STAYING CONNECTED

It's been two weeks now since the Lord let me know that I should start writing this blog. Already it's been an adventure. I don't plan ahead as to what I'll write. Take today for instance. I got up for work this morning and started to say a little prayer as I normally do everyday. Usually I start by saying something like, Good morning Lord, thanks for getting me through the night and letting me wake up for another day. Almost immediately the thought came to mind "Stay connected". First you need to understand that at 4:30 in the morning I generally don't have very many thoughts. Especially intelligent ones! So, I started to pray and there it was again, "Stay connected". Then I said, Okay am I supposed to write about this? As soon as I said that, the thoughts just started pouring into my head. Let me tell you that I have never experienced anything like this until I started doing this blog. Believe me when I say that I don't think I'm super spiritual or anything. I don't know why the Lord has decided to do this with me. But since He has I'm going to do my best to write what I think He was telling me this morning.

There are a lot of people today that really don't feel connected to anyone. They are just living life pretty much on there own. Oh sure, they may have family and maybe even some friends. But for some reason that they can't understand, they just don't have that connected feeling. They're missing something and they can't seem to figure out what it is. That's how I was. I was always searching for something that would connect me to the people in my life. I never really felt like I fit in with them. So I found someplace where I did fit in.

Back in the sixty's you could buy cigarette's out of machines. I remember when I was twelve years old I bought my first pack. Back then there were lots of cigarette and alcohol commercials on T.V. I always thought that people that smoked and drank were just too cool. I was always very quiet and didn't have many friends. So, needless to say, in my mind that was the way to find happiness and make friends. After all, on T.V., the people smoking and drinking were always surrounded by lots of people and they were having a great time. I decided that's what I wanted.
Since I was only twelve I had to be careful where I smoked but I could usually find a way. So I started junior high and decided that I was going to smoke, do drugs, and drink. At that time in my life, I didn't know it, but I was really just searching for a connection. I needed to be connected to something and up until then I just hadn't found it. Like I said before, I was raised in church. Every time the doors were open, I was there. But I didn't connect with those people. But I decided that didn't matter. As far as I knew, God didn't want me so I didn't want Him. That's just how it was. So I decided to have what I thought was a good time. The problem with good times is that at some point in your life you will pay for them. Believe me when I say, these are not the connections you want to make in your life. I'll get into all of that another time. The point is you need a connection.

God "IS" that connection. Whatever it takes, you have to find Him and connect, so to speak, with Him. You have to ask Him to forgive you. To live in you. Then you have to live "for" Him. You have to connect "with" Him. To connect with Him you have to talk to Him every day. You have to read His word, every day. In fact, do these things more than once a day. You can talk to Him no matter what you are doing. He is always listening. HE wants to stay connected to you. But you have to make the choice. He won't force you. You can connect with Him in other ways too. Just as T.V. influenced me to make bad choices it can also influence you in good ways. These days there is a lot of Christian programing. I'm not saying that all of it is good. There are some T.V. preachers that are in it for the money and the fame. But there are a lot of good ones also. Real Christian people. If your not sure which ones to watch, pray about it. You'll know. There is also Christian radio. Turn off the T.V. sometimes and listen to Christian radio. You might find something you can connect with. That's the whole point. Find something that can help you to connect with God. Find some other Christian people to talk to. Talk about God with them. It's important to be able to talk to other people about God, to be able to pray with other people. Just to be able to connect with other Christians and maybe let them in a little. Let them get to know you a little so there is a connection. A GOD connection. Don't be afraid to connect with other Christians. We are all here to help each other. Everyone has something to offer.

That's what He told me this morning. Write about staying connected. Connect to God through:
Prayer, reading your Bible, T.V. and radio and very importantly, through other people.