Having an Evergreen Relationship with God

Journaling through Ephesians | Kind. Tenderhearted. Forgiving.
Not as the world sees it, but as God shows us in Truth - in his words and in his deeds in his kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness towards us.
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
Journaling through 1 Peter | Christian wounds
Sin feels good. It follows every wrong instinct we have to blindly do what we think will make us happy.
So when people of the world follow what makes them happy and see that we aren’t following, it doesn’t make sense to them. Why would we deprive ourselves of that? Moreover, why would we deprive them of that?
Because when we call out sin for what it is, the right instinct of our conscious brings sin to light and reminds us – it’s evil.
The haze of the false sense of comfort fades away and we’re left with emptiness, the devil feeding on our destruction.
For us that see it for what it is by the grace of God, we want to be as far away as possible from Satan’s harmful temptations.
Journaling through John | Living like the King
When we know something heavy is coming that we’ll have to take care of, the last thing we want to do is take care of something or someone else.
Jesus knew he was going to be murdered. And yet he washed the feet of his followers.
To the world, it makes no sense. But within the kingdom of God (the kingdom following the lead of the King), it makes perfect sense.
Our King is kind, all-knowing, and completely selfless. He cares for his own in a way no one else can.
Journaling through Psalms | the God of justice and love
If we ever doubted if we live in a world where God is present and with us, this psalm helps us realize the truth: He is still present. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of his love. His word is upright and by his word were the heavens made. We may live in a world full of sin, but the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof (Psalm 24:1).
“For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses.” - Psalm 33:4-7
August journal “unboxing”
This is the “unboxing” of the July mailer with the August journal, “Planted by God”!
There are a few things that our Creator has let us as the created understand in a very tangible way. The idea of planting is one of them.
We can personally know everything that goes into it: we can gather seed, we can prepare the environment and plant, we can water and tend... and we can watch it grow, wither, or any number of things in between. Just like God gathers us, preparing everything for us, giving us everything we need, nurturing us and providing us with chance after chance to thrive.
The potential each of us has if we but let God work is immeasurable.
It has been that way for centuries, even recorded all throughout the Bible. So let’s see God’s plan when we are planted in Him, what happens when we choose to be planted elsewhere, and how we can stay rooted in God and flourish, just as we are meant to in Him.
This is what our everseeking subscribers are studying in August 2025! So let’s take a closer look at everything in the study and the mailer…

July journal “unboxing”
This is the “unboxing” of the May mailer with the June journal, “Traveling with Jesus”!
It is so easy to get distracted by so many different things. It happens to each one of us constantly.
There are the everyday distractions (the busy life that has us doing one thing and then suddenly needing to take care of another).
But worse are the distractions that we may not even recognize: the ones Satan uses. Because he knows that if our goal as Christians is to live for God, all he has to do is distract us from our goal in any way possible. He may even use things that inherently good – like Martha distracted with much serving (Luke 10:40) or even following the created rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).
Jesus knows that it’s hard, that it’s a daily decision. And so he urges us: set your mind on things that are above!
It’s a mindset: our mind is set, determined, and protected as it remains fixed on things that are above. We don’t want to lose our way in the chaos of things on earth. We want to let our minds be at peace, safe in the presence of God. So let’s read more about it...
This is what our everseeking subscribers are studying in July 2025! So let’s take a closer look at everything in the study and the mailer…

Planning prayerfully
For some, we love planning out our time.
For others, we like the idea of planning, but can never seem to stick with it.
And still others rather not plan at all.
But no matter which category we fall in, we’re all given the same gift…
…a precious thing called time.
It’s limited, and what we do with it matters. It echoes into eternity – for us and for those who God puts in our lives.
So when we stand before God in at the end, how will we answer for the gift of time that he has given us (similar to the talents given to the servants in Matthew 25)?

