Who you around?

Who you around?

1 Corinthians 15:33(niv)

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

 

Whether we admit it or not or realize it or not, the people we choose to spend time with and hang around do have an influence on us. It could be a boyfriend or girlfriend, a group of friends at school or work, a spouse, a sibling, a parent, or someone else.  Influence works both ways, we can influence others and they can influence us.  It also works both ways in the sense that it can be positive or negative, good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. 

 

It is important that we surround ourselves with people who love us and care about us and our best interest. It's also important that we are the same to others.  We need people in our lives who are going to make us better, be positive, be truthful, be honest with us, and keep us accountable.  On the same token, we also need to not allow someone to bring us down, influence us with negative behaviors, or who sucks the joy  from our lives.

 

While I know we can't always pick our parents, our children, or family members, we certainly have a choice in who we pick as friends and who we decide to date and marry.  So in places where we have choices, we need to choose wisely.  I know every situation and circumstance is different and I can't place a blanket statement across this, but I think we should seek God's counsel and pray for God to help us choose whom we have in our lives and whom we don't. 

 

I can certainly look back on my life and say if I didn't hang out with that person or group of friends or if I didn't date that person I could have avoided a lot of regret, heartache, or bad decisions.  But, hopefully we can let the past serve as a teacher to us, so we don't keep making the same poor choices when it comes to who we surround ourselves with.

 

How many people especially young people dress a certain way, wear their hair a certain way, listen to a certain type of music, or watch certain tv shows and movies, all based on the circle of influence they have in their friends at school?  We are allowing others to influence us who do not have our best interest in mind and who may not be making the best choices themselves and hanging out with them could be effecting your grades, morals, values, and decisions.  

 

You should never have to change who you are or what you believe in order to be friends with someone or date/marry someone.  We also should never abuse or use our relationship with someone whether spouse, parent, child, relative, or whatever to negatively influence someone else for our own selfish reasons.

 

My challenge today is simply that each of us strive to be the best person you can be today for yourself and others.  That me and you make wise choices in who we let in our lives and who we choose to hang out with and spend time with.  That we care what God thinks more than we care what others thinks about us.   God is eternal and what He thinks matters, what your friend at school or at work thinks doesn't and they are very temporary.

 

The key for us is to find our self worth and value in God and not the opinions or influences of others and that we are strong enough and wise enough to choose wisely who we spend time with and surround ourselves with and we are able to discern good and bad and positive and negative people.

 

May we all first and foremost surround ourselves with God and Godly people who love God and love us unconditionally.  Secondly, may we be a good and positive influence to others, and thirdly, may we always be wise in our choices and influences in this world.

Relationship

Relationship

John 1:18niv

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

 

When God created the world in the beginning, he created everything, including mankind.  We were created for relationship with God and with each other. We were not meant to be alone. Though some of us are introverts and some of us are extroverts or some of us are people persons and some of us are not, I think we all were created to not be alone and/or lonely.

 

Now you can be in a room full of people and be lonely and you can be by yourself and not be lonely, I think it all depends on your attitude.  But, my point being is we were created for relationship.  First, God created us to have a relationship with Him.  Even if you don't claim a relationship with God or never have had a relationship with God, that doesn't dismiss the fact that God created you for relationship with Him. 

 

 I believe all created beings have a God shaped void in their hearts that can only be filled with God. Now many folks spend their whole lives trying to fill that missing void in their lives with all sorts of things like alcohol, drugs, earthly pleasures, popularity, material things, titles, sex, earthly relationships, careers, and you name it, people have tried filling that missing part of their lives with all kind of things and truth is nothing works and nothing will fill it, only the creator. God. God is what's missing, because we were created by a creator who desires a relationship with His creation. 

 

Secondly, we were created for relationship with one another.  Now, don't misunderstand this, people can't replace God.  God is the first and most important relationship we can and should ever have, but God also put us on this earth with other people for us to also have a secondary relationship with others.  Now, people screw this up a lot, they try to replace God with earthly relationships, or the mistake sex as love, or they seek the wrong kinds of attention from others, but God's desire is for us to have healthy relationships with others.

 

Our relationship with God should be our model for all relationships and God wants us to have healthy relationships with others. Of course there are different types of relationships, parents, siblings, children, relatives, friendships, marriages, etc...but the point is that these relationships be healthy.  Now not everyone born is born with a good mom or a good dad, and we can't pick what families we are born into, but even if you didn't grow up with a good mom or dad or good grandparents, or whatever, there are still people out there who will love you and accept you and whom you can do and be the same things for.

 

The key to having healthy good relationships is having a good model.  God is our model in order to know that model we have to know God.  Which means, we have to read his Word(the Bible) and get in touch with his Holy Spirit (be baptized) and become a part of His body (the church) and through these things we'll learn from unconditional, healthy love is.  We then can learn to model that love in our relationships with others.  Too many people who no idea what loving relationships are or what love looks like because they don't know God. 

 

I want to encourage you to know God.  Know His love.  Experience His love.  Have a loving relationship with Him.  Love God.  Love others. Love others the way God loves you. 

Mediocrity

Mediocrity

Revelation 3:16(NIV)
So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

These were God's Words to the Church in Laodicea because they were lukewarm, meaning they weren't hot for God or cold for God, but just kind of average and going through the motions and God said in the verse before(15) I wish you were one or the other, but your neither. 

I believe God is an all or nothing God, He says in other scripture "you're either for me or against me", which means pick a team, choose a side, and either live for me or don't, serve me or don't, worship me or don't, but I can tell you mediocre, average, riding the fence, isn't going to cut in in my kingdom.

There's an old saying "You aim for nothing and you'll hit it every time", and I think that is true, so many folks want the benefits of salvation and not "going to hell", but yet they want to coast by on this world, only wanting God or the Church when the need something and making little or no effort or commitment to grow spiritually.  That was the problem with the church God mentioned in Revelation, they were just "lukewarm" neither hot or cold when it came to their faith and that my friends doesn't honor God.

We have too many church bodies where a few body parts are doing all the work in the body, a few of the body parts are doing all the worship, serving, and giving while the majority just sits by on cruise control being spiritually lazy and settling for mediocre religion instead of thriving relationship faith with Jesus Christ.  God deserves better.  Jesus didn't die on the cross for our sins and to give us hope of eternal life in Heaven for us to just be mediocre followers. 

Mediocrity gives less than they can, mediocrity does less than they should,  mediocrity is inconsistent in their worship and participation in the Church,  mediocrity makes excuses and blame shifts, mediocrity is lazy, mediocrity is the devil's playground, and mediocrity is lukewarm.

As the Casting Crowns song says "We were made to thrive" and we need to thrive and be above average, red hot, and healthy for the Lord.  God can't use us if we aren't available, God can work through us if were not willing, and God can't teach us if we never come to church, or bible study, or open our bibles, pray, or listen for His voice or Holy Spirit guidance in our lives. 

It's time to stop making excuses and stop settling for a mediocre faith.  The truth is mediocre faith is no faith at all, you're only lying to yourself and fooling yourself or satan has blinded you to the truth that you are not growing, you are not giving, serving, worshipping, or being used for the kingdom of God.  It's time to thrive!  It's time to step up!  It's time to get involved! It's time to take some ownership of your salvation. It's time to be above average and get on fire for the Lord.  Don't settle for mediocrity or the same old same old.  Thrive. Excel. Grow.