Tag: trusting God

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Growth Relationships

Things That Hinder Spiritual Growth

Things that hinder your spiritual growth are obstacles or barriers that prevent you from growing in your faith and having a deeper and stronger relationship with God. Hindrances can keep you from experiencing so many things from God such as His love, His joy, His peace etc..

I’ve put together 7 common barriers that hinder our growth in Christ:

1- Certain relationships: This could be our friends, certain family members, or a spouse. The people you form relationships with also have the ability to influence you in both good and bad ways. In order to grow in Christ you have to pay close attention to who you are allowing yourself to hangout with and be around. “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” -1 Corinthians 15:33. For growth to happen you want to be around the ones who encourage you to get in the word, lift you up in prayer, do Bible studies with you, go to church with you, the ones who are also trying to grow spiritually. But if you allow yourself to be around the ones who, party, drink, cuss, or sin without even taking a minute to look up and ask for forgiveness then chances are you probably shouldn’t hangout with them. You see by you being around them you start to get used to their behavior and before long you’ll be doing the same things they are doing. Instead of allowing that to happen maybe take a step back and see if you taking a step back affects them and makes them want to change their ways.

2- Worldly Distractions: There are so many things in this world that distract us everyday ranging from, Facebook, Instagram, tik tok, snapchat to the things on tv. In order to grow we have to spend less time on these things and more time in the word, more time with God. “But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” -Mark 4:19. Have you ever been doing a Bible study and your phone went off? Before you knew it you were checking your phone the second it went off instead of truly focusing on the Bible study you were just doing seconds before you got distracted by your phone. We have to be fully committed and willing to wait to check things until we are done with our Jesus time. He should be our number one priority, not what everyone is doing on social media.

3- Negative Thinking: This happens to the best of us, we all have some shape or form of negative thoughts going through our mind. This goes back to the post I made the other day about replacing the lies with the truth. Chances are those negative thoughts are lies that the enemy has put in your head. The enemy sees you wanting to grow spiritually and he hates that so he sends millions of negative thoughts your way to try and make you trip. We can’t allow that to happen, negative thoughts should be even more of a reason for us to get in the word so that we can replace those negative thoughts with the positive ones God left for us. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” -Philippians 4:8

4- Slothfulness/Laziness: “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper” -Proverbs 13:4. When it comes to laziness there are so many things the Bible has to say regarding this, God doesn’t like laziness and neither should we! You see if we become lazy in our spiritual journey we start to feel really far from God, we start to notice our mental state changing, we see our hearts changing and becoming hard, we no longer feel his peace or his joy. This happens when we choose to do things like go to bed rather than reading our daily Bible verse first or when we choose to go to bed claiming we are too tired to pray. If you continue in those patterns you will start to drift away. You can’t let the enemy get you there, you might be tired but you have to choose to read that verse anyway, you might be tired but you have to choose to pray anyway. It’s an ongoing process, you can’t get lazy in your spiritual journey, you have to keep choosing to do it even when you don’t feel like it! Don’t allow your tiredness to affect your growth! Continue to choose God no matter the circumstances.

5- Unhealthy Habits and addictions: Unhealthy habits and addictions, when you think of that I’m sure some of the first things that come up in your mind are drinking, drugs and smoking right? Yes those are all unhealthy habits and can become addictions but there are so many unhealthy habits you could be doing without even noticing! Like cussing, white lies, gossiping, shopping, gambling, scrolling social media etc… You see when you allow yourself to do these things on a daily basis without even realizing you are doing them they can lead you down the wrong path and they could be the reason you aren’t growing in your walk with Christ. We really have to self examine ourselves, we need to come to the realization of what we are really doing in our everyday lives and what we seriously need to work on and change. I know this can be hard to truly examine yourself and your ways but once you come to that realization it just might flip a switch inside of you that says oh my gosh I need to change this. Don’t let those unhealthy habits become an addiction, stop them before they stop you! And don’t you dare say you can’t because again can’t never could because he never tried and, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” -Philippians 4:13

6- Bitterness and resentment: These feelings happen when something wrong is done to us that we choose to hold on to instead of letting go. When you choose to hold on to something that someone did that tends to lead to holding grudges. Even if the person apologized and your still holding on to it you are hindering your own growth by simply not forgiving them and letting it go. In order to grow in this area you have to understand in order to be forgiven we also have to forgive others. Lets take it back to when Jesus was on the cross, all these hurtful things were being done to him but yet he still asked God to forgive them for what they were doing. Holding grudges doesn’t help the situation, it doesn’t make you better, it makes it worse because by doing that you are continuously getting hurt by the situation. Choose to forgive, don’t continue to bring up the past hurt, don’t continue to hold resentment against someone, do what Jesus did. I’m not saying that by forgiving the hurt will go away at that moment because it won’t. Every time that situation comes back up you have to choose to keep forgiving.

