So many times, I feel as if the stumbling blocks of this world are a great inconvenience and can often feel like gut wrenching pressure to distract us from God’s goodness. When I was having the “emotional feeling” of being saved in the past, when those stumbling blocks arose, I felt that God was turning His back on me. As selfish as I am as a person, how quick was I to say, “God has turned from me!” Aren’t we quick to think the worst at times? We must shut those feelings down immediately, turn to the Scripture’s for truth, and pray. We need to be just as faithful to God, as He is to us! God loves us all so much. He is working it all out for our good, but….
Did you know that satan wants you feeling distracted and frustrated so you will turn your back on God? When you give in, (if you are anything like I once was) then he feels as if he has won…. NOPE! We are always asking God why, or saying things like, “why does God allow these bad things to happen to me?”, but never blame the enemy that lurks in the darkness for his evil doing! Did you know that sin and free will go hand-in-hand? Where there is sin, there is free will. God gives us free will to choose for ourselves. We either take the free will to sin and follow death, or we have free will to follow Jesus, and follow Him to eternity.
God, His Disciples, His Apostles, and others warn us multiple times, in the great book of instructions better known as The Holy Bible. Like in Ephesians 6:12 NLT “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
When you feel as if you are being distracted by the enemy of this world, look up Psalms 141, and pray this prayer to our Heavenly Father. God gave us so much advice and guidance throughout all of the Bible. He warns us from the enemy, He and others give us encouragement, recipes to live healthier lives, guidance on spiritual growth, strength, and so many more. The Bible is more than just rules, it has stories of love, stories of the flood, Jonah in the whale, instructions, guidance, knowledge, history, promises, and so many more. The Bible is an inspired Word of God and the life Jesus lived, it is the only necessity for our lives.
Jesus loves us way more than we could ever fathom. Why would He do anything to harm us? He wouldn’t! God allows us to go through trials and errors to test us. You took tests in school before, right? You took those said tests to become more knowledgeable, to become smarter students, to grow in life, and accomplish goals and ambitions, correct? How are the tests that God allows us to go through any different? We must be tested to make our faith grow stronger, to learn from our mistakes, and maybe, just maybe, for Him to see, if we will fully trust in Him enough to handle the situation. Most the time I fail, however, I am human, and so are you. We must give ourselves some grace. I know, that is easier said than done, but God knows we are human born of flesh. He knows we cannot be perfect. He doesn’t want perfect; He just wants your heart. We have to learn to forgive ourselves, just as we can forgive others. If we do not forgive ourselves, we are saying we a mightier than God.
Removing obstacles and things in our lives that may cause us to stumble, is a great way to start showing Jesus how dedicated we are to Him. Maybe we spend more time on social media than we do in The Word of God, or maybe we really shouldn’t be watching sex scenes on television, perhaps listening to music that has cussing in it is not the best choice, or being in a relationship with someone that is unequally yoked, or maybe that friend group isn’t the best one to be in. Start getting rid of things and removing yourself from places that will cause you to stumble. We have to stand firm with our faith in God, and walk away from things, jobs, and people that causes us to stray away from The One that created us, and what He has designed for our lives.
If you think satan doesn’t know you as well as God does, you couldn’t be more wrong! The enemy will use all these said things above against you, to cause you destruction, and then laugh at you because he fooled you! The enemy will put obstacles in your life just to distract you because he doesn’t want you close to God! He wants to kill, steal, and destroy you, (John 10:10). He wants to chew you up and spit you out!
Focus on God! The more you are in Scripture, the closer you will become to Jesus. The more you pray, the harder the enemy falls. Guard your hearts, put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), and fight hard against the one that comes to destroy you. When you feel the enemy lurking, cry out to God. When you feel stressed, anxious, angry, or distracted, look in your Bible for guidance and help, and cry out to God. If you call on Jesus, He will help you. It may not be right away, or in the way you think it needs to be done, but He will help you, and later it will all make sense. For He works all things out for our good, (Romans 8:28). For His ways are greater than ours. God is always here with us. He never leaves us! He never forsakes us! Cry out to Him and you will be saved! He did it for me, He has done it for others, and He will do it for you too!
