I heard the above statement the other day.

We try to do this all the time. We go to church on Sunday and say, “look at me, I’m following God,” then Monday morning comes, and we’re running all over the place, filling our time with busyness, until we’re exhausted to even give God a thought, let alone a few minutes in prayer.

It says in the Bible, you cannot serve two masters.

You cannot do what you want, when you want, and leave God out of your day.

Satan loves it when we get so busy playing church and being nice, but having other motives to get what we want out of people.

When we say we’re a Christian, we should be showing this to others in our actions and behavior.

You can’t be a Christian and hate the guy you work with, just because he may be unfriendly, or weird. You can’t serve others, expecting something in return.

Love God, follow Him, show others this love, and you’ll be amazed at how fast the devil runs from you.

Matthew 6:24 - “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

I’ve noticed in my own life that when I try to figure problems out on my own, they usually get worse. I’ll fret and worry and rehearse what I’m going to do in a situation, all to end in frustration.

It’s in these times of discouragement that I’ve learned to be still, be quiet and listen for God. I try to focus on the character of God in these situations, knowing that He’s done it before, and He can do it again.

We tend to think that we’re fighting with the other person, when, in reality, it’s not the person, it’s satan’s power over them.

It’s the teaching moments of God that show us how to be silent. Let God fight the battle. He’s the one who will seek justice for you.

The less we gossip about our problems, asking others their advice, the more God has room to move.

People get so consumed with their current circumstances, that it takes over all their thoughts.

I promise you, the more you fill your mind with God, the less you’ll be thinking about the issues at hand.

Get out of the way and let God do what He does best. He moves mountains, so that we can walk through the valleys, knowing God always wins.

Matthew 17:20 - “He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

When you’re in a relationship, whether it’s a marriage, parental, sibling or friend, you’re committed to the other person. If the relationship is important to you, you work on it, consistently.

If something happens to break down the relationship, most times the breakup causes distance between the two individuals. This could mean divorce, sibling rivalry or a child gone astray.

The longer this distance cultivates, the relationship starts to break down.

You’ve heard the saying, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” That may be true in some cases, but when the absence was caused by anger or strife, the opposite becomes true. The more you’re removed from the situation, the less it seems relevant. After a while, you stop thinking about the other person altogether.

Detaching yourself from someone that’s been a part of your life, will ultimately destroy you. It will eat at you, and cause you to be bitter and resentful.

Take the above scenario and think about being detached from God. Christians do it all the time. They get saved and are on fire for God. Something happens and they want God to fix it immediately and He doesn’t, and slowly they begin to drift from God. Now, they’re so far from God that they don’t even think about Him anymore, unless they’re in trouble.

Don’t detach yourself from God. God is the beginning, and whether you believe this or not, God is the forever for all those who believe in Him.

Attach your life to God and you’ll never fear detachment from others.

Psalm 13:1 - “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”

Romans 12:20 - “On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Have you ever been so devastated or hurt by someone that you want to hurt them back; get even? You want them to feel the same pain that you experienced, so in your mind, you’re thinking what you can do to get them back.

As Christians, we know that this is not our job. This is all God. If we try to do God’s work, we will fail. Leave the vengeance to God, my friend.

In most cases, when someone intentionally hurts you, they will forget about it, or think that they’ve done their part and it’s over, forgotten. When you’re sitting around, mourning, steaming, thinking of ways to get them back, they’ve already moved on.

This is where people let circumstances dictate their lives. You ask them how they feel, and they’ll say, “under the circumstances, I feel terrible.” As a Christian, my response should be, “we’re not under the circumstances, we’re over the circumstances.” We shouldn’t be basing our moods on our circumstances. This is what satan wants. He wants us to brood over it, and be so consumed that we think of nothing else but the problem.

Let’s let God take control; He’ll fight the battle, and the best thing is, He’ll win!

Leave the wrath to God. Overcome evil with good, by moving on, forgiving the other person, praying for them. It’s then that they’ll see what a true Christian’s character looks like.

God has a plan and purpose for our lives. Satan is out to destroy those plans.

