Closet Confessions with Christina: Real, Raw & Relatable

That sounds so negative right?? I know is does but when you listen to todays podcast you'll understand. With constant talk and dates of the rapture all over my Tiktok feed, I needed to say this. It was on my heart, so I shared it:)

When you feel like you have your mind right, you're not overthinking things, you feel peaceful... then boom... the insecure thoughts take over. Making you questioning decisions, your faith, fears and doubts.... what are we suppose to do? Just listen to the lies of the enemy? Just take his accusations and lies? NO! We have to fight back! The battle is already won but we must know HOW to engage in that war!

Faith takes action, transformative actions, personal development, social impact, spiritual growth, unlock a world of possibilities

I'm so excited for this episode! Not only has it been FOREVER since I've done a podcast, but I've got my very sweet friend on here with me today for a little BIBLE talk! We discuss our past, our growing-up families, and our Heavenly family. How shame and distorted views of Earthly Fathers can mess up our perception of our Heavenly Father!

If you're anything like me, you've always been intimated to try to read thru the Bible. I've always thought of it as overwhelming or too hard to understand, so why even start? But my goodness, how wrong I was! It's alive & better than any spicy novel! But more important than the characters, is the MAIN character! God! The Bible shows us who GOD really is.... compassionate, patient, merciful, mighty, gracious.... so many things! There's nothing MORE important than getting to know our creator! For He IS worth it!!!!!!

This is something that I don't study or think about enough. But for the past 2 weeks, it's been so heavy on my heart to do a deep dive into Ephesians 6: 10-17 passage. Spiritual warfare is so real but God's been so good to us to give us the weapons we need for this lifetime. And we don't fight FOR victory, we fight FROM victory! From Jesus Christ's victory on the cross! He's already won the war... but while we're here, the battle still goes on. Even though we know the ending, that doesn't stop the enemy from trying to make us doubt God's faithfulness, lose our joy and live in fear. BUT praise God for His gifts to us, His children!!!

I'm guilty as well of thinking I have to wait until Jan 1st to make changes! I get excited about "new" things. New opportunities, new cars, new houses, new years.... all the "news". But In Christ, that's every day! And we take it for granted. At least I know I do! But I want to focus on every day being a NEW day with Him. A NEW opportunity for showing love or growing in my walk with Jesus or for Him to perform a Miracle in my life! Will you join me? Lamentations 3: 22-23 2 Corinthians 5:17 Let's connect!! I want to hear from you! Your thoughts on the podcast or suggestions for episodes or even if you just need another social media friend, find me on these platforms! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Christinasmithmcculley (Make sure you're in my VIP COMMUNITY TOO) Here's that link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/121720581306925 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinasmithmcculley/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@christinasmithmcculley? email: Christina@ChristinaSmithMcCulley.com

How do we hear God’s voice when there’s decisions to be made? How do we know if we’re making the right decisions? How do we discern His voice from all the others voices in the busy world?

Well here's another therapy session for me. Haha!! Where I pretty much just talk out my heart issues but hoping it helps you somehow too!

Christmas can be stressful. That's I changed the way I did gifts a few years ago. I needed to get back my joy of the season. Now this isn't for everyone but it works for me and my family,

I've started at the beginning of the Bible and I'm loving it so far. I've never read the Old Testament. God's character is shown so much right off the bat!!! And so are humans! Haha!! So many times, we make decisions based from Fear. Irrational, emotional decisions that end up NOT being the wisest! That's the stories we're going to talk about in today's episode. My prayer is it brings enlightenment to you and how you make decisions. I know it sure has me!!

I struggle in this area. Bad. So when God told me to talk about it, I sure didn't want to. I was embarrassed, I think. Convicted, I'm sure. But that probably means I NEED to talk about it. Because anything God brings up, He wants to bring out to deal & heal it.

I always get asked... How do you hear from God?? It's not that hard actually. I believe He WANTS us to hear from Him. He is a personal, living God that loves us very deeply. Don't you want to talk to YOUR children? I believe it's the same way with Him. His Word, thru people, thru that still small voice... there are lots of ways. But there are also things that hinder us from hearing from Him, I believe. Bitterness, unforgiveness, distractions... those things can cause walls that block us from hearing from Him. What were Jesus's examples? What did Jesus do to hear from His Father? Let's discuss all of this in today's episode!!

I've heard it said, Perspective is Key. But really I think perspective is freedom!!! The way we see things MATTER! It matters to our spiritual walk & human walk. Mountains, storms, windshields.... they all change with a different perspective. They can go from scary to peaceful... from big to little... from fuzzy to clear. I hope you enjoy today's episode.

Testing testing. Let me know!

Offense, resentment, bitterness, and unforgiveness are ALL wall blockers from us and God. Holding on to anger and hurt only hurts us. Releasing and healing IS from Jesus. It's a free gift. Serving our enemies was demonstrated by Jesus when He washed Judas's feet but HOW are we to serve our enemies when we've been hurt so bad by them?

I had planned a different podcast today. I've been studying Judas for 2 weeks because of a post going around on Social Media. Something like... Being a Christian is not loving Jesus, it's loving Judas. At first, I was like AMEN! But then I got to really thinking. I have a "Judas" in my life right now. And I'm going to tell you.... It's HARD to show love to that person. It's hard to act like everything is fine around them. It's hard not to let resentment set in my heart. And I've been praying ALOT for this heart NOT to allow bitterness and resentment to settle in! So in this episode, I talk a little about it but not the whole study yet. Hopefully, it all makes sense to you and the rambling is not too confusing! All my love in Christ, Christina

We always searching. Always looking. Always wanting.... that high. But really what we are looking for is Fulfillment. But there's a hole that was created by the Creator Himself that can only be filled by Him. We try in all different kinds of ways. Like jobs, children, spouses, success, looks, body image, alcohol... the list goes on and on. Let's talk about it and what we can do to stay focused on the One true thing that can truly fulfill us!

Whoa this one was hard. Will I be judged for my admission of being addicted to vaping? Will I fail & fall back into the addition after telling everyone I'm quitting? Will this episode come across as legalistic & goody goody? Well, we're just going to leave it in God's hands. Alcohol, nicotine, drugs..... why are these the main things we think of when someone says they're addicted to something?? What about our phones, social media, approval from others, perfectionism from ourselves, food, caffeine, sugar.... ANYTHING we think we can't live without means we're addicted to it!

That's a strange title right? Well my thought was that a lot of people may not think they "need" to listen to a podcast about Shame and embarrassment so I figured maybe the title would spark some interest. :):) Shame tries to be an identity. And as a Christian, that IS NOT OURS to claim! Shame keeps us in the dark. In a hole. Jesus paid a big price so that DOESN'T have to be what we walk around with.