7-Lack of spiritual discipline and commitment: Growing in Christ is something you really have to be committed to. Its not something you can do one time and think you’re set for life, that’s not how it works its an everyday fight. I’ve come to learn that if you allow yourself to get side tracked on your journey, the joy, the peace, the comfort will all start to slowly feel like they are going away and your mental health will start to show the effects. The trick is you have to stick to it. I know on days when it feels like its been the worst day ever and you are just completely over it and you feel like your in a hole that you can’t get out of, your motivation might not be the greatest. But you really have to discipline yourself, make it a priority so that when days like that do happen you can look forward to getting in the word to lift your spirits up. Coming from a gym rat I know discipline is not easy, there are plenty of days I absolutely don’t feel like going to the gym but I know that if I start that behavior its automatically going to become a pattern until eventually I stop going. The same thing happens on our walk with Christ, if we don’t discipline ourselves and make it an everyday thing well eventually we aren’t going to want to do it at all until one day we realize our mental and spiritual health has went down the drain because we have abandoned our walk. But don’t for one second think just because that happens that its to late for you to start back. Its never to late God has been right there the whole time, He never left your side and that’s the amazing thing about Him, He is always there no matter what we have done or how bad we think we have screwed up this time, He is still there waiting for us to come! Start making a schedule for each day and during that schedule set out a certain time for just you and God, reading the Bible, praying, worshiping. It doesn’t matter where it is, you could be driving to work with worship music blasting, or on your lunch break listening to a sermon, or at night time before bed reading a verse and saying your prayers. Anytime is a good time as long as you are making it a point to get it in each day!

I hope these barriers help you on your walk with Christ. I encourage you to really self examine yourself and see what areas you need to work on or see if any of these barriers are hindering your growth. And please know if you have a strong feeling that you don’t need to do something, you need to stop doing something, or there’s something or someone you don’t need to be around that’s probably God trying to help you grow. Make sure you can understand when its his voice and when its the enemies voice, if it leads you to peace that’s God, if it leads you to worry or stress that’s the enemy.

I used to love horror movies like no ones business, Michael Myers was one of my favorites (yeah I know) until one day I was watching a horror movie with my husband and randomly I got this weird feeling in my stomach, I don’t really know how to explain it except for it wasn’t a good feeling. So I asked him to turn it off, and well the minute he turned it off the feeling went away. Yep that was God saying Hello you’re literally watching the devil run around on the screen WAKE UP! Sense then I haven’t watched a horror movie and I don’t want anything to do with them and I’ve felt so much more growth just from that!

There are so many things God could be telling you, you just have to be willing to listen to his guidance and follow his guidance. I know it can be scary to let go of something you are so used to but please trust me when I say this, the feeling of a weight being lifted that you didn’t even know needed to be lifted is a feeling no one can describe until it happens. You will feel so much more free from things that were holding you back and your growth will take off!

Challenge:

Ask God to show you where you need to improve, Ask him to take away anything that could be hindering your growth in him, Ask him to guide you as you go on this journey. Watch how he works and pay attention to those weird feelings you have about something or someone. Distance yourself from those somethings you have weird feelings about and see if it feels like a weight being lifted. Enjoy the journey and allow God to work in you and through you.

Categories
Everyday Battles Insecurity Patience Praying Shyness

Life As A Shy Kid

Hey, Allison here and I want to share a little bit about my life growing up. We’re going to focus on how I was a shy kid and got out of it. Trust me even now as a twenty one year old I still have my moments, but its much better than before.

Most of us know shyness is usually a person that doesn’t speak up in class because of nerves or uncomfortableness. People who are shy can be insecure and have anxiety. They also tend to blush, feel shaky, sweaty, or even speechless when the spotlight hits them. Hi, that was me and still is sometimes. I was always the quiet kid in school never raising my hand to answer a question and hating when I got called on. Most of the time I felt like the outcast and that everyone else knew the answers to the problem but me. When I did get called on it seemed like everyone looked at me and my face heated up. It turned bright tomato red and I knew everyone could see it. It was embarrassing. I also hated reading out loud because what if I misread a word? If I knew I was next to read I was always reading the next part that would be mine to see if there were any words I did not know and try to pronounce in my head. Being shy also meant I struggle to ask for help. I did not like math at all! It didn’t come to me easily as it did for others so I made do without asking for help.

