"When I No Longer Desire God"

Ever felt like.. you knew that you were supposed to spend time with God, read your bible, pray & do all these "things" and you had the right intentions in doing so.. but as you went about your day, it didn't happen. You thought about it. You felt conviction. You felt God's spirit tugging on you; but you never sat down & just experienced His presence. Then, as the day went to a close and you sat down to watch your favorite show, you said- "It's ok, God loves me and I'll just do better tomorrow." This cycle continues for weeks and it turns into months. You begin to see yourself change from a sweet and patient person to a irritated and impatient woman. You start to gossip a little more, watch a few more shows that you wouldn't usually watch, listen to a little Beyonce (and please, let's stop defending her like she's God. The bible says a tree is identified by their FRUIT.), curse a little there-- you know, your standards begin to adjust. Your guards have been dropped and you are calling yourself a Christian but you cannot figure out why you're miserable. Guess what?

You no longer desire God. 

You see, you desire the music, the shows, the TV, the little boyfriend rubbing on your thigh, the silly unhealthy friendships, the lying, the gossip. You desire those things. You may say that you don't desire them but the way you prioritize your day shows me what is important to you. It shows me where you place your value. It shows me what you're thinking about it. It shows me and .. let's replace "me" with "God" where your HEART is.. you think it's in Him but it's not. Just because you have good intentions doesn't mean anything until you start taking those good intentions & doing something different.

Let's look at it like this: You're married and throughout the day, you talk to your husband, text him, make plans for the future, go on date nights- you are very intentional about developing and desiring Him. You WANT your husband because you continue to water & nourish that tree. Why is it that we enter into a relationship with Christ & we don't talk to Him, don't spend time with Him, aren't intentional but then we wonder why we don't desire a "deeper" relationship with Him?  What also begins to happen is even if your ignorance, the Holy Spirit begins to tug at you to REMIND you to spend time with God and show you your empty voids. You will either adjust and make time for God or, you'll go & seek things to fulfill that void in your heart. You may go have sex, text some guy you know is a hot mess, go back into your past because it appeared more comfortable (it lied), go shopping (you know) and seek fulfillment in something to cover up that hole.

I can save you time, energy, heartache & hurt by reminding you that you'll never be satisfied until you get back to that place of being intentional & seeking Christ daily. You can run to try to find you another "mentor", preacher or whoever else to make you feel better about yourself and spoon-fed you OR you can start to woman-up and be the woman that God called you to be and go get on your FACE before God. It's time out for this foolishness sisters!! We have GOT to do better. How can we continue to exchange God's magnificent presence for the presence of some man that doesn't care about you or some job that you're not even supposed to be at? We have GOT to get back to this place of sitting at the feet of JESUS. It's great that you have your accountability sisters and that you remind each other to spend time with God but let's get to a place where we don't have to be reminded anymore. What if I had to remind you to spend time with your husband? Most likely 1. Your husband would get upset that he wasn't a priority 2. And wonder why the heck do you have to be reminded by another woman to spend time with him. Why is it that we get saved & have to constantly be reminded to spend time with God as if it's a burden? You don't have to be constantly reminded to spend time with someone you LOVE & is FIRST. The answer to the clear question is: You no longer desire God. And let me be clear, there's nothing wrong with accountability but at some point, we must move from "have to spend time with God" to "I get to spend time with God."

I just gave birth to our son, Logan William Lindsey on 3/13/13 (praise God! ;-) And I learned VERY quickly that the sleepless nights & "sleeping" when he is sleeping is crucial. I also found that even in these past few days, I hadn't been spending as much time as I used to spend with God even just days ago. It convicted me. I said.. Lord, I am spending time with the one that is most important to me. Don't ever let me make an idol of my son, even in my lack of sleep & exhaustion. God, help me to want you more than anything or anyone else.

So, what has come into your life and replaced God? I could have very well made my son an idol by giving him my attention 24-7 and made an excuse about my son being a newborn or whatever else. I cannot afford to make that choice, no matter how "sleepy" I am. Reminds me of Matthew 10:37 "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." This is referring to family but we could very well replace father or mother with job, money, a boyfriend, a husband or whatever else. I'm sure Matthew used this reference because these people are usually the ones closest to you. It is BECAUSE of my SON I NEED to spend time with God. It's BECAUSE of my job I NEED to spend time with God. You see, I cannot properly FUNCTION in these roles as a wife, mother, business owner, friend or whatever else if life isn't in PROPER order with CHRIST first. 

