Connection Lost ... Tap to Retry

How does the Holy Spirit speak to you?  I would say the Holy Spirit speaks to me in a lot of different ways, but it seems that the Lord is always pretty blunt, very obvious, and repetitive when speaking to me.  Whether it is through others, a scripture I hear over and over from different sources, the name of a person or a place will be in front of me constantly, etc...  Sometimes, I instantly know it's Him.  Other times, it takes me a little bit to realize it's Him, or to want to admit that it's Him. 

For about five days now, almost every time I have tried to log into my facebook account from my cell phone, I have seen this:

At first this was just annoying.  I thought something was wrong with my phone, so I deleted the account on my phone, then reloaded it.   That didn't work.  Then I thought I had a bad internet connection, but all of my other apps worked and so did my internet.  On day 4, this thought came to mind, "I wonder if this is how God feels about me... like our connection is lost, but all I have to do is 'retry' or reconnect."  For another day, I still got this connection error over and over.  Then, I finally confessed, out loud, and I admitted my connection to Him had not been very strong lately.  And you know what?  After that confession - the connection lost picture went away.  Almost instantaneously.

I have been praying and thinking about what it is that has caused my connection to be lost.  Part of the answer is obvious - facebook itself can be a huge distraction.  I thought of how much time can be wasted looking at pictures of others, reading different status updates, or when one of my 'close friends' posts something, I get a notification to let me know.  But do I treat my Lord the same way?  Do I constantly look to Him to see what He would have me do everyday?  Am I as interested in what it says in His book as I am in what someone else is saying on facebook?  Am I being selfish by only being notified about my 'close friends' and perhaps missing out on someone else's need or cry for help?  Am I as quick to recognize notifications when the Lord speaks something to me or does something new in my life?  Or am I too distracted by what everyone thinks of what I say, pictures I post, or knowing what others are up to? 

Thank you God that you are a God of grace.  Today, I am thankful that because of Jesus, all I have to do is 'tap to retry' and I will have access to the throne room to be with God.  Beginning today, I am going to limit my facebook usage.  I am going to spend more time in His book.  I am going to spend more time looking at Him each day.  I am going to spend more time resting in His approval of me and giving Him my status update.  Beginning today I will be more about His business and less in other people's business. 

I am going to limit my facebook usage to only twice a day.  Once in the morning and once in the evening for only 3 minutes or less each time.  If you are up to do this challenge with me and/or if you are willing to check in on me and hold this girl accountable, please let me know.

Dependency

My name is Rene' and I am a coca cola-holic.  It is sad, and it is true. 

A few years ago, I had to come to terms with something.  Something hard.  I was an alcoholic.  I grew up with an alcoholic dad and in my mind, the images I had of him were the images of what an alcoholic looked like in my mind.  Based on this, I was sure I was not that - just a social drinker.  Have you ever looked up the word alcoholic?  It means:  continued, excessive or compulsive use of alcohol drinks leading to pyschological or physical dependence or addiction.  And I was at that place.  Continued, excessive use of alcohol to 'numb' me from pain or from having to deal with life.  If I was irritated it was always easier to grab a corona, or 3, with some lime and salt to alter my mood rather than deal with the issue.  If I was happy, I had even more coronas!

When I invited Christ into my life on July 24, 2009 - I gave up alcohol completely and have not had a drink since.  Praise God.  I continue to reflect back on that and think about how I had such a dependency on it and how easy it was to let it go because He was worthy and He was enough.

Here I am today, April 2, 2012.  For the past month, the LORD has been showing me that although I gave up alcohol and my dependency on it - I had let something else come between me and my full dependency on Him.  I had turned away from alcohol, but in time had turned to something else.  Something that isn't viewed as 'bad' by society, but something I have allowed myself to place in alcohol's absence and something I have placed before Him.  And that something is coca cola.  When I am irritated, I like to drink a coca cola.  When I am happy, I drink a coca cola.  Sometimes for no reason at all, I just drink a coca cola.  Coca cola has replaced coronas. 

I am not saying there is anything wrong with drinking a corona.  I am not saying there is anything wrong with drinking a coca cola.  I am saying that for me, there is something wrong with it.  The reason is that I have learned to turn to drinking a coke when the going gets tough.  I have learned to turn to drinking a coke when I want to celebrate.  I have learned to turn to coca cola just because, for no reason at all ... a continued, excessive, compulsive use of coca cola. 

So as of yesterday, I have decided to give up coca cola for at least 30 days, possibly longer and possibly for always.  I am determined to re-learn to turn to who I should have solely been depending on this whole time.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30

I choose the bright and morning star when I am sad,
I choose the prince of peace when I am irritated,
I choose the light of the world when I am happy,
I choose the name above all names when I feel insecure,
I choose the blessed redeemer when I don't feel worthy,


I CHOOSE JESUS, MESSIAH - just because.  

What about you?  Is there any thing, big or subtle, that you have allowed yourself to find comfort in, whether it be a time of celebration or a time of grievance, before turning to Christ?