Don’t Just Survive Your Life…Thrive!

I have a question for you, and I hope you’ll answer it honestly.

When it comes to your life, are you surviving or thriving?

• Would you say your relationships are thriving?
• What about your professional life?
• How about physically…is your health thriving or are you barely surviving?
• Same question for your spiritual life: is your faith hanging on by a thread or do you grow closer to Jesus each day?

I remember when I first started walking with Jesus, a pastor friend of mine said to me, “Daniel, whatever you do, just say ‘yes’ to the Lord.”

And I’m so thankful for that advice! I believe it’s been the difference between just surviving in life, and thriving in life.

And I want to give you the same advice today…in every area of your life, just say ‘yes’ to the Lord.

Say ‘yes’ to Him in your finances, your relationships, at your job…and watch your life truly begin to change.

Here are 3 main areas where you need to say ‘yes’ to the Lord.

Say yes to reading the Bible every day.

Jesus said, (quoting Deuteronomy 8:3), that “a person cannot live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” We are blessed that we have God’s heart for humanity in our possession––it’s right there in the Bible.

And the beautiful thing about our day and age is that the Bible is more available than at any other time in history! I want you to read it from the book of Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation. The whole thing! I believe it’s the best way to read it, and you will not be disappointed. (You can also find a great reading plan on the Crossroads app!)

When you find a scripture that speaks to you, I want you to write it down in a journal. What is it speaking to you? What does it teach you about God, and what does it show you about yourself and how you ought to live your life?

This consistent method of reading through the Bible is one of the secrets to a flourishing life with Jesus.

Say yes to being a person of prayer.

Prayer is the word we use for the dialog we get to have with God. God wants to connect with us. He loves it! He wants to share His heart with us and hear our hearts.

You can set apart times for prayer in the morning and evening. But you also want to cultivate a life where you’re always praying throughout the day. The Bible calls this “praying without ceasing.” You’re always talking to the Lord, and you’re always listening. It’s a continual posture of the heart that says, “Lord, will you speak to me? I’m listening.”

“But…What do I pray?”

This is another one I get asked all the time. When it comes to personal daily prayer, one simple way I like to define the word PRAY is Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield.

• The first step is to praise the Lord, worshiping Him for His greatness and love, and thanking Him for everything.
• We repent by acknowledging the things that we’ve done wrong. And then we acknowledge our feelings about the wrongs done to us, and we forgive those who have sinned against us.
• We ask for the things we need and ask God to take care of our needs in the ways that only He can.
• And we yield to His voice and the work of His Spirit, waiting on Him with quiet hearts to speak to us, giving us a sense of how He wants us to respond to Him.

Say yes to joining a church family.

As a young adult, I was one of those people who was super skeptical of the Church. I thought churches were a bunch of hypocrites getting together to check a box and do the “right” thing. Wow, after I gave my life to Jesus and actually experienced being part of a church family, I realized how wrong I was!

A healthy church family brings the encouragement, support, and accountability we need to grow in our lives with God. I want to encourage you to be a fully engaged member of a church family. If you are in a situation where you can’t find a local church, I hope you will join us at crossroadslive.tv

For many people, “church” means getting together on Sundays in a large gathering at a local church. And that’s awesome! But we grow even more when we join small groups. It might be a group that meets during the week at church, or a group that meets in someone’s home, or at a local coffee shop.

Whatever type of group you find, get connected and stay connected.

If you commit to saying YES in these three areas (read the Bible, pray, join a church), your life will change drastically and become full of joy, purpose, and contentment.