Wake Up and Grow

Why does God do what He does? What's His ultimate motivation? In today's episode, Natillie seeks to answer those questions by looking at both Old and New Testament.

We ask a lot of questions within our lifetime; we're curious creatures! As children, we ask the question, "Why?" a lot. Jeremiah asks this question of God in the Old Testament when he is faced with hardship, and God's answer is a peculiar one.

Why do we sin? This is a question that opens up our minds to multiple different answers, but most of them are unfortunate blaming! Today, Natillie tackles the act of blaming and how we use it to avoid dealing with sin.

We live in a world full of forced compromises, where if you don't quietly accept our way, you will be relabeled as a bad person. For the Christian, what does this mean? Do we continue to compromise our standards, our beliefs, and our identity? No! We cannot expect to lead others down the narrow path if we are still lukewarm, if we are forsaking our new, and true, identity as a Saint.

What do you think of when you hear the word "humility"? Most people think it is a lack of self-value; lowering how we think of ourselves. But what does the Bible say? Today, Natillie explores this important aspect of the Christian life and seeks to define humility outside of its original worldly defnition.

Anybody else ever strut around the house with a plastic crown on your head as a kid? Did wearing that crown make you a king or queen? No, it didn't. In today's episode, Natillie talks about who should be wearing the crown of authority in our lives, and why it shouldn't be us.

What's the importance of missions? What is missions? In today's episode, Natillie tackles the topic of missions with, special guest and Gen Z evangelist, JD by looking at the Great Commission JD socials: @heyjdhere; @jdchats; www.hopp.bio/heyjdhere

Do you desire for God to use you? Do you want to be a part of a body of believers who are moving in boldness? Do you want all that, but still doubt your ability to do so? AWESOME!! Well, not the doubting part. In today's episode, Natillie takes a look at the life of Moses to help listeners understand how God can use them for His Kingdom here on earth.

More than likely, the title of today's episode now has that old Christmas carol playing on repeat in your head. And for that, we're sorry. But did you know that there is a 12 Days of Christmas celebration apart from that never-ending song? In today's episode, Natillie looks back into Christian tradition to see how we can recover this amazing Christmas tradition.

In today's American culture, we are taught that we should be independent. That's great and all, but how does this play into our Christian faith? Can independence actually harm us in the long run? Natillie tackles these questions and others in today's episode.

Does it ever feel as if God isn't blessing you? What is God's blessing anyway? In today's episode, Natillie looks at how God blessed His people in the past and how He is blessing us today, along with how we perceive those blessings can affect us.

What's the one thing you're most afraid of? For Natillie, it's spiders (ew!). Whether it's creepy crawlers or letting down a loved one, we can all admit we've experienced fear. But, why? And what does the Bible, what does God, say about fear?

Plants need their soil to be healthy in order for them to grow and flourish. Our souls are similar. Today Natillie dives into the meaning behind this well known parable, given by Jesus in Mark ch. 4, and how our souls are in desperate need of a change of soil.

Has your pastor asked for the members of the congregation to come up and share their testimonies? Have you ever felt that your testimony wasn't significant or relatable enough to share with others? Natillie's been there too. Many of us don't believe that our testimony will amount to much, and so we don't share it. In today's episode, Natillie looks at the importance of our testimony and the impact it has on others.

In this episode, Natillie tackles one of the biggest issues facing this generation of Christians today: DISTRACTIONS. Do you find yourself easily distracted or pulled from time with God? Join Natillie as she sharpens her weapons to fight these distractions and return her focus back to God.

No one wants to be contaminated with an agonizing, infectious disease (we saw how that went with COVID). So, why are we okay with allowing sin to fester inside of us, when it's 10x worse than any disease we could encounter here on Earth??? In today's episode, Natillie talks about how sin is like a disease and how we can be rid of its symptom, "eternal death".

What's next after we get saved? Is there another part to this Christian life? Why do I not feel saved? All good questions with answers we could explore for hours. But today, Natillie tackles the core reason why many newly saved Christians feel like they're missing something: they still have a heart of stone. Not literally, obviously, but a heart that is still set in sinful ways and habits.

