When I invite God in

I needed a spiritual recharge. I sat at my desk, opened my palms, and prayed. I confess I don’t always do this before I sit to write or work. I asked Him to fill me, direct me, flow through me. I opened my hands in surrender and postured myself to receive from Him while releasing my own tight grip.

When He reveals what’s dead

When I opened my computer, it failed to respond. I clicked harder. No response. I had literally just unplugged it from the charging station. The picture appeared on the screen with the red battery and disconnected charger. I walked upstairs to where it rested charging all night to find the cord hanging from the socket. It appeared connected, but it wasn’t fully. A dead battery resulted.

I brought my charger downstairs, plugged it in, and removed it immediately. I wanted to test something. Would a few second charge do any good at all? My computer fired right up. The battery showed 4%.

What’s Needed Most

And that is when God showed me a picture of how easy it is to be fooled into thinking we are relying on Him fully, when in reality we often come for a quick charge to receive just enough then off we go.

I plugged my computer into the source and allowed a full charge.

I need Him every second of every day.

Yet I strive away in my own strength, running on a weak battery, failing to see power is freely available to me.

My independent spirit is an affront to God. It’s my pride showing up in the form of self-sufficiency. It’s me receiving from Him the gifts and strengths He’s placed in me and working yet failing to stop and recharge in Him.

I want to learn to live a life that is a constant flow of Him. One in which I truly live every minute aware of Him, turning my eyes toward Him, seeking Him, thanking Him.

The busier life is lived, the greater the struggle this becomes.

The more distractions I allow, the less inclined I am to even hear Him speak.

If I stay in constant motion, I might catch a few whispers but I can guarantee I miss much of what He has to say to me. I’m too busy.

Our busy culture is a great threat to our spiritual growth and development. The danger is we often don’t realize what is happening in our own souls. Our charge is weak, but because we can function, we fail to see the great power we’ve bypassed.

The simple secret

My Thursday night small group gathered. We each take a short passage of scripture and share insights the Lord reveals to us. In John chapter 15 Jesus tells us He is the true vine and that His father is the gardener. He instructs us to remain in Him and He will remain in us and that apart from Him we can bear no fruit.

In the first 10 verses of chapter 15, Jesus says ‘remain in Me’ ‘remain in my love’ or some form of ‘remain’ 7 times. The ESV uses ‘abide in me’.

I believe Jesus wants us to understand this concept. He desires we remain in Him. Not grab a quick charge and dart away. But remain. It’s easier for me to pull away from Him than it is to tuck in tight.

Remain. Abide.

The fight is in remaining. The temptation is to run to distraction, to busy, to entertainment, to purpose, to anything other than Jesus.

Yet, it’s clear, we are instructed to remain.

Remain is a choice. We can remain or we can flee. When we flee, parts of our soul begin to die.

Maybe it’s time to begin the practice of disconnecting from sources that suck from us and offer nothing in the form of restoration. And let’s simply remain in Him.

Maybe it’s as simple as pausing everything, getting down onto our knees, and humbly approaching God. It’s simply seeking Him and nothing else.

God, we come to you in awe of who you are. You are supreme, you are King. You are Lord. You hold the world in your hands. You knit us together. You know the number of hairs on my head. You know all. Nothing is beyond you. You are full truth, full wisdom. My joy is complete in you.

One way to help us remain

I have to keep God’s Word before me always and everywhere. In this culture and climate, it’s too easy to become distracted and off-course. To fall into the traps the enemy sets for our feet. Sometimes it’s a simple reminder, a word, a phrase, that prompts me to stop and consider Him. To let out a deep breath and exhale my cares of this world and inhale of His Spirit.

I created an Abide tea towel to remind us that apart from Him we can bear no fruit. We can try and end up running ourselves into the ground. Inside we will decay. Yet when we surrender to His love and make the choice to abide, remain, in Him, everything shifts. We blossom and produce what’s impossible on our own. Even when our physical world shakes, we remain strong in Him.

I invite you to browse my shops. Because I’m a one gal shop right now, it takes me some time to update all the platforms. Etsy is updated first, next my shop right here on the blog. Coming soon, you can find me on Amazon Handmade!

Although I belong to a gym, I’m not a big gym person. I do one thing at this gym. Kickboxing. Sometimes I branch out and take a strength class. But mostly, I take a class from my favorite instructor.

After a couple of busy weeks out of the gym, I made it back to kickboxing. The instructor stopped by to chat as she made her way to refill her water prior to starting class. I removed my jacket, revealing my sleeveless arms, and her eyes grew wide as she gave a tiny gasp pointing to my biceps.

I thought in that brief moment, “Well. They aren’t enormous, but I am pretty proud of the growth of these old biceps.” I had increased my weights by a mere couple of pounds.

As I met her gasp with my proud nod and a slight flexing of these scrawny biceps, she said, “Oh my goodness! Your arms!”

I looked down thinking they must have grown much larger than I remembered. As I looked at my biceps, I instantly realized what had her so astounded. My almost 3 week old, sunburn turned tan which left a distinct farmer’s tan right across my bicep area.

The immediate embarrassment set in. I just played right along like I knew what she was talking about the entire time. I know you’ve been there too. Insert laughing emoji.

Oh embarrassment. Some moments are much more embarrassing than others. But none feel particularly good at the moment.

I rarely post two days in a row, but today I felt compelled to write to you. Mostly because God is showing me how my fear is holding me back, and I need to push straight through it.

What am I fearing? Embarrassment! Failure. All of it. I may fail right before your very eyes. But if I never try, I automatically fail.

I have a dream in my heart, and I’m following it.

So I’m just going to blurt it right here at you.

I’ve started a business. So now that I’ve actually told you, there is no going back. Here goes my story and my why. I’m fighting the temptation to fire hose you with everything I’m holding in. Sometimes my passion is a bit off-putting.

WHY?

I write to inspire and encourage your journey of life. My desire is to cheer you on as you intentionally step day by day with God. The same is true with my shop. My goal is to inspire families to be spiritually intentional in every nook and cranny of their life and home.

We live in a culture that is saturated with messages we don’t want penetrating and affecting our families. Therefore, we must take extra measures to saturate our homes and our lives with Truth.

I’ve found that what I place before my children’s eyes, over time, becomes ingrained in them.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol[a] on your forehead.[b] 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

In our home we take this instruction seriously.

Romans 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

I wrote a post titled Total Immersion is the Way to Bathe Our Kids in Truth. The culture we are raising our kids in is set to devour them. We have to be on the offense in our parenting. Truth must be before them always.

There are fringe spots in your home you need to claim as spiritual training grounds. That is why I’m starting a product based business full of inspirational items to have before your eyes everywhere you turn.

For today I have scripture pillowcases, inspirational tea towels, and an audio devotion. But down the road, my vision is much bigger. In fact, my favorite product is still in the design stage.

I have so many ideas in my head. But today I’m staying here where I am. The pillowcases are my very favorite. I’m sharing my story of these treasures tomorrow. I may set a record for the most posts in a week. Ever. But don’t unsubscribe. This is highly unusual for me. And my sister’s here next week, so you won’t hear a peep from me for about 9 days!

My shop is right here on my blog. It has an incredibly unique name. Renee Robinson Shop 🙂

Check it out.