Dating Jesus || Don't Get Distracted

There's a lot that can be said about a strategically placed distraction.

They can come from ourselves, someone else, our own priorities, but no matter what their mission is to keep you unaware of what you're supposed to be paying attention to.

It's funny that just this past week Az has been displaying on the road, signs that say "Highways don't kill people, Distracted Drivers Do". Whilst reading one of those signs for the umpteenth time, I actually got a little distracted myself and almost side-swiped the divider. This had me thinking.... Distractions are everywhere this week. And they come in different forms.

Let's take, for instance, this recent situation with my friends.
Last Friday, at the movies... Now this story is blatant with it's intent, if you look at it from a spiritual perspective.
So last Friday a few of my friends decided to go to the movies and see Son of God. Me and one of my friend (J) are intent on getting one of our other friends (P) saved (I'm using initials here so the confusion doesn't exist). So here we are sitting in the theater with literally only 10 or so  people.
Enter the distraction...
We manage, somehow, to sit in the seats directly in front of 2 people that decided to bring in 2 toddlers. Or should I say they decided to sit behind us.
Literally throughout the entirety of this 2 and a half hour movie these babies are talking, making noises, whining, pushing the backs of our seats, & just being completely annoying. I mean ALL if our seats got pushed at least 3x each. During Son of God.
Now we contemplated moving but there were 4 of us and we all had stuff so I really didn't feel like moving, plus I felt like the noise was loud enough that it wouldn't matter where we moved; these kids would be heard.

So... we stayed in our seats.
But just after we get to the parts of the movie where it didn't feel rushed and we could all start grasping what was going on... P has had enough with the kids so she asks the family of 4 behind us, to move because they were being disrespectful. Mind you not once had they attempted to remove their children or redirect them from making noise or kicking/pushing our seats. So we ALL were done.
Of course they weren't about that moving life and basically tried to throw at P "wait until you have kids..." and some other irrelevant statements that had nothing to do with the fact that their children were being disruptive during a movie that we all paid for and... kind of wanted to listen to and watch.
So there was a little drama and after things calmed down P was still mad so... her head space was gone...

You see where I'm going here? The kids were a distraction. During a movie that could have easily watered or planted some seeds of truth for P (and really for all of us in the theater), all of in the theater were thinking about this current state of tensionin the theater.
This led to J and I being irritated and calling it what it was... the devil. Lol
When we say that, we're not saying the kid was possessed, per say, BUT we are saying that the enemy used that opportunity to distract us ALL from getting fed and taking in truth.
And in all realness I found myself getting distracted by attempting to find errors in the movie. Either because something was out of order or because there were things that were just missing.
So maybe the distraction wasn't even bad because the movie wasn't the full truth. Stories were either edited or embellished for the movies sake as if the truth isn't enough. But I won't go into that rant right now.
I just wanted to note how powerful a distraction can be. We just wanted the opportunity to at least have room for conversation about the movie afterwards, but because of the drama... we had to de-escalate & recap the drama versus the Word.

Let me go one step further and be honest...
I have not had one single date with Jesus since I posred about it last week.
From the exhaustion of last week, to having visitors over the weekend, to yet another exhausting week, to work keeping me away from home until late...
I have been busy.
And NO time has been made for those 40minutes to spend my time with Him. I've read my devotionals, prayed, and listened to my worship music, but no official dates (in relation to last week's challenge). That's actually why I decided to write this piece. I noticed what was happening on Sunday. From the stuff with my friends and my slacking I knew what was happening. There were some strategic elements of distraction at play here and I was falling right into it all.
The bad part is, I saw what was happening and didn't take control of it. I even got so exhausted today that I forgot all about even writing about this. And for those that this may help, that's saying something about a distraction' s abilities. There's a saying that goes something like, the devil may not keep you tempted, but he will keep you busy... well, that's veen me these past 8 days. Completely out of it. I've been seeing some great things happen, but in the same token I haven't even been able to celebrate because I'm too pooped at the end of it all.

I write all this to ask, have You been getting distracted lately? Are there areas that you've wanted to focus on, but you've found yourself getting pulled away? And the thing that's occupying your time may not even be a bad thing. It could be work, family, a conversation with a friend in need (that just happens to take place during yoir designated "date time"), or anything else, but you have to question... How is/did/will that activity affect my focus on my spiritual goal?
And these daily Dates are a goal. There's a great verse that has been in my head all week (mainly due to my challenges with eating but it all relates):
1 Corinthians 10:23 NLT
You say, “I am allowed to do anything” —but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.

The shorthand version of that is this:
Everything is Permissible (or allowed), but everything is NOT Beneficial.
When avoiding distractions in your relationship with God, think about how whatever else it is you want to do will affect the effort that you need to make in drawing nearer to Him.
You can talk to your friend on the phone during your date time but will that benefit you. You chose that time, hopefully, because it was convenient and worked with your schedule. I choose 6:30 because it gives me time to get home fron work, deal with the dogs, & even wind down a little. But also by 7:30 I can take time to talk to a friend or watch t.v.
Don't allow something that can be postponed or even completely left alone to take your time away from developing a VERY beneficial relationship.
That's my goal moving forward.
I thank God for His grace and I try my best to do the beneficial.

