Your Relationship with God

The birth of Jesus Christ wasn’t just a moment tucked into history. It was Heaven stepping into earth. Eternity entering time. Love putting on flesh. John tells us, “The Word became human and made his home among us” (John 1:14, NLT). God didn’t send a message or a concept—He sent His Son. In Christ, the invisible God became reachable, touchable, personal. When we really sit with that, gratitude stops being polite. It turns into reverence. The King of Heaven chose humility so we could know salvation. Jesus didn’t arrive with noise or recognition. No spotlight. No stage. Luke 2:7 (NLT)…

Every life is shaped by what it allows in. Not just the obvious things — habits, relationships, and environments — but the quieter influences we rarely pay attention to. The thoughts we sit with. The narratives we absorb. The emotions we don’t question. Long before anything shows up on the outside, something has already been given access on the inside. Scripture refers to these access points as gates. And whether we recognize them or not, they determine what has permission to shape our soul, influence our thinking, and quietly steer the direction of our lives. We don’t drift spiritually by…

From The Deep Work Series: Learning the Language of Your Spirit Why Hearing Jesus Feels Hard for So Many Believers So many Christians love Jesus deeply yet feel unsure about hearing Him clearly. They pray, worship, journal, and serve— yet somewhere inside, there’s that quiet question: Why does everyone else seem to hear God but me? Did Jesus skip over me somehow? But Scripture is steady and clear. Jesus Himself tells us in John 10:27 (NLT), “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” If you belong to Him, His voice is already present. The…

From The Deep Work Series: Living From the Inside Out You Were Designed to Live From the Inside Out There is a part of you that didn’t originate from earth. A part that doesn’t shake when life gets crazy, doesn’t lose clarity when emotions get out of pocket, and doesn’t break under pressure. That part is your human spirit—the place where the Holy Spirit abides within. Your human spirit is infinitely more than what most believe it is. It’s the God-breathed core of who you are. Most people move through life from the outside in. They respond to pressure, chase…

Bringing the Mind Under the Reign of the Spirit There are moments in our walk with God when the Spirit inside us knows a truth that our minds have yet to grasp. The Spirit says, “You’re free,” but the mind still wrestles with guilt. The Spirit whispers, “You’re healed,” but the mind replays the pain. This tug-of-war is real and relentless. In Romans 7:23 (NLT), the Apostle Paul gives language to this inner conflict: “But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.” Within every believer, two realities coexist—the redeemed human spirit, made alive by…

God’s Goodness Toward Us One of the greatest commitments we can make is to never think small or downcast about ourselves, but to see our lives through the potential God has placed in us through Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 7:11 (NLT), “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” Our Heavenly Father has already proven His goodness—He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, for our redemption, poured His Spirit into us, and restored us to fellowship with Himself….

Where We Store Our Treasures In Matthew 6:19–21 (NLT), Jesus teaches us to discern the condition of the soul’s heart by looking at what it treasures. He says, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” These verses come from His Sermon on the Mount, spoken to a great multitude that followed Him. And…

Knowing the Worth of What Christ Paid For Hebrews 10:14 (NLT) says, “For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.” Jesus Christ paid a price no one else could pay. When He went to the cross, He didn’t just die to forgive your sins — He died to restore your value. His blood sealed your worth once and for all. That one sacrifice was final; nothing more needs to be added. Colossians 2:10 (NLT) says, “So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and…

Getting to Know the Person of Jesus Christ Salvation Is a Miraculous Change Someone once said to me, “I know plenty of people who say they’re saved, but they’re doing the same things I do—and some are doing worse.” And it’s true—many people wrestle with that observation. They wonder, What’s the point of salvation if nothing seems different? If I’ll keep doing the same things and feeling the same way, why do I need to be saved? But here’s the truth: salvation does cause a miraculous change. It is more miraculous than anything we could ever imagine, because through Jesus…

The First Step to Transformation Mark 10:17–18 (NLT) tells us, “As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus asked. ‘Only God is truly good.’” On the surface, this young man seemed respectful. He ran to Jesus, knelt before Him, and asked about the most important question of all—eternal life. But his greeting revealed the problem. By calling Jesus “Good Teacher,” he was treating Christ as if He were just another…

