Dating-Where is your focus?

So we all know how it feels to lose somebody's attention when we are trying really hard to keep them focused on what we are saying or doing. In the same way, God doesn't want to lose our attention. He wants us to stay focused on Him so that we can realize His love and His purpose for our lives. Guys, I'm telling you, being focused on God is the best place in the whole world that you can be! However, there are a lot of things in this world that distract us and one of those things is dating. Take a minute to read over 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. Basically, people are either saved or unsaved, there is no in the middle. These verses tell us that if we are saved, we should not be dating somebody who is unsaved. Even if you have the best intentions and think that you will influence the other person, it will most likely be the other way around. The enemy can use even really good things to pull us away from God! The big point here is that we should not be dating non-Christians. Just because somebody says they are a Christian, that doesn't give you the green light to date them. Being a Christian is a whole different lifestyle, it is making decisions and choices based on your love for God, not just a term that you can use. Second, if you date a non-Christian, it will be a war! I'm not talking guns and cannons, but it will be a battle to stay away from lines that you know you shouldn't cross. It's hard to mesh together two very different lives! Third, people who aren't Christians have very different plans and values for their lives. Where will their values take your focus? It's very hard to keep your values if the person you're dating doesn't share them. Fourth, you will probably be pulled away from God and do things you will regret. Even if you have good intentions, it is still a slippery slope and so easy to cross those boundaries. If you are dating somebody or planning to date, ask yourself these questions. How many times have you crossed the line with the person you're dating? Since you've been dating, are they pulling you toward God or away? Has he/she become a better Christian? Guys, Jesus loves you so much and desires to have a relationship with you. Why do we keep letting other people and things pull us away and take our focus off of him? He will care about you and love and protect you more than any guy or girl ever will. Keep your focus and your heart with him!

Suffering

We all know what it's like to experience rough times in our lives. We have all gone through these times and we will have more of them as we go through our lives. Sometimes we bring this suffering on ourselves, maybe as a consequence of a choice we made and sometimes bad things just happen. But the thing to remember is that God is always always there for us, even when we face these storms in our lives. Read Revelation 2:9. The church is being persecuted but God is looking down on them and loving them. Guys when we feel so down and so burdened, we need to remember that we are rich because Jesus Christ is in us. God never leaves us and when He looks at us He sees us as rich. It's so easy to lose our focus when we go through rough times but we need to press on and trust the God that we serve! He holds each of our steps in His hand and we have to trust that He will pull us safely through every storm. See, our relationship with Jesus can never be taken away from us! Now, we have two options when we are going through a rough time: we can either lay down and give up or we can stand up, know we are rich in Christ, and reach out to other people. Our friends and other people in our lives need us! We have to affirm others' value and purpose in life and let them know how much we love them. We have to let them just vent to us and ask them questions about what they are going through. We have to listen with understanding, even if what they are saying seems crazy to us. It is important for us to grieve with them and try to understand what they're going through. Finally, we should pray with them and pray for them when we are not with them. When's the last time you asked somebody if you could pray with them? Guys, we gotta step up and not care what other people think or concentrate on our own problems. If we are God's hands and feet, we should be reaching out to people and loving them like our God loves us! Somebody might need you more than you think!

Falling....

Think about Roller Skating. If you don't know what you are doing you can fall very easily.Then you have to decide whether you want to get back up or quit. I want falling today to represent sinning, doing things that are not pleasing to Jesus. Everyone will fall , but the important thing to remember is not to make excuses and blame it on others, take responsibility and set out to stop falling and defeat that sin. Realize you can get up from anything and that it is not Gods will for you to stay down. Nothing is too big to get up from and God wants to help you to stop falling over the same things. 1 John 1:9 Tells us to confess our failings to God and he will forgive. Confessing is admitting to God that you were wrong. Jesus does not come running into the scene of the fall and judge us. He wants to help you up, but you need to be willing to see why what you did was wrong and where it is leading you. I challenge you this week when you do something that is not Gods will for you and you fall. Think to yourself ,why was this wrong? What does God say about this? Where is it going to take me if I keep falling? After you think about these questions reach out in prayer and admit you messed up, and let God help you up. That is what keeps you from laying on your back , and allows you to skate through life like God intended.God loves you and is so for you!!!!!
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Doing God's Work!

We can't even begin to imagine the ways that God has picked us up and cleaned us off. He created us, He saved us, He cleaned us up, and He prepared us to do His work. Are we doing it? Take some time to read over Ephesians 2:1-10. First of all, we belong to God! We have no problem saying we belong to this gym or that club but why is it so hard to say that we are children of a king? That should be the truth that guides our lives and the thing that we are most known for! Jesus paid a big price so that we could belong to him, let's proclaim that! Second, we were created and saved by God. He formed us from dust and then came back into our lives years later to save us. God is so amazing! Third, God has prepared us to do His work. The fact that God even trusts us and allows us to do His work is amazing! God continually changes us and makes us able to do His work. We can't keep waiting until we think we are ready or think we are good enough for what God is asking us to do. If He is asking us to do it, He will give us the ability to do it! Fourth, we should be working for God daily. Is it more important for you to do a good job at your summer job or at your work for Christ? We need to wake up each morning and ask God what He wants us to do for Him that day. It's exciting guys! Fifth, God's work is good work. God will do amazing things through us if we have the attitude that we get to work for God today! Just ask yourself how hard you are working for God every day.