Realness

There is a great deal of realness that comes when we have a relationship with Jesus Christ. The presence of the Holy Spirit is so real every single day. I believe it becomes especially noticeable when you get into a routine on a daily basis where you are either spending time in the word or in prayer.

For me, the more I seek God in my time and surrender to him the more I feel his presence. I don't know if it's the same way for you, but that is how it is for me. I am not saying that I am right when I say that God's realness is only experienced in what I do, I wouldn't ever say anything like that.

I've gotten to the point that if I don't spend time in the word on a daily basis I feel the affects. The affects aren't necessarily bad either. It's not like I am being punished, I just feel like a part of me was missing for that day and that I didn't make use of my full potential.

Wednesday night we picked up a big conference win on the road and after any game it's hard to go to sleep that night because of all the adrenaline that is still pumping through me. We got back to campus around 11:15 which should be bedtime, but Paul and I decided to watch Thor so we were up till around 1:30. I had a meeting the next morning at 10:30 and my roommates had asked if I would make them broadest at 9. I was planning on having some Jesus time in the morning before I made breakfast. I set my alarm for 7:45 and then decided just to go back asleep for another 40 minutes. I knew that the only time I was going to have that day to spend time with Jesus was in the morning and that I missed my shot.

When I spend a number of consecutive days having Jesus time, my mind and my thoughts are mainly centered around what is honoring to God. When I don't have Jesus time, my mind and thoughts begin to shift towards what fits in with others around me whether it's godly talk or not Yesterday was a great day, I got to spend a ton of time with my friends and I was able to get a lot of things done. But there was a problem with yesterday...and it was my thoughts and what was coming out of my mouth. There were certain things I were saying that I normally don't say because my thoughts shifted more towards fitting in than honoring God in all I say and do. Now I am not saying these thoughts were the worst thing in the world, but they were not honoring God I can tell you that. I am also not saying that what was being said around me was terrible, I just try to hold myself to a high standard in all I say and do.

I understood why I was having those thoughts and it hit me right away. I believe this is such a great example of God's realness and his presence. If God wasn't real I would have not ever recognized that my thoughts and words were not honoring towards him. God's love is shown through his never ending presence. Yeah, I said some things and thought some things that weren't godly yesterday but I am not perfect and God is real enough for me to recognize those things.

I hope you can get to the point where the Holy Spirit allows you to recognize the power of God and the word of God. My prayer is that you all do. I hope that your recognition of how your day is going can be circulated around time with Jesus. That is a tough thing to put into words and I hope you understand what I am trying to say to you.

It's like when we have a terrible day, which we all have and we are trying to figure out why. You think your friends are betraying you, you fail a test, forget about a home work assignment, etc. Instead of truing to single out of those things making that the reason you had a bad day, maybe you're focus wasn't centered around God. When it's not we miss out on our full potential.

I came across a verse today that encouraged me and I want to share it with you.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Timothy 6:6) 

This statement is the key to spiritual growth and personal fulfillment. We should honor God and center our desires on him and we should be content with what God is doing in our lives. For me, I am content with where God has me and the situations he puts me in. If that involves me not participating in a conversation to fit in, I am perfectly okay with that. I am happy wherever God has me because he has never failed me and I am sure he has never failed you either.

If you can take one thing away from this post I want you to understand that God is real. His presence is so real when we have the awareness to look for it. We experience our full potential when we seek and honor God.