Kevin spoke this morning at shift and it was really good. He started a new series called intake which is all about what you watch and listen to. He talked about Lot and how his wife and family were too interested in the things of the world and how we need to stay away from the forbidden things and stay close to God. That is so true - He challenged us to look at our life and see if there is anything that we have been too interested in that is distracting us from God. I especially related to his message because of his example of Lot. See Lot made it out of the city but his wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. I thought about that for a while today and really asked God to help me evaluate my life. I thought about her and what was she thinking? She was Lots wife - I mean she knew better. She saw God use Lot and his family (Lot was Abraham's nephew). It doesn't matter if you are married to a preacher or in a family that has been used by God you can still be distracted if you allow it. This is something I wanted to pass along to you. After thinking about that all day I realized that I should never assume that someone is not struggling. God has been putting people on my heart to pray for lately and I think why am I praying for that person? I'm sure that they are just fine. But I should never assume. Just obey. I hope that you take a minute and just evaluate your life and just see if there is anything that you have been too interested in that might be distracting you from God or anything that you are watching or listening to that you should change.
Anyway, this morning I watched Ed Young before I left and he was talking about what kind of people we surround ourselves with and it was incredible too~ He asked are you surrounded by adders or ladders? Adders are a type of snake like a viper. He was saying that adders are slithery, secretive, and gossipers and will only bite but that ladders will encourage you, and help you out of the pit falls of life. I am so thankful when I look around. Just the last 2 weeks we have had some of our family visiting from Oklahoma. My parents, my sister, and Kevin's sister and family. They are definitely all ladders for us. God has used our family to encourage us. I am so grateful for them! Ed Young was talking about how God uses pits in our life to build character in our lives. Even though I don't feel like we are in a pit right now I definitely feel like God is developing character in our life. Ending all of this Ed was talking about being loyal to God. How we depend on God being loyal to us but we continue to fall because we are not loyal to Him. That's my last thought for you - Be loyal to God this week!!
