Several weeks ago I finished reading #VerticalChurch by @JamesMacdonald.com. It's a great book which I highly recommend to anyone interested in getting closer to God. The book has had a significant impact on my life in several key ways. First, it opened my eyes to a number of areas of my life where God is not my primary focus. The most glaring of these areas is work. I feel like such a "good" Christian on Sundays and Wednesdays when I'm involved at our church, but when going to work I realized that I was placing God in the backseat. I don't trust Him enough with work issues, and I don't share Him enough with colleagues. I'm trying to do better.
The second area that Vertical Church impacted is my prayer life. Since having children, Kelsey and I strive to be very intentional with how we are raising our three girls. Some of the things that I have done are to be home for dinner most nights, when the girls were younger I typically bathed them (not only did the kids and I have fun, but it was a small break for a very hardworking, stay at home, mom. And, given the hair that my girls have, washing, brushing, and blowing drying was no small task!)), and I put them to bed most nights which always includes prayer time. I think I was using that prayer time with the girls to rationalize less prayer time of my own. One of Pastor James' recent sermons was on being fruitful. The top line message was that to be fruitful you have to know God. You get to know God better by reading his Word (which I also don't do enough of) and by talking with Him. I don't talk to God enough, and in turn I don't hear Him as easily when he speaks to me. I've started to talk to God, and wouldn't you know, God is faithful...Almost immediately I began to hear him more clearly in my life.
The last area of my life significantly impacted by Vertical Church is my friendships. I have two sets of friends. Those who I met through my church, and those who I met through other means. God convicted me as I was reading Vertical church that my friends outside of my church may not know how much my relationship with God means to me. As God works on me I'm realizing that the end goal is to be reunited one day with everyone in heaven. I want as many of my family and friends to be there with me. And, so, I am going to work on sharing my faith more openly with all of my friends (and family) and pray fervently that if any of them are not believers, that God would use me to do His work in their lives.
One final thought on this, my first ever, blog. I was recently reading a devotional by Bob Barnes in which he said, "Jesus taught that we aren't to do good to gain heaven. Our love for Jesus should motivate our works." I often do things for the wrong reasons, but with God leading the way, I am forgiven, and one day will live in eternity with all who put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
