Recap of Ignite Youth Service, December 2, 2009

We all have a few things that we run to for comfort when life is difficult.  I run to my wife, to whom I’m thankful that I can share anything and everything.  And, being a big geek, I also run to the cloud, whether on my computer or my Blackberry.  And there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these things, but they can become problems if we start looking to them before we look to God, or instead of.

John 15:1-8 says:

1 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer.2 He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more.3 You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.4 “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.5 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.6 Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire.7 But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon.8 This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. The Message

3 things happen when we make sure nothing comes before God:

1.  When we focus on God, we’re fruitful.

Being united with God can only happen if we spend time with Him instead of other things and other people.

2.  When we focus on God, we’re satisfied.

Psalm 103:5 says that God satisfies your desires with good things.  There are tons of things we look to for satisfaction instead of God: friends, cars, drugs, academics, sex, sports, music, etc.  The problem is that the fix always goes away.  They may satisfy for a moment, or even for a season, but they won’t give you satisfaction like God will.

3.  When we focus on God, we please Him.

Verse 8 of the above Scripture tells us that God gets the glory when we bear fruit.  The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 tells us that there is nothing more important than spending quality time with Him instead of getting bogged down in all the other things.

So, what is it that you have been putting before, or with, God to get you through?  Is it “God and…”, or just God?