relationship Archives - As It Is in Heaven

July 22, 2021July 26, 2021

Don’t Be Lukewarm! How To Not Get Spat Out By Jesus

lukewarm, lukewarm faith, Jesus, Bible, God

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

Revelation 3:15-16

To be spat out. Well, that’s serious business. When would one use such uncomfortable words? Wouldn’t it be when we’re disgusted by something? When we’re at a point when we can’t hold something any longer and have to get rid of it?

So why would these words come from Jesus? This warning of calling it quits, this threat to reject. What kind of people would make Jesus say this? From the verse above, we can see that it’s those who are lukewarm. Let’s see what this means.

June 7, 2021June 9, 2021

Spirit or Flesh – Which is More Important?

spirit or flesh, eternal vs temporary, seen vs unseen, God, Jesus, faith

Have you ever thought about how much our society focuses on tangible, physical, and surface level things? Whether it be social media platforms, your favorite sports team, a trending video game, or the viral recipe circulating the internet – there’s always something new that needs to be seen. The world does anything it can to grab our attention, and you know what? It works.

We’ve become so focused on finding happiness on the outside, that we tend to forget about what’s on the inside. Don’t get me wrong, taking care of ourselves and physical needs are important. But how are you doing on the inside?

April 1, 2021April 3, 2021

Are You Living Up to God’s Standards?

God's standards, God, relationship, faith, knowledge

If we think about relationships, do you think it’s possible to have a successful relationship without having any standards? Maybe in a romantic relationship, you want to be with someone who lives a certain lifestyle that matches yours. Maybe in a friendship, you make an effort to keep friends who are positive and encouraging instead of gossipy or cynical.

Even if we don’t want to admit it, we all have standards and expectations for our relationships. And we should. Having standards is a way of ensuring you can trust the other person while also protecting your own heart. But let’s also think about when you have clear or set standards in a relationship, but the other party constantly breaks or ignores them. How would you react? Even when you sincerely love a person, you set standards that you hold them to and usually they do the same for us. For any of us who say we’re in a relationship with God, should we expect God to be any different?

February 26, 2021April 1, 2021

Have You Heard God’s Voice Lately?

I always had many different ideas and questions about God. I would often wonder what it would be like if God spoke to me. Or, if I had a chance to meet with God, what would I want to ask? However, as I pondered more about these things, I began to seriously wonder how God communicates with us today. There are many people around the world who claim to receive visions from God or hear God’s voice through dreams. But I didn’t want to believe anything until it could be verified as true. So, I turned to the Bible for help.

February 11, 2021July 25, 2021

How to Have Hope in a World that Seems Hopeless

Hope. Something that everyone wants, but few are able to keep. When we look out into the world, especially with everything going on these days, hope seems like a very far-off dream.

I know I personally have had times where I struggled to hold on to hope. Everything around me felt so hopeless. In those moments, others would try to help me by telling me to “look at the bright side of things.” They would say, “just stay positive.” But this often just made me feel worse.

January 25, 2021April 15, 2021

6 Practical Tips to Improve Your Life of Faith

It’s start of a new year. A time when motivation for change is at an all-time high and people all around the world renew their energy. It’s a time to start with a clean slate and move on from the shortcomings of the previous year. As a Christian, one of the goals I always made at the beginning of each year was to “have a stronger relationship with God” or “improve my life of faith”.

January 23, 2021April 15, 2021

Are You One of THOSE Christians?

Have you ever seen someone standing on the side of the road or in the middle of a public space, shouting something along the lines of, “Repent or you’re going to hell!”? Extra points if they have a megaphone or are waving a sign. I saw this almost every day in college. Appropriately named, the Bell Hall Preacher camped outside the university’s highest-traffic building to condemn us to eternal fire.

January 18, 2021April 15, 2021

5 God-Centered Ways to Grow Spiritually in 2021

I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to use the new year as a chance to refocus to grow spiritually. Maybe you want to develop better prayer habits or read the entire Bible. Maybe you want to try to go to church more often. But overall, improving your life of faith is admittedly no easy feat. I used to tell myself every year that this would be the year I’d finally become the “good, mature Christian” I’d always wanted to be. The problem was that I would set the same goals, year after year, without being able to make any lasting changes in my life. I was obviously doing something wrong.

December 18, 2020April 1, 2021

Playing Hide and Seek with God

Hide and seek. It’s a game most of us are very familiar with and have played many times. We all know that rush of excitement and nervousness as the seeker begins their countdown while everyone else makes a mad dash to find that perfect hiding spot. The anticipation builds when you hear that, “Ready or not, here I come!” And then it’s time to hold your breath as you hope to remain unfound.