"they realized they had been with Jesus"
Acts 4:13
I love traveling. I love seeing places I’ve never seen, learning about the history and the people of that place. I don’t want to eat fast food, or chain restaurants; I want to eat at the local, mom-and-pop restaurants. And I don’t want to eat what I eat at home, but something that’s a specialty of that area.
So one of my favorite memories from this vacation came the other night, while in Dallas. We were at a Texas Rangers baseball game, which is one of my favorite ways to experience a city, and in the 5th inning, we joined the crowd in singing. Now, I’ve been to a lot of baseball games, in 14 different stadiums, and although there’s always singing, each experience is unique. And this was the first time I’ve ever joined a crowd to sing “Deep in the Heart of Texas”! I just loved being a part of their tradition; feeling welcome.
It’s great fun for me to sort of absorb the culture when I visit somewhere. And I’m reminded that that’s either a good thing, or a bad thing. We do start to become like those we hang around with. It can even give us a reason to sin, if we can rationalize that it’s what everyone else is doing, or it’s not as bad as our neighbor.
I once heard someone teach, “Do whatever it takes to be with Jesus. Learn to like what He likes.” That sentiment has echoed in my mind for many years. Insisting to ourselves that He is a part of our lives has to be non-negotiable. That realization that He is with us, and the desire to be with Him, and have him with us, will improve our character as we allow His Spirit to be stronger in us than our own.
~ "Know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other" ~
Deuteronomy 4:39
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