The End... or is it?

READ: Matthew 28:19-20

THINK: So you made it. You've endured a month of "torture" in order to grow closer to God by shutting out the things that pull your attention away from Him. So answer these questions:

• What is one thing that has changed in you this past month?
• What did you do, this past month, that you think you should continue?

When Jesus left the disciples, He presented them with a challenge... "Go and make disciples"... in other words, He said to continue loving others and loving God by going out and continuing what they had been learning for over 3 years.

Do you know what they did? They scattered. They all separated... they came back together a few weeks later and hid out in a room. They met in a small room and prayed. Now praying isn't bad. In fact, we need prayer... but one of the things I struggle with is this idea that we have to spend hours praying that God would use us instead of just going out and doing something. This is what the disciples did. They got together and got wrapped up in formula: We need 12 disciples so we need to vote on which of these guys we should add to replace Judas. Let's pray about it. Let's vote. Let's ask God what we should do next... on and on (see Acts 1-2). I think God gets a little tired of the disciples not doing what Jesus told them, and He sent the Holy Spirit to give them a holy shove, out the door, and into their world.

You see, just because this is the end of your fast, does not mean your spiritual journey has to wait for camp, mission trip, or next year's Media Fast... 

DO: Spend less than 5 minutes praying (that's right... less than 5). Ask God who He wants you to connect with. Who do you know, that needs Jesus? The first person that comes to your mind, pray for them, send them a text, go hang out with them... write them a post card... invite them to youth group... do whatever... but whatever you do, make it matter. Be a follower of Jesus and do what He would do... don't end your journey with a prayer and the remote control... do something!

Dependency Issues

I was thinking about it and I realized that many times we have a dependency issue... Let me explain:

What are dependent on? I know, food, air, water, sleep, shelter, ok... skip those. I'm talking about the other stuff... movies, TV shows, music, books, internet, cell-phones, etc. What are you really dependent on?

The problem with being dependent on things is that we try to act like we aren't dependent. For some reason we believe it shows weakness. So we claim, "I'm not influenced by that." "I don't HAVE to do this." But really, can you honestly say you aren't dependent on it if you can't stop listening to, reading, watching, whatever it is?

The truth is we have a dependency issue. We rely on things to "relieve our stress" or "make us feel good" or "help us relax"... but are those things really worth it? There are only so many things you can commit to. If you watch 3 hours of TV, what are you NOT doing? Your homework? Sleep? Eat? You can't watch TV spend time with God, talk to friends, do homework, and relax at the same time...

Use this devotional as an example... over the past 28 days, have you been at a loss of what to do? "Oh no, I'm bored. What do I do now?"

In youth groups and churches all across the United States, there are kids and adults who are dependent on the church to "help them grow spiritually". And on the average, an individual attends church for a total of 200 hours per year... at least with those who are consistent. WOW... do you really think you are going to grow with only 200 hours of time with God? We spend more time in the bathroom during the course of a year than we do at church... and sometimes we spend time in the bathroom at church!

Take a look at Psalm 119... what does David (the writer of the Psalm) rely or depend on? I know, they didn't have all the stuff we do today, but read it. There's massive spiritual growth because of what he is depending on... and back then they didn't have the Bible like we do now...

So just because the fast ends tomorrow, and you when aren't at church... what are you depending on? Maybe it's time to make some changes... I mean, after all... where has the past "dependencies" gotten you?