Leadership Bible Study - Titus

Hey Tuesday night bible study peeps!

If you aren't involved in our Leadership bible study, you should be! It's every other Tuesday night at my house. We eat, hang out, and study God's word. You should be there!

For my bible study students, I know that we didn't finish going through our study last night, so here is your chance to discuss what you think. Simply type the question(s) that you want to answer and write what you think. This is a great way for us to get caught up and keep in touch until our next study on Philemon and Hebrews. Our student host for August 2nd is Eli Hood. And by the way, Maggie Strobel did an awesome job as our student host this week!

See you soon!

Amy Varner
FUSE Team

Stand Up

Have you ever been down, disappointed, or hurt that someone that is evil, mean, and does wrong makes it to the top and yet you are still below them, even though you do or at least try to do everything right? I myself have been at this point in my life before and to be honest it really just makes you mad... I know the feeling.

Today during my quite time (well... NOT to quite time today) I was reading Psalm 37, and it really seemed to deal with this very situation mentioned above. God starts off by telling us at the very beginning of Psalm 37 "Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away." He is basically saying that those who are evil, and do wrong will soon be exposed and will have their time of judgement. He then goes on to say in Psalm  37, "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." WHAT AN AWESOME SCRIPTURE.. 


If we just take our minds off those people who are evil, and dwell in the greatness that God has already given us, and find joy in God, then He will give us (me and you) the desires of our heart!! We as good, just, and righteous people will prevail over evil, and always be taken care of by God...

I challenge you to STAND UP and FIND JOY in God, He will give you the desires of your heart..

The whole chapter of Psalm 37 deals with this situation, to find more comfort in these times read it dwell on and know that God will help you overcome your situation.

~JT Sutton

Check It

So I was browsing trying to find a cool video to show some of my girls when I stumbled upon this website. People of the Second Chance. Really cool, check it out.

http://www.potsc.com/index.php


Amy
FUSE Team

I wish I was a rapper...

I have no talent when it comes to spittin' rhymes or spoken word.  I wish I did, but I don't.  If I could though, I would probably come up with a cool way to tell people about Jesus.  Like this guy...

So, Do yourself a favor and watch this video.  It is insanely awesome.

-Taylor

Friday to Friday

I can remember it...sitting in class on Monday morning talking about how awesome your weekend was and how you can't wait for the next Friday to get here because you have some plans in the works. Maybe a night out, movies, sporting event,  or staying over at your friend's house. Any of the plans usually involve texting, taking pictures, junk food, facebook, video games, music, and the ever popular 'what to wear' dilemma. (Guys can have this problem too!) Middle and High School, for me, was always Friday to Friday. What happened between wasn't near as important as what happened during. The worst fear for my weekend was sitting at home alone with no plans, being bored. Can you relate?

So why was I so worried about living from Friday to Friday? Because I felt like my life revolved around me, and what was happening right NOW. Planning for the future could wait until later, or when I wasn't so busy 'living up middle/high school'. My problem was that I couldn't wrap my mind around anything further than high school, my goals only reached to graduation and applying to college. I was definitely not thinking about God's will for my life, I was too worried about planning everything out myself and then God could do the rest. Do you have the same problem?

Being completely honest, my biggest regret from school was not reaching out to other students and learning to be selfless so that I could reflect Jesus Christ. Sure I didn't do anything crazy or get into trouble. I made good grades, I went to church on Wednesdays and Sundays and I went to church events but I really wasn't worried about surrendering my plans to God's plans. I had my own calendar and agenda and I asked God for help when I needed him, but I didn't really seek him for what was most important. Jeremiah 29:11, a well known bible verse, says this: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." God's basically saying, I got this! He knows the plans for your future...it doesn't say he is kinda sorta thinking about them a little bit maybe when He gets the chance. HE KNOWS.

To wrap this up, what I'm trying to say is that living from Friday to Friday only gets you from one set of 7 days to the next and it creates a selfish attitude. God wants you to start thinking about plans for the future, not just "fitting" him into your plans now when you get the chance. God wants you to make him in charge of your plans now AND later. He wants to be a priority and not a possibility. So before you get wrapped up into a life that revolves around what happens from Friday to Friday, lift your focus to a higher place and start living out the life that God has planned for you.

Amy
Fuse Team

Lost....

Today my devotion was simply about finding God again. It is as follows:

Morning, January 19 Go To Evening Reading

“I sought him, but I found him not.” 

— Song of Solomon 3:1

Tell me where you lost the company of a Christ, and I will tell you the most likely place to find him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by restraining prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find him. Did you lose Christ by sin? You will find Christ in no other way but by the giving up of the sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in which the lust doth dwell. Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? You must find Christ in the Scriptures. It is a true proverb, “Look for a thing where you dropped it, it is there.” So look for Christ where you lost him, for he has not gone away. But it is hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan tells us, the pilgrim found the piece of the road back to the Arbour of Ease, where he lost his roll, the hardest he had ever travelled. Twenty miles onward is easier than to go one mile back for the lost evidence. 

Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close to him. But how is it you have lost him? One would have thought you would never have parted with such a precious friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so comforting, and whose company is so dear to you! How is it that you did not watch him every moment for fear of losing sight of him? Yet, since you have let him go, what a mercy that you are seeking him, even though you mournfully groan, “O that I knew where I might find him!” Go on seeking, for it is dangerous to be without thy Lord. Without Christ you are like a sheep without its shepherd; like a tree without water at its roots; like a sere leaf in the tempest—not bound to the tree of life. With thine whole heart seek him, and he will be found of thee: only give thyself thoroughly up to the search, and verily, thou shalt yet discover him to thy joy and gladness.


FUSE TEAM,
~ JT

CONFIDENTIAL: GIRLS ONLY!

 (Okay, so it's not really confidential. But if you're a guy, you're probably not going to be interested.)

Hey ladies! I hope all of you are having an awesome week, and planning on coming to FUSE tomorrow. We missed you last week because of the snow/ice day. If you haven't already, you need to check out the video that Taylor and JT made. It is hilarious!

So today's blog is pretty informal. I was just really pumped about a new magazine that a beautiful young lady in my Fusion group and Sunday School class brought to me to check out. It's called teenvirtue2, check the pic!

I'm pretty excited about it, hence the thumbs up and super cheesy smile. Looks like any normal magazine that you would see on the shelf at Walmart right? That's what I thought too, but it's totally AHHmazing! The articles are completely relevant and super cool to read. One is called "Life Lessons with Barbie and Ken", another is "When Good Girls Like Bad Boys". Pretty good stuff! And even better, all the advice is from a biblical perspective. So not only are you reading interesting articles and taking cool quizzes, you are getting great advice to help you in your walk with God and you don't have to feel guilty about reading it like some secular magazines. (*cough*, cosmogirl!)

I just ordered some of the magazines for my Sunday School class, but if you want to check out the website go to: www.virtuousreality.com !  And yes, you're welcome for hooking you up with some awesome knowledge. Miss you ladies, see you soon!


LYLAS!
Amy

using your influence to impact others

Everyone has an influence on somebody.

The question is: Are you using that influence to impact others in a positive way?

Throughout a normal day, we all come in contact with hundreds of people.  At school, at work, at the store, or on Facebook, we all see and talk to people every day.  It's almost crazy to think that a brief meeting or conversation we have with another person can impact them dramatically.  Why not use the influence that you have to impact others for Jesus?


I was watching the BCS National Championship last night between Auburn and Oregon, and after the game, I saw something that impacted me.  Cam Newton, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for Auburn was being interviewed.  Millions of people were watching across the world, and whatever came out of his mouth would be heard by adults and children of all ages.  He had just led his team to the biggest victory of their lives in front of a national TV audience.  I waited anxiously to hear what he would say.  When the mic was placed in front of his mouth, he said, "I’m a prime example of how God can turn something that wasn’t good into something great, and I want to give Him all the glory." How awesome is that?!  Fan or not, that was a great thing for him to say.  On the biggest night of his life, he used his influence to impact others for Jesus.  

We can all learn something from Cam Newton.  We can use our influence, big or small, to impact others for Jesus.


Think about it.


-Taylor

The Transition

Have you ever thought in your life, "where the heck am I, where am I going, and why am I not where I was?" If so, you are in what I like to call the "mean" time. This is a time of confusion, sometimes chaos, and utter distraught. This can also be a time for building a deeper relationship with God.


Before we look at the scripture for today, let me give a little review of what just happened:


Jesus just finished the miracle of feeding the 5,000 men (his disciples were also used in this miracle to help distribute and gather food.) 


In the scripture that follows and the scripture that precedes these scriptures lets imagine that the disciples are us.


Now lets look at some scripture:
Mark 6

⁴⁵ Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

 ⁴⁷ Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸ He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, ⁵⁰ because they all saw him and were terrified.

   Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, ⁵² for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

 ⁵³ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus.




So we see, that the disciples, much like us, once knew where they were and what they were doing. When we read verses 47 & 48 though, we see that they are struggling, and have no clue where they are, where they are going, and how they are going to get there. 


This is so much like us. Sometimes things are going great, then suddenly BAM..... God is sending us to do something new, bigger, and better. Just like the disciples, we sometimes set sail without God. We find ourselves in the middle of nowhere, not knowing how we got there or how we are even going to reach the other side. This is where things start to get chaotic, crazy, insane, and causes us to become depressed. 
     But then we read the last part of 49, and the rest of verses 50 & 51. We see that the disciples cried out to Jesus and he said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then climbing into the boat with the disciples, the wind died down. So essentially things stopped being chaotic. 


The disciples took time to call out to Jesus, to lean on Him, and when they were near to him, spending time with him (aka: reading your bible and praying), the wind calmed down. They finally made it to the other side. This is the same thing for us. When we are in the middle of no where, not having a clue how to get to the other side, and things are chaotic, it is time to call out to God, be near to him, and allow him to take care of us, calming everything down around us. 


It is important to note, that the bible never indicates an exact time the disciples made it to the other side, it just uses the word "when" in verse 53. I say this to tell you, just because you have God in the boat with you does not mean you are going to immediately make it to the other side. Use this time to build a deeper relationship with God, and when you do make it to the other side and step out of the boat on to dry land, the people all around you will see Jesus reflected in your life (verse 54). 


Fuse Team
~JT Sutton