Shy kids don’t always have lots of friends at least in my experience that is true. I did make friends along the way but if there wasn’t anyone I knew in my classes the struggle for me was harder. Presentations were the worst! Public speaking is something I never liked doing hence why I never wanted to raise my hand in class. It meant everyone would hear my answer and if I was wrong then what? Then I would be embarrassed and feel stupid.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

God does not want us to lack courage or confidence. He wants us to be proud to be who we are. If we say something incorrect then oh well we can study so we are better for next time. God never said you weren’t allowed to make mistakes. I know it will take some time if you are shy. It can not be fixed in one day. It took me years to make lots of progress. Pray about it and ask God to put you in situations that are out of your comfort zone. That is how I became more independent and extroverted.

Okay, now here is where I get into the part about becoming less shy and let me warn you it involves the sport ice hockey. Hanna knows I talk about this constantly and it is because God put it in my path to get me out of my comfort zone. I am passionate about hockey just like I am about God. God comes first as he always should!

Back in March 2019 I attended my first Federal Prospects Hockey League game or for short you can call it the FPHL. Some might call it the beer league and I will get to why later. In Winston Salem we have a team called the Carolina Thunderbirds. The name has been changed over the years but for the last six that name has stuck. It was cancer night and I had never watched a hockey game before at least not that I had recalled. It wasn’t much of an action kind of game like I had heard. The score was 1-1 and the third period was almost over. Well believe it or not right before my very eyes the puck went into the back of the net with one second left. Yes, ONE SECOND. Can you imagine the feeling in that arena? The cheers, the celebrating on the ice, and me jumping up and down? Yeah, well that happened and after it all I met four great players! Three who are still around the league today.

The hockey games did not stop there and my shyness didn’t either. I still struggled with it at school but hockey was making it better because I cheered for my team not caring what people thought around me. I even met a lot of new people. Before hockey, my weekends consisted of staying in, A LOT, and playing on my phone or watching movies/TV. Now that I have this great sport in my life I am at the arena almost every weekend and occasionally on a week night. I cheer for my team win or lose and I get the chance to talk to these hockey players. You can’t talk to an NHL player like Sebastian Aho from the Carolina Hurricanes after the game and have a beer with him aka why it’s called beer league hockey. You can drink with the players after almost any game, get pictures, autographs, and have meaningful conversations. They’re basically local celebrities to our city, but it’s more than that for me.

In 2022 my family and I joined the Thunderbirds booster club and it also helped with my shyness. We got the privilege to adopt a hockey player, get to know him, take him out to eat, etc. He gave me my first hockey stick and I cherish that thing! We even had a super bowl party with the guys and do all sorts of things for them. Not only did hockey bring out my extroverted side it helps me help others. If you don’t know hockey then you don’t know that these players in the FPHL hardly make any money. Some work jobs outside of hockey and it’s not easy when the medical bills pile up from getting a tooth knocked out or breaking a bone. There is lots of fighting in the FPHL which leads to injuries. As a booster club member we help where we can. This year is my families second year with the booster club. Before the 2023-2024 season even started we donated a queen sized mattress to one of the houses the guys live in and a full size futon for the coach. We didn’t buy it brand new it was used and they didn’t care. They appreciated what they could get and didn’t want brand new. (Literally the Captain of the team said don’t buy anything brand new.) My family and I also host a concert with our friends from Nashville. This time right before the season started after training camp we prepped food for the entire team! Now that is a lot of grown men to cook for! There were around perhaps twenty hockey players at my house in October 2023 and it was wild. It made me feel great though to know I was helping.

I never thought a sport would flip my life upside down but here I am with so many new people in my life I never would have met if it weren’t for hockey. These people not only share the love of hockey but also the love of Jesus. I’ve traveled away from my family to see this team play with people I barely knew. (Talk about getting out of your comfort zone!) It’s amazing how our God works each and every day. He puts you in places you’d never expect. I know we all have ups and downs but I am so thankful to have the life I have today even with the struggles. One of my favorite sayings is: Blessed and hockey obsessed.

I’m glad I started off shy in life so I could bloom later on. I’m not perfect (we all knows Jesus is the only perfect one.) I will probably never be 100% comfortable in some situations. What I do know is that Jesus is there for us during the struggles whether we see it or not. Jesus is proud of you and loves you even when you fail or think you have failed. Wherever you are on your journey right now know that God has got you. He has always been there and will never leave.

