God showed up in a burning bush one time, but He never beats around the bush about how He feels about His children worshiping other gods.

He makes it very clear that He is the One and Only Living God,

and

nothing in our lives should come before Him.

I'm still trying to figure out how to teach this truth to Olivia and to the young girls in my youth group and to the students at KCU where my husband teaches

without seeming like a "no-fun" kind-of person.

There are sooooooooooo many things distracting us today.

Phones

TV

Computers

Sports

Clubs

Friends

"Stuff"

and

the list goes on and on and on.......

Maybe I struggle with helping them because I still struggle myself when it comes to figuring out how to live an undistracted life.

I want God to be number one.

I want pleasing Him to matter more than pleasing anyone on this planet........

and I want that same desire to rise up in Olivia, in my youth group girls, in KCU students.

I'm thinking a lot about this lately as I read about the Israelites' constant struggle to do just this in an era when it seems like God was so "present".

I'm thinking about this a lot as I study the book of James and realize that God calls us to be WAY different than the culture around us.

I'm thinking about this a lot as I read Beth Moore's book on insecurity and I realize more and more just how insecurely I have been living.

I'm thinking about this a lot lately as I continue to grieve and reach out to others who are grieving.

The devil robs us of so many blessings in this world,

and in the robbing he can easily convince us to look all kinds of wrong places for peace, security, hope, and purpose.

Today, I'm challenging myself and you to become painfully aware of every moment when our mind begins to fixate on anything other than pleasing Him who deserves our constant worship.

How do we keep God first in a world screaming with all sorts of distractions?

I'm still trying to figure this out.

Praying for you and hoping you'll whisper a prayer for me.

I love you all so much,