Set your sights on heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of ~Heaven~ Not the things of Earth

Now adays, it seems normal and routine to always focus on me, me, me!

• How will this benefit me?
• How can I make myself more attractive?
• How can I make more money?
• I need to post more solo pictures of myself on social media despite the ones I already posted yesterday or 2 hours ago

"Don't be selfish. Don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves" - Philippians 2: 3-4

Repent & Avoid These Character Traits

• Pride
• Arrogance or Vanity
• Greed
• Selfish (Opposite of Generous)
• Narcissistic

Our family is without a doubt one of the most important things in many of our lives.  However, you can NEVER place your mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandparent, etc...before the Lord.

Jesus recognizes the beautiful bond many of us share which he supports 

"My son, obey your father's commands, and don't neglect your mother's instruction" - Proverbs 6:20

However, Jesus has to be the underlying foundation and he will in turn bless and take care of you and your family.

"For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” - Genesis 18:19

God First

• Wife/Husband - Second

OR

• Girlfriend/Boyfriend - Second

King Solomon was very wealthy and ruled Israel for 40 years. Although he was very wise, he had a weakness - women. He had a large number of wives and concubines who turned his heart and allegiance away from God and towards other false gods and rituals.

"In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord's sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely" - 1 Kings 11:6

Stay rooted and attempt to open the eyes and heart of your significant other to bring them closer to God.

Nonetheless, never allow your significant other (or anyone else) to stray you away from God, His word and/or God's path for your life. 

Can you be God fearing and be financially successful? Absolutely! The key is to never place wealth and fortune above God and/or his principles or mission for your life. Do you put your faith or feel secure in what material assets you have?

Do you love money or God? 

The answer is NOT both!

"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money" - Matthew 6:24

If you find yourself in a state of abundance, first recognize it is because of God's will, not yours. 

Thank God and then ask yourself how can I share it with others who are in need? 

Do you have a college degree? What university did you attend? Do you have a Bachelors or Masters or Doctorate's degree? Do you think someone that hasn't obtained a certain degree of education is less wise?

"There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise" - Proverbs 26:12

Is your job more important than your relationship with our creator? Do you work long hours 7 days a week with no rest or time to reflect and commune with God?

God does not solely rely on your education level, stature or career - your worth is not dependent on these ideals. He instead looks at your heart to determine if he can/will work through you. 

Everyone has varying strengths and weaknesses and thereby has something unique to share whether you make $50k or $100k.

Can you have a Social Media account? Can you use the Internet?

Yes, however you must not place it as #1 in your life.

Some have grown too dependent on their cell phone and/or internet 24/7. Families sometimes go out to eat and instead of engaging in one on one conversation, everybody is staring at a screen as soon as the waiter leaves the table after taking everyone's order.

Some are constantly staying on top of news stories or financial columns. Others are always busy searching for the latest item(s) to shop or buy online. While our young adults are obsessed with keeping up with and responding to posts from friends and acquaintances.

Consider placing limits on technology to engage in physical conversation - build and keep bonds with your family and most importantly, build and keep your relationship with God. 

Did you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? I know that is hard to imagine or maybe catches you by surprise - however, it's true!  

"Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?" - 1 Corinthians 3:16

In today's reality, it has become the norm to... 

• Engage in self pleasure/masturbation
• Live together with your boyfriend/girlfriend prior to marriage or with no intent to get married at all
• Have sex before marriage (fornication)
• Cheat on your wife or husband (adultery)
• Have polygamous relationships (have more than one partner; multiple people in one relationship)
• Identify as lesbian/gay/bisexual (i.e. two men or two women get married; woman is open to relations with both men and women)
• Be born a male yet, you feel more like a woman
• Be born a female yet, you feel more like a man

These are unfortunate stumbling blocks and do not uphold or upkeep the original reason of why sex and genders were created.

Sex was designed for a husband and wife to display their love and commitment to one another and/or to procreate life. Many fall victim to the power of sex and allow it to take higher precedence.

"So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust and evil desires..." - Colossians 3:5

Sports play a role in the majority of our lives - whether it be a baseball game your grandson is playing in, an upcoming gymnastics competition your daughter is excited about or the start of football season in the fall. 

Attending or playing sporting events can be fun and exhilarating! 

They teach participants a lot of important qualities or skills such as:

• Leadership
• How to Achieve Goals
• Respect For Others
• Patience
• Time Management

However, although many tools are obtained and sharpened, it should NOT replace or hold a higher priority over Jesus in your life. 

When you see a great movie, entertaining tv show or you hear a song that makes you happy or excited, enjoy those moments! Whether it be by yourself or with friends, family or a significant other.  

Food For Thought

Don't become addicted to the actor/actress or the music recording artist that made you laugh out loud or who looks really attractive.

• Movie Stars
• Musical Artists
• Sport Stars
• Reality TV Show Personalities
• Social Media Personalities

Proceed with caution, for you are to guard your eyes and ears and if you haven't already noticed, the majority of existing content nowadays is secular.

For those that have young children or adolescents, I have witnessed and fallen victim to an obsession with video games!

• They are fun to play
• Opportunity to bond and spend time with friends and family
• Help pass time

There are multiple rabbit holes I could jump into to explain the disadvantages or downside of video games however, the most important is to ensure that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior should always be #1, not only in our life but in our children's lives as well. 

There are multiple angles the enemy tries to attack, one of which are our children and if they are not prepared and guarded with God's word, it can impact them negatively. Video games are just one of many channels the enemy uses to try to influence and distract us. 

Gluttony - When one's happiness is solely based on food and not dependent on Christ.

Some rely on food as a crutch to pacify them during hard times. 

We wrongly rely on donuts, chips, fast food, chocolate, ice cream, alcohol, "insert name of food here"

Is it wrong to appreciate how a slice of cheesy, gooey slice of pizza tastes? No! Enjoy the many diverse aromatic, savory and satisfying cuisines we have been blessed to experience.

But remember when things transition southward - life isn't perfect. First seek God and he will provide you assistance, help and comfort.