This is for those who deeply desire to know more of Jesus,
For those who crave His presence in their life—but have no idea where and how to start.
I’ll be honest with ya’ll, I have been in the same boat for an incredibly long time. Seasons of being on fire for God and setting aside the time to dig into the Word have always come in waves for me—I’m sure most of you can relate. These seasons would vary depending on my depression and what my life circumstances looked like, however, today I am choosing to pursue the Lord all the time—even in my mess. Although, I’ll be the first to admit that it is not easy nor do I have all the answers. Don’t wait to pursue a relationship with the God of the universe, friends—start now!
Before we go any further, let me first start off by making it clear—God does NOT expect perfection from you. We are all sinners saved by His grace alone. I was reading Romans chapter 5 today in my quiet time and I solely believe that the Lord had me wait to continue writing this post (I started writing the night before) until I had read it. I would encourage you to read the whole chapter (it is soo good!), however, two verses particularly stood out to me:
“1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand“.
Romans 5:1-2
What does the word justify mean? Thanks to the awesome sidebar included in my Bible regarding verse one, it informed me that the word is a legal term—where God is the judge with the power of deciding either the guilt or innocence of each person in all humanity. Do you want to know the greatest thing? Even though we are all guilty—God declares us righteous. Wow, isn’t that powerful? It is important to note though that this justice we deserved wasn’t pardoned, but was fully placed upon Jesus when He died on the cross for each and every one of our sins. When we pursue an intimate relationship with Christ, we are justified through our faith—declared righteous people—and are given the gifts of eternal life and the peace of God that surpasses all human understanding. Our mess—each sin we have committed and will commit—once we repent, no longer has the power to separate us from God’s love. We have the gift of being able to simply sit in His presence, in whatever condition our hearts are in, and can lay all of our baggage upon Him. We don’t have to have our lives together first before we sit at His feet—He accepts us and loves us right where we’re at.
I believe that the best way to start pursuing and growing in your intimate relationship with Christ is to simply dive into His Word and be in constant prayer. Trust me I know—this is easier said than done. I know how intimidating the Bible can seem, but trust me friends—with time, God will reveal to you what He wants to reveal. Our job is to obey and discipline ourselves so that God can move in us and fulfill His purpose for our lives. Maybe you believe the lie that I believed (and still do at times)—that no matter how much effort I put into reading the Bible and pursuing the Lord, it will never be enough. I will never grow in my walk and I will never be able to transform into a better version of myself. I will talk more about these big lies (strongholds) and how to combat them with the truth in a future post, but for now, I want to tell you that just five minutes is enough. God knows our hearts; He knows we’re busy, and He knows how chaotic our lives can get. He understands—but He just wants to spend some time with you and for you to crave the same. It is up to us to carve out some time in our busy schedules to sit in the Lord’s presence and learn more about who He is.
Now, ya’ll might be asking, “how do I even read the Bible? Where do I start?” I have asked so many people these same questions and let me tell you, there really isn’t a right answer. However, I’d like to share what I am personally doing that has been helping me a lot and maybe could help you too! My main goal for reading the Bible right now is to learn more about who Jesus is and how He is my father—I am no longer trying to take every verse apart, struggling to decipher how I can implement each into my life. Doing so, for me at least, was pretty daunting and discouraging and led to my routine of quiet time becoming a sporadic occurrence. A couple weeks ago, I started in John and read around 3 to 4 chapters a day—highlighting verses here and there, going in with the mindset of learning more about Jesus’s character and just the main storylines in the Bible. Changing my mindset in this way has really been beneficial and has made me more excited to read it. I am now in Romans and plan to read the rest of the New Testament, then make my way back to the other three gospels I skipped. After that, I plan to start a chronological reading plan and I am super excited to see how this furthers my knowledge! Now, you definitely don’t need to read 3 to 4 chapters a day—one chapter or even one verse is beneficial. I strongly encourage you to discipline yourself; even when you don’t feel up to it or your mind is somewhere else. Bring these thoughts, fears, worries, sadness, etc. to God and tell Him you’re distracted, but that you’re going to open your Bible anyway. Ask Him to reveal something to you. Now, I think it is important to note that your quiet time won’t always end with a groundbreaking discovery. You may not feel any different after the fact and you may start to believe that it isn’t doing anything for your walk. However, I promise you it is. Just keep reading; keep praying; keep journaling; keep sitting at His feet. Whenever I believe this lie, I combat it with truth and so can you:
“…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6
Friends, we have to do our part and trust that Jesus will carry His work in us onto completion. His timing is perfect, don’t lose hope; don’t give up. Let’s pursue an intimate relationship with the Lord together, even in the hard times. Don’t wait until you feel that you have it all together—start right now!
Jesus loves you and so do I,
-Malia
Digging Deeper 
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