Categories
Fear

Fear

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” -Deuteronomy 31:6

Fear, an emotion we have all felt and experienced more than once in our life. After all it is known as one of the most basic Human emotions and works like an instinct. We get the sense of fear when we are in a place we have never been or going into the unknown, when we don’t feel safe or feel as if there is danger ahead. But God tells us not to fear because He goes before us and protects us!

You may be wondering how are we supposed to truly respond to fear when we start to feel it, well the answer to that is the Bible. When we start to feel fear creeping in we should go to the Bible for comfort, knowing that God has so many things to say to us when we feel this emotion. In fact did you know the term “fear not” is written in the Bible 365 times…. there’s 365 days in a year… look i’m telling you God works in mysterious ways. Right there is proof, it was written 365 times because every day we face fear but are told fear not!

If we allow fear to continue to come in, we are giving it the opportunity to steal our joy and peace. I was doing a Bible study the other day and it was talking about the time David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish, but the officers that were there knew who David was and when David heard their comments he was afraid of what they might do to him. David knew they would try to kill him but instead of freaking out and letting that fear take over he knew he had to do something. “So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.” (1 Samuel 21:13)

God wants us to have power filled faith to be able to stand in a world filled with fear. When fear comes in we have to stand in faith knowing that God is with us and He went before us so He has already won the battle. We have to trust Him and take the step of faith. I know we face some scary things in life like, death, losing a job, illnesses etc… but we have to be at peace knowing all of these things are happening because it was all in Gods plan and He has a reason for all of it. Going through storms is how God prepares us for the rainbow after. Instead of letting fear come in and take over, pray over it, leave it with God and take the next step he will be right there with you. Don’t allow the emotions to get the best of you and rob you of the joy and peace God has already provided you with!

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” -Isaiah 41:10

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” -Psalm 34:4

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” -Psalm 23:4

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” -Psalm 27:1

Challenge:

I challenge you to read some of the stories in the Bible about the ones who overcame fear so you can see what faith as small as a seed can do to fear!

Stories:

-The disciples being afraid of the storm: Mark 4:35-41

-Peter walking on water: Matthew 14:22-33

-Abraham sacrificing his son: Genesis 22

Categories
Trusting Gods timing

Understanding/Trusting Gods Timing

“Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”” -John 13:7

Hanna here, Have you ever been in a moment or situation where you thought to yourself, Lord why is this happening or what’s the reason? Well let’s talk about those times because everyone has had them! As we go through each day, we often don’t realize why things happen the way they do, we just continue on without even thinking about it. But then at some point it could be the same day or weeks from when it happened, it all of a sudden hits you like Oh my Gosh this is why that happened then, I get it now…. Ring any bells?!

I’ve come to realize that God works in those ways, where he doesn’t want you to understand it until it will fully make sense to you. In today’s world everyone expects answers on demand and in that moment, but our God is a God who answers on His timing Not ours! I think that’s why people get so quickly angered when they pray and don’t get an answer in that split second and they start questioning and not understanding.

Here is a part of my story with understanding and trusting Gods timing:


Me and my husband had started looking at houses about 9 months ago. To begin with we started with One mortgage company who came back and told us we would only be approved for 160,000, well as most of you know that’s almost impossible to find with the prices of things today. We started searching, we finally found one that was listed at 165,000. We make an appointment to view it, we get there, and the foundation is cracked, automatically my husband said no. So, the journey continued on, well at this point we were about 2 months in and still nothing. As you could imagine I was getting aggravated, frustrated and ready to give up, but I knew there was a reason behind all of this.

Fast forward a month or so we thought okay maybe we start with a rental, well again as most of you know rent payments are more than mortgage payments these days so we quickly eliminated that. Four months later we are back to looking at houses again but with a different mortgage company. This company comes back and tells us we were approved for up to 180,000 and they gave us a cheaper monthly payment estimate than the first company did. I automatically thought oh my gosh that was God, God did that. He made us wait, so we would go through a different company who would better fit our needs…. Have chills yet?

He wasn’t stopping there either! The house hunting continues, we go to several different houses and don’t really like any of them so again I was getting frustrated. A few days later I get an email from Zillow that a house I had looked at previously was back on the market… y’all I had loved this house from the minute I first saw it on Zillow but before we could view it the first time, it went under contract and was pending. Then I got the email saying it was back on the market. We immediately jumped on it, went to view it and as soon as we walked in, we both looked at each other like this is the one. Sure enough it was the one God had planned for us this whole time! Of course we had some bumps in the road through the mortgage process because that’s what the devil does but God always came back ten times stronger getting us through those problems.