Hebrews 5:12 says it nicely: "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!" -- You're going to church, been saved for a bit, joined a Pinky Promise group-- it's TIME TO GROW! Just "doing" these things doesn't mean anything. The question is: When the rubber meets the road & you have a choice to choose GOD vs. something else.. what do you choose?

God pressed it heavy on my heart that people also don't desire Him because life HURTS them and they BLAME Him. We cannot turn our hearts away from the only One that can help us. If life has hit you hard, know that God is close to those that have a broken heart (psalms 34:18) & He is READY to take you back into His arms. STOP running from HIM. HE will use everything that you've been through to bring Him glory. So ask Him to break your hardened heart. Forgive whoever has hurt you. Stop looking at your hurt & start looking at CHRIST.

In short, when you don't desire God.. it's because He is no longer the object of your affection. Want to desire God? Get back to the heart of worship. Get back to that place where you craved Him when you first got saved. Get back to that place of worship. Get RID of anything or anyone that is hindering you. THEN, stay there. Renew your mind. Turn off garbage. Ask God to wreck you daily. This walk isn't a 100 meter sprint.. it's a marathon, so if you expect microwave results, you won't find them in Christianity. You must stay in that place of worship and trusting God no matter what is going on in your life. Let's all make a commitment to get back to this place of worship, starting now.

Few reminders: 
1. If you live in Atlanta, I want to invite you to our church. Join us on Sundays at 11:00am at Landmark Art Cinemas. Our churches name is: "The Gathering Oasis" (there's another church that holds service there too). 931 Monroe Drive NE Atlanta, GA- in Theatre 6.

2. My book is selling like crazy! I'm so thankful for all of you that have supported! Check it out here: My New Book! Pink Lips & Empty Hearts:  www.PinkLipsAndEmptyHearts.com

3. As always, you can join a Pinky Promise group locally! There's about 11,000 ladies that have joined! Find a group near you by joining & checking out the intro page! Join here: www.PinkyPromiseMovement.com 

4. To purchase cross rings, my book, tote bags, fabulous shirts, purity rings & all that other good stuff-- go here: Pinky Promise Store . JUST for visiting this blog, I'll give you 10% off! Use the code: LOGAN. -- (how fitting!)

P.S. If you've asked me questions on here-- know that I'm not ignoring you! I get THOUSANDS of emails & questions and it's super hard to get to each one. Thanks for your patience during this busy time!


Love you all madly,
Heather Lindsey

"Sloppy Words"

As I near the end of my pregnancy (39 weeks) I have found that just because you're pregnant, people don't tell you their beautiful pregnancy and labor stories-- they tell you the most horrific, crazy experiences that they went through and their mama went through. It's almost like you have a sign on your head at the grocery store that says: "I want to hear your worst experiences." As with anything in life, you MUST guard your heart against what people SAY. Why are we walking around just "signing for everybody's sorry packages" about our LIFE? The bible gives us FULL instructions on HOW to LIVE regarding being single, married, raising children, dealing with family members, working on your job & EVERYTHING else. Why do we RUN to all these other sources and ignore the MAIN source of life? I don't know about you but I don't have time to entertain the lies of this world. So, in light of me giving birth and just reflecting on everything over the past 9 months, I want to remind you of the following:

1. Humans don't know everything. There's no formula for ANYTHING. What may work for someone else (they met their hubby at church, one person may give birth at 38 weeks vs. 40 weeks) may NOT work for you. Be VERY selective in what you allow to be planted in your heart. You may meet your God-fearing, fine husband at the mall or at the grocery store! Why would you limit the God of Israel based on what you can see? God can IMPORT a man, He can OPEN up a barren womb, He can OPEN up a position at a company JUST for YOU. Just because this can be true, it cannot be your FOCUS. Our focus is on CHRIST. You never know. Even in my own life, my husband and I were pregnant in March of 2011 and we were excited until we found out that the sac was empty at the first ultrasound. There was no child-- just a growing sac. My body rejected the sac in May 2011 and I went through a painful miscarriage of the sac. I experienced ALL the things that came with pregnancy (symptoms) but had no child to show for it. I continued to experience problems with my body for a few more months. When we got pregnant again and found out in June of 2012.. I had a choice. I could sit around and FEAR that there wouldn't be a child or understand Ecclesiastes 3:2 that says there's a "time to be born." It wasn't my TIME to get pregnant OR for my son to be born and NOW I understand it! Pinky Promise started in January 2012 & I'm confident if I would have given birth in November 2011 that I would have been TOO busy to focus on a brand new ministry which as taken up a ton of my time! I had to LEARN to trust God's timing. PERIOD. 