Journaling through Hebrews | Copies of heavenly things
“Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” Hebrews 9:23-24
Ever wonder why the Old Testament? There are so many times when we get confused when we read the covenant that came before Christ. And we have a tendency to dismiss it.
But Jesus himself said he didn’t come to get rid of the Old Testament.
He came to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17).
Journaling through Psalms | If not for God…
Have you ever stopped to think - what if God didn’t exist in the world? Or what if God wasn’t the God we know, but the clockmaker who did just create us and then left us to sin with no saving grace?
It can be depressing - until we realize the truth. God does exist. And moreover, He fights for us. We deserve no second chances, but God has given us countless chances until we die.
This is something David was very aware of… and so he wrote a beautiful psalm about it.
June journal “unboxing”
This is the “unboxing” of the May mailer with the June journal, “Traveling with Jesus”!
There comes a time in every Christian’s life when we wish we could have physically walked with Jesus - that we could have listened to his voice and seen him perform miracles. But even thousands of years later, God lets us get as close as possible. He gives us four accounts of Jesus’s time on earth! His presence is no less with us today than it was with the disciples then.
God is in the midst of his city, his people. God has always been with his people. And because he is, we will not fall. We will not stumble or lose the most precious thing in life: our relationship with God.
So even if we do not get to physically walk with Jesus, we have something better: God himself, his Spirit, within us. We never have to be separated from Jesus. We never have to worry about what life would be like without him. He was in the midst of them then, and he is in the midst of us now.
So let’s travel with Jesus, knowing this is our journey now as much as it was for the first followers of Jesus all those years ago...
This is what our everseeking subscribers are studying in June 2025! So let’s take a closer look at everything in the study and the mailer…
Journaling through John | “Has no one condemned you?”
“Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.'“ John 8:10-11
Of all of the encounters with Jesus in the Bible, this one is a favorite. Because the woman is us.
We were found in sin, in the act of sin, and brought to the feet of God. We were accused. The Law stood against us. God would be the judge. And the verdict is so obvious - guilty.
And so we sit at the feet of Jesus, waiting. Waiting for the judgement that’s to come. Waiting to be told we that have failed — again — after being given every chance.
But the guilty sentence doesn’t come.

May journal “unboxing”
This is the “unboxing” of the April mailer with the May journal, “Precious in My eyes”!
He loves us. We don’t have to wonder, “He loves me, he loves me not.” The answer is and always will be, “He loves me.” Even though others will try to love us unconditionally, we’re all fallible humans and eventually, something will happen when they can’t love us in the full way we expect and need.
But God can.
And He is constantly showing his love to us. Before we were born, he made it possible for us to be by his side forever. And as we walk through life, he wants us to know that each day and with every breath, he is beside us, walking with us through whatever comes. He came from heaven to earth for us. He gave himself in our place. He made sure that we would have no reason to doubt his love for us.
And so we read the words written by God to his people centuries ago - before He died, before we lived... but fulfilled in his death, in his resurrection, and in our daily lives as followers of Christ, all of these years later. So let’s read and see how precious we are in God’s eyes...
This is what our everseeking subscribers are studying in May 2025! So let’s take a closer look at everything in the study and the mailer…

Journaling through Luke | The kingdom of God in the hands of its King
“What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” Luke 13:18-19
It can be hard to explain something that we cannot see. The kingdom of God… what is it like? We didn’t even have to ask Jesus - he answered our question before we knew to ask it.
And it wasn’t easy to explain. But the Son of God used many parables to try to explain what his kingdom was like. And this was one of the many illustrations he used – not a palace, not a mystical land, nor a selfish ruling – but a mustard seed.

Journaling through Ephesians | Speaking with grace
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
Ephesians 4:29 ESV
More times than we want to admit, we don’t think about the words coming out of mouths. Especially if we’re tired or angry or even just too comfortable. Words can leave a mark that lasts for years and decades in a person’s mind, their meaning changing how they see themselves or life in general.
And there are different kinds of marks. It can be something beautiful that you chose to be brave and share with them (or that was easy to say)! It can be something that came from a place of pent up anger and finally flew out of your mouth. Or it could’ve been something that was just carelessly tossed out in conversation - and then you wished you could’ve taken it back.
God knows the power of words. His Word is eternal, lasting long after creation falls (1 Peter 1:24-25). He is the Word (John 1:1). And by his word, the universe was created (Hebrews 11:3).
So when God cautions us to guard our words, we listen.
How to spend time with God while away from home
For those of us who have a Bible study routine, finding a way to spend time with God when we’re out of our routine can be difficult. And for those of us who don’t have a Bible study routine at home, we equally struggle with this issue.
So, whether we’re away for vacation, for responsibilities with work or family, or for anything in between, what does it look like to spend time with God when we’re away from home or traveling?
Here are three things that can help…