"Why am I here?" No, Natillie isn't having an existential crisis, but it seems that the world in general is. No one seems to find fulfillment in anything anymore because it wasn't their "purpose". So, what is our purpose? Why were we created? Why are we here? What are we to do? Natillie explores our God-given purpose that is laid out in the Bible to answer those questions that the world can't seem to.

Do the false prophets talked about in the Bible still exist today? If so, then how do we avoid falling for their traps? Natillie explores those questions in today's episode.

WARNING: This episode will require you to be brutally honest about your anger. Anger is a common emotion that everyone, including Jesus, has felt. So, why does the Bible give us so many warnings about anger? What happens when we allow anger to be prevalent in our lives? Natillie explores her own anger and these questions with the help of the Word and Levi Lusko's I Declare War; 4 Keys to Winning the Battle with Yourself.

As humans, we have the ability to pass things, other than just genetics and skills, down to the next generation via wills and final testaments. For some of us it may be money, property, or that interesting heirloom that's been in your family for what seems like centuries. But what about the things we inherit from God? This week, Natillie explores the things we inherit from our Heavenly Father and how blessed we are to be called His children.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!! First of all, thank you to all of our veterans and those who are currently serving. Second, this week Natillie explores what James, the author of, you guessed it, the Biblical book of James, meant when he said, "Faith without works is dead."

High priests and animal sacrifices are a thing of the past, the Old Testament, right? Well . . . kinda sorta. We still need a high priest to intercede for us today. But what does that mean or even look like? In today's episode, Natillie does a little digging and research into what high priests did in the Bible and how that applies to our lives today with Jesus as our high priest.

Here's an awkward and tough question; How committed to your faith, to God, are you? OR What would you compare your relationship with God to? A contract? A rollercoaster? A friendship? How about a covenant? In today's episode, Natillie discusses the thought that we aren't taking our relationship with God as serious as we should be; we've gotten lazy in our faith.

Have you ever felt as if your faith is simply coasting along? Maybe you're missing out on God's presence when it's right in front of you. Natillie looks into how God is present in both the miraculous and mundane in our lives.

If you were raised in church, then you've probably heard Matthew 5:13-16 preached about before, but what does it really mean to be the "salt and light of the world"? Natillie explores this notion in today's episode, taking a look into what salt and light meant for the people of Jesus' time to help us better understand our calling.

Have you ever felt so dirty that you HAVE TO take a long, hot shower? And no matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you scrub, you can't shake that feeling of ick? Sometimes when we fall back into sin, this is what it feels like; like we've fallen into mud and can't wash it off. In today's episode, Natillie explores the cleaning power of Jesus' sacrifice and why being cleansed by Him is the best decision one could ever make.

When God calls you to do something, do you ever feel unqualified or unable? Moses did too. In this episode, Natillie takes a look at the story of Moses' calling and how it applies to our own calling.

So, you're a Christian, but you suddenly realize that you're still being tempted! WHAT THE HECK?! No worries, every Christian, whether new or old, still struggles with temptation. In today's episode, Natillie talks about temptation and the tools we can use to fight and defeat our temptations before they cause us to fall.

If you grew up in church, then you've probably read or heard the story about the woman at the well before and how Jesus offered her this "living water", that He said would never leave her thirsty again. But what exactly is this "living water" and how does it affect us modern-day Christians? Natillie seeks to unravel that question in today's episode.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! As we step into this new year, many of us Christians will make the resolution that sounds like, "I want to grow closer to Jesus,". But, in order to learn more about someone or grow closer to them, you first have to know/learn who they are. In this episode, Natillie explores who Jesus was according to the book of Jeremiah 9:6 and how that same Jesus can be what He was back then to us today.

God created you differently than He created all the other creatures on Earth; He gave you the ability to create like He did. But why? Why do we, as humans, have this desire and ability to create with genuine creativity and uniqueness? Natillie explores this idea and what it means to be a creative creation.

We all need a little shelter from the chaos and storms of life every now and then. Often when we are caught in a weather storm, we retreat to a solid building to protect ourselves. But, have you ever considered that God could be that shelter for you? Not just when you face stormy weather, but when you face storms in your marriage, health, career, etc. This week Natillie looks at what it means to have some shelter and how God can be just that.