When I tell y’all God works in mysterious ways, He works in mysterious ways! I went from being aggravated, frustrated, and wanting to give up to living in the one we loved from the start that we thought was gone! Naturally we didn’t understand what He was doing when we kept going from house to house to house and mortgage company to mortgage company but now we understand he was teaching us patience, he was teaching us that he knows the dreams in our hearts, he knows what we truly want, like and need, he was teaching us that he answers in His timing and he was teaching us that He works all things out for our good! If it weren’t for Him, we would not be here right now, but He knew what we could afford and what we truly wanted from the get-go!

Throughout that whole process I had to continuously keep telling myself, God didn’t bring us this far to stop here. The devil will try to attack you every second of every day especially when its something big coming and boy was he trying to fill my head with all these negative thoughts and naturally in those moments you won’t understand why it’s happening then. In order for me to stay on the course God had us on I just kept reminding myself it’s in His timing, it will all come together at the time He has planned it. If God brings you to it he will bring you through it and where he guides he also provides!

So the next time you are getting frustrated, or aggravated and you don’t understand just remember that there’s a reason behind it all. God will show you why when the time is right. Just like John 13:7 says you might not understand it now but later you will! Stay the course and trust in His timing because I can tell you His timing is way better than any of ours! I hope this helps keep at least one person motivated to stay the course, do not give up. God is always right there, He has a plan and He will let it be known in His timing!

Tips to keep you on the course:

-Keep telling yourself everyday: It will happen in Gods timing

-Continue to put your trust in Him through everything

-Bring every situation to Him and leave it with Him, don’t try to figure it all out by yourself!

Songs that help me every time:

-Trust in God By: Elevation Worship

-Make a way By: Elevation Worship

Categories
Uncategorized

Everyday Battles Part 1

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” – Ephesians 6:11 ESV

Hey, Allison here. I just wanted to talk about some things that I struggle with and maybe you do too. Every day is a new day. We are so blessed to be able to wake up each morning, but what awaits us is some sort of battle. The devil will always try and work his schemes into our day the question is are you going to let him?

As Christians we face all kinds of battles. To name a few there is doubt, depression, lust, maintaining your relationship with Christ, guilt, and cursing. I want to talk about different battles that we face and how we can overcome them. Our journey as Christians was never made to be easy, trust me if everything in life was as simple as snapping your fingers it would be boring.

First off let me tell you I have been a Christian my entire life. After I came home from the hospital my mom told me they took me to church, and I have gone to church ever since. Now I am not a perfect goody two shoes. No one is perfect except our savior Jesus Christ. I admit I skip going to church every now and then or opt to watch online. Sometimes I don’t do either and it’s something I need to work on.

Since I have been a Christian my whole life, I have struggled with maintaining my relationship with Christ. I own a Bible. Matter of fact I own about six of them now, but that doesn’t mean I have read them cover to cover. They’re different versions and each of them help me get a better understanding. For example, one of my Bibles lets me take notes on the side and color while another one does not have that. I’ll highlight in one Bible, but not the other. I even have a KJV mini-Bible that lives in my car. I’ve used it a few times, but it helps remind me the Lord is always with me.

Growing up I rarely read the Bible or did much of anything to strengthen my relationship with Christ. All I did was go to church, pray during meals, and pray at night. As I got older, I started to understand more and I wanted to do more. One thing I did as a kid was read and I loved it! I attempted to read the Bible, but noticed it was hard so I gave up. Over the years I kept trying and then once I hit high school that was when I tried even harder. I began reading devotionals each morning before school and soon read the Bible cover to cover.

All relationships need work in order to thrive and that means Jesus needs you to participate even if it takes a little time out of your day. After all he did die on the cross for us the least, we can do is spend some time with him, right?

Today, I continue to struggle with maintaining my relationship with Christ, but we can only do our very best. My morning routine involves Jesus. I wake up read my devotional book, say a prayer from my prayer journal, and read a chapter out of the current book I’m reading from the Bible. Little steps of faith is all it takes to make your relationship stronger. You will fall down and maybe be down in the dumps about forgetting. Pick yourself back up and try again. Don’t give up and have patience! Jesus is here for you. He wants you to succeed and he loves you no matter how many times you fail.

Put on that armor of God. Tell the devil and his schemes to go away because Jesus is waiting for you to pick up that Bible, to turn on that Christian song, and to get on your knees and pray. Do it. Do it all for the glory of God.