Happy New Year RADsters!!!!🎉🎉

Welcome to 2018, new year, new goals, new motivation! Woop woop 🙌🏾

In the spirit of newness and charting our trajectory for 2018, I’d like to ask you “WHAT IS YOUR WHY?” Why are you looking forward to new season? Why are you here? Why do you read these posts? Why do you wake up every morning and get to work?

I was meditating on Jeremiah 17:10 one morning, and I realized that often times we put so much pressure on ourselves as Christians in our walk with God. “You have to  make time to pray, you have to desire God with all your heart, you have to make sure that you’re obeying God’s Word, you have to…you have to…you have to!” And then a question rose up within me: “Where does this leave God?” Where in here does the Word “Not by power not by might, but by the Spirit” apply? Where in this list of “honey dos” do we recognize that God searches our heart for the intention of everything we do?

Sometimes, especially in this era of Christianity, it’s so easy to get carried away with all the activities that make us “appear” holy or righteous. It gets to the point where we begin to prioritize other people’s perception of our Christian walk as more significant or higher than God’s perception. “I’ll do this because it makes me seem like a serious Christian,” “I can’t get a tattoo because it makes me seem less Holy,” “I can’t have too much fun because it makes me seem worldly,” “I have to post a bible verse or profound Christian phrase so that I seem deep in the Word,” and the list goes on and on.

We forget that God isn’t half as concerned with all the clutter of To Dos we create for ourselves as He is about THE WHY. As in, why do you choose not to get that piercing?, or why do you choose not to get that tattoo? Why do you choose not to date that cute girl or boy?, or why do you choose not to watch that show? and so on. WHY? Is it because THEY will jump down your throat the moment they think you’re deviating from God’s will according to their perspective? Or is it because YOU truly don’t want anything to interrupt that blissful connection you have with God?

“But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10NLT

“So Moyo, how do you suggest we grow in God if we don’t take actions like read our bible, or pray, or separate ourselves from certain things?” Great question! I realize that as Christians we can take several actions in our pursuit of the Kingdom and journey to connect with God on a deeper level, in fact as human beings we need to take actions and set boundaries because, well….we don’t do well without them. We can’t function without structure or being intentional about our actions, but might I suggest that the best action we can take is that of submission? Submission to God in the midst of reading and praying, submission to His Holy Spirit to foster a meaningful connection with God.

Submission is the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person.

Romans 12:1 reads, “Do not conform to the custom of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Another version (NLT) says ““Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

LET GOD transform you- that is, in your actions, in your pursuit, and in your desires- you must consciously allow God to take authority and ownership of your lives. He’s already checking your hearts for your motives anyway, why not submit to Him to ensure that you are fully in line with His will. If the reason you serve God or do what you do in our journey with Jesus is based on what other people think or “approve of” how are you creating the space for God to transform you?  Give authority over your life back to Whom it belongs.

“[The] Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Romans 1:17NLT

God makes us righteous, holy, and sanctified not our empty, insubstantial list of to dos. Meditate on this.

I’d like to encourage us that while we are being intentional about meeting our 2018 goals, let us also be intentional about our walk with/in the Lord. When we discover our WHY, we discover the momentum needed to propel us even deeper in our pursuit of God.

My why is that I honestly can’t see my life without God all up in it. I’ve tried life without God, I can do bad all by myself, and I tell you the fear, the depression, the anxiety, and, the exhaustion ate at my soul. From my trial and error, I KNOW that I’m nothing without God…zilch. I’m desperate for Him, I NEED Him like the air He daily breathes into my lungs. Plus His way is better! That’s my why. What is your why? Share below!

Ta taa!

∼Moyo∼

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I’d like to provide an opportunity to those who are yet to meet with Jesus. If you have a deep desire to know Jesus and enter into the kingdom of God you are in great company. I did at some point in my life, and it was the greatest desire that God ever met! 

I invite you to pray the sinner’s prayer: Dear Jesus, I accept that I am a sinner and I confess my sins before you. I believe that you died for my sins and rose again to give me a new life.  I ask that you forgive me of my sins; cleanse me with your precious blood which you shed on the cross of Calvary. I accept you as my personal Lord and Savior. Fill me up with your Holy Spirit and strengthen me. I profess that I am a new creature; old things have passed away and I have become new in You. Thank You, Lord! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

If you prayed the prayer, WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM FAMILY!! You are a new creature, the old has passed and the new is here! Be sure to find a bible believing, Spirit-led church in your city and purchase a bible in a version that you understand. I use the  New Living Translation, Message, Free Bible, Christian Standard Bible, or the New International Version. Enjoy the journey!