believer, but already, the first excitement and thrill of being a Christian has left. In our next post, we'll dig deeper into the things that can lessen our hunger for God, but for now, look at these beautiful verses with me:

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

Every morning, Christ can be new to us. His mercies are new, His love is forever, and His faithfulness will never come to an end. This is amazing! There is newness and freshness is our God beyond what we could even begin to understand!

It's my hope that you will join with me and the Psalmist, and "Sing to him a new song" (Psalm 33:3). Walking in the freshness of Christ is pure delight! I'm still on this journey of pursuing Christ and knowing Him more freshly each day. Join me! Let's ask together for the Lord to make Himself more real to us, to renew our desire for Him, and to be fresh to us each and every day! 

Growing in the freshness of Jesus,

Christina

Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory!

Humility and Meekness

Last night's Bright Lights meeting was amazing! So full of the Lord, great conversations, fun activities, and wonderful people! Join us for this video about cultivating humility and meekness through reflecting on the incredible meekness and humility of Christ in His life and His death (be sure to watch for some "feet washing"!) and how we can live out humility and meekness by being a servant, not a queen. May you be blessed and may God be glorified! vimeo.com/122606562

1 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 

~ 1 Corinthians 5:17

A Fresh Fragrance

Spring is finally coming with warm sun rays, melting snow, and the fresh smell of all things new. I had my window opened yesterday to let in the Spring breeze. Later in the day, my little sister walked into my bedroom. "I like your room the best. It smells like Spring."

She made me smile. And it also made me think. The rest of the rooms in the house are stuffy in comparison to the freshness of mine. Windows have been closed for a long time (since winter in Michigan tends to last quite awhile!) and everything smells like it has been closed up for months. But my room, because the window was open, smells fresh and new.

When people walk into my life, do they smell the freshness and beauty of Christ's newness in me? Or is it a stale perfume that greets them? If my life in Christ has become dull to me, without the vibrant life that comes through growing in the love and knowledge of Jesus, than people will not be drawn to His fragrance in me, because it has been made stuffy and old. On the other hand, when I am delighting in Christ and in knowing Him more in His fullness and beauty each day, there is newness and life in me, like a sweet, fresh perfume spread to everyone in my life.

Paul wrote,

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, 

and through us spreads the fragrance of Him everywhere." 

~ 2 Corinthians 2:14 ~

What an awesome privilege we have been given to be vessels of God's fragrance! Let's spread His sweetness to everyone we meet! 

Blessings,

Christina

Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory!

Psalm 46:10

"Be still, and know that I am God. 

I will be exalted among the nations, 

I will be exalted in the earth!" 

~ Psalm 46:10

Sensitivity

What does God's Word say about sensitivity? How can we be sensitive to others in our day-to-day lives? Christina answers these questions in this video filled with Scripture, interactive, practical discussions, an object lesson with coins, blindfolds, and gloves, and a lesson in sensitivity from her own life. May you be blessed and may God receive all the glory! vimeo.com/120255110

Psalm 16:1-2

"Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord,

 'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.'" 

~ Psalm 16:1-2 ~

Giveaway Winner ~ Alyssa H.!

Congrats on winning a copy of "Before You Meet Prince Charming", Alyssa H.! I hope you are blessed by this resource and can also use it to encourage others! For those of you who didn't win, be sure to get a copy of your own!

In Christ,
Christina

Celebrating God's Goodness

We enjoyed such a wonderful afternoon full of the Word, fun, and fellowship on Saturday. It was such a blessing to be together, rejoicing in the goodness of our God! I hope you will be encouraged by this video with pictures, a clip of the devotion, and some music: vimeo.com/120906995. It's my prayer that you are blessed as you celebrate and delight in the marvelous goodness of the Lord in all areas of life. It's amazing to walk with Him every day!

Blessings,
Christina

Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory! 

1 Samuel 16:7

"For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, 

but the Lord looks on the heart.” ~ 1 Samuel 16:7

Today is the one year anniversary of this blog! 

Special thanks to all my amazing readers! 

I look forward to another year of seeking the Lord together!

Blessings, Christina