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Monday, November 28, 2011

I Can't Hear You Over The Noise

Hebrews 12: 1 - 2, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 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 Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. NKJV

Have you ever tried to talk with someone in a room that is filled with other people conversing? Restaurants in America seem to enjoy playing music at a very uncomfortable level. Consequently, when you have loud music and even louder voices in a closed room, it can become very distracting. I suppose you could stand up and shout for everyone to be quiet and ask the restaurant manager to turn off the music, but you might be asked to leave. Except for walking out of the loud room, I suppose the only other option at this point is to remain focused on the person you're talking with while turning a "deaf ear" to the other voices and noises.

As we seek to learn more about Jesus and to please Him with our lives, we will have to overcome the distractions of Satan. You might be able to walk out of a noisy restaurant, but you can't run away from the distractions of Satan. The only way to overcome distractions is to learn the principle of being focused on Jesus while living in a world filled with spiritual distractions. Our flesh nature, even as Christians can cause us to fall prey to distractions from time to time. So we must train ourselves to remain focused on Christ no matter what cries out for our attention.

We must guard our hearts when focusing on Jesus so that we don't allow fear to overcome our faith. If we allow this to happen, we will take our spiritual eyes off of Jesus and drown in our unbelief. Which would have been easier for Jesus, giving Simon the power to walk on water, or silencing the storm for Simon? You may be asking what that question has to do with Simon being distracted. Why is it? Simon had the faith in Jesus to walk on water, which is humanly impossible, but didn't have the faith that Jesus could have authority over the storm? Perhaps we can learn a very valuable lesson from Simon's story. It's easier to walk by faith when there are no storms or threats that oppose us while we're walking by faith. However, if our faith can't stand up to the fire of a trial, then what good is our faith? 

This story perfectly illustrates just how important it is for Christians to maintain our spiritual focus on Jesus, especially when storms arise. We must keep our eyes on Jesus in order to continue walking above the weight and the sins of this world. We must ask ourselves one question, as it pertains to maintaining focus by overcoming distractions. Why doesn't Satan want us to keep our eyes on Jesus? He knows when Christians have their complete focus and heart's attention on Jesus, he has no power over them in which to stop them from reaching Jesus. Therefore, if you struggle with "spiritual attention disorder," and you allow fear to rule your walk and cause you to lose focus, then you must learn how to die to the flesh nature. Dying to the old nature, which vies for your attention, is a day-to-day process, but it is an obtainable goal. This is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith. Satan couldn't stop us from coming to faith in Christ because Christ originated our salvation, so he attempts to distract us from walking by faith so that he might cause us to go back into unbelief.

Walking in Victory Toward Jesus,
Pastor Asa Dockery

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