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Tonight at Fusion we talked about the distractions in our lives, which got me thinking. Have you ever sat back and realized how many things distract us? I think for the most part we all know that this world we live in is very distracting, but really do we really realize how it affects us?

After the lesson tonight I noticed. Like a slap in the face. 

Most of y’all know that I have an iPhone and that I am pretty biased towards Apple products. After the lesson tonight I checked the Facebook three times within ten minutes. Then I thought about how much I used that same app everyday. Then I thought about how much of that time I could use to spend time with my God. 

Gut Check. 

So, I deleted that app. 

Our everyday lives are  filled with distractions. They distract us from the one thing that we should do with all we are. We were created to worship. In all of creation we are the only part of it that has the opportunity to have a relationship with our Creator. We were made for that. It’s why we exist. 

Then life gets in the way. Distracts us from the one thing that gives us life abundantly. 

So, maybe we can think about ways to cut back on the world’s distractions and look to God. Because when it all breaks down, God and that relationship that we can have with him is all that really matters. Everything else will pass away, but God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

Cast your eyes upon Jesus

The Author and Perfecter. 

Redeemer. 

Savior. 

Holy God, 

May we cast off our distractions and cast our eyes on you. 

May we desire to glorify you and you alone. 

Forgive us for when we falter.

Empty us of ourselves and send your spirit to invade us and transform us into the children you have called us to be.

Amen

Upon your walls, Jerusalem, 
   I have appointed sentinels. 
Continually, all day and all night, 
   they won’t keep silent. 
You who call on the LORD, don’t rest, 
 and don’t allow God to rest 
   until he establishes Jerusalem, 
   and makes it the praise of the earth.

Prayer. I think if you have been in a church for one sunday morning you can probably see that the activity of praying is quite important. Right? However this passage brings the activity of prayer to a new level. In this passage…

God appoints sentinels to pray. 

Continuing all day and all night. 

That they won’t keep silent. 

God desires to be bothered by the children so much that He appoints some to bother Him. 

God says you, my children will not stop bothering me with your words, to the point of annoying me. 

What an amazing picture of how much God desires to hear from you and I! Seriously this is epic! God delights in hearing from his children. He craves it. He is begging for it. He must experience it! 

Wow.

So maybe the next time we think that God doesn’t listen when we pray or that he doesn’t or couldn’t care about wretches like us…..remember that the Author and Creator of this world….the universe…..the heavens……delights in hearing your voice. 

Wow. 

So in that spirit….

Let us pray. 

My Child,

You may not know me, 
but I know everything about you. 
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up. 
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways. 
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. 
Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image. 
Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring. 
Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived. 
Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation. 
Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, 
for all your days are written in my book. 
Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth 
and where you would live. 
Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. 
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother’s womb. 
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born. 
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented 
by those who don’t know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, 
but am the complete expression of love. 
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 
1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child 
and I am your Father. 
1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. 
Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father. 
Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. 
James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. 
Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. 
Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love. 
Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless 
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing. 
Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you. 
Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession. 
Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul. 
Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things. 
Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart, 
you will find me. 
Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you 
the desires of your heart. 
Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires. 
Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you 
than you could possibly imagine. 
Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager. 
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you 
in all your troubles. 
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted, 
I am close to you. 
Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb, 
I have carried you close to my heart. 
Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away 
every tear from your eyes. 
Revelation 21:3-4

And I’ll take away all the pain 
you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you 
even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. 
John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being. 
Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, 
not against you. 
Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression 
of my love for you. 
1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love. 
Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, 
you receive me. 
1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you 
from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party 
heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7

I have always been Father, 
and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…
Will you be my child? 
John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you. 
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad
Almighty God

 

 

It’s been quite a while since I have posted anything on here, but I’ve been quite busy with youth ministry summer fun, statistics class, and many other things it seems. Over the last couple of weeks though God has been continually sending a message to my heart that I must share. It’s a difficult one to hear as well, but I pray that God will open your mind and heart to Him today as He speaks to you. Let me start with a prayer. 

