It has been some time since I have wrote a new post and that is not because God has not been working in my life because He has. I have been very busy with work and life in general. Things in my life recently have reminded me of a very important aspect of Christian life that I want to share with each of you. That important truth is this: We have to remain connected to Jesus Christ and allow Him to feed our lives. It is very easy for me to lose sight of this fact and think that I am running the show and calling the shots in my life. The trouble of this is when you live your life this way you better be ready for a fall that will really humble you in ways you could not have ever imagined.
The Apostle John wrote about staying connected to God in the gospel of John 15:5 (NCV) "I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without me they can do nothing."
Here are just a few short ways that you and I both can remain connected to God and allow Him to guide our lives to allow us to be productive in His Kingdom:1. Time Spent with God Daily - Establish a time each day to read His Word, the Bible, when you are able to focus on Him fully so that He can speak to you through what you read.
2. Pray early and often - Far to often we feel that our prayers need to be long and eloquent yet God simply wants us to reach out and communicate with Him. I think it is best to keep our prayers short and to the point this way we will not become long winded and not serve him.
3. Genuine fellowship with other believers - Life on Earth is not always easy and even at times we struggle to follow the path we should be following. This is why it is important to be tied in with other believers so that they can encourage us when we need encouragement as well as pull us away from things we do not need to be involved in.
4. Memorize Scripture - The memorization of scripture is important to keeping you on the path that we are to follow. When we are tempted as Jesus was we can refer to scripture and keep us on the path we are to follow. This is something that I have to a lot work on in my personal life.
5. Earnestly Evaluate Your Life - All of us have things that we do that have no place in a Christian lifestyle and need to be cut or as John would say pruned from our lives. The process of pruning is one that takes skill and time so that it is done right, yet once it is done your growth will be greater than had you never gone through the painful process in the first place. Here is a general rule on what needs to be pruned from your life and mine. If it does not add value to your relationship with God get rid of it.
I hope that you are staying connected with the Lord today and always.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike
