I am pretty excited about today. Me and a van full will be headed to south Charlotte to meet up with 10th Ave North, Addison Road and the folks at Forest Hill Church. I have had tickets now for over a month and am really excited to get my worship on and enjoy the evening. I think we have a great group going and hoping for no distractions and grumpy students when I take their phones so they can focus in and be all there. Hard, I know but God sometimes deserves our attention more than we give him. I mean I see it all the time when talking with someone and they whip out their phone and send 3 text messages or update facebook while I am talking with them. Just a major pet peeve of mine sorry :)



Today I want to share some things on my heart about relationships. I chose the picture to the left as one of the mild pictures so that I really dont gross you out too much. I have this in mind because of the slow poison that takes place sometimes in the people around us and how long term it affects us and sometimes affects us deeply. See our relationships that we have can sometimes be toxic to us personally. Our spiritual life can be affected if we are not in tune with God and strong in our walk with Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:33 - Bad company corrupts good character.

Toxic by definition is anything containing poisonous material capable of causing serious sickness or even death. You may be at a place where God is really doing something in you and through you. You may feel closer to God than at any other time in your life and you are striving with all you have to live for Christ and share what He has done in your life with others. Some folks come along side and walk right with you and some are the heavenly sandpaper that just rub you raw at times. Those folks are the tough ones. They are the ones that really live 2 lives, the church person and the real person when others arent looking.
We all have morals and in my life, I have a pretty high moral standard that I do my best to keep and honor but also for those around me. I especially do so for my family and my close kids and friends. Most often when people need advise or need someone to talk to, I find it interesting in who they choose to talk with. If they want truth, they want to know what God says about their issue or struggle - they will seek out a godly person and get the truth. Sometimes they seek out folks who will tell them what they want to hear, they will seek out someone who will tell them what they want to do. These friends we need to keep at an arms length because when we are not fully prepared, fully in tune with our walk with Christ, fully ready for what ever may come - you can get dragged along.
Relationships are messy and in my own life, ministering to people is hard and tough on the heart for sure. I strive hard to have my heart in a place that is seeking Gods heart as much as I know how to do. How can I help someone if they come to me and knowing that my words are agreeing with them when they are making a decision to bring ruin and pain into their life? We must be strong in our faith to have that hard conversation and point them to Jesus. We have to value the friend more than the friendship in order to bring folks around us for the long haul.
In Matthew 16:23 - Jesus tells Peter of all people, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God but the things of men."

If we do not have our faith cup full and pouring our cup into others than we are no good to anyone with what we have to say or what we are doing. When our cup is not full of Christ, it will have more of earthly and worldly things. Soon, your moral meeter will slip, soon your walk with Christ will slip, soon those godly things will slip in that relationship as well as your other relationships. God has to be at the center of your heart in order for Him to be revealed into those relationships in your life. Folks around you need to know where you stand with Christ and where the line is in your faith - otherwise they will drag you with them.
A few months ago at Rock Group - I had a chair out and pulled my belt off and asked one of our kids to stand up on the chair. I asked if it was easier to pull a person off the chair or up onto the chair with them. Every single time it was easier to pull the person off the chair. That is a great example of our faith. Its easy to get pulled down and lost along side all that is going on and the people coming and going and wanting and wanting.

Much like the picture above - the poison starts off slow and then as it creeps into your life and into your heart and it eventually shows up and takes over. It might be that guy or girl you are dating. Everyone sees it as a bad thing. That dude is no good for you and is taking you to a place that leads nowhere. You continue to date him or her because there is nobody else at the moment. You dont want to be alone, you need something to do on Friday nights. What about that relationship that the other person continues to try and get you to do things that you know is wrong. The calls and text messages and facebook posts all point to a destination you don't want to go down or you're not ready for. What about that business deal that you know will make money but its shady and not above table? What about that relationship at work ... the value system in all this is it the same level as yours? Are you the one compromising your value system in order to keep the peace or the friendship?
Compromise your integrity and you will always end up in the loss column. It may not look like it at first - you may look like the idiot and the one that looks like you are better than everyone else ... but in the long run, you will be the one that people go to when they need someone because you have stood on solid ground, didnt compromise and didnt' let the poison into your life.
If your son or daughter was caught sexting - do you just say stop and let them keep their phone? This is rampant in middle school and high school where kids send each other sexual comments and pictures. Do you let this continue - NO you cut it off. You kill the poison and take the phone. You cut off that relationship.

Jesus went for 40 days and 40 nights alone - he too had to get alone and get some time to focus and get away from his disciples, the crowds of people, the folks who were full of poison. He could only do what he was doing if he was full of Gods presence and full of Gods spirit. How else could he cut off the poison all around him. If he wasnt in top shape the poison would eventually affect him. The world is toxic and Jesus had to be full strength as well, much like we need to, in order to help those who were hurting and open blind eyes and heal death ears and love the unlovable and touch the toxic, because he was doing what God had willed for him.
Bad company corrupts good character. There are those that need to hear from Gods spirit today. I am praying for your walk, for a moral meter that defines your walk and what you stand for.
May the folks in your life be the roots you need to dig deep in times of trouble and that will last the storms that this life throws us. May the poison be removed so that godly words and good character can be built and giving long lasting and loving friendships. All because God is centered and not something that this world offers.

Loved ones, there are folks out there desperate to know Jesus and we have to do our part in showing them and modeling for them who He is and what He has done in our lives. Do that and not let anything stand in your way. You may stand alone for a season ... but another season may have you having folks lined up because they need what you already have.
Jesus.

Lonnie~