Good Early Evening Beautiful People!

I pray that everything has been going well! How crazy is it that it’s already March? Um…excuse me Time….SLOOWWWW DOWN! Haha! Well depends what season of life you’re in that has you wishing that time slow down or speed up. I know it’s like that for me. When life is going well and smooth, I want to milk that time for all it’s worth! But when I’m grinding through a ‘valley season’ of life, I wouldn’t mind time speeding up a little bit. Anybody else feel that?

Personally, life has been a rollercoaster recently; whether it’s about music, relationships, work, school, or life in general, it has been a challenge. Honestly, there have been times when I am driving to work or walking through the store (usually Target….ok it’s just Target..hehe) or wherever and I feel tired. Not so much physically, but emotionally and spiritually drained. BUT I know that Jesus is right there with me every waking (and sleeping haha!) moment. When I am hurting inside, He feels my pain as well. When I feel like my prayers aren’t being heard, He is right there with open ears and open arms. I just need to continue to have faith and not grow weary. I ran into a verse that I’ve read a bunch of times but it hit me right where I needed this particular time. It’s Hebrews 4:15:

Heb 4 15

He has felt everything that we’ve felt. He’s gone through everything that we have or have not yet gone through. Yet, He did not sin. And that’s the beauty and power of Him. He has that power and grace and mercy to give us, we just have to accept it! Accept the help!

Some people may ask, ‘How do I hear God’s voice?’ and that’s a great question. The best way I hear His voice is through reading Scripture (The Bible, God’s Word). I read SOMETHING everyday. I am currently reading through a Bible plan called ‘Bible In One Year 2016’. It’s pretty self explanatory but each day there is a significant amount of reading because it includes some commentary of the sections that it has me read for each day. I love the commentary and take notes on it because it gives an overview and outlines what Scripture I am about to read. I sometimes add some personal notes in it as well, especially if it really hits home (which is usually does). So I need a good amount of time to read. And keep that in mind. If you are serious about hearing God speak, you have to take your time in reading and understanding His Word. This is something that is opposed to this world we live in. We are in a society that is consumed with instant gratification. We do something and we want our reward right then and there. That’s not how God works. You want to hear Him more, you have to invest more time. Even busy people like me. If that means getting up at 4am instead of 4:30am to get some reading in, so be it! It’s a choice ladies and gents.

In case anybody forgot, one of my ‘working hats’ is a personal trainer at the Hoover YMCA. And I have some of the best staff anybody could work with. A bunch of them are believers and we have great discussion about Jesus and His mighty ways. Anyway, one early morning after I trained a client and before I left to drive to work, I was talking to one of my co-workers Deborah. I call her my ‘YMCA spiritual mom’ because just like my own mother, she keeps me on my toes in all areas of life! I was updating her on my life and she on hers. When we speak, God is THERE in the midst of our conversation. That mind of hers is FULL of Godly wisdom and I love just eating it up! We were talking about our jobs and helping others to start being/stay/become healthy and then she stopped. She said (and this is some good stuff y’all, so buckle up!):

“Bryan, what does it mean to be healthy? Look at that word. We always talk about being healthy physically in our jobs. But think about life. We need to be healthy emotionally, spiritually, and mentality as well.” I agreed with her. Nothing I haven’t thought before. But she continued (here it is),  “What words do you see in ‘healthy’? ‘HEAL’ and ‘THY’. When we see the word ‘heal’, we are saying we want to be ‘whole’. And the word ‘thy’ means ‘your’. The only person that can completely make us healthy is God. When you say that you need your spiritual life to be healthy, you are asking God to make that aspect of your life whole. When you’re sick, you are asking God to make your body whole!”

We both about fell out! That was so powerful and exactly what we needed and that point of time! God spoke through her that morning!

So whatever part of your life you feel that you are not whole and need to be healed, talk to God in prayer. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. Just have a conversation. When I have some alone time whatever I’m doing or wherever I am, I have a good deep talk with Him as if I was talking to my best friend. That’s another way He is awesome. Through Jesus dying on the cross, we can have a personal and intimate relationship with Him. He considers us His friends. He does not pick ‘favorites’. He loves us ALL the same, even if some of us don’t love Him back. THINK ABOUT THAT. HE EVEN LOVES THOSE WHO HATE HIM! Can you do that? Love your enemies? Can I myself do that? Love my enemies? It’s easy to love those who are nice to you. But what about the others? But that discussion can be for another day.

I wanted to share this little nugget with you all. It has really been on my heart and I finally got the time to post it! If you have any particular ways you pray, please comment and share. If you have any prayer requests, please share as well!

May God Bless You and Keep You!