Distractions

Ephesians 3:16  " I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."


      As human beings, we are easily distracted.   Satan has used this weakness to his advantage from the very beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden.  2 Corinthians 11:3  "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ."  We need to be aware and resistant to the distractions against our thoughts, goals and focus on God.
      "Our world offers a multitude of ways to compromise on what we know is right, but if we’ll make up our minds ahead of time, we’ll be able to stand firm in our obedience to God. Although a world that does not believe may mock our values and lifestyle, their respect for us actually lessens when we waffle and give in to temptations. What’s worse, our witness for Christ is damaged.  Conviction about God’s truth is like an anchor. When the winds of opinion blow and the waves of temptation pound us, we can know with certainty the right way to respond. Don’t vacillate in your obedience to the Lord. Your unwavering stand for what’s right can powerfully influence others." [intouch.org]
       "Satan designs every temptation to bring as much discomfort as possible to the saint, hoping to rob him of his peace and create self-doubts about his sincerity. But God does not sit idly by.  We have a sure promise that "the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous" (Psalm 34:15)". -- William Gurnall
        Satan distracts our thoughts with doubt, deception and distortion of the Truth.  Sin begins in our minds and when we start justifying that sin as acceptable, the devil often wins and sinful actions follow.  Philippians 4:8  "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
        Satan distracts our goals with discouragement and discontentment.  Haven't we all felt like the verse in Romans 7:19 "For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."  We can get discouraged by the timelines of our witness efforts with an unbeliever, but we must remember God's own patient timeline with ourselves.  Galatians 6:9  "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
       Satan distracts our focus off of God with a worldly view and persuasion.  Titus 2: 11-14  "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,  while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."  We can say "No" to this world that we are just passing through, because we know God and His Word of Truth never changes.  Satan uses subtle, cunning methods to drift us away from God, so that we don't even realize how far we are from God.
        May we stand firm in our faith and stay focused on God's everlasting Truth.

Isaiah 26:3-4  "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal."