By Barb Anderson
Growing Deeper With God
As Christians, one thing we all desire is to become closer to God. As in all relationships, that requires quality time spent together. This topic of Growing Deeper With God has been the focus of our Women’s Breakfast Gatherings this year. We have taken a look at three areas we can develop which will help us draw near to Him and grow in our faith.
At our February breakfast, we focused on “Prayer.” Developing healthy prayer habits is vital to our spiritual growth. And prayer is basically the act of communicating with our Heavenly Father. Ideally, that becomes a part of our daily lives, both in time set aside and talking to Him as we go throughout our day, the same as you would if you had a friend there spending time with you. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to “. .pray continually, . .” Many times we think we can only take our big issues to Jesus, but He wants us to involve Him in everything we do. Knowing that He wants to take care of the small things as well as the big things brings comfort, stability and peace to our lives.
In June, we discussed how spending time in “Scripture” is another necessary discipline to develop. Many times people are intimidated by reading the Bible, thinking that they are not trained enough to understand it. But God wrote it for all of us as our guide for life. His written Word speaks to each of His children, no matter what their circumstances may be at the time. The Bible has the ability to speak Truth to us from the same passages, at all stages of our lives, guiding us to follow His lead. As it says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Another misconception is that we have to dedicate large amounts of quiet time to reading the Bible. A little each day is better than none. Finding what works for your schedule is critical to maintaining this habit. There are many resources available to help find a good fit for a Bible reading schedule.
Our upcoming breakfast is on Saturday, October 28th. This will be our last one this year, and we will be looking at “Serving” as our third area of growth. When we can get out of ourselves to serve others, amazing things can happen. God uses us to do His work in so many ways. We just need to make ourselves available and willing to go where He calls us. Many times He will ask us to do things that are outside of our comfort zones, but when we submit, the rewards are life-changing. Knowing that God is using you to do His work, and seeing what He does, is an amazing experience. He offers us perspective in Ephesians 6:7 saying, “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people” and we are motivated by love, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11
Ladies, please join us on Saturday, October 28th as we share a delicious breakfast and time together with other women, both from within and outside of our congregation. All ages are welcome, and please extend this invitation to other ladies you know: friends, family, co-workers. We can’t wait to see you there!
Peace & Love,
Barb Anderson
Register for the Women’s Breakfast Gathering here: https://mountcarmel.cc/event/5726/
