It Costs Something, Are You All In?

God told me months ago "it costs something, are you all in?". This surges through my mind so many times a day and I know its not because I don't understand but because it seems with everything I do am I really putting it all in?? Sometimes it costs with time, money, self, sleep and more but today lets talk about time.

I have discovered that before God really got a hold of me I was walking around thinking about selfish 100% of the time, busy with kids, husband, work etc etc. So because i love the dictionary so much lets go ahead and get the definition. Most think of idolatry in the bible as just worshiping an item or form of God, well while thats also idolatry you will see that more things are idolatry than you know.

Idolatry: excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion, etc.

So from the definition you can see that anything you put before God or give more of your time to more than God is idolatry. So folks lets see what we idol, I am going to give you my list and just the stuff off the top of my head that God has shown me I am sure he has more to reveal to me while I go on my adventure.

1. work
2. kids
3. husband
4. tv
5. video games

So that is 5 just to name a few and how many of you can say most of those are on your list?? Did you know you are not suppose to put your kids before God? Did you know you are not suppose to put your husband/wife before God? Did you know they can actually become your idols? Did you know it can actually hurt your children if you do not put God first?? God showed me I will become whatever it is I spend the most time with. Who is the best Father ever?? God, Who is the best husband? God, Who is the best friend? God, Who is the best worker? God, God is the best at everything so why wouldn't we want to spend every waking second with him?

Now for all you who are like well I have to work and I cannot ignore my kids or husband,  Yes you are right we have responsibilities and God wants us to handle our responsibilities but who comes first?? Think about it how much stuff you can cram into 1 day and how many times did you stop to thank him for being so awesome, or sing praises to Him? I am sure most people only stop to complain or ask Him for something, i know that's how I was.

How much time do you spend with God every day vs your work? kids? husband? The Lord blessed me with my own business which is a lot of work but God showed me it was never to come before Him. The Lord made sure I stepped out at just the right time where I could only depend on Him. I have no savings, have no clue when people are going to pay, have no business experience etc etc. My business solely functions on God and I ask him advice on everything and I mean everything! I have no clue what I am doing!! When I obeyed God to step out and do this I didn't understand why because it was unreasonable, didn't make sense, how is that possible? I now get it He wanted me to see I needed Him every step of the way, it would not work unless God was in it and He made the impossible possible, it still does not make sense.

He showed me that not spending time with Him means I cannot really know Him and He cannot really change me into a good mother, a good wife, a good boss etc etc, mainly into His image. God wants you to put him first for a reason!! And busy is just an excuse and an excuse is a reason stuffed with a lie (got that from Joyce Meyer love her). 

Matthew 15

8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,  but their hearts are far from me. 

Is that you? That was me and I can imagine many others out there.

How much are you putting into God? Have you paid the price?? Jesus did so we can have a relationship with God, not to merely know "about" Him accept the grace and then go about our business then come crying to him when we need something only to find our prayers unanswered, which is crazy because He was still answering some of my prayers and I totally ignored Him, what an awesome God we have!! Hallelujah! Why do I feel so empty inside Lord aren't you suppose to live in me? I know I am not the only one out there who has been through this or has felt this way so lets get real, are you all in??  His presence costs something!

I was crying a few weeks ago and was totally feeling sorry for myself (selfish) and thought Lord I do not know who I am. You know what he said? He told me " would you exchange knowing who you are for knowing about who I am?" I thought okay and He said "if you do that then you will know who you are in me". I wanted to know who I was in the worlds eyes and God wants me to know who I am in His eyes but I cannot do that without devoting myself to Him entirely.

How much does it cost?? EVERYTHING!!!! Is it worth it?? YES YES YES YES YES! He wants all of your time. He wants you to rise above the rest all the time not just when your christian friends are around or when you go to church on Sunday. He wants you to praise His name all day long and see the beauty of his glory which is in everything on this earth! He wants you to know Him not just know about Him. He wants to visit you and talk face to face just as he did with Moses. The more time you spend with Him the more your face will change and you will actually start to look like Him. And think about this He is God, and I mean God all knowing, all powerful creator and He would do anything to spend time with you. But He will not force you, you have the gift of free will He is just hoping you will give your will back to Him in exchange for His will.

Now you ask where do you start? So I want to share how I started because you have to start somewhere. I used to be a workaholic and as busy as any person on this planet so if I can start and be where I am at now so can you.

