Grace and Strength, Personal Growth, Relationship with God

5 Essential Practices for a Vibrant Spiritual Life

I was talking to a friend the other day.  “What should I do if I just feel blah about God?”, she asked, “I’m just not growing any more – not motivated, not changing – it’s tempting to just give up on God’s even being real at all. Where is the excitement, the joy, and the passion people say should be part of the spiritual life? Why does “everyone else” seem to find prayer so rewarding while I sit over here at a loss?”

She was asking me different questions but really they all boil down to the same crux of the matter. How does one bring a stagnant spiritual life back to life?

Grace and Strength, Relationship with God

5 Key Sources of Grace – GraceFilled Life Series

Sources of Grace – Christian Life of Grace Series Continued…

In my last post in this series we talked about what Grace really is (and how it has been distorted), and that while it is all around us, much like oxygen, we still need to tap into it ever more fully and more deeply in order to truly use it to its full potential. Just as an athlete learns to breathe, we need to learn how to recognize, and respond to Grace in order to run this race and at the end be able to say with St. Paul,

I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.  – 2 Timothy 4:7-8

Personal Growth, Spiritual Fitness, When life is Hard

What is Grace? + Can you Have a Stronger Life of Grace?

Intro to the New Life of Grace Series!

As I write this I am tired, spent from the demands of another long day. I sit down to refuge in the sound and the texture of my .05 G2 as it softly and smoothly scratches its shiny black ink across the page to let some of the pent up thoughts flow, that I might make sense of them. This is my “self-care”. At least, that’s what they tell me. “Writing” gives me my joy, my spark, my strength to carry on.

But, as the evening sun warms my shoulders and with it life and hope return to my soul, I am reminded that true strength never came from anyone’s self-care, no matter how much they enjoy it.

Oh no, my friend, our strength does not come from what we do for ourselves – our strength comes from what He does for us! It comes from beauty, silence, contemplation, and prayer. Ultimately, it comes from GRACE.

Prioritizing your life, Relationship with God, Self Care

What is a Rule of Life & Why You Need One!

A rule of life? Well, that sounds boring and terrible… and maybe even a bit medieval. Where is the freedom, the spontaneity, the enjoyment? Maybe it’s all well and good for people in monasteries and such (do monasteries still exist?) but how could it possibly benefit me in, you know, in my normal life and in the present age?

Our modern “independent” sensibilities balk at the thought of “rules” of any kind. We want to rotundly reject them as oppressive and out-of-date and live on passion alone! But for us in our “normal life” and in this present age, your rule of life isn’t something written by an old man in the 5th century (necessarily)…

Discernment, Personal Growth, Self Care

What does God want from You in your Single Season?

Did you know that your single season is the most important season of your life? That how you live it has the potential to set you up for a future of hope, clarity, authenticity, courage, and excellence, or frustration, confusion, difficulty, depression, and hardship in every other season thereafter? Most singles seem to think that God’s primary plan for their current season involves figuring out their relationship status as quickly as possible, but this couldn’t be any more distracting from the truth. If you are spending your single season worrying about when, how, or if it will end, you are missing out on one of the most incredibly valuable sources of untapped potential in human existence.

Think I’m exaggerating??

Guess you’ll have to find out….

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