Here's a big question: What is influencing your life?
Other people can have a positive, negative or even neutral influence. We don't want things to drag us down or keep us caught up in the chaos. We looked in Colossians 2 about how there's fine sounding influence, but it's just a shadow of the truth and lacks any real value. Negative influence can also be hollow and deceptive even though it might seem like it some right. We don't want to fall for the LIE's the bring limitations, intimidations and unrealistic expectations.
The Good News: Jesus holds the treasure on all wisdom and knowledge. His influence is all about moving us from death to life, from dark to light. It's an influence that gives us roots and builds us up (Colossians 2). This is why we want to set our hearts and minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-2).
What are some ways to set our hearts & minds on Jesus so He can influence our lives?
1) Spend time reading the Bible. He gives us the treasured wisdom and knowledge in His words in the Bible. You can find reading plans on Bible.com (you can find the Bible App there as well). If you're new to the Bible, pick up a Starting Line Pack at the Next Steps Center. There's a One-Minute Bible for Starters in the pack. We also have other resources and helpful advice about the Bible here.
2) Pray: praying isn't about saying the right, religious words. It's about the relationship. It's taking some time to set your mind on things above. Try this for a week: begin each day with prayer. See how it changes your focus. If you not sure how to pray, you can find some thoughts here. You can also join in our 3 focus prayers for this spring.
3) Consistency: One of our goals this year is for us to build consistency in our relationship with Jesus in every aspect of our lives. We talked how things like other people, busy schedules, stress or fatigue can cause chaos. We often get busy or distracted from God and His ways. The more we consistently focus on God, the more peace we will find in our hearts and minds. What is your next step to be more consistent? Make Sundays more of a priority? More personal time with God? More focus for your family?
4) Friends Figure into our Focus: Are the people in your life dragging you down or building you up? We need people in our lives that are moving in the same direction. This is a big reason we have things like Networks and Running Partners. It's so important to do life together because we all need encouragement to move in the right direction. Maybe it's time to move past a relationship. You can be friendly, but maybe being friends brings chaos. Maybe it's time to build new connections. Maybe it's time to jump into a Network.
5) Focus Your Mind with Music: Here's a list of songs we sing at The Journey. You can download these songs from iTunes or listen to them online. Listen to them throughout the day, on your ride to work, or while your chilling at home. It's a great way to keep focused on God and set your mind and heart on things above.