2. If you don't know the bible for yourself, someone will feed you their opinions. It's simple, if you don't have a standard then someone else will set it for you. You can't just let people's words & opinions push you around like the wind!! Can you compare to a piece of paper that is being tossed around by the wind.. kinda going wherever the weather pushes it? Or are you like that TREE that is planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in it's season and its leaf doesn't wither and whatever it does -- does well? (Psalm 1:3). So STUDY the bible DAILY. Look up scriptures on things that you struggle with-- don't just walk around blind to what the bible says, accepting what everyone tells you!

3. Fear. For example, if you're believing God for a husband, pregnancy, salvation for your husband, a change in your child or whatever the case, you must hold on to what you believe to be true. It's because of your aunt's 4th divorced advice, you think that marriage would never work. It's because your girlfriends son who is the same age as your son.. and "this & that happened to him" so now the idea has been introduced in your heart and in the back of your mind, fear is growing and your faith is being attacked. We should listen to stories of HOPE and be encouraged that God hasn't forgotten about us! Don't let these silly distractions have you so messed up that you're believing the lie more than you're believing God's truth!

4. Stop watching Scandal. Ok. Scandal is JUST an example and I've never watched the show. But based on what people tweet and post about.. it sounds like there's some adultery & sex scenes. So as you lay down tonight, whether single or married you could 1. Wish you had someone with you that you aren't married to OR 2. You're married but now you're imagining yourself sexually with someone from your past. You may not get attacked right away but a seed was PLANTED. One day, your husband just won't be good enough, being single & just "trusting God" won't be as enticing especially since you've been waiting soooo long. You may think that I'm extreme. You may think that it doesn't "take all that." But living for Christ will cost you your LIFE. Satan is SEARCHING for an open door in your heart & you GIVE him an open door & then you DEFEND the open door. There's other silly shows out there that are filled with drama, unhealthy friendships and so much more. Guard your heart against these things. Turn off your cable. Do your part. This goes for music as well. I know you love your Beyonce but she's framing your thinking. And please, don't send me emails challenging your music- if God hasn't already convicted you-- go to Him & ask Him His thoughts on it. :) 

5. YOUR part. Ok, sis- You have a responsibility. Yes, you do. What do you spend your time doing? Do you spend 14 hours on facebook, 8 hours of your day at work or school, an hour working out and then you open up your bible for 5 minutes to read 1 scripture and think that you're approved? Do you just go to church on Sunday to get your fix.. but ignore God the rest of the week? Do you only go to God when you're heartbroken or down or do you constantly seek and PURSUE Him? What if someone only came to you when they needed something? Wouldn't you feel .. a bit used? Do you really want a relationship with God or do you want what you think He can do for you? God has a personality.. a heart. He grieves. He cares. He's jealous for YOU. You must spend time with God daily. Do your PART. Remember, we spend time with God for OUR good, not for "His good." HE IS GOD. 

As I mentioned above, I'm about to give birth! :) I am currently writing a book on how to stay fit & fabulous pregnant so I cannot wait to share it!! I am going to try to keep you all updated on Baby Boy Lindsey but grace me as I get adjusted to mommy-hood!

1. If you live in Atlanta, I want to invite you to our church. Join us on Sundays at 11:00am at Landmark Art Cinemas. Our churches name is: "The Gathering Oasis" (there's another church that holds service there too). 931 Monroe Drive NE Atlanta, GA- in Theatre 6.

2. My book is selling like crazy! I'm so thankful for all of you that have supported! Check it out here: My New Book! Pink Lips & Empty Hearts:  www.PinkLipsAndEmptyHearts.com

3. As always, you can join a Pinky Promise group locally! There's about 11,000 ladies that have joined! Find a group near you by joining & checking out the intro page! Join here: www.PinkyPromiseMovement.com 

4. To purchase cross rings, tote bags, fabulous shirts, purity rings & all that other good stuff-- go here: Pinky Promise Store 

P.S. If you've asked me questions on here-- know that I'm not ignoring you! I get THOUSANDS of emails & questions and it's super hard to get to each one. Thanks for your patience during this busy time!

God loves you like crazy!

Heather Lindsey