sprirtual care

Spiritual Care

Are you wondering How too maintain a healthy spiritual life? As Christians we encounter a lot of things that could be hard to deal with on the day to day basis, being a parent, going to work, serving in the church, being a wife, health issue, and the list goes on. Its easy for us too want too give up and get lost in the process of building our spiritual life because we are so overwhelmed and burdened down with life. It could be work issues, maybe you are the only one on the job that is saved and you have to deal with rude people all the time, Maybe you are a mother that has small children and can never get time to yourself, Maybe your dealing with a sickness and are struggling to hold on to your faith. There are many things that we deal with daily that can easily distract us and take us off the path that God has for our life. God's will for our life is to stay planted so that we can grow and experience the fullness of His Joy (John 17:13). It is our job as Christians to make sure that we are doing the right things to stay on track and maintain a healthy Christian life. Here are six things that has helped me to stay on track and be spiritually grounded.

                                                                         

1.) Spending a lot of time with God.
Spending time with God daily is a must. You have to take time out everyday to read the bible. Reading the word is where we get to know God, learn too hear his voice, understand how we suppose to live as Christians, and how we build our faith. We can't expect to overcome trails and tribulations if we 1.) don't know what the bible says about it, and 2.) are not filled up with the word. The more that we hear the word the more likely we are to remember it and it can take root in us. The bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God Romans 10:17. We have to renew our mind daily.
  Prayer is another way of spending time with God.  Making sure that you are communing with him daily. Having a relationship with God is like having a relationship with anyone else. Just like you would talk to your spouse everyday or to a friend, In that same way you should talk to God. Let him know your concerns, ask Him what is His will for your life, Ask Him for what you need, make sure to be open and vulnerable with Him. ( He is the only one that can help you through every situation). God wants to lead and guide our every footstep (psalms 37:23) but we have to be willing to spend that time with him in prayer to get direction..
 In addition to this I would suggest you to spend time listening to you tube sermons, worship music, podcasts, make sure that you go to church weekly, read Christian books and blogs. All of these things will help you stay focused on God and feed your spirit daily.
                                                                        
                                                                           

2.)Detox your life.
Think about some things that maybe a hindrance in your life right now and is causing you to be stagnant in your spiritual growth. Things that maybe bringing out the worse in you. Maybe you've been dealing with fear, jealousy envy, anger, lust, insecurities, or not being productive. Identify some things that can be causing that behavior and detox it from your life. It could be social media, certain television shows, pornography, friendships, a mindset, an environment etc. Make sure that things that your are inviting in your life are planting good seeds in your heart and helping you grow.  Scripture teaches us that it is our job as Christians to guard our own heart (proverbs 4:23).
                                                                    

3.)Journaling.
Journaling is like a therapy for me. I journal all my prayers and it helps me to take the time out to think about what I want to say and I'm able to empty myself, by giving God all of my concerns and I can also always go back and reflect on the prayers that I've written down and see God's faithfulness and how he answered my prayers. I journal things that I need to work on, I journal goals, I journal during bible studies the things that God speaks to me or something that I feel that is important. Many of times in the bible we see time and time again where God instructed His people to write things down, Habakuk 2:2, Jeremiah 30:2, Deuteronomy 31:19, psalms 102:18, Ester 6:1. There is a power in writing things down it helps you to remember things better and also be more intentional about your spiritual walk.
                                                                 

4.)Self care.
It is very important to take care of your spiritual health, but it is  also very important to make sure that your mental and emotional health is also taken care of as well. This is done making sure that you give back to yourself. Its easy to forget about yourself because you're so busy being a mother, wife, employer, serving at the church, running a business etc. Those responsibilities can become draining when you're not taking the time out for you. I encourage you to get at least one day of rest every week, set aside days to do what you love doing, treat yourself regularly by getting your hair done, nails done, going watch your favorite movie, read your favorite books etc. Getting away from your daily responsibility to focus only on you is a powerful tool for self care.  It is impossible to be in a good place mentally and emotionally constantly pouring into others while neglecting yourself.  The bible instructs us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Mark 12:31
                                                                       

5.)Fasting.
Fasting is a powerful tool. Fasting is when you sacrifice something and dedicate that time to focus on God. Most people fast from food, television , water etc. I would suggest that you pray about what to fast. Fasting is great for strengthening intimacy with God, building your faith, deliverance, clarity, answered prayers, overcome spiritual welfare, and being more sensitive and more attuned with God. In Matthew chapter 4,1-11 we see that Jesus fasted  while in the wilderness and being tempted by the enemy He used fasting as a tool to overcome temptation.
                                                                         

6.) A Godly community.
Plug into a local church where you could find a community of people that can support you on your journey. Every believer needs to have a good influence around  them that encourages them to get closer to God and become the better version of themselves. A Godly community is there too support you through difficult times, give you sound advice, help you grow in your faith, be able to have fun and also have people too relate too. 1 Thessalonians 5:11.