INTENTIONAL
REALITY
1
John 4:4
“You,
dear children, are from God and have overcome them [spirits that don’t
acknowledge that Jesus Christ who came in the flesh is from God], because the
One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
Daily distractions veer us away from our focused routine. Let’s explore how God’s kids can choose a
better reality.
Consider a circus performer holding a whip in one hand,
and pointing a stool with its legs toward a lion in the other hand. The lion trainer distracts the lion with a
simple stool and the crack of a whip.
The lion is immobilized, frozen by that intriguing stool and continued
snap of a whip. He forgets his natural
instinct to maul the trainer.
Think of the trainer as the devil. He knows the Lion of Judah (Jesus—Revelation
5:5) is inside believers—as the Holy Spirit.
The devil tries to distract God’s kids from daily focus of Bible reading
and prayer.
Ten year old Jeremy awoke with a pain in his side. It hurt so much that Jeremy snapped his Bible shut before finishing his
devotions. He complained to his mom, who
gave him Tylenol with his breakfast.
“Are you feeling better?” Jeremy’s mom asked after he showered.
“No.” Jeremy replied, rubbing his side. “It may actually be worse.”
“Get dressed and I’ll take you to Urgent Care,” Jeremy’s
mom said. “I don’t like this—and you
certainly can’t go to school like this!”
They signed in at Urgent Care and waited to be seen. Jeremy rubbed his side for two hours before
being called into an examining room.
“When did this start?” the doctor asked, feeling Jeremy’s
side. His brow wrinkled in concentration. He decided, “Let’s take an x-ray.”
The doctor studied the x-ray, then concluded, “I can’t
see anything, Jeremy. Why don’t you go
home and find something to do. If this
pain persists tomorrow, or gets worse, call me.” He handed Jeremy’s mom his business
card. “I’ll meet you at the hospital
where I’ll do exploratory surgery to find the problem.”
Jeremy’s mom thanked the doctor and drove them home.
Take
Home Nugget
Jeremy tossed a football to himself in the back yard. He missed school. I would
have been throwing football with Brad right now at recess! I don’t want to miss school tomorrow. Exploratory surgery? Jeremy thought, scrunching up his face. That’s
not for me! he decided, now angry.
Suddenly, Jeremy had an idea. “Get behind me, Satan!” he demanded aloud (from
Matthew 16:23). At once, the pain in his
side left his body. “Thank you, God!”
Jeremy shouted. He laughed out loud,
praising God.
When distracted away from God, distract
the distractor with God’s Word.
J.D. Griffith
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What an honor it is to meet you!
My background is a life time of worship, but seriously following Jesus came with age. Spiritual maturity is a leap of faith. Sometimes we don’t know what we’re missing until living on the edge of God’s leading. My life of self sufficiency ended abruptly when losing my job as an analytical chemist after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Now living on the edge of God’s leading has become a way of life that I wouldn’t trade for anything else.
Surrendering one’s will to the Lord can be scary. Why did I wait so long to do it? Diving into an intimate relation with the sovereign God of creation is the most secure position in the universe. Will you share your experience with me? Will you let me give you my testimony? May I introduce you to the Jesus I know?