DEMISE: Distraction

What is Satan's agenda for us? Our DEMISE -- and these are some of his favorite strategies.*

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10 NIV)
Satan doesn't have to "make" us do wrong to hinder God's work. All he has to do is keep us busy doing less important things or NOT doing what God desires. All Satan has to do is distract us from God's plans. How does he accomplish this distraction? "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 'A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.' I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be." (Gal 5:7-10 NIV)
First are the secular distractions: TV, Movies, Video Games, Work, and People. But Daniel, you watch TV, go to movies, play video games, have a job, and converse with people, what kind of hypocrite are you? That's a good statement and question. I do watch TV, I go to movies, and all the other things. I will not deny it. The distraction is not inherently the TV, movies, etc. It is the amount of time spent doing these things and how consuming these things become.
How many people do you know (or maybe it's you) get home from a long day of work, kick off your shoes, lean back in the EZ chair and . . . reach for the remote. Then you don't budge from the chair until it's supper time. Once supper is done and the bathroom breaks are finished, it's back to the ol' chair until bedtime. There have been numerous studies done about TV watching. None are good. Most show the average family spends 5 hours a day watching TV. Think about this, you sleep for 8 hours, work for 8 hours and watch TV for 5 that only gives you 3 hours to do anything else. By the time you take out personal hygiene, restroom, clothing changes, and other assundry of little things people do, you have about 27 seconds to devote to God. And that's just based on watching TV. Think about the time spent playing games, or movies. Understand it's not the TV, it's about the time spent, that can be given to God.
But Daniel, you mentioned work. I have to feed my family, so I have to work. I can't just quit my job. I'm not asking you too. The problem arises when we put more emphasis on the job. How many people on their deathbed said, "I should have spent more time at the office." It's when we take away from God's time and make it company time. Here's a little illustration:
There was a story in a Rochester, Texas church bulletin about a young man who was working in a large department store, being told by his employer that he would be required to work on Sunday. It so happened that the hours assigned to him would have prevented his attending any of the worship services to which he had been accustomed to attending since childhood.
The young man informed his employer that he would not be able to continue his work under these conditions, and his employer told him he would have to go.
A few days later, the young man answered an ad in the paper from a bank which had advertised a vacancy for a teller. In checking the young man's previous employers, the bank president contacted the department store head and inquired as to the boy's record and whether he could recommend him. The store manager replied, "Why, yes, I will be glad to recommend him. He will make you a good man. I just fired him a few days ago."
"Fired him?" the bank president exclaimed. "Why would you recommend a man whom you just recently dismissed from your service?" The store manager explained the circumstances under which the boy was released, and remarked, "I know he will make you a good man for your bank, because if he will not steal the Lord's time, he will not steal your money."
God will take care of you if you allow Him to take care of you. Put your trust in Him and He will not let you down.
Satan also uses church and Christian ideals to distract us. Why would Satan use people that are against him? He stays away from Christians. Does he? Nothing pleases Satan more and hurts God more than to see the children of God doing Satans work. How does Satan do it? "Sin"gled minded focusing. (It's a term I thought of) He gets Christians focusing on a specific type of sin. Instead of focusing on leading people to Jesus, we are bent on "sin"gling out sin and beating it to death. Homosexuality, abortion, murderers, prostitution, gambling, and an assortment of other sins. Churches (and individuals) become so one sin focused they lose the focus on Christ. Yes, these are issues that should be discussed, but not singled out. Don't spend 40 years focusing on a single sin that you lose track of Jesus.
There is also the inward or outward focusing. We focus only on those within our own church so much we forget to "go into all the nations". Or, the flip side, we spend so much time focusing on the outsiders of the church, we forget about the family inside. There can be a balance kept, so that both parties are being reached.
Then there is the doctrinal differences between churches. We focus so much on the differences in the denominations and not enough on the similarities. If you really sit down and do a study, you will find out, that the differences in denominations are so slim, that if it wasn't for the name on the church, you wouldn't know the difference. So what if they sing accapella, or the women wear hats, or they speak in tongues, or they take or communion every time they get together, or any other difference. As long as the truth about Jesus is being preached. As it is written, "We preach Christ crucified, . . ." (1 Cor 1:23 NIV) I have written a long essay on this subject "Separation of Church and Church" contact me, and I will e-mail you the gist of it, and hopefully be able to e-mail the essay itself.
How do we go about fixing this problem. Focus on Jesus. Read scripture daily, pray daily, be prepared. My dad's favorite verse, (if not, it should be he quotes it to me all the time) "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:15 NIV) (He quotes it to me in KJV though). Spend a quality amount of time in study. Meditate on the Word. Pray for understanding and wisdom. Ask if you don't understand. Do not let Satan distract you from keeping with God.
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg

*The concept and the formula DEMISE comes from our newest co-pastors David & Jessica Swisher. I thank them for allowing me to expound on it.