We've all heard of the gods Zeus and Thor, but we don't worship them, because we know they aren't real. In this episode, Natillie challenges Christians to look at the other things they might be placing as an idol or god in their lives.

Have you ever sat and thought, "I don't deserve God's grace."? Well, you're not the only person who has thought that. Actually, none of us deserve His grace, and yet, we've received it. Today Natillie takes this concept of grace and dissects it, getting into the nitty-gritty and explaining how God extends us His grace and then expects us to extend grace to others in return.

Do you ever feel like you're in this tug-of-war or wrestling match with God? Does it sometimes feel as if you being hit blow by blow? Jacob felt that way too, although he actually fought with God physically. Listen as Natillie tries to discern what this passage of Scripture in Genesis might be able to teach us about our "wrestling" with God.

Do you enjoy waiting in line or for anything at all? No? Neither does Natillie (she can be a bit impatient at times). Waiting can be a challenge for some of us, especially when we don't know when whatever we're waiting for is going to come. How can we endure the waiting we face when it comes to God? Natillie explores the waiting period Christians face and how one can use that time to grow closer to God instead of dropping the ball and whatever blessing was around the corner before we decided to give up on waiting.

Have you ever been a guest at someone's house and thought, "Wow. They are really hospitable!"? Natillie knows a bit about hospitality, being from the South. But what about hospitality that centers around Christ? Today Natillie explains what Christ-centered hospitality is and how we can show it to others.

The Bible is considered one of the sought after book in the world, and yet, many Christians seem to simply leave it on their bedside table like a decorative piece. Join Natillie as she and her sister Brooklin explore the spiritual importance of the Bible.

Who else enjoys jammin' out to a good song in their car? Or do you sometimes have to pull over to the side of the road because the worship song is SO GOOD that you might accidently meet Jesus early? Today Natillie answers the question of the importance and significance of praise.

In a world that teaches us to harden our hearts towards others, it can be hard to find people who seem to genuinely care. In this week's episode, Natillie explores what it means to have a heart that is softened towards others and the Holy Spirit. New Wake Up and Grow Instagram account name: "wugpodcast".

Do you ever feel as if you're not reaching enough people with the Gospel? Or that you're not spreading the Gospel in the right way? Natillie felt the same way. Listen this week as she explores how God can use something small to create a big impact.

What's in a name? Why do the names in the Bible hold such a significant meaning? Why do we pray "In the name of Jesus"? Natillie took these questions and let her inner nerd come out while researching for this week's episode, so prepare for a long one. Natillie lets you in on the many names that Jesus goes by and what they mean.

Getting ready to graduate high school or college? AWESOME!! So proud of you! Now, are you ready for that next step you have to take? No? That's okay, Natillie wasn't either. During this transition in life, many feel lost and unsure of what to do next. But don't worry, God has an amazing plan for you.

Happy Mother's Day (a week early) to all the moms out there! WE LOVE YOU LOTS!!! We wanted to dedicate this episode of Wake Up and Grow to you and thank you for all the amazing things you do. This week Natillie explores the characteristics of a godly woman and how they apply to mothers today.

We've probably all seen the examples overseas missionaries bring back about Christians being executed or imprisoned for their faith, but what does persecution look like in countries where Christianity is welcomed? And how can we prepare ourselves for it? This week, Natillie explores those questions and what it means to be persecuted.

Do you ever feel as if God is too busy or "too holy" to notice you and your problems? Many of the people we recognize in the Bible felt the same way. In this week's episode, Natillie looks into Nathanael's perspective of this topic (he's one of the Twelve Disciples).

Do you like fruit? GREAT, but Natillie's not talking about papayas or pineapples today. No, she's talking about the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. ENJOY!!

Happy Valentine's day!!! We wanted to express our love to y'all by giving you this new episode about wisdom; something we think everybody would want. Listen as Natillie dives into the writings of King Solomon and discovers the importance and attributes of wisdom.

Today's episode explores the idea of God searching us and truly knowing us as Hid Children. Natillie will be focusing on Psalm chapter 139 for this one, so grab your Bibles, your tea or coffee, and get ready to grow. Here's the link to the "Bible Hub" website: https://biblehub.com/

Why is following God's will so important? What even is God's will??? These are important questions to answer and explore as we enter this new year of 2022.