It’s hard to know where to begin a lot of the time.  Whether it be with an organizing or cleaning project, home work, breaking or making a habit, or whatever else, we can spend a lot of time just thinking about what to do first.  Truth be told, beginning this series has been no different.  When I shared with the moms group, I wanted to save the most important points for last, to hold their attention (ideally) and to facilitate the memory of what I felt mattered most.  And also, thoughts and suggestions delivered in person are often received differently when facial expressions and verbal inflection can be used, than from a faceless, voiceless screen.  Here it seems we should start with what matters most, for if I spend weeks offering hints and tips, a reader may spend those weeks continuing to flounder when she could start out learning to grow and I will pray for God to speak to the readers, to impart the heart of the message and not all the human imperfections.

And so, we will start with what matters most – cultivating Christ.  Without His strength, grace, and peace, none of the rest of this works.  Without a relationship with Him, none of the rest of this matters.  We must first seek to grow in Christ, if we are to be fruitful in other areas.

Giving practical tips on how to organize your home or more efficiently manage your time, based on what gifts I’ve been given or things I’ve learned through the years, is simple enough.  You can take the tips or leave them.  But to come here and to attempt to tell you how to grow in Christ is a little different.  One’s relationship with her Savior is a much more personal, individual matter, and I am no expert in these things.  But I have walked sixteen years with Him, many of them stumbling and being carried, and He has been faithful to teach me every step of the way.  So perhaps, instead of telling you what to do per se, I can encourage you to press on, carry on, and follow hard.

“The reality of knowing Jesus comes as result of hidden prayer, and personal Bible study that is devotional and consistent in nature.  Christ becomes more real to those who persist in cultivating His presence.” Streams in the Desert.

Cultivating Christ starts out simply – daily time with Him and asking Him to reveal Himself to you, to be present in your life, and to give you a hunger for His Word.  Nothing could be more within His will than for us to seek a relationship with Him, and the Bible tells us that when we ask for something in His will, He will give it.  Faith often requires acting on things unseen, so we must keep stepping out, trusting Him to be there.  Even when we don’t feel it, pursue Him.

There are many helpful things I hope to share in the coming weeks of this series, but the most important thing you will do as a woman, wife, mother, friend, is cultivate your relationship with Christ.  This has to come at the cost of everything else.  Nothing is more important than this.

Would you like to know more about a relationship with Jesus Christ?  Click here.

Streams in the Desert has been a life changing devotional for me.  God has used it countless, countless times to water this barren soul.  Click here to order your own copy.

Next week we’ll talk about the elusive idea of slowing down.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

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