Joy, Friendship, Focus

I had a day that included a little unnecessary drama, and drama always affects me. I shouldn't let it, but I do. I let it consume me. I want everyone to just get along and the world to be a happy place. I let it consume my family -- my relationship with my husband and with my children. I think people twist and turn stories because they thrive on drama and gossip. Well, it's wrong. Now that I am a little older and a little wiser (I like to think), I now CHOOSE who to surround myself with. I CHOOSE to surround myself with people that only raise me up, not bring me down. I am so fortunate and blessed God has given me such an amazing husband and awesome girlfriends and even children that constantly raise me up, encourage me, support me, and love me for the person that I am. I wasn't always strong enough to weed out the people that brought me down, but I am now. Except for the few occasional ones that squeeze through the cracks unwanted.

In processing all this, I came across a website that I really liked. I wanted to share some of the content with you. Jesus is our friend and He wants us to turn to Him when in need, just as we do with our earthly relationships. Actually we should turn to Him always. Why is that, by the way, we only turn to Him sometimes? We should nurture our relationship with God just as we do with the rest of our relationships -- our friends, spouses, children.

This website put things back into perspective for me. I needed that. Here are some words that lifted me up today... Joy, Friendship, and Focus.

"Joy- Fullness of joy is found in the presence of the Lord. When we remain connected to him through prayer, worship, walking in obedience, reading the word and fellowshipping with other Christians, we can experience a level of joy that the world cannot give to us.

Friendship- I have a really close friend who prays for me a lot. Have you ever set aside an hour to pray? The most amazing things happen when we set our purpose to spend quality time with God through prayer. Something that I have noticed is that I begin to pray for many people.

Focus- Every day we have a choice to either focus on sinful things or to follow after the things of the spirit. What will you be focusing on today?"

Words taken from the following website:
http://devotionsabout.com/

How true? We do have the choice. We can choose to focus on God and the fruits of the spirit or on sinful things that push us closer to evil. Something to think about.