Alisa Jeffus 6/14/23 Alisa Jeffus 6/14/23

The Healthy Soul: Present with God

Valerie invites us into the practice of being present with God — not just for one point in time, but throughout our entire day.

If you’ve spent much time here with me on the topic of soul care, you will quickly start to see a theme. So much of soul care is about paying attention. We often live at a frenetic pace and if we don’t we often fill our lives with noise. Noise from social media, news, podcasts, and other forms of media. When we are feeling overwhelmed we might go on a vacation or have a staycation where we fill our day with fun things only to hop back on our treadmill called life, shortly after.

While we may be enjoying or trying to enjoy the “good life” we still have that sinking feeling of discontent, stress, anxiety or depression.

Where have we gone amiss?

In all of our living, it is quite possible that we miss that which is the most life giving, enjoyable part of life: the presence of God.

If you are His child, you have been given the greatest promise known to man: “I will be with you always.” (Psalm 16:8, Joshua 1:9, Matthew 28:20)

Another interesting aspect to soul care is that it is always free, easy and available to all of God’s children. In addition, so many of the ways we can care for our soul are counter to our culture. Spending time with God can actually sound boring, unattainable or something we just don’t have time to do. None of that is true.

The truth is that being intentional about practicing the presence of God is life-giving, life-changing and priceless!

Being intentional to be with God opens your life up to greater love, peace and (en)joyment!

Here are some ways that you can begin to practice the presence of God:

Every day simply choose to direct your mind toward God. This can be challenging at first as we are used to thinking of other things, but over time you will find that you can actually train your mind to start thinking of God on its own. Ask God to help you.
Surround yourself with things that remind you of God. This can be as simple as post-it notes in the inside of your kitchen cabinets, on the bathroom mirror or in the car.
Memorize one or more Scriptures that speak of God’s presence or any Scripture that encourages you in general.
If you have a Bible reading routine, before you begin, invite God to be with you and direct your time. He is already with you, but I have found it powerful to give the invitation as a way of saying “I want to be with you, I want to know you are here with me.”
If you practice Sabbath, be intentional to spend time resting just in the presence of God.
When you pray, don’t end your prayer and move on about your day. Instead, keep the conversation open. You might even say, “I’ll talk to you more in the car, (or kitchen or bathroom or where it is you are going to be).” Before you know it, you will be talking to Him throughout your day without much thought or effort- it will become a habit.
Lastly, if you want a little more inspiration, check out the little book, “Practicing the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. I recommend the modern version, HERE

As always, it is a great idea to start with God and ask Him how you might be better at being present in God’s presence.

I am confident you will find that growing in His presence makes all of life brighter, better and more as He intended it to be.

Here’s to enjoying His presence on our journey!

Valerie

Alisa Jeffus 4/20/23 Alisa Jeffus 4/20/23

What is Spiritual Formation and Why Does It Matter?

Valerie writes about what spiritual formation is, why it’s important, and shares some resources to get started.

Christian spiritual formation is defined as the process of being conformed to the image of Jesus for God’s glory and for the sake of others (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). The Holy Spirit is our teacher and helper who guides us to be formed into a person who reflects God to the world in word and deed. As children of God grow in His likeness and character, others can receive the graces of God and have the opportunity to know God, in part, by the actions, words, and life of His children.

As we grow in spiritual maturity, we grow into persons of love who are becoming more like Jesus. Some character identifiers would be compassion, love of God and others, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, and being quick to listen and slow to anger. It is important to note that the goal is not just outward behavior but rather, inner change that results in an outward change. As a Christian, becoming like Christ always includes abiding and submission. It is God who works in us as we place ourselves under His loving care and direction.

There are many pastors and Christian leaders who would agree that Christ-likeness has been on a decline in the western Church in the past several decades. The number of comfortable, consumeristic, and unchanged professed Christians seems to be on the rise. You may even find yourself relating to those who go to church but whose lives are little different than non-Christians around you. There can be a host of reasons that a Christian is not showing signs of growth and change. Here I will briefly list a few roadblocks and then focus on solutions.

Road Blocks to Spiritual Growth

Roadblocks to spiritual growth can be varied but here are a few that have been common to my experience for me and others I know personally.

Lack of desire or apathy
A lack of intentionality in spiritual matters
Need for healing of past hurts- in and/or outside of the Church
A distracted or noisy life
Individualism
A focus on outward behavior without inward change
Pride

Solutions

At Intentionally Ordinary, we are big on committing to small steps in the right direction which over time can make a big impact. Here are some solutions to the above roadblocks. The solutions are more in quantity than the roadblocks! So many options to help. Again, these are tips that have helped me or others I know personally.

Pray for desire! Look up verses about desiring God and transformation (John 4:13-14, Isaiah 26:9, Psalm 73:25, 42:2, 143:8 are a few).
Find friends or a community that is excited about being disciples of Christ.
Read books about spiritual formation or books about the lives of those who are or have lived a Jesus-filled life.
Make intentional time in your life for things that are important to your growth. This could mean establishing a routine of prayer, Bible reading/study, or worship. This might mean committing to joining a discipleship group, prayer meeting, or regular church attendance. This could mean incorporating spiritual disciplines into your regular routine.
Seek out healing from a pastor, soul friend, or Spiritual Director. Pray for God to bring healing in your life.
Choose to remove or decrease unhealthy distractions in your life: social media, online games, shopping, and news feeds. Replace distractions with time to spend with Jesus through prayers, reading/study, worship, service to others, time in Christian community, or other disciplines.
Admit and confess those areas of your life controlled by individualism. How much of your life is informed by the word of God vs culture and your own thoughts/opinions? Choose to listen to the teachings of Jesus with the intent of doing them. Cultivate a heart and mind of submission to the way of Jesus.
Identify and confess areas of your life that are inconsistent. Do you act one way with one group of people and differently with another group? Do you try hard to be like Jesus on the outside while feeling less than Jesus on the inside? Seek to live by the strength of the Holy Spirit instead of your own strength.
Seek out a healthy community of Believers and engage with them. One of the best pieces of advice that have been life-changing for me is to intentionally be in relationships with those older and wiser AND with those who are younger in age and faith. We should always be being poured into while we are pouring out to others.
Do regular pride checks. Learn to identify areas of pride in yourself. Seek to be humble in heart, mind, and soul. Choose to operate in the areas that God has gifted you in.
When you learn ways to grow in your relationship with God and ways to grow in spiritual formation — do them! Let what you learn go from your head to your heart.
Seek God and seek God some more! He IS the solution!

Books on Spiritual Formation

If you’d really like to dive in, below is a list of books that can help you understand more about spiritual formation and your part in it.

Further Resources

We’ve created a few guides to help you along in your spiritual formation journey! Check out our Retreat Guide if you’d like to take that step and set aside intentional time with God or our Habit Formation Guide if you want to start developing regular rhythms of connecting with God in your everyday life.

My hope is that you will start to take steps in the direction of spiritual formation. Remember it is God and the Holy Spirit that does the work as we submit and seek to be formed by Him, into His likeness in character, for our sake and the sake of the world!

Enjoying the journey together!