I was thinking about the culture of today, it is easy to focus on self, instead of putting God at the center. I could become so self absorbed that I miss what God is saying to me, the storms wage around me and God is right there with me saying Geoff focus on me, I am in this, for I never leave you nor forsake you. I am here going through this storm with you, but how many times do I feel like I am alone in it? I feel that I have to wage the war myself, but that is such a lie from the pit of hell. The devil wants us to believe we are all alone, that the storms will only get worse, that we can't make it. The devil feeds us lies every single day, that we are not good enough, or handsome/pretty enough, that this and that is wrong with us, but God says He created us, that we are His children and that we are worth His love. The devil will constantly remind me of my past or tell me I am not good enough, I am not cool enough, that I don't fit in. It is time to stop believing the lies of the devil.
I was also thinking about a show I watched with a ballerina when they spin, if they do not pick a stationary mark to return to, they get very dizzy. God is our stationary mark in life, if we do not focus on Him, we will be spun around and around, we will lose our direction and be lost. God says focus on Him, He is our direction, He will lead us through the storms and through it all.
I listened to a message yesterday about Good verses God. It is easy to live a life of just enough, just enough prayer, just enough bible reading, just enough time at church, but the rest of the time is my time (self centered). The problem with that is for one it is a lie from the pit of hell. God wants us to be in His word daily, He wants us to pray without ceasing, He wants us to keep Him at the center and that means that self has to die. To die to self is to live for God. It means God's ways are higher than my ways, it means that it is no longer what I want, but what God wants.
This is a choice we have to make on a moment by moment bases. The devil wants us to lose our focus, he wants us to focus on all the bad, the spinning world, the garbage all around us. The devil wants us to believe we can't do it, he wants to steal our joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self control and more. The devil wants us to be out of the word of God and he will say it does us no good. He will fill us up with lies and we can chose to believe them or believe God. What lies is the devil telling you today? What does God say about those lies?
It is written in the Bible, James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Note it isn't just resist the devil, but you must submit yourself to God. I am yours completely. In the name of Jesus, devil, lies I will not feed you anymore. I have been bought with a price, I do not belong in the world, because I am heaven bound. God I am yours, all Yours.
A song about this "Completely" < this is a link to the song.
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This is my devotional from today from Dr David Jeremiah from Turning Points.
Eyes on the Ball
"For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."
2 Chronicles 20:12b
Imagine landing a jet on the rolling deck of an aircraft carrier in the pouring rain—in the middle of the night. It’s complicated, but it boils down to a single request from the Landing Signal Officer to the incoming pilot: “Call the ball.” The “ball” is a round light shining toward the plane that the pilot uses to line his plane up with the carrier’s deck. When the pilot sees the “ball” and is confident of his path, he responds, “Ball.” From that point until he lands he has one lifesaving task: to keep his eye on the ball.
Think now of dark times in life when you’re looking for a port in the storm, a place to land safely and in one spiritual and emotional piece. Lots of things may help—friends, funds, family. But there is one thing absolutely essential: keeping your eyes on the Lord. When Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, was surrounded by a vast army, the people of Judah came together. Jehoshaphat led in a prayer for God’s help, the last words of which were these, “Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
You can only follow God if your eyes are on Him. The destination is wherever He leads.
It costs to follow Jesus Christ, but it costs more not to.
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