While it is not wrong to seek a certain level of security in life, it is necessary to remember that, ultimately, security in this world is an illusion.
Television. The Internet. Movies. The mall. Text messaging. Ipods. Cell phones. When have we ever been so bombarded with distracting beeps, buzzers, flashes, sounds, messages, pop-ups, and just plain noise? Advertising companies have designed entire campaigns around the premise that if they can distract you and hold your attention long enough, you most likely end up buying something from them. Our entire society is actually built upon distraction, which is essentially competition for your attention, e.g., your money. And as we know, 'time is money', so to get your money, they actually get your time - your life - your soul.
The Cry of Mordecai By Robert Stearns
The more and more I dive deeper into the heart of God, the more I find the enemy working over-time to steal away my eye. Over and over again the Lord has been bringing me to 1 John where He speaks to us pertaining to the Last Hour. "Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning" (3:7-8 NIV). How many distrations has the enemy put in your way to keep you from hearing and seeing God? And there are many that the enemy has set up, that it would be even the small, forgotten, petty distrations that are the ones he gracefully tries to keep from our knowing. How many distractions have have led you astray and kept you from taking risks, being radically obedient or even dared to dream impossible dreams? God is ready to wake us up and to rise up an end-time army is this 11th hour. What are some things that may be keeping us from hearing God? In the middle of a world with many voices screaming for our attention, are our hearts prepared to hear the task at hand? In Isaiah 44:12-30 the prophet talks about the worshipping of idols, but not just any idols....they were ridiculous man-made pieces of wood that people would worship and call their God. It was like the people were so blind and confused that they couldn't even see that what they were worshipping was just a piece of wood. And as ridiculous as it sounds, we also can become blind to the obvious. Satan loves to create a delusion for us so that it would be hard for us to recongnize the truth.
As I travel to minister to the Body of Christ today (in the US and internationally), I am shocked and even alarmed by how often we who call ourselves believers really don't think according to the mindset of the redeemed. We say that we believe the Bible, but when it comes right down to it, inside our minds we are vastly distracted from what is true and right - from the basic level things that the Kingdom of God is really all about. To be honest, we are often more concerned about what people think of us than what the Word of God says. We are too focused on maintaining good appearances rather than being inwardly transformed. We are so fearful of natural ourcomes that we neglect to operate in the faith that God desires us to walk in. We are often inwardly jealous of others, discontent, and bitter; rather than peaceful, at rest, joyful.
The enemy knows the power of inner distraction! What is it in your life that could be stealing away your attention? What distractions keep you from spending time with the Lord? What changes could we make TODAY so we can hear God more clearly?
I encoourage you in your time with the Lord today to ask Him what may be some things in your walk that could distract from the truth? Ask God what are some things that keep you from Him....
oh how loving, patient and remarkable our God is, isn't He?
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