WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.000
Do you feel like you've been drifting away from God?

2
00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:14.920
It's easy to do.

3
00:00:14.920 --> 00:00:20.120
I heard a scripture this morning out of Hebrews 2 starting in verse 1 and I thought it was

4
00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:21.900
really good.

5
00:00:21.900 --> 00:00:29.240
We must, this is Hebrews 2 verse 1 in the NIV, we must pay more careful attention to

6
00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:34.340
what we've heard so that we do not drift away.

7
00:00:34.340 --> 00:00:36.240
And I started thinking about drifting.

8
00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:38.160
What does drifting really look like?

9
00:00:38.160 --> 00:00:43.840
Well, I was raised on the mighty Missouri River and I had friends and family that had

10
00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:51.480
boats and what we would do is we would pack up food and towels and inner tubes and we

11
00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:59.060
would get in the boat and we would ride up the river, maybe 30, 45 minutes and then when

12
00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:03.820
we got far enough up, then what we would do is we would just cut the motor and we would

13
00:01:03.820 --> 00:01:05.180
start floating.

14
00:01:05.180 --> 00:01:06.180
And it was effortless.

15
00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:08.580
I mean, you didn't have to do anything to drift.

16
00:01:08.580 --> 00:01:13.780
You could just float and the scenery would change and you weren't spending any money

17
00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:15.220
on gas or anything.

18
00:01:15.220 --> 00:01:19.900
You just sit around and talk and enjoy the scenery and it might be an hour until you

19
00:01:19.900 --> 00:01:24.980
got back to the harbor or whatever and it was just really relaxing and a lot of fun.

20
00:01:24.980 --> 00:01:27.580
It took no effort.

21
00:01:28.100 --> 00:01:32.780
Well, you know, we can do the same thing with our lives spiritually.

22
00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:40.180
It's really easy to drift if we don't put in the effort and I am preaching to myself

23
00:01:40.180 --> 00:01:42.300
today because I know exactly how it feels.

24
00:01:42.300 --> 00:01:43.700
How do you know you're drifting?

25
00:01:43.700 --> 00:01:46.620
Well, there's some big indicators.

26
00:01:46.620 --> 00:01:50.060
Are you not spending any time in the Word anymore?

27
00:01:50.060 --> 00:01:52.180
Are you not praying anymore?

28
00:01:52.180 --> 00:01:57.540
You can get so busy you forget or you can remember, man, this is pretty rough.

29
00:01:57.540 --> 00:01:58.540
This is what I'm doing right now.

30
00:01:58.540 --> 00:02:04.740
I really need to pray because I need God's grace to make this easier.

31
00:02:04.740 --> 00:02:13.060
We all can get so busy that we forget to invite God into what we're doing.

32
00:02:13.060 --> 00:02:16.860
You know, sometimes you just don't get as excited about the things of God.

33
00:02:16.860 --> 00:02:19.460
Maybe it's another way you know you're drifting.

34
00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:22.420
You don't spend any time with any other Christians or believers.

35
00:02:22.420 --> 00:02:29.100
You don't want to hear Christian music or radio or broadcasts or whatever, and you don't

36
00:02:29.100 --> 00:02:32.060
feel the need to repent of any sin.

37
00:02:32.060 --> 00:02:33.700
You don't want to trust God anymore.

38
00:02:33.700 --> 00:02:38.220
You don't want to talk about God anymore, and you begin to justify what you've been

39
00:02:38.220 --> 00:02:39.220
doing.

40
00:02:39.220 --> 00:02:44.500
Now, when you get to the justification point, that's when it can get kind of serious.

41
00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:46.980
Okay, so what do you do if you're there?

42
00:02:46.980 --> 00:02:50.380
Well, just a couple simple little things today.

43
00:02:50.540 --> 00:02:53.900
First off, you just got to confess it and acknowledge it because that's really where

44
00:02:53.900 --> 00:02:54.980
change starts.

45
00:02:54.980 --> 00:03:01.020
If you will just begin to acknowledge, you know, I haven't been focusing on God the way

46
00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:02.020
I need to.

47
00:03:02.020 --> 00:03:03.500
I need to go back.

48
00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:10.620
I need to listen to the word, or maybe it's just time to go back to church and sit under

49
00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:16.580
a pastor who's under the anointing, and you can begin to go, yeah, maybe I need to make

50
00:03:16.580 --> 00:03:20.460
some adjustments in my life.

51
00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:25.860
You know, believe that God loves you unconditionally, and his grace is enough to cover you while

52
00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:27.900
you drift, and he is.

53
00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:30.060
You know, he's always there.

54
00:03:30.060 --> 00:03:36.060
We are the ones that have a tendency to kind of, you know, take a little jog, a little

55
00:03:36.060 --> 00:03:42.540
shift, but he is faithful regardless of how we feel, regardless of our circumstances.

56
00:03:42.540 --> 00:03:47.700
I mean, I've had a very rough summer, three deaths in four months, okay?

57
00:03:47.700 --> 00:03:54.460
I've had a lot, but I can tell you, even in those moments when maybe I'm not in the word,

58
00:03:54.460 --> 00:03:59.380
and maybe I'm not focusing on something spiritual, or, you know, maybe when I'm not thinking

59
00:03:59.380 --> 00:04:04.560
about him or whatever, he's always there.

60
00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:05.980
It's me.

61
00:04:05.980 --> 00:04:06.980
It's me.

62
00:04:06.980 --> 00:04:07.980
I'm the one.

63
00:04:07.980 --> 00:04:12.340
I'm the one who's made a decision to try to do something on my own, knowing very well

64
00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:15.940
that that generally doesn't work very well.

65
00:04:15.940 --> 00:04:17.339
Yeah.

66
00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:25.300
You know, it really has to go back to just renewing what you know, and that doesn't seem

67
00:04:25.300 --> 00:04:28.220
like such a big thing, but why do we fight it?

68
00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:34.060
You know, I have some prayer outlines that I pray from Elizabeth Alves, and I can tell

69
00:04:34.140 --> 00:04:38.140
you when things are really dry and things are really dead, there's things I've got to

70
00:04:38.140 --> 00:04:39.140
do.

71
00:04:39.140 --> 00:04:41.300
I've got to go back to just what I know.

72
00:04:41.300 --> 00:04:43.260
Go back to praying the word.

73
00:04:43.260 --> 00:04:45.500
Go back to worshiping God.

74
00:04:45.500 --> 00:04:51.740
Go back to taking the time at the beginning of the day to invite him into the process,

75
00:04:51.740 --> 00:04:56.180
and soon enough, you'll be right back on track again.

76
00:04:56.180 --> 00:04:57.460
We don't have to drift.

77
00:04:57.460 --> 00:04:58.460
I think we all do.

78
00:04:58.460 --> 00:04:59.900
I think it's all human nature.

79
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.480
especially when things are hard or complicated or stressful or

80
00:05:04.440 --> 00:05:08.180
Exhausting or you know, you're on a bit of emotional roller coaster, okay

81
00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:11.120
Cut yourself a little slack

82
00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:13.960
And start over again. He's good

83
00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:20.360
He's faithful and he will see you through. Thanks for listening and have a great day

84
00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.000
You
