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