"Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." ~ Luke 17-21

Do you feel distant from God?

Do you wish you were closer to Him?

Are your days filled with everything BUT Jesus?

If so I have 5 tips that will help you grow your relationship with Him!

No matter where you are in your walk with Him, please know that He will always meet you right where you are with love, kindness, and gentleness.

Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, when we put our trust in Him, His blood cleanses us and gives us FULL access to God!

THAT'S AMAZING!

The Bible tells us that when Jesus died, the temple curtain was torn in TWO! This curtain separated the inner room where the Holy Spirit resided from the rest of the temple and it was a room that only one priest, one time per year could enter to talk to God.

When the curtain was torn in two it meant that we are no longer separated from God!

That means, we now have 24/7 access to GOD!

So friend, the truth is, YOU can be as close to God as you want to be!

If you are ready to go deeper here are five steps that will help you draw closer to Him!

1. Spend time in God's WORD every day. The Bible tells us to put on the armor of God each and every day because the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. God's word tells us to meditate on His Word and His Kingdom day and night and nothing else. To do this, our family has Bible study each and every morning before we do anything else (ok, we do sneak in breakfast first)! I refer to this time as, "The Word before the world." Doing this has blessed our family tremendously! Remember, nothing anyone says or does will ever be as important as what God has already said and done. Therefore, it's CRITICAL to spend time in His Word every day. (If you are feeling overwhelmed at where to start or how to start I'll be sending out another post soon on how to get started and what has helped us read the Bible).

2. Spend time in WORSHIP every day. The Bible tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people and that when we are feeling the spirit of heaviness in our lives we must "put on the garment of praise." Friends, don't underestimate the power of TRUE worship. Even if it's five minutes of listening to a Christian song on the way to work, there is POWER in worship when you truly turn your heart and attention to God.  So, whether it's in your room, your car, or at church, I encourage you to let go of your fears and worries about what other people think of you and simply love Him!

3. Get CONNECTED at church. Doing life with a strong community of believers is crucial to your walk with Jesus. We are not called to do this alone, in fact, we are commanded to do it together! The enemy loves to separate and divide God's sheep so don't fall into the trap of thinking you can make it on your own because you can't! Join a Bible study or a women's group and get plugged into your local church community.

4. Turn the OFF the TV. There are SIX major networks that control the majority of shows on television. Did you catch that number? SIX. There is a reason there are only six and there is a reason it's called "programming." Spiritual warfare anyone?  99.9% of the shows on TV are garbage if not outright demonic and turning it off and getting it out of our lives has transformed our family. Now we have a membership to PureFlix and we occasionally watch sermons etc on YouTube but other than that, TV is not a part of our lives. If you aren't ready to make that drastic of a leap, at least start to be aware of what you're watching and how often you're watching it. It's SO easy to get suckered into watching hours of meaningless stuff and you don't realize how hypnotizing it all is until you unplug the TV and quit watching it.

5. DISCONNECT from social media. I have decided to fast social media during lent and I can't tell you how refreshing it's been! It's so great I don't think I'll log in again anytime soon. I've found that when I have Facebook or Instagram I am regularly preoccupied with it and in all honesty spending time on either of them feels life sucking rather than life-giving. So, if you're spending more than 10 min on social media every day, it might be time to take a break and use that free time to press into the Lord instead.

With Love,

Kristin