Last week the enemy had me so distracted, I felt like I couldn’t keep up, I was so busy. I would tell myself; that I needed to go read in my Bible, but the moment the thought surfaced, it instantly vanished from my mind. Suddenly I'd became distracted by doing something else, and by the time I had realized that I hadn’t focused more on God, it was past time for me to go to bed for work. The enemy had me running in circles all the way to the weekend, to the point, I didn’t even feel rested before I started back to work this week.
Sunday came, and he tried convincing me to call my preacher to cancel my baptism. He made me feel that because I had been so far away from God this week, that I need to get things right with God before I can be obedient to Him. Ha-ha, yeah right! I caught on to his little schemes, but if I may be honest, I had previously thought about waiting until the next Sunday, to get forgiveness, and retain that closeness that I had found with God before becoming so busy. It was Saturday, well Sunday morning at 3am. I couldn’t cancel my baptism this short of notice. Then, I had heard a sweet but steady, calm but to the point voice saying, “Get right with me now. Do not give in and wait for next Sunday because Sunday will never come. Be obedient to me now, for your enemy will fall!”
I packed my bag, got a few moments of sleep, and left for church. Even though I was running late, I was still being obedient by going. It is funny how hard the enemy works and will stop at nothing to take you away from God’s Kingdom! Even the evil one knows who my God is! Anyways, I walked into church, walked to the back, got dressed for my baptism, found the preacher, stepped into the water, and there ALL the sins from my past were no longer attached to me. The sin I asked forgiveness for, the enemy, and all attacks on my life, stayed there in that water, and as I came up from the water, there they all drowned, and can never be a part of my life ever again. How wonderful it felt to come up from that water, knowing I was obedient to God. I sat there for a moment or two, with my hands facing the Heavens and thanked Him for never letting me go! Has life been perfect since? No! However, I do find it easier to get through the difficult times knowing Jesus has me, and He will never let me go! I know I made satan cringe that day because I resisted him and was obedient to God. GOOD! I also know that I made God joyful and well pleased by being obedient to Him as well.
You see, when we are obedient to God, and have faith in Him, He blesses us with His goodness and mercy. Romans 4:13 NLT “Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.” 1 Peter 1:13-25 gives us instructions to live “A call to Holy Living.” 1 Peter 5: 6-9 he, the apostle Peter warns us to humble ourselves before the Lord, and to stay alert!
When we get distracted, are feeling overwhelmed, are feeling anxious, are feeling angry, or anything that is not of God, no matter where we are, and I do not care if you are in your car, pull over (in a safe place) and pray! Did you know when you stop in the middle of what you are doing, or tempted to do, and start praying to stop the attacks of the enemy, we are showing full submission to God, full obedience to Him, and showing Him, He has complete authority over our lives as well? Not only does it make God joyful, but it also shows whom we serve! It will show the enemy that he will not rattle us, nor will he take our peace! For it is written in James 4:7 NKJV Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you!
So, turn those stumbling blocks into steppingstones, and stomp defeat over the lies straight from the enemy. What we do now, as born-again Believers, are crucial to our walking in faith with God. Persistence is key! Focus on Jesus daily! Submit to God! Resist anything, shape or form from the enemy. I am praying encouragement over you today. May you be able to resist what is not from the goodness of God and find peace in the loving hands of The Almighty Father tonight before bed.
Psalms 141:1-10 NLT
1 Oh Lord, I am calling to You. Please hurry! Listen when I cry for help! 2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to You, and my upraised hands as an evening offering. 3 Take control of what I say, Oh Lord, guard my lips. 4 Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong. 5 Let the Godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they correct me, it is soothing medicine. Don’t let me refuse it. But I pray constantly against the wicked and their deeds. 6 When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff, the wicked will listen to my words and find them true. 7 Like rocks brought up from a plow, the bones of the wicked will lie scattered without burial. 8 I look to You for help, O Sovereign LORD. You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me. 9 Keep me from the traps they have set for me, from the snares of those who do wrong. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, but let me escape.
I truly hope you’ve enjoyed God’s message from me to you today!
This is a blog post from Remain in Faith, praying you have a blessed, peaceful, and anointed day today.
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