April journal “unboxing”
This is the “unboxing” of the March mailer with the April journal, “Amidst the Storms”!
When it comes to physical storms, some of us enjoy the rain and others of us can’t wait for it to be over. But when it comes to figurative storms, we’re all in the same boat, so to speak.
It’s a time of uncertainty, confusion, doubt, or complete overwhelm. And it can be hard to know how to navigate any of it, much less how to keep ourselves from panicking. If we rely on ourselves, we know it’s hopeless... but we have a navigator in the storm who surpasses our greatest need.
He is the lighthouse on whom we can keep our gaze and know that he is holding us steady to bring us ashore. Christ is the sure and steadfast anchor of our soul, having gone before us (Hebrews 6:19-20) so he could be with us always. The storm may not stop for awhile, but we know who is in the boat with us. We know the One who walks on water. And we know the One who holds us and quiets our souls.
So here’s the reminder that in any and every storm, he truly is God -- over the storm and over us...
This is what our everseeking subscribers are studying in April 2025! So let’s take a closer look at everything in the study and the mailer…

March journal “unboxing”
This is the “unboxing” of the February mailer with the March journal!
God the Father is in heaven. God the Son came to earth and left to go back to heaven. And God the Spirit remains with us here on earth.
How incredible that God left a part of himself here to be with us and in us, as Christians! It’s the best gift we could’ve ever asked for, if we could’ve even known what to ask for. He is not a lesser part of God, as some unintentionally may think.
God’s Spirit was present from the very beginning: “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) And he is present into our future: “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’” (Revelation 22:17). (Those are from the very first and very last chapters of the Bible!) And Jesus let us know how important he is: “the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Luke 12:10).
He is God - he is kind, but he is powerful. So we take a deeper look at the Spirit of our God!
This is what our everseeking subscribers are studying in March 2025! So let’s take a closer look at everything in the study and the mailer…

True love in the gospel of John
Of all of the gospels, the gospel of John mentions the word love the most. We get to see so much of Jesus’s time on earth and one thing is clear throughout all of it: the true love of God. Jesus loves each person that he sees. He knows them, he knows they’ve sinned, and he’s ready to die so they wouldn’t be doomed to hell forever.
Even more amazing — this beautiful love continues to us today. Jesus knows us, knows we’ve sinned, and yet died so we wouldn’t be doomed to hell forever either. And in his Word, we get to know just how much God so loved the world (John 3:16) and the extent of what that love means for us (John 15:12).

February journal “unboxing”
This is the “unboxing” of the January mailer with the February journal!
“So God created man in his own image...” (Genesis 1:27)
It’s two-fold: not only is God our Creator and knows every part of who we are, he also made us to bear his image. So when God asks something of us, he’s not someone random trying to make an outdated request. He is giving us something very intentional and specific.
And so he said, “...you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” (Mark 12: 30, mirroring what God said centuries before in Deuteronomy 6). His request hasn’t changed (although Jesus does add “all your mind” in the New Testament): we love God with everything.
He doesn’t need it - we need it. And when we love our Creator with our all, we are complete. So we take it one part at a time and see how we can love God - with our all.
This is what our everseeking subscribers are studying in February 2025! So let’s take a closer look at everything in the study and the mailer…

January journal “unboxing”
This is the “unboxing” of the December mailer with the January journal!
Before kings existed here on earth, the King of all ruled. And long after kings cease to exist, our King will still rule. And we are so thankful He does. We as God’s people have always been able to look to him at any time in the history of the world.
We may get tired, fighting on the battleground of life, trying to conquer temptations and keep the faith - but we are not alone. Because at any time, we can look to our King who is present above the chaos, and as we look at his radiant face we know that despite the battles, the war is already won. He gives us the strength to keep fighting. He gives us hope that is found nowhere else. Other kings/gods have tried to rule, but God alone remains (Isaiah 26:13).
So as we look at different kings, some who tried to mimic the King and some who didn’t, there is only One who remains forever and deserves our honor and praise ... the Last King.
This is what our everseeking subscribers are studying in January 2025! So let’s take a closer look at everything in the study and the mailer…
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