<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/em><\/p>\n Does your life make you feel like a hamster on a wheel?<\/p>\n You go through the motions, tell your family you love them, go to church every Sunday, and sometimes a mid-week Bible study if your job permits. You pray, but squeeze it in between the other demands that scream for your attention. Maybe you try to pray right before bed\u2026and end up falling asleep on God.<\/p>\n (Don\u2019t feel bad. It gets the best of us.)<\/p>\n And the routine repeats when the alarm chimes the next day.<\/p>\n There\u2019s more to life in Christ than that, isn\u2019t there?<\/p>\n Yes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The daily wheel makes you run, but it hinders your walk.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Barely fitting God in your schedule leaves you spiritually starved, and you can feel it too, because throughout the day, something inside you longs for His presence, His Word, His voice, or some encouragement.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Have you noticed you\u2019re struggling in areas you normally don\u2019t? Like with friends, who you normally get along with just fine, or at your job, something you already have plenty of expertise in, or with your kids, who you normally keep in check? Being spiritually starved leaves you vulnerable.<\/p>\n In Joyce Meyer\u2019s words, \u201cyou can\u2019t live on snacks. You need meat and vegetables [to grow].\u201d<\/p>\n Here are your five steps to start growing.<\/span><\/p>\n Step 1: De-clutter your schedule.<\/b> Your plans control your speed on the wheel. Assess your schedule and axe the things you don\u2019t need to do or aren\u2019t fruitful.<\/p>\n Step 2: Give Him some of your free time.<\/b> God\u2019s highest priority for you is your relationship with Him because you learn more of Him and His character with time, and you emerge refreshed and ready to change the world (as David discusses here<\/a>, which is why pastors and evangelists stress seeking Him first thing in the morning.<\/p>\n During that time, you can pray, meditate (think on and mutter) on scripture verses, sing praises to Him, or silence yourself and listen for His voice in your spirit.<\/p>\n And the beauty of Jesus is His Spirit lives in you, so you\u2019re not confined to one location. If you can\u2019t meet with Him in the morning, you can in your car while you commute, or during your lunch break. Or, if you have kids, your best time may be right after they head for bed.<\/p>\n Step 3: Start your personal Bible study.<\/b> It\u2019s good to go to church each week, but you\u2019ll need to read the Word daily for yourself (Joshua 1:7-8). If you don\u2019t have a concordance yet, buy one, because it\u2019s an essential Bible study tool. If you\u2019ve never done this before, start researching verses on the most fundamental concept we all seem to miss: love, or God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve written the verses, study and meditate on them. The Holy Spirit will begin to speak them back to you (a rhema word), and since you\u2019re meditating, you\u2019re saying them aloud as well. You\u2019ll be amazed at the confidence you\u2019ll gain when you\u2019re frequently reminded that God loves you, and love covers a multitude of sins; that perfect love (which only Jesus has, which now lives inside you<\/i>) casts out fear (1 John 4:18), and so on.<\/p>\n The unspoken perk of personal Bible study?<\/b> You\u2019ll hear God\u2019s voice more often.<\/p>\n Many believers say they don\u2019t hear God\u2019s voice or can\u2019t distinguish it from the noise in their minds. The more you study the Word, more the Holy Spirit will have to say to you, because He always gives a rhema word the moment you need it.<\/p>\n Also, when you have Biblical questions, don\u2019t be afraid to ask around. Fellow believers are always happy to impart knowledge.<\/p>\n Step 4: Speak scriptures back to God in prayer.<\/b> God loves it when you remind him of His promises in prayer. Not only does He see that you\u2019re learning and leaning on His Word, but it also keeps you accountable: knowing the scriptures keeps you from praying outside His will (John 14:13-14). Plus, hearing those promises (in your mind or aloud) encourages you even as you pray.<\/p>\n Step 5: Do good for people, including yourself.<\/b> Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and one of the most powerful ways to overcome struggles in your own life is to do good for someone else.<\/p>\n It can be as small as giving your next-door neighbor a gift or complimenting a stranger; or something bigger like volunteering in disaster relief efforts. God created us as relational beings, so when we bless others, we\u2019re blessed, too.<\/p>\n Bonus tip: Believe by faith that every word in the Bible is true, even the things you\u2019re unsure of.<\/b> Until that happens, these five steps will have no value, because if one part of the Bible isn\u2019t true for you, then none of it can be. Bring your questions to your pastor (if you attend church \u2014 some don\u2019t), do research on sites like CARM.org, and watch in-depth speakers like Dr. Ravi Zacharias, Dr. Adrian Rogers, or Dr. David Jeremiah.<\/p>\n Spiritual growth is a lifelong process\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u2026but it\u2019s not as complicated as it seems. The steps above are timeless. Circumstances in your life will change, so you\u2019ll have to go back to Step 1 many times, but these will never fail you.<\/p>\n So as they say: lather, rinse, repeat.<\/p>\n What do you do to grow spiritually? What do you think the Church as a whole is missing in its growth?<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Mellissa Thomas is a Central Florida freelance writer and published author of From a Babe: A Weekly Devotional for New Believers and Those Hungry for Spiritual Growth in Christ<\/a><\/i>, which has changed hundreds of lives in its first year. The From a Babe<\/i> small group Bible study workbook releases on Amazon.com July 26, 2013. For more friendly encouragement, blogs here<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today, I\u2019m pleased to host a guest post from\u00a0Mellissa Thomas, who hails from Florida and blogs here. Check out her new devotional book (details follow this post) \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013 Does your life make you feel like a hamster on a wheel? You go through the motions, tell your family you love them, go to church every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"PhotoGrid951368021990147\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/580\/2013\/07\/PhotoGrid951368021990147-250x300.jpg\")
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