Who you choose to associate with will help you bridge the gaps in your life. The people I associate with pray for me whether I need it or not. We all need a support group – that group can be a wife but she really does not understand all of the gaps. We need other men that feel the same way we do. We need to model our lives after men that are Godly and follow the example of Christ.

In the year 1725 John Wesley, being in the twenty-third year of his age, met Bishop Jeremy Taylor’s book “Rule and Exercises of Holy Living and Dying.” In reading several parts of this book, he was especially affected; that part in particular which relates to purity of intention. Instantly he said, “I resolved to dedicate all my life to God, all my thoughts, and words, and actions; being thoroughly convinced, there was no medium; but that every part of my life (not some only) must either be a sacrifice to God, or myself, that is, in effect, to the devil. Can any serious person doubt of this, or find a medium between serving God and serving the devil?” Jeremy Taylor also said, “God hath given to man a short time here upon earth, and yet upon this short time eternity depends” So choose friends that will pray for you and support you even when you think you don’t need them.

What and who are you listen to will ultimately influence what you do. That raises the question: What/who should we listen to? There are innumerable voices that attempt to speak into our lives and shape our decisions. Some we listen to with enthusiasm. Some we ignore as foolish. But is there one voice among the rest that should not be ignored? Is there one voice that demands our attention?

At the end of the day, to ignore wisdom is to decide to enter a storm from which you may never fully recover. Because wisdom understands how the world works. Wisdom is not swayed by the voices of self-indulgence or dissatisfaction. Wisdom is shouting from the streets to live in a way that honors God. To listen to God and to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself that is our calling.

Isn’t it strange that we even have to talk about listening to God? If you believe that God created everything, then you have to believe that God created communication, which would lead us to assume that God is the best communicator. So, why is it sometimes so hard to hear him speak? What if the issue isn’t whether or not God is speaking, but whether or not you are in the right position to hear him? Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a reasons to cry, show life that you have 10 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret because you have been given grace.

Tim McGraw sings:

“Well, I finally read the Good Book,
“And I took a good long hard look,

“An’ I became a friend a friend would like to have.

And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
“And I gave forgiveness I’d been denying.”
An’ he said: “Some day, I hope you get the chance,
“To live like you were dyin’.”

“And then:

“I went Sky diving,

I went rocky mountain climbing,
“I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
An’ he said: “Some day, I hope you get the chance,
“To live like you were dyin’.”

Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear. This is what God wants for you, to live life to the fullest. Your friends will help you bridge the gaps in your life so that you can live life to the fullest. You can live life like you were dying.

Remember who are you listen to will ultimately influence what you do. So find a group of guys that you can relate to and pray for one another everyday. This will give you hope. HOPE is the person or thing in which your expectations are centered. So center you HOPE on God and let the friends support your hopes. With these guys your Hope will allow you to lean into them for support and allow your directions to be guided by the grace of God.

22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you..
Psalm 33:22

-Steve Rusk

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