Holy God, May the words that I type be your words and not mine. I pray that you speak through me and that all that read this will have an open heart to you and you alone God. In Jesus name, Amen. 

So to start things out I would like to share a passage with you from Jeremiah. Starting in verse 4.

The Lord gave me this message: 

“I knew you before I formed you in your 
mother’s womb.
Before you were born I set you apart
and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

There is something that we as human beings always struggle with I think. That is what God thinks about us. Now I caution you, it might not be what you think. In this first part of Jeremiah God is talking to Jeremiah and giving him a rather big message. “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” 

Can you just imagine Jeremiah’s reaction? Can’t you picture what facial expression he has in response to this call from God? We know from reading on what happens next. Let’s continue in verse 6.

“Ah, Lord God,” I said, “I don’t know how to speak because I’m only a child.”
The Lord responded,
“Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’
Where I send you, you must go;
what I tell you, you must say.
Don’t be afraid of them,
because I’m with you to rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Even in Jeremiah hesitation he still recognizes that God is his Lord, but he is hesitant all the same. This causing no hesitation in the Lord. The Lord is faithful all the same. The love that God has for his children is overwhelming isn’t it?

God says to Jeremiah that he knew him before he existed, and he loves him. The very knowledge of that has kept me baffled for the past two weeks. I think about myself and I think that I am not qualified to be His voice at times and I am sure that you know what that feels like. Cause I believe that we all question that call that God has placed on all our lives. To be his children. The next part in this passage really just takes it to another level.

Then the Lord stretched out his hand,
touched my mouth and said to me,
“I’m putting my words in your mouth.”

Wow. The mere imagery of God touching Jeremiah’s mouth and placing His words on his mouth. See God understands that even as He is saying Don’t be afraid that Jeremiah will be scared out of his mind, so God takes it to another level by placing the very words that Jeremiah would use to speak to the nation of Israel.

Ok here’s the hard part.

God does this everyday. In all our lives. He places his words on our mouths so that we are prepared to speak and be a representative of God himself. That very knowledge is overwhelming to us and almost immediately we put our guard up because we can’t seem to understand why God would choose someone like us.

But He does. Everyday.

So, what do we do?

“The Lord will fight for you, all you have to do is BE STILL.” 

Be still and know that God is God and He knows what your capable better than you or anybody else that exists. He loves you with a love that completely covers and envelopes you. Trust in that Love. Embrace that Love. Because God is a God that longs for us. So…..

“Be still and know.” 

 

 

I subsribe to the “Grow. Pray. Study.” Guide from FUMC Mansfield. Today I would like to share the devotional for today. I hope it blesses you like it has for me. 

 

Scripture Reading: Leviticus 16:20-22

20 “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions

Today’s reading is a portion of the instructions given by God to Aaron and the priests for Yom Kippur, also known as the day of Atonement. This annual holy day was set aside as a time for the Israelites to confess and experience absolution for their sins. The verses for today describe the process by which the sins of the nation were symbolically passed to the “scapegoat” who carried them away.

• The church continues to practice “rituals” today whose meaning and value is derived from what they symbolize for us. In Holy Communion, we believe that the bread and juice shared and received is a powerful reminder of the depth of God’s love and sacrifice on our behalf. For the ancient Israelites, what did this ritual help them understand?
• What do you think God wanted them to see? What does this reveal to you about God’s grace?

Weekly Prayer

Lord, I confess to you that sometimes I choose to believe the story of guilt rather than the story of amazing grace. I find it easier to forgive others than I do myself. I fall back into the false notion that your love can be earned, your favor can be gained and that salvation can be acquired outside of your grace. Remind me, Lord, that your love is real, that grace truly is amazing and that I am your beloved child, forgiven and set free only because of your grace. AMEN.