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.’” (Matthew 11:28–30, NLT) The Weariness We Carry Life has a way of draining us—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Some days you wake up already tired, worn thin from carrying burdens you were never meant to shoulder. But here’s the…

Part 7: Reordered Priorities Some of us aren’t bound by chains of fear or shame — we’re bound by the weight of misaligned priorities. We keep saying “yes” to everything and everyone, but deep down, we know our soul is starving. Our schedules are full, but our spirits are running on empty. We’ve placed work, people, and even ministry above the God who gave us breath. The truth is, misplaced priorities will drain you just as much as hidden wounds. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 (NLT), “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will…

The Tension of Revelation We often ask God to show us what’s holding us back. We pray for clarity, for growth, and for breakthrough. But when the Holy Spirit reveals the truth, it doesn’t always come wrapped in comfort. Sometimes He shines light on a part of us we’d rather keep hidden—an attitude, a pattern, or a wound we’ve learned to live with. In that moment, alignment with God begins with honesty. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:13 (NLT), “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” That guiding includes not just truth about…

Identity and the Power of God’s Word It’s staggering how many people walk through life without knowing who they were meant to be. For many, life can feel aimless and joyless, like a puzzle with too many pieces missing. Often, the root of this struggle is that they don’t know, or haven’t embraced, the truth of who they are in God’s eyes. James 1:23–24 (NLT) says, “For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.” God’s Word is…

Emotional Wounds and Faith: When Pain Builds Walls We don’t always realize it, but some of the hardest battles of faith don’t show up as attacks from the devil, they come from the walls we’ve built around our wounds. A wound left unchecked doesn’t just ache—it changes the architecture of our soul. It becomes a wall, and that wall is often built so skillfully we convince ourselves it’s protection. But the truth is, what was meant to shield us ends up shutting us in. This is how emotional wounds can quietly hinder our faith and keep us from walking in…

Surrender is a word that makes a lot of us uncomfortable. For many, it sounds like losing, like laying down your fight and letting life run over you. But in the kingdom of God, surrender is not weakness—it’s strength. It’s where we discover real, raw, unshakable power that doesn’t come from us, but from Him. A surrendered heart is one that says, “God, I’m yours—completely. Even when I don’t get it, even when it hurts, even when life seems to be going the opposite way.” That kind of surrender is bold. It’s faith in motion. Letting Go to Gain What…

Life moves fast, and distraction has become a way of life. Between social media feeds, constant notifications, work demands, and the pressure to always be “on,” we can find ourselves torn in a dozen different directions—running on fumes. Even the things that once refreshed us can start to feel like noise. And if we’re not careful, our walk with God can slip quietly to the backseat while everything else screams for center stage. We say we want to keep God first. But the truth is that it can be challenging at times, and it’s not because we don’t love Him….

There comes a time in every believer’s walk with God when the usual prayers, fasts, and service no longer quiet the hunger within. You’ve shown up, stayed faithful, carried burdens, and poured out more than most will ever know. But instead of feeling full, you feel this unsettling ache rising in your soul—the ache for more. Not just more activity or accolades, but more of what’s real. More purpose. More fruit. More fire. More of the life Jesus said was possible. A life that is rich, satisfying, and dripping with the kind of joy that no storm can erase. I’ve…

There are seasons when you look around at your life and all you can see are your limitations. You wonder how God could possibly use someone like you. You scroll past posts of people doing big things for the Kingdom—launching ministries, writing books, speaking to crowds—and your first instinct is to shrink. You don’t have a platform. You don’t have polished words. And honestly, you don’t feel like you have much of anything worth offering. Just a quiet heart. A little faith. And a whole lot of questions. But here’s the truth: inadequacy is not a disqualifier in God’s Kingdom….

There comes a moment when you realize that survival just isn’t enough. It’s not wrong—it’s just incomplete. For a long time, maybe surviving was the win. Just breathing. Just staying in the game. Just putting one foot in front of the other with your faith limping but still alive. And if that’s where you are now, listen, there’s no shame in survival. But don’t stop there, because God didn’t call you just to survive. He called you to rise to a life beyond what you could ever accomplish on your own. He called you to live, not just exist. To…