The good news is that if you have surrendered your old life and given it to Christ, satan has no power over you. Oh, the devil can certainly make your life miserable, but he can’t take you out.

Most people think that satan is busy messing with the alcoholic, the drug addict, or the abuser. Those people aren’t actually a challenge for satan; he’s already convinced them God’s not real, or doesn’t care.

The devil is after the church. What I mean by that is, he’s after God’s chosen few.

Satan is out to destroy, deceive and divide Christians. He is after the luke-warm Christian, the rocky marriage, and the new pastor in town.

He knows he’s losing his foothold in their lives. So, he does the one thing he knows to do, since the garden of Eden. Birth deception in their lives.

I’ve said it before. Don’t underestimate satan. He’ll watch you slowly drift from God, then BAM! Out of nowhere he’ll hit you where you’re weak.

The only power and weapon you have to defend yourself is God and His word.

Stay connected with God. Be prepared for satan’s attacks.

There’s one place where satan can’t enter, and that’s when you’re praying to God.

Overcome satan’s strategies with God’s power.

Ephesians 6:16 - “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

Matthew 8:26 - “He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.”

Why are most of us so quick to judge others, instead of looking at our own faults?

Or, why do Christians blame God for things that go wrong in their lives?

Matthew 8:26 is referring to a time when the disciples, men who left their homes, families and careers to follow Jesus, started doubting Him. They saw Jesus perform miracles and healings, yet, when their life seemed to be in danger, they quickly forgot all this, and let their fear overcome their faith.

I admit, I’m not perfect. There have been times when my faith shrinks in fear.

But, I’ve found that when fear seeps into my thoughts, when the unknown scares me to death, this is when I have to intentionally re-focus my thoughts on what’s good in my life. I have to purposely change my thoughts from fear to thanksgiving.

Just as a seed grows in the ground, my faith will start to develop and thrive. And soon, faith sprouts peace and understanding.

I have seen my faith grow in leaps in bounds since I started applying this one principle: Trust God. I may not know the outcome, and it may be frightening to go through, but God loves me and is fighting for me. He always wants the best for me, and this strengthens my faith even more.

Build your faith; grow your faith. Trust God alone for your faith growth.

The above phrase was popular when I was a kid. It is meant to tell someone to improve their attitude or behavior and perform better. Some of the elementary teachers would give this warning to the unruly kids in class.

I give this analogy to those of us who are Christians, to remind ourselves that once we give our life to Christ, the former things we used to do, no longer appeal to us. We take a different direction towards our choices.

We need to review our attitude and our behavior, especially around non-Christians. It doesn’t mean we have to change our personality. Others should see a change in you, once you become a Christian.

The same mouth that was foul before conversion, gives words of encouragement and hope. Some who spent their weekends at the bars, are spending their time serving others.

We are not to act like robots. In love, we should be easier to be around. Our attitude is more positive and up beat. We should be attracting people, not by our looks, but by our behavioral change.

Befriend someone today. Get to know them. It could take some time, but it will be worth it. As they watch you and hear your story, it will have an impact on their life.

Straighten up, and act like a Christian, through your words and actions.

We only have one life here on earth. Use it to make a change in the world. Share your story and watch what happens next.

2 Corinthians 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Most products or restaurants are rated by the public in the form of reviews. Five stars would be the highest for a really good restaurant.

Some websites or apps will show you if the restaurant is a 5 star or less. This is their advertisement, their marketing tool.

As Christians we should be public billboards for Christ. We should be telling others the great things Jesus is doing in our lives. Our duty as a follower of Christ is to tell your story of how Jesus saved you and is still saving today.

But, are we doing this? Are we giving Christ a 5 star rating, or do others even know that we’re a Christian?

The greatest way to show your love to someone is to tell them about the God you serve.

Those of us who faithfully serve God, feed on His word, soak up the blessings He gives, sometimes forget to share their faith to those who so desperately need it.

Give God a 5 star rating today. Advertise to the world the good news of Jesus Christ.

2 Kings 7:9 - “Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”