Here is what I do and do not think you need to mirror it exactly this is what works for me and its taken time to increase it also so don't feel like you need to live up to someone elses standards, just start somewhere and God can help lead you.

1. Start Your Morning with Praise and Worship: When you worship him it brings about His presence, I have just recently started spending more time worshiping than praying and its been wonderful (I do this for 30-1 hr) Remember start somewhere even 5 mins, or 1 song, God will help you build it and honestly the more I do it the longer it seems to go but I have been working at this for around 3 years now and it didn't start that way.
   
   
   
2. Prayer: Here are a few things I suggest you pray for, I didn't understand any of it but God has showed and revealed it to me, so you can say this silly women Lord I read about online said to ask for this and I have no clue about any of it. ( I did this many times because it sounded good but had no clue but God showed me) Prayer time may vary sometimes God doesn't want me to say anything at all and just sit with Him. Sometimes I know I have things to work on and I talk to Him about it.
   
   A. Ask God to give you a hunger and desire for Him
   B. Ask God to give you a hunger for his word
   C. Ask God for revelation in His word
   D. Ask God to search your heart and reveal some things to work on
   E. Ask God to show you the things that you put before Him
   F. Ask to see the face of God as Moses did
   G. Ask God to show you how to pray
   H. Ask God to start showing you how to hear his voice (this sounds silly but God talks to me often in the shower because that's the time at the end of my loud day that it gets quiet)
   
   
   
3. Be Honest with God: You need to be honest with Him he knows everything anyway but i found myself keeping things from Him like he didn't know, totally silly but I don't think I am the only one who does that? or am I God? hehehe I tell God when I want to smash someones face in because I am sooooo mad and I ask him to please help me. What you don't think like that sometimes? Probably more than you would want to admit but lets be honest we all have wanted to knock someone out, didn't say you did it but you have thought about it.  Honestly is the best policy to a good relationship.
   
   
   
4. Study the Bible: Get yourself a good concordance, Bible and dictionary. Pick a word like "Love" and start doing the study on all the verses in the Bible about love. If you are angry pick "Anger". Also take notes God tells us to write it on the tablet of our hearts. When you write things down you will be amazed how they sink in. I spend usually 1 hr plus every day doing this but again start somewhere, 10 min and once God starts revealing things watch out you will find you cannot put his word down and he will start opening doors for you. Watch you will be amazed at what we can do if we just start making the effort.
   
   
   
5. Reading the Bible: Reading is different, I just read the stories I am not studying just enjoying the stories God has written down in His word. I know when I started doing this it was a snooze feast but then the stories started coming alive after awhile and I could relate to the people in His word. Example: Sarah, Abraham's wife got so impatient waiting for the promised child she gave her husband to another women. Now who in their right mind would do that? She didn't want to wait any longer for her child God promised so she got a bright idea and decided to do something herself. Do you think that's what God wanted? Nope! But how many times do we interfere with God's perfect plan? All the time! The people in the bible may not have had all the fun gadgets we have but people are still people and we all still have the same sin in us.
   
   
   
6. Meditate on His word, as your studying find a good scripture and start saying it out loud, do it for a week or so and see what happens, you are going to find you have it memorized and it has sunk into your heart.
   
   
   
7. Get some good teaching CD's I am partial to Joyce Meyer, Bill Johnson, Rob Deluca, I download them in my iTunes, there pod casts are free. Listen to them when your in the car, getting ready you can be hearing the word while you are doing something else and I am sure its better than what you used to listen to.
   
   
   
8. Talk to God all day long!! He wants to spend time with you while your working, hanging with the kids, friends etc etc. After 3 years of diligently doing these things I find myself constantly thinking about the Lord and in fact I get distracted all the time wanting to look up this scripture, praying, or singing.

If you start to do some of these things I GUARANTEE your life will change but it costs something!! I do this every day and as I get closer to God I find it hard to not want to spend the entire day studying, praying and worshiping!

I wanted to mention that I should be working right now to but I stopped to write this because if God uses it to change just 1 persons life its worth it! He is worth it!! And I want to throw in that I am finally starting to be really healed and happy. (Healed from the inside out)

Lord I pray that whoever reads this is supernaturally touched and is instantly convicted if they do not really know you. I pray these tips change the lives of many and you give anyone who reads this a hunger for you like no other. Show all you reads including myself that your presence and walk costs something and that its worth it! Let them say All in. I love you Father and you amaze me everyday! in Jesus Name Amen!