Deeper

For the past few years, I have been participating in the My One Word movement (see all of the details here).  At the beginning of each year, you choose one word to focus on throughout the entire year.  The goal is to allow God to work in and refine your life through the lens of the chosen word.  All I can say is that it has truly been a life changing experience!  God has done some amazing things through one simple word.  My word for 2015 was DEEPER.  While reading 1 Corinthians 2:10, I wondered about the deep things of God.  God revealed to me that if I wanted to know the deep things then I would have to go deeper.

I know that you love God, so He has many amazing things planned for you.  You can only know those 'things' by His Spirit.

It was my goal to cultivate a deeper relationship with God.  I was seeking to have a more intimate connection with my Heavenly Father, but I did not know how.  I kept wondering what it was going to take to go deeper with God.  Perhaps, what I actually needed was to go deeper in Him.

How would I know when I had reached the goal?

Over the course of the year, there were four major themes that surfaced and helped me to go deeper.

Time in His Presence

This first one may seem obvious, but I think we often minimize the importance of time spent in His presence.  When we truly understand how vital it is for us to spend time in the presence of God, then we will no longer allow that sacred time to be compromised.  You may spend time in prayer, intercession, read the Word (Bible), or praise and worship.  You could choose to just sit and meditate on His goodness while listening to some soaking music.  Soaking music always helps  me to really set the atmosphere, worship, and hear from The Lord.  Take some time to just thank Him and express your gratitude; I believe you will find it to be time well spent in His presence.  Journal about your time with God.  It is a great way to track your relationship and watch it progress.  Times of corporate worship count too.  Find a church family and/or other believers to fellowship with.  As you pursue Him, you will see that time in His presence always takes you deeper in Him.

Purification

We can never forget that God is holy.  We cannot enter His presence in any condition.  1 Peter 1:16 (NIV) instructs us to be holy, because I am holy.  The more time we spend seeking God, He will show us things in our lives that must go.  If we are truly going to go deeper in Him, then we must be purged.  God will point things out to you and that must be corrected.  It sure can be uncomfortable when He points those things out, but it is only to make us better.  It is only to allow us to draw nearer to Him.  If going deeper is our desire, then detox is a necessity. 

Identification

Once we spend time in God's presence and He purifies us, our identities, in Him, become revealed.  Acts 17:28 (NIV) states for in him we live and move and have our being.  God begins to share those deep things and the puzzle pieces of our destiny begin to come together.  We find out that those of us in Christ have a predestined plan waiting for us to accomplish.  We discover that there are things assigned in the earth realm for each of us to do.  How will you ever know what you are supposed to do if you do not go deeper with Him and find out who you are.  (Check out my blog series on identity here.)  As you find out who you are, you will begin to recognize and cultivate your giftings that lead toward that destiny.  Over time, you will learn to pour into others and live as His representative.  Going deeper will always involve discovering who you were originally created to be.

Internal Living

Internal living is letting our spirits, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit, lead the way as opposed to being led by our minds, bodies and emotions.  The truth is that our minds, bodies, and emotions cause us a lot of trouble.  Before we know it, we are affected by everything around us.  Our circumstances and situations consume us and take control of our lives.  This negatively affects our intimacy with God.  One of my teachers explains it as living from the inside out.  If we are truly going deeper, we can no longer be moved by the things of this world.  We must stay in the Spirit and be Kingdom-minded.  Deeper in God requires that we think on a higher level.

2015 was a challenging year, but through it all, I gained a deeper relationship with God.  As I journeyed deeper with Him, I simultaneously went deeper in Him which allowed me access to some of the deep things of God.  He has shared some of His secrets with me and I am grateful for our personal connection. If you would like to take your relationship to another level with God in this new year, then I would encourage you to try some of these things to cultivate a richer and deeper relationship with the Father. Let Him heal your soul!

To take your relationship with Him to the next level, click here to get my free eBook, 7 Beneficial Ways to Cultivate a Deeper Relationship with God, and begin receiving all that God has for you. 

To check out more from Shayla, visit www.ShaylaHilton.com.

Your Sister in Christ,

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, We thank you for allowing us access to you.  Draw us nearer in this new year and take us deeper in intimacy with you.  We thank you in advance for the connection we have with you.  In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.