"Distractions"
"In a World full of Distractions, how is a Christian to live?"
Satan uses distractions all the time to block use or to try
to stop us from
doing what God would have us to do.
He brings confusion, like people taking verses in their bibles
from different
dispensations and trick them in to
believing those verse are
for
them.
Israel's program, for an example, is not to us, and it is not
for us. Why? It
is simple as can be. It belong's to
Israel. Unless any of us
are of the
twelve
tribes of
the nation of
Israel, none of their
blessings or
promises,
especially
earthly
promises, are to us. They belong to
Israel.
Eve was disracted. She was made to be the help meet for Adam.
That was it. Then
comes along Satan and distracts here
and she experiences
lust of the
flesh, the
lust of the
eye, and
the pride of life. Her
lust for
power was her
disraction,
and it
came with a cost. Sew wanted that
power then
and their. Impatientence.
Because of Eve, and Adam became distracted. He was to keep the
Garden there in
Eden. Instead, He took the fruit he was
commanded by God to
not eat, and
look
at the cost.
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that
it was pleasant to the eyes, and a
tree to be desired to
make one wise,
she
took of the
fruit thereof,
and did eat, and gave
also
unto her
husband
with her;
and he did eat.
All through God's word we can see where there is something going
on, and there
is something someone is to be doing, and
they become distracted
in a way and
they are not doing
as they are to be doing. That is
how the
Devil works.
Even Lot, who was let out of Sodom and Gomorrah before it was
destroyed did
suffer because of a disraction.
Genesis 19:16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold
upon his hand, and upon
the hand of his wife, and upon
the hand of his two
daughters; the
LORD being
merciful
unto him:
and they brought him
forth, and
set
him without
the city.
Genesis 19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought
them forth abroad,
that he said, Escape for thy life;
look not behind thee,
neither stay
thou in
all the
plain; escape to
the mountain, lest
thou be
consumed.
Genesis 19:23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon
Gomorrah brimstone and
fire from the LORD out of
heaven;
Genesis 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the
plain, and all the
inhabitants of the cities, and that
which grew upon the
ground.
Genesis 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him,
and she became a pillar
of salt.
Abraham became distracted from what God had told him. God
promised Abraham a
son. Sarah, his wife was impatient,
so she was going to
help God out and
told her
huband to
have a child
by he handmaid. They
did,
and it was
a son,
but not
the
son God had
promised Abraham. His promised son
was
to be born of his wife Sarah.
The distraction here
was
that he was to be
patient and wait upon the Lord,
and
instead of that, He did not wait, and
another son
was born, one not that
was
promised.
Our distractions and impatients can and are many times very
costly. Our senses
are attached to our fleshly blodies.
Our fleshly bodies
have a sinful
nature in
them. There
is one of
the problems. Our
emotions are
another. They are
wrong
in
most cases. They lie to us a lot of the time. They
react to our thoughts, and the
mind of the natural man
is a problem too.
So what is the answer. Believing on Jesus Christ for salvation
of the foundation.
Our Apostle Paul Said:
1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace of God which is
given unto me, as a
wise masterbuilder, I have laid
the foundation, and
another buildeth
thereon. But
let
every man take
heed how he buildeth
thereupon.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay
than that is laid, which
is Jesus Christ.
Faith in His finished Cross Work, His death, His Burial, and His
ressurection is
it. Believing that He died for your
sins. Believing that He loved and gave Himself for
you. Trusting
that, and that alone as
your only hope as entry
in to Heaven
is the
way of
salvation.
After one is saved, there is still the onld man with the old sin
nature. How do
we deal with that? By the renewing of
the mind. The Apostle
Paul tells us
in:
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that
good, and
acceptable, and
perfect,
will of
God.
It starts with the mind. Like a computer, in a sense. The
processor processes all
the information and sends it on
to the next level, as
so does our
natural minds.
Our
natural minds
pass on thoughts to
our
emotions,
which
trigger a
fleshly kind
of
response.
A bad memory is a thought, that triggers...say anger, and you
dwell on this for a
few moments and then say you
clench your fist and are
ready to
hit something.
All
the while it
started from a memory
of something
that may have taken place days,
weeks,
months, or even
yeard ago, but you
are now angry again.
Control is needed, and since the mind is where it starts, the
mind is the battle
ground where you do battle against
the old man his lusts.
If you fail
to study and
renew
the New Man
inside, you will fail
to control
the
old man,
and thus you
will
fullfill the lusts thereof with your flesh.
That
is why Paul said to us:
Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh
and of the
mind; and were
by
nature the
children of wrath, even
as others.
Paul also tells us about the mind further. The natural mind is vain.
Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the
Lord, that ye henceforth
walk not as other Gentiles
walk, in the vanity of
their mind,
It is study of God's Word, and rightly divided, that you renew the mind.
Ephesiaqns 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
We are to beware of others who are not as we are:
Colossians 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a
voluntary humility and
worshipping of angels,
intruding into those things
which he
hath not seen, vainly
puffed up by his fleshly mind,
There are false minsiters out there in the world. They say and
teach that we are to
do 1 John 1:9, water baptism,
worship Saints, worship
Angels,
worship images, do
a
little of
this, do a little of
that.
We, as Saints (them that are truely saved), are to live such as this:
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the
right hand of God.
Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye also appear
with him in glory.
Colossians 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are
upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil
concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is
idolatry:
Colossians 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God
cometh on the children of
disobedience:
Colossians 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Colossians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger,
wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy communication out of
your mouth.
Colossians 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have
put off the old man with
his deeds;
Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is
renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that
created him:
Colossians 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew,
circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian,
bond nor free: but
Christ is all,
and in all.
Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God,
holy and beloved, bowels of
mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness,
longsuffering;
Colossians 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one
another, if any man have a
quarrel against any: even
as Christ forgave you,
so also do
ye.
Colossians 3:14 And above all these things put on charity,
which is the bond of
perfectness.
Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body;
and be ye thankful.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in
psalms and hymns and
spiritual
songs, singing with grace
in
your hearts to the Lord.
Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do
all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to
God and the Father by
him.
So we can conclude that distractions can come in many forms.
Actually distraction can be
anything that detracts your
attaention away from
God. Religion,
Traditions of Men,
or
Denominationalism are
distractions in
themselves for
they
put focus on us, while in the
writtings of Paul the focus
is put on the Risen, Asscended, and Glorified Saviour,
the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
Accepted in the Beloved
Scott Ray