Stay Blessed y'all.

♡♥
-Benita

Dating Jesus || 30-day Challenge

Happy Friday's Eve!

Last week I posted about staying committed and the challenges I've recently had with improving my relationship with Christ. 

Today I'm going to start a challenge that was first introduced to me last December by my church's Young Adult ministry (CORE) leader. It's actually what inspired the name "Dating Jesus" in the first place.

For 30-days Commit to spending 40 minutes each day Dating (or getting to know) God.

This consists of 4 elements:
1) Spend 10 minutes reading the Bible
2) Spend 5 minutes praying
3) Spend 15 minutes meditating/listening to God (it helped me to keep a notepad around so I could write what I felt I was hearing)
And...
4) Spend the last 10 minutes in praise & worship. 
Here's the fun part...
You praise & worship with no music (as in no recorded music)

Doing this (although I fell off after 2-weeks... just being honest) really helped me see where I was falling off with my relationship with God. And it was during those "dates" that I saw how important it is to remember that this IS a relationship that I Chose to enter into and just like any relationship, communication is key.

God communicates with Us through his Word. We communicate with his through prayer. And when it comes to praise & worship... well who DOESN'T like to feel validated? God said himself that he is a jealous God. During those moments of praise & worship I truly had to think about why I love Him and who He is to Me. I wasn't just singing along with a song I remembered most of yhe words to.. This was my moment to be completely mindful of what I was saying.

At one point I couldn't figure out the RIGHT words to say. So I Googled the names of God. Some may be familiar with terms like Yahweh, Jehovah Jireh (or Yireh), or El Shaddai, but if you're likee you either had NO idea what those terms mean or you just didn't feel that they resonated with you. So, lucky me I previously attended a Women's Bible study a few years back that solely focused on the different names of God. I lost the paper that gave each name (per the Bible) & their meaning, but I know almost Anything can be found on Google. Lol
As such I did my search and came across so many names. I actually found a website that gave a great list with the meanings and verses.

As I was looking at the list, I came across the term "Abba Father" which basically means "Daddy". Not in the "Baby Daddy" form but in the "my Daddy", "my Dad", my provider, protector, teacher, disciplinarian, informal doctor, and whatever other role those Dad's play. When I saw that term, I immediately attached to it. THAT is who God has been to me. He's convicted me, forgiven me, punished me, praised me, guided me, protected me... Loved ME! Unconditionally. So I HAD to thank Him and honor Him. Just for being my Abba Father.

I say all this because one of the biggest mistakes we can make as Christians is getting stuck in a routine with our praise and worship. We say "Hallelujah" simply because we know it is the "highest praise" but we fail to try and figure out what exactly we are trying to praise God for. And who wants an pseudo-praise with no real reason behind it? Let's work on really praising & worshipping God "in Spirit and in truth" like the Bible instructs us.

One thing that helps me keep Him in mind is that I literally have an alarm that goes off each day with the title "Date Time". Corny? Yes, but effective.

I hope you try this challenge again with me and know that I REALLY want to hear from you on how you're doing and what was easy or hard.

Do what works for you. And if one day you forget, it happens. God's mercy is new EVERY morning so there's no need to stress or feel like you've failed at something. The purpose is to never give up on your relationship with God. It doesn't have to look just like everyone else's but you can't really consider it functional if you don't get to know Who it is you're in a relationship with for yourself.

Just think about how much you'd believe that you're friend, or boyfriend, or parent (for all intents and purposes) really loved you if they only told you through their "best friend". This relationship is reciprocal that way because God needs to hear from you just as much as you need to hear from Him.

Ok. Im out. I have a date that I'm kind of late for....

Stay Blessed y'all.

♡♥
-Benita (:

Dating Jesus || In ALL things... Have Grace

If I've learned one thing during my weight-loss journey it is the importance of having grace for myself.

I know this series usually focuses on my relationship with God, but for me, my weight-loss/fitness journey is my visual representation of my walk with Christ. For me, I can see no difference between how I take care of my body & how I worship God. After all, we are called to worship and honor God with our bodies [Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 6:20]. So it only makes since that I use this example when talking about grace.

Currently I am in this place in my weight-loss journey that I've seen before. Feeling a little hopeless. Hopeless because of countless attempts to eat better and exercise but I keep allowing myself to be distracted or unmotivated. I fail. And because I keep telling myself that I'm failing or I suck at this, I remain in this pattern of self-hate. And that's unhealthy.

So, I had to step back (and really I have to do this often) and remind myself that I truly can start over at any time. And although I might be operating in fear right now, God has given me grace and victory over anything. I have to remind myself that every error I make is just that, an error. It's a part of the journey and I can't hold onto a false belief that I'm going to get everything right the first time I try. I spent 20+ years creating bad habits for myself. One day won't immediately erase those habits.

You have to have grace and allow for mistakes because in all realness; You're learning how to live again.

The same thing can be said for your Spiritual journey. You're a new creation which means old things are officially in the past, but this doesn't mean old habits just end. It doesn't mean old beliefs that we held on to just go away. And this doesn't mean you will automatically be able to do everything you're supposed to do the first time you try. This is why I choose to emphasize this as a "journey".

Ultimately God intends to work on us as individuals and as a Body until the day Jesus returns [ Philippians 1:6]. This means there will always be areas of growth and improvement. And this means that there will also be times where we fall short or even give up. That's the human in us. The goal, however is that, eventually, we become completely Spirit led.

The thing about that is, we have to put in a lot of effort and time throughout our lives in order to know God's will for us and in order to do His will. Again, this is where error is expected. And this is why God's grace is sufficient. We just don't want to become dependent on Grace when we can do better with His Spirit in us. God's grace is what has frees us from having to live in sin [Galatians 5:13; Romans 6].

So... today, I'm going to walk in God's grace and forgive myself for the mistakes I make along this journey to full health. I will proclaim victory over my entire life because God has graced me with it. And I will NEVER give up on myself because God chose me and adopted me. Because God needs me to help Glorify Him. And God loves me so much that he allowed Jesus to be crucified for me.

I will rebuke any thoughts that attempt to keep me trapped in my old ways and rebuke myself if needed.

I pray that in all things... we ALL experience and dwell in God's grace & glory.

Stay Blessed y'all.

♡♥
-Benita

Dating Jesus || Staying Committed

I have a confession...

I have a problem with commitment.

Not in relationships... well, I guess in relationships, but not the kind you're probably thinking of.
You see, I have a problem with committing to myself.
With committing to changing myself fully; with committing to accepting my purpose; and really, with committing to my personal relationship with God.

I'm a faster... as in, I fast, kind of often... well, at least I try to.
In 2012, when I did my first fast, I must say, although it was a challenge, once I got the hang of it & made it a habit with purpose, I was good. At one point I fasted for 40-days. I'm not bragging, because the circumstance kind of required it, but I'm just saying...that was me over a year ago.

But then...2013 came. Last March I wrote a piece on "No Compromising Season"... that was the season I was in. During that time, it was my intent to fast again because I'd noticed a few things and I felt my flesh getting too strong. I had started to lose control.
Before I move on, I feel that it's necessary to reiterate that when it comes to my relationship with God; my physical health is pretty much my visual indicator of how I'm doing. (And on a funnier note, I've kind of used my natural hair journey as an indicator too).
So last March when I noticed my weight gain + my hair breakage I was perplexed. I had felt that I was doing the right things in my walk to at least maintain a healthy weight (and healthy hair), but my body said otherwise. So when I wrote "No Compromising Season" I had a few revelations. The biggest one being... I was allowing myself to be content with mediocre efforts.
The reality was, although my eating wasn't horrible,  I was inconsistent. And didn't go to the gym. And when it came to my relationship with God, I went to church, but had stopped meditating on God's Word as soon as I felt that His Spirit was no longer responding to the effort.

I had become lax... I had started comprising during the process. RIGHT when I had to start making a little more effort, I fell off. And that is how I became vulnerable. The minute I let go of what worked was the minute the enemy crept in and presented me with opportunity after opportunity to forget where I was going and why. And with some of the smallest of thing. God had continued to tell me I was in a season where I couldn't compromise within the journey, but the longer I ignored that voice the easier it was to give in and indulge in things that weren't good for me. I, in essence, started cheating on God. I couldn't see it though because it was nothing "major". I still attended church & served, & listened to Christian music every morning. I just listened to my secular music the rest of the day and had stopped making efforts to improve my service or even make sure I did it to glorify Him instead of myself. 
As a result... eventually I couldn't even tell whose voice I was hearing; who I was really devoting myself to; whose spirit I was really walking in.

And I'm still in the struggle. It's better, but after a year of compromises, I've found that the things that I used to do, like fasting, take 4x as much effort a day than it did that first time. And that's a scary place to be.
I said a while ago that I will never give up on my fitness journey and this goes for maturing in Christ as well.
He didn't create me to be mediocre. He created me to glorify Him. He created me to be His child. He created me to be set apart. And for a God that loved me so much that He died for me... I can never give up allowing my flesh to die for Him. And for the God who rose from the dead for me... I will always take each day to rise out of my failures for Him.
It won't be easy, and that's ok. Because I am His I receive victory. Because of His Spirit in me & His grace, I have strength & wisdom. Because of His Word I have all the weapons I need to be an overcomer.

And the same goes for you! Today you may not be the best "Christian" you can be or life may generally suck; that doesn't mean you can just do the "fade away" with God. One, He's good for chasing after you. Lol. And, Two, He deserves better. 

How can you get re-committed?

Seek His face... get to know who God is; how he operates; for yourself. Take a little time (5 minutes never hurt anyone). Read His Word & pray. Keep a verse in your head for the day. Learn who He is.

I personally love Psalms 119... longest book in the Bible, but probably contains something for everyone. One verse from that can reveal your heart. Give it a try... you have to start somewhere. 

Ok.
This is way longer than I thought it would be, but... this is me at 12am on a weekday like I don't have to work in less than 8 hours.

Stay Blessed y'all.

♡♥
-Benita (: