Distraction, #1 tool of Satan in 2009

January 1, 2009 in my morning devotions, I heard God say to me, "Distraction is going to be the primary tool the devil will use in 2009." Distraction as in anything that will divert your attention away from your primary goals or objectives. Attempting to turn you away from the very thing you are passionate about or that you are called to accomplish. Jesus was distracted by the devil in the garden while fasting and praying for his launch of his ministry. Satan was trying to distract Jesus from his primary purpose; obtain the anointing to begin his ultimate ministry on earth. When Satan tried to "distract" Jesus through temptation, Jesus said, "Get behind me Satan." This is simplicity was saying, "Satan, get out of my face." We must get every distraction, that is temptation, troubles or problems away from our attention. Turn it off, shut it down or rebuke whatever it is trying to make you loose your concentration.

WHEN GOOD MEN DO NOTHING

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” (Edmund Burke). So much of the history of the struggle between good and evil can be explained by Edmund Burke's observation. Time and again those who profess to be good seem to clearly outnumber those who are evil, yet those who are evil seem to prevail far too often. Seldom is it the numbers that determine the outcome, but whether those who claim to be good men are willing to stand up and fight for what they know to be right. There are numerous examples of this sad and awful scenario being played out over and over again in the scriptures.When good men do nothing, they get nothing good done. To be good, one must do good. The Lord commands his people to do good (Luke 6:35; Eph. 2:10). Christ "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us unto himself to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14). In the parable of the talents, Jesus described a man who did nothing. When he received his Lord's money, he "went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money" (Matt. 25:18). When his Lord returned, he returned to the Lord just what he had been given (Matt. 25:25). Notice, the servant did not do any outright evil, such as stealing the money, but then neither did he do anything good. He did nothing and accomplished nothing. Jesus said he was a "wicked and slothful servant" (Matt. 25:26). Jesus rebuked the church at Laodicea for doing nothing. "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:15-17). Too many Christians and too many churches are doing way too little. They are standing idly by, they mere spectators. They sit on the sidelines instead of actively participating and working for the good. However if good wins they join in the celebration though they did nothing to produce the victory. If evil wins, they will complain long and loud though their own apathy helped produce the undesirable result. When Jesus found a fig tree with "nothing thereon, but leaves only" He cursed the tree and "the fig tree withered away" (Matt. 21:19). What will He do with those who claim to be good and yet who do nothing? God knows that Pastors today desperately need Men and Women who will roll up their sleeves and go to work in the vineyard. Jesus said the most important prayer we can pray as leaders is "Lord send laborers in the field to help us work" (Luke 10:2).

Taking the Plunge

There I was at age 13 on Sue Creek Ave in Baltimore, MD trying to learn to swim off my neighbor's peer. Scared to "take the dive" or even jump off the doc. And all of a sudden, one day while running out to the front of the doc to climb down the ladder to take a swim, my foot found the "shorted" plank on the doc and over I went. Bam, a head dive into the water. Of course, it was only about 3 feet deep. Wow, I didn't die! was my thoughts. So I walked out of the water onto the shore and ran down the end of the peer and jumped in, no, dived in. Wow, look at me now. Who would have ever thought that in just a few decades an unknown, small quiet boy excited to be alive would be sitting here "blogging" to the whole world? I've taken the dive. Look at this place! Millions of millions of people from all around the world, sitting at their computers talking with people they can't even understand their language. Cultures from high rise metropolis to back woods villages. Sharing their heart, their thoughts and their expertise. OK, here we go. I'm running down the peer ... jump. OK, it's not that big of a deal I know. But the story was fun. Now the real key is to do this every day or at least every week.



Dr Tim