Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

~1 John 2:15-17~

I’m always amazed at the number of people who constantly talk about sports and celebrities.  There seems to be no shortage of fans for this team or that or for this particular singer or actor.  But sadly, there are very few fans of God who will put themselves out there to show their support for Him.  Since I’ve been trying to walk more closely with god, I’ve noticed some things about myself.  I no longer care who is on Survivor, The Amazing Race or American Idol.  I no longer set aside time to watch recorded episodes of these shows.  I used to schedule things around them, but now, I don’t seem to care if ever see them again.  I do, however; make time to watch my recorded episodes of Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen and Jentezen Franklin. 

You see, there’s been a real shift in my priorities over the past year.  For those of you who have known me a while, you know that even my Facebook statuses used to be loaded with sarcasm and a general sense of disgust.  After I had been going to church for a while, I started to feel like what I was saying was in direct conflict with what I was feeling in my heart.  Sure, my statuses and much of what I was writing then was entertaining for some, but it didn’t really glorify God in any way and that was wrong.  At this point in my life, I want nothing more than to glorify Him and to let everyone know that He is the reason for this new attitude.  When I finally felt the Holy Spirit in my soul, I knew it was time to stop glorifying the things of this world (which I mostly despised, by the way) and to give credit where it was due.  It was time to start cheering for God.

How many statuses have you read on Facebook or Twitter today that mentioned a celebrity or an athlete or sports team?  How many mentioned God or Jesus?  One of these number needs to be higher, I won’t and shouldn’t have to tell you which.  We have freedom of speech and yet, many of us choose to use it to lift up our sports teams as though carrying a ball from one end of a field to another is something worthy of praise.  What about God’s healing of the sick?  What about relationships that have been saved by God’s intervention?  What about at least thanking God for making it possible for us to sit around watching these games?

I was afraid that people would think I was some kind of a nut when I started posting Bible scriptures instead of snide comments.  Some might have, but they didn’t say so.  Those who appreciate the postings often will chime in and add a comment saying how much they like the scripure or they will simply hit the “like” button to show their approval.  I challenge you to show your support for God today.  The next status you update needs to say thank you or acknowledge God’s involvement in your life in some way.  Even if you don’t think He’s doing much in you, rest assured, He’s there.  He’s waiting for you to give Him the praise He deserves.  Will you choose to cheer for Him or will you choose to act like He’s not there?  Maybe you’re upset with Him for some reason?  Maybe you don’t believe in Him at all?  Maybe you’re holding out for a heaven sponsored by the NFL?  Who knows what keeps us from openly praising God?  It really doesn’t matter why you haven’t in the past as long as you make a conscious effort to praise Him from now on.  There aren’t so many minutes left on our clock that we can afford not to let Him know how much He means to us.

 All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols—
   worship him, all you gods!

~Psalm 97:7 (New International Version, ©2010)~

answers beliefs celebrities church faith fear God Jentezen Franklin Joel Osteen Joyce Meyer love pride society thinking Uncategorized