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I love ordering things over the internet. It is such great way to purchase things and have them conveniently delivered. You can find pretty much anything online from anywhere in the world. Although this is an amazing thing, I made a mistake that had a wonderful lesson attached to it.

I got an email from a company I had never heard of who were offering 10 ft long Apple phone/iPad cables which seemed like a good idea and something I had been looking for. I proceeded to order them and actually got a wonderful price so I was excited to see my cables in a very speedy timeframe, being used to ordering from Amazon and deliveries taking about two days. In about two days I received an email from the company which I thought was great, but wondered why I hadn’t received my cables yet. The email said that the company was excited that my order was on its way...from mainland china! The email proceeded to say that the didn’t know when the cables would get to me for sure and that they appreciated my business. I thought to myself, “Well, it may be another month before I have these things in my hands” and felt a little deceived.

While checking the mail about three weeks later my cables had finally arrived! I was so excited to finally use the items I had purchased almost a year ago (in my mind). I opened the package and noticed that they were the WRONG CABLES! They were micro USB cables and not the kind that my Apple products use! That was it. I was so angry and began crafting my verbal assault via email to let the company know how disgusted I was at the deception on their website concerning shipping as well as sending me the wrong items! I went back to the email I had received earlier with the contact information on it for the company and noticed a tiny little factoid. I had actually ordered the wrong cables and not the Apple ones. All of the sudden I felt like an idiot.

How many times in life do we proceed without thinking and not “count the cost” of either things we order online, relationships that we have in life, career decisions or even more importantly, our relationship with Jesus? The Bible has a portion of scripture in Luke 14 that talks about following Jesus and the importance of getting the bigger picture before making rash decisions. For me, it was reading an email that my potential product would be coming from china and that I needed to simply make sure the cables were compatible with my devices.

When we count the cost of all areas in life, we will live a productive and healthy life especially when it comes to our relationship to Jesus. That is one thing that I appreciate about Jesus and the Bible. He was not about tricking people into following him and only about telling the truth about what he had to offer compared to where people were living their lives. Even today, we do not need to try and trick or coheres people into a relationship with God. We just need to live a “cost-counted” life and take opportunity when people ask us why we have love, success and purpose in life.
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Live a life today that reflects the conscious decision to follow Jesus and believe that he is taking care of you in every area of life. Decide to follow the Bible’s teaching and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand it for your life. You can do it and we are praying for you!

So I finally did it. I entered Publishers Clearing House to win $5000 a week for life. The thought kept going through my mind, “If you don’t enter you cant win” from even when I was a little kid. I entered my email, added my information to the website and hit confirm. I knew I was going to get many more emails from the company but I was not ready for their contents.
 
It was about a week after I had entered all my information and clicked the “confirm” button when I got an email saying, “You need to click on this NOW to CONFIRM that you are eligible to win your prize!” I thought in my mind that I was not going to go through the effort of entering the drawing and then not have my name eligible so I added my email again and clicked confirm....again. Later that day, I got another email basically saying the same thing the follow up email said with different wording but with the same level of urgency. I deleted it from my email and moved on with my day. As I type this blog, I have received probably 40 emails in the span of about 2 weeks telling me that I am not confirmed yet and that I need to CLICK NOW TO BE ELIGIBLE! I am beginning to think it may have been a bad idea to enter my name to win.

Now think about a relationship with Jesus. I am so glad that when I gave my heart to Christ and ‘signed on the dotted line” that the deal was done and I didn’t need to question whether or not I gave my heart to Jesus. The Bible is full of assurances that when we give God full control of our lives, he is not going to take it back or make us think that we didn’t really do what we thought we did.

The verse in Romans 8:38-39 says,
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
There is nothing that happens around us to keep us from God and his love combined with an assurance throughout the Bible that we have already won! We do, however, need to consider if our actions are “unsubscribing” us from that love and protection. No one can say what the line is when/if we lose our salvation, but if I am not living the life I say I have committed to with Jesus, did I count the cost in the first place and just gave lip service to the idea of being saved? Think of it this way; God is NEVER going to walk away from you but you can choose to walk away from him.
 
Today, don’t let the devil lie to you when you have given your heart and life to Jesus. But also remember that if you are going to say Jesus is the Lord of your life then let your actions reflect it! God will always be for you and not against you and cheering you on to make good decisions in this life that will echo in eternity. Have a great week!

Today, take the time to speak this scripture and create a prayer of worship around it:
Lord, I worship You as our LORD Jehovah… ...You are the great I Am, timeless, eternal, and unchanging (Exodus 3:14; Malachi 3:6). You are the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)…..
​Continue this thought with a personal prayer of worship to our LORD Jehovah (He loves to have relationship with His children) and He is worthy to be worshiped!

Our affiliate station, WHTN in Nashville, produces a program called Bridges.  Join the conversation tonight at 8:30pm MT as Monica continues teaching on  "Red Flags in Relationships".  She highlights secrets, dishonesty and when people are unwilling to get help. 

WAYS TO WATCH: 
Comcast 51 (SD) & 643 (HD)
Dish Network 55
HD Antenna 33.1 (Cheyenne and Northern Colorado)
39.1 (Denver)
If you are not in the Denver/Cheyenne area or want to watch it on a tablet or smartphone, you can stream at Rockymountainctn.com

Today, we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a wonderful man who brought change to America in so many ways. It is easy to look at the accomplishments of others and compare who we are not and what we cannot do. Never forget that comparison is the catalyst of failure in life.

The question is what ARE you doing today to bring change to the world around you? We each have abilities, strengths and people around us we can touch with the love of God. When you know Jesus, you have access to a power that other people need in there lives as well! As Dr. King expressed in the quote above, may God take who we are and what we CAN do and use it for a purpose greater than ourselves! 

Praying for you to effectively change the world around you for Jesus with his power and strength being evident in your life! Have a great week!