What are you waiting for?

What ARE you waiting for? You've heard the saying, "a watched pot never boils". Well, in a since, watching or waiting for the "right time", or the "right place", really gets you nowhere.

Everyone today is looking for something. Something better...something more satisfying....something that better suits THEIR needs. I'm referring to people who are searching for that "right" place to worship. People are full of excuses. Christians hear them everyday. There is always a reason why someone won't come to worship service. We've heard them all. And the sad part is, we expect to hear them. People just aren't that into living for God these days. They want to live for themselves. And, if they are searching for a place to worship, they can't seem to find a place that satisfies them, that fully meets what they are looking for.

The sad thing is people are "looking" for the wrong thing. They are looking to be pleased, or to leave satisfied that they came, or are looking for their needs to be met. There in lies the biggest problem. Worship is about pleasing God, satisfying God, and giving your all to Him. When you get that part of your life right, then of course your needs will be met and you will feel satisfied because God will greatly reward and bless those who give Him their all. It is important that we realize that we don't belong to a community of believers, the Church just to look good or feel good. We belong to serve God the Creator of all things and the Redeemer of mankind!

Just a few of the "typical" excuses we hear everyday. Have you heard these? Or worse, have you made these yourself????

-I've worked all week so I'm too tired to go!
-The preacher moves around too much
-There are no people my age so I'm not going
-They don't meet my needs
-There are too many hypocrites in church
-I'm too young - I'll go when I'm too old to have any more fun.
-It's boring
-I work lots of overtime....so I'm too tired to worship God
-I don't get up in time on Sunday morning
-I don't think I really believe in God.... I'm just not sure.
-I don't do nothing bad, so I'm goin' to heaven anyway
-The service is too long
-The sermon is too long
-I don't like the songs we have to sing.
-I'm not religious
-I worship God at home when I'm alone
-My family never went to church when I was a kid.
-God made Football.....doesn't that cover it?

Much to think about

I've been sitting here thinking. Actually, I've been thinking about this a lot lately. (Contrary to popular belief, I do think a lot, lol) But, I've been thinking about eternal life. I've been thinking about people that don't have the hope, the promise of it in their lives yet. I just don't hardly know how people who don't know Jesus handle the hard times in their lives. How do they handle death? How do they handle the thought of their own death?

You know, it makes me extremely happy when I think about my future with God. No more tears, depression, suffering, funerals, heartache. I would be nothing and am nothing without God. But, wow, how exciting to know that life is MORE than this crazy world. I mean, don't you get sick of it all? I know there are beautiful things and happy things here on earth. But what is promised to us is SO much more wonderful that we can't even imagine it with our earthly minds. It's so worth putting our faith in God for that alone.

But, the happiness sometimes gets overshadowed by sadness. Not for me, b/c honey, I'm doing all I can to live eternally with God!! It's for the family members, the friends, the neighbors, the strangers that don't know God. For those that don't have that personal relationship. For those that don't even believe. It makes me so sad to think of these people living their lives like this is all there is. How completely sad to believe that THIS....is all there is. I just find it hard to believe that so many in this world just believe they live this life, and then they die, and that's all they care about. Why wouldn't they want to believe that something more wonderful is waiting for them eternally...if they only accept it. The weird thing is so many people believe in a Heaven, b/c they want to believe that's where all their family goes when they pass on. But, they continue to live their lives any old worldly way. And, you know, where there is a a Heaven, there is most certainly a Hell also. And it's not just a place for murderers.

If I have one prayer, it's that all would come to repentance and realize they need God. Why not believe in Him. He's good! He loves us! He wants to give us eternal life with Him, not the "other" place.

I don't mind be made fun of, or laughed at , or looked at differently for my faith. It's the most important thing in my life. I want to go to Heaven. As the Mercy Me song goes, "Take this life from me, I don't need it anymore!"

"When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What
benefit did you reap at that time from the things that you are now ashamed of? Those
things result in death! But now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves
to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result it eternal life. For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 6:20-23

Our focus

The intern at Buckeye led our Bible study tonight. His focus...Discipleship. This led me to thinking, is discipleship enough of a focus in my life? I don't think so. No, as Artie pointed out, the disciples were true examples of this. They gave up everything to serve Christ. EVERYTHING!

What do I give up in my daily life to spend more time with Christ? What gets my attention...my focus?? How much time do I spend in prayer, Bible study, telling others about God, just plain old being the Christian I'm supposed to be? If we were all honest, we'd fall to our knees right at this moment and beg for forgiveness. We'd ask God to help us make a change in our focus. We'd decide that today is the day we need to start being a true disciple for God. Thank God that His focus was on us, or we'd never even have that opportunity!

What is your focus? Will it mean anything when this life if over?