Have you lost sight of God?

You lose sight of God when your circumstances take more and more of your time and you give in to them. ...

When you have a disagreement and when it grows out of proportion...

When you allow the problem to continue to irritate you and when you dwell on it...

Then, you have taken your focus off God. 

Your focus sits on your current circumstance and you fail to realize God is with you, has been with you. He is holding your hand, guiding your steps, BUT then you let go. 

God tells us He will not allow us to be tempted more than we are able to bear ... that there will be a way of escape. 

But we don't see the way out. All we see is red, anger, frustration. Stuck in the circumstance, desiring to remove yourself from it. 

What do you do? What should you do? 

Psalm 73 reminds us
(1) of what we have been, as if we need reminding --

"My heart was grieved
And I was vexed in my mind.
I was so foolish and ignorant,
I was like a beast before You." (verses 21-22)

(2) of what we still have -- 

"Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand
You will guide me with Your counsel
And afterward receive me to glory." (verses 23-24)

(3) and of what we must continue to do --

"But it is good for me to draw near to God" (verse 28)

Return your focus on the Lord God, He, whom you trust, He who is the strength of your heart. 

Return to Him, thank Him for where He has brought you and for how He will guide you in the coming days. 

Apologize to Him, seek His forgiveness 

Return your focus on Him, Return to His path, so your feet don't stumble and your steps don't slip and your mind won't wander. 

Run with endurance

How are you?

My most recent statement of any frequency in answer to "How are you?" has been, "Except for not being able to see or hear ... except for what's wrong with me, I'm fine." 

Thinking about it, it sounds funny.  I imagine all of us have same or similar reasoning. 

A retired chiropractor who attended our church many years before his death always used to say in response, "Better." 

Whatever the state of yourself, if we occupy our minds on God and less on ourselves, the race to how we are can become "much better" - good or wonderful or great. 

Our endurance will be up - we won't stumble or fall because our eyes are fixed on Him.

Be on guard

Be on guard
don't be drawn into the trap of self-pity

It is easy to do
Our weariness over issues we face --
financial, marital, health, death 

We think about these issues that traumatize us
and then we feel sorry for ourselves.

Feeling sorry for the messes we have brings on doom and gloom. Even when things improve, we remain distraught. 

We have lost sight of hope. 

God tells us how to protect ourselves.

When we occupy our minds on God -- His goodness, His grace, His love, His power, His strength  -- when we read and meditate/think on His Word, we will be drawn away from those things that erode our thinking and our living life to the fullest. 

When we look to God for everything, we find hope, we see hope, for He is our hope.

"...Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith..." ~ Hebrews 12:1-2a 

(c) Cathy Orrick Luders

     2.23.2014 / 2.24.2014

Which power is guiding your life?

Perhaps we should regularly ask our pastors how they are doing. Not just assume by their actions that all is well in their lives. 

Ministers of the Gospel are no different than the rest of us. We may think they are and they themselves may think so too. 

But they, like many of us, are sinners saved by grace. 

Satan is as much a problem for leaders in the church as it is for their congregations.

The lies Satan gets us to believe run rampant. 

Satan will go to any length to get you to listen to him, to believe what he tells you and to coerce you into acting. 

Perhaps he says to you, "You're not meeting the needs in your church." You listen, you believe -- "no, I'm not." And then you act -- you head down a path of "I'm no good. I don't meet my family's needs either. I'd be better off dead." 

Yes, that's where Satan wants you. 

DEAD.

Not alive in the Lord
Not alive to spread the Gospel and share His love

But DEAD -- insecure - lonely - ashamed - discouraged - frustrated - defeated - fearful.

The lies are all around us. 

God's Truth is ever present too. 

But we each have a choice as to which path we will follow -- The path of bondage and sin 

or 

The path of God's grace and love

Which power is guiding your life? 

All of Satan's promises do not come to fruition.

His best is really his worst
His honor is to disgrace
His pleasure is pain
His profit is loss
His life is death

You don't need Satan
You don't need his lies
You don't need to listen to the lies
You don't need to believe the lies
You don't need to act on the lies

You do need Christ!
Every moment you need Him
He is all you will ever need. 

Jesus defeated Satan when He went to the cross for you and rose again after three days. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ reigns!

Satan is powerful. 

But God - Christ - the Holy Spirit is your greatest strength. 

(c) Cathy Orrick Luders

      2.22.2014