God Wants More of You!

Stretch your faith and trust in God’s will for your life.

One of my favorite things about God is how he operates under free will. God, the almighty and powerful, has decided to let us make our own decisions regarding loving and serving him. Choosing to love and serve God is so powerful and honestly it’s how all of us should operate when it comes to those who are present in our lives. Ultimately, we should want to be connected to others who choose us each day, that’s how God feels about loving him.

When you decide to love and serve God, it comes with responsibilities that require more of you, more sacrifices, faith, and time to glorify him. God requires us to stretch our faith to prove our commitment to him and his word. Having faith and depending solely on him is what he wants, isn’t it so heartwarming to know that our Father in Heaven loves us so much that he wants us to lay ALL our burdens on him? Even when we’re stressed about what’s to come next, God is more concerned with alleviating our burdens by believing, trusting, and following his word.

Because Jesus Christ died for our sins God grants us his Grace and Mercy for free, the rest of his glory we have to show up for. Despite what your life may look like in the physical realm now or previously, know that God has a plan to prosper us all. All of the blessings that God has for you are already yours, you just have to arrive to where they are. Arriving where your blessings are requires you to follow God’s word and direction as he leads you down the path he set forth for you. Following God’s word requires lots of faith as he often doesn’t give much detail about the journey. Instead, he gives you tasks that will eventually lead you to where he has called you to go.

Oftentimes, we rejoice and celebrate because God has shown us Mercy or granted us his Grace regarding a circumstance we’re praying about. Have you ever considered that the things we pray for and are granted to us without full commitment to God could be a part of his Grace and Mercy? What if when we submit ourselves to him 100% we begin to see the true blessings God has in store for us? For example, think about a parent and child. If a child wants a new bike for Christmas, but they haven’t committed to doing their chores as often as hoped for, nevertheless, they’ve been trying, the parent is likely to give that child a bike for Christmas. What about the child who has been proactive and completing chores daily? The parent is likely to grant that child a bike, an iPad,  and perhaps a host of other things for their efforts. That’s how I imagine God feels about us when we fully commit to him and his word. Sure we may get the bike because he loves us and shows us Grace and Mercy daily, but what other blessings are we missing out on because we won’t fully commit to him?

“All of the blessings that God has for you are already yours…”

There are no games, gimmicks, or empty promises with God, what he has declared over your life will come to pass. If, for some reason, you find yourself missing out on God’s glory in your life, consider it may be a lack of effort on your part. God will never give us the desires of our hearts if we are truly not ready or capable of maintaining the blessings he has waiting for us. You must demonstrate true growth in your character, spirituality, and most importantly, faith in him and his plan for you. God is ready to keep his word and magnify your life, he’s just waiting for you to do your part. Show up in his fullness and do what you are called to do by his word. Don’t get comfortable with just receiving the Mercy and Grace of God, thinking it’s an extension of his blessings, it’s not, it’s just simply Grace and Mercy. God wants to bless us so much greater than we can imagine. He is our father so he will never leave or forsake us, he will always show up in our time of need when we call on his name, but that doesn’t mean that that’s the blessing he has for us. We can shout and rejoice because God unexpectedly gave us the money to pay for a bill that we really couldn’t afford at the moment, but I imagine God is sitting around thinking ‘I plan to make you financially secure enough so that you don’t have to call on my name for a X amount of bill money”. The money for the bill was an extension of his grace, financial security is an extension of his blessings for us. When Kingdom work is being done, God is always going to supersede our expectations.

To whom much is given, much is required, because God plans to give us all much, much is required of us all. Staying connected to God is so important as we embark on our journey in life. It is truly the only way to find your purpose, and understand and live out God’s will for your life. There are things that we must implement into our lives daily to stay full of him. Here are some ways I suggest you practice connecting more with God and his word.

Prayer: Prayer is the direct contact between you and God. He hears you and when you are connected to him, you will hear him back.

Dwell in the House of the Lord: It is so important to be connected to like-minded, like-spirited, and like-hearted individuals. As a person who once thought that going to church wasn’t a necessity, I can honestly say it is NEEDED! Imagine going to a place to celebrate the one who loves you the most, with others who love him just as much as you. Remember when two or three are gathered in his name, he is amongst them!

Fill Your Spirit: Fill your spirit daily by reading the Bible and listening to praise and worship music. There is nothing more spirit-filled than studying God’s word and gaining a better understanding of him, self, and the world around you.

Listening to gospel music is a great way to uplift your spirit, remember and witness God’s word in the physical, and Glorify his name. If you’re new to Christianity, start with a playlist of songs you enjoy, eventually, you’ll find more songs to add to your playlist or become more open to new options of gospel music.

Surround Yourself with Those Like Christ: Iron sharpens Iron! If you want to truly give more to God you have to be around those who are a part of and doing the Kingdom work. Surround yourself with those who you want to be like, eventually, those traits, habits, and good spirits will begin to rub off. The opposite is also true, if you surround yourself with corruption, negativity, or those of poor spirit, you will see those things in yourself. This is why it’s so important to evaluate and alter your social circle often.

Walk in Righteousness: Ask yourself, what would Jesus do? If you begin to walk like Jesus and talk like Jesus, it is easier for those who don’t know Christ to identify the greatness of God because it should be evident in his people.

“When Kingdom work is being done, God is always going to supersede our expectations”

Ask yourself “Am I blocking my blessings and the life I’m destined to have because I refuse to give God more of myself?”. If the answer is yes, you have work to do! Don’t push off until tomorrow, what can be done today, tomorrow is never promised to us. Give God glory today! He deserves it and you will be happy you did!

With Love,

Teyona Rakell