Don't Sweat The Petty Things---Don't Pet The Sweaty Things--

Paul writing to Timothy ----"Tim! The greatest thing you are going to wrestle with as you get this new church off the ground is time. Time will tug at you for attention. It will try and dictate what you do and when you do it. Don't let time be your master. You become the master of your time. Don't be caught up in the "little things" that need to be addressed in your daily affairs. If your adversary, the devil, can't stop you, then he will "busy" you to death. He will throw multiple situations at you that demand your time and keep you from doing what God has called you to do. Stay on guard and simply follow what the Holy Spirit leads you to do."

O.k.
I wrote a modern update to what we find in II Timothy 2:4.
What Paul really wrote to Timothy is as follows:
"And as Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army. Follow the Lord's rules for doing his work, just as an athlete either follows the rules or is disqualified and wins no prize."

It seems as though sometimes following Jesus is something that takes 2nd place to life itself. We say we love Him and want to do His will, but we have jobs to go to and families to raise and bills to pay. Somewhere along the way, we try and squeeze some "Jesus" into our hours. Society seems to be the ruler of our time. We are subtly pressured to have "the good life". We spend money for material possessions to fill our homes with. We seek pleasure and rest in order to give our lives meaning. Yet in all of this, Jesus seems to occupy only a small portion of our passion and drive. I'm not sure, but I believe that God desires us to put Him first. Not because God has some huge ego that needs to be stroked, or that He feels threatened by anything that would take His place in the hearts of His creation. How so not true are those statements.

God's love is responsible for the sheer fact that I draw my next breath. His love is shown to me to draw me into the knowledge of how deep a relationship He wants to have with me. Is God so weak that He has to manipulate things around us in order to draw us to Him? No! God doesn't have to manipulate anything. It is the love of God that fills and directs His plans and purposes for us.
Romans 5:8 reads: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God is not a passive God who sits idly by wishing and hoping that we somehow turn our hearts to Him. God's desire for us to focus our minds, our hearts, our strength and our complete being upon Him, so that through our obedience to His word so He Can Bless Us!!!

Don't let the devil draw your attention away from God.
Don't let your heart be lead astray from devotion to God and His word.
Don't let the things and the time of this world replace your time for God.

"Every time I think of you----And I think of you often! -----I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There's no end to what has happened in you----it's beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives. Just think----You don't need a thing, you've got it all! All God's gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of His Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that."   I Corinthians 1:4-9

God on you.....
mb