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10 Things That Can Distract Us From God. by Opeomoope: 6:12am On Sep 10, 2017 |
Isn’t it hard to keep focused on God? I have
tried so hard throughout my life to stay
focused on Him. I so often say “this time I
won’t fail”, but at one point or another,
something always clips me from behind, and
keeps me from exceeding!! Why?!
Well, I think it has to do with what we allow
into our lives that can distract us from God.
Not all of these things are “bad” in their
nature…in fact, a lot aren’t, but they become
a problem when we allow them to distract
us from looking at, and to God. You know
those things I’m talking about; they can be
anything from a job, car, or movie, to fantasy
football, Xbox Live, a magazine, or even
church. There are so many things in this
world that fight for our time…and when we
allow them to take too much…well…we lose
our focus. The answer is not necessarily to
cut these distractions out entirely (in some
cases it is), but to realize that they can
distract us…and we need to keep them in
check.
In the following paragraphs, I have listed 10
common things that can interfere with our
walk with God.
1. Money
Money. I’m sure you all could have guessed
this one would be on this list. We all need it
to live in this world, but we must not be
owned by it if we are to be not of this
world. Money itself is not an interference in
our walk with God…the love of money is. I
think the following passage sums this up
quite nicely (its long, I know…but when I
read it, I felt all of it applies to this topic):
Matthew 6:19-34
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and
where thieves break in and steal. 20But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moth and rust do not destroy, and
where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.
22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your
eyes are good, your whole body will be full
of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your
whole body will be full of darkness. If then
the light within you is darkness, how great
is that darkness!
24“No one can serve two masters. Either he
will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve both God and
Money.
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about
your life, what you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear. Is not life
more important than food, and the body
more important than clothes? 26Look at the
birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or
store away in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not much more
valuable than they? 27Who of you by
worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]
?
28“And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the lilies of the field grow. They do
not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not
even Solomon in all his splendor was
dressed like one of these. 30If that is how
God clothes the grass of the field, which is
here today and tomorrow is thrown into the
fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you
of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying,
‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’
or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans
run after all these things, and your heavenly
Father knows that you need them. 33But
seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well. 34Therefore do not
worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
worry about itself. Each day has enough
trouble of its own.
So in a nut shell, if we trust God, He will take
care of us. That doesn’t mean we should
quit our jobs, or not earn money…we just
need to realize that God is more important,
and is far more capable of taking care of us
than we are. Money might be the blood flow
of the world, but it is not the blood flow of
those who are in Jesus…faith is.
2. Media
Another big one; the media. This is probably
one of the biggest distractions for me
personally right now….I mean, just the other
night, I realized I haven’t spent that much
time praying this week…but instead of
going and praying, I said to myself I’ll do it
later because the Lakers are playing and
Lost comes on in an hour.
It is so easy to get caught up in the media.
And when I say media, I’m referring to the
Internet, TV, movies, music, video games,
newspapers, magazines…all of it (broad, I
know…but hey, I’m only making a list of 10
things to here, so I can be a bit broad,
right?). Like I said before, the media is so
dangerous because it is so easy to get
consumed in. Everywhere we turn, some
sort of media is right in our face. And the
worst part; it’s littered with filth. Almost
every commercial on TV, and every
advertisement on the Internet is trying to
convince us that we are missing something,
and they are the ones that can fill the need.
Our young girls and women are bombard by
the media with how they should look, feel,
and act…movies, music, TV shows…they all
are horrible influences on us because they
can subliminally tell us how to live, whats
right and wrong, etc. And video games…ah,
video games….give me the right one on the
right week, and I won’t spend a free second
with God (sad….but true). I could literally go
on and on about the media, and how
distracting it is. The key to overcoming the
media is to be wise in what we watch, read,
play, etc, and in how much time we spend
with it. We should always be willing to give
it up, and quite honestly, some of the things
we indulge in (in the media), we need to
give up. If a something is pure filth, we
shouldn’t be giving it any time to influence
us, no matter how funny, sexy, or “cool”, it
is.
3. Church/Religion
Church, or religion. Believe it or not, these
can be HUGE interference in our walk with
God. Church does not do this intentionally,
but we can easily let it hinder our
relationship with God. Why? The main
reason I see is that it can be so easy to
pursue church, and beliefs about God, but
forget to pursue God Himself. It is so easy
to go to church to…well…go to church,
when the real reason we should be going
church is to refuel for our week by coming
together with fellow believers to worship
and meditate on God.
Also, somewhere along the way, at so many
churches, people have gotten the idea that
we need to pretend to be perfect at church.
That if we show our weaknesses and
struggles, we’ll become outcasts…and since
so many people parade around in this
stained glass masquerade, if one person
does reveal their weaknesses, they’re so
easily looked down upon. This is opposite of
what church is supposed to be. Church is
really the body of believers. We are
supposed to help each other, hold each
other accountable, pray for each other, and
love one another!
To keep church from becoming a distraction
from God, make sure you are pursuing God
before pursuing “beliefs” about Him, or
church/religion. We need to get past religion
and into a relationship
. It starts with you! Love your brothers and
sisters, be open to people, and DO NOT
CONDEMN others when they fail!!
4. Relationships
Relationships. I’m sure you knew this one
would be here. Every kind of relati0nship
falls into this category; friends, parents,
siblings, spouses, girl/boy friends, children,
co-workers, bosses, etc. We can allow any of
these relationships to distract us from God.
It is our relationships that are our
connection with the world, and it is our
human nature to have them, but when we
allow any one of these relationships
threaten to become more important to us
than God…well, they become a distraction.
Remember, God calls us to love one another
(1 John 3:11), so when we do, it is an act of
obedience to God. But don’t forget about
God in the process. We need to make sure
we are giving God ample time everyday.
I would have to say the relationship with the
most danger of becoming a distraction from
our walk with God would be that of a boy-
friend, girl-friend, or spouse. These
relationships in their nature, demand the
most time, and that is why it is extremely
important that they are centered around
God. If they aren’t, you will see your walk
with God spiraling downward. In a dating
relationship, don’t compromise your morals.
In a nut shell, relationships are extremely
important, but our relationship with God is
of the utmost importance. Remember that!
5. Routine
Routine. This is a common thing I allow
myself to get distracted by all the time. The
most important thing is that spending time
with God should be in your routine! Far too
often do we just squeeze God in when we
have down time (I am extremely guilty of
this). Its so easy to get caught up in all the
things we have to do, like work, eat, sleep,
etc. I often find sleep getting in the way! I
mean, if I didn’t spend that extra hour
sleeping in, I would have a whole hour with
nothing to do but seek God!
So make sure spending time with God is a
part of our routine. And also, make sure you
are willing to abort your routine, and let God
have complete control.
6. Our Work
Work, work, work. What a distraction this
can be! And I’m not just referring to a job, I
mean everything from a job, to leading
worship, a bible study, or anything! I
personally have often allowed this site to
become a distraction from God. I want it to
bless people, I want it to look good, I want
it…I…I..I…but all that I should really be
worrying about is that I am doing it as God
wants me to, if I do that, He’ll take care of
the rest. I love this following scripture:
38As Jesus and his disciples were on their
way, he came to a village where a woman
named Martha opened her home to him.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at
the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.
40But Martha was distracted by all the
preparations that had to be made. She came
to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that
my sister has left me to do the work by
myself? Tell her to help me!” 41“Martha,
Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are
worried and upset about many things,
42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has
chosen what is better, and it will not be
taken away from her.” -Luke 10:38-42
It is so easy to get caught up on our duties,
but the most important thing is that we do
it entirely for the Lord. They are to glorify
God, not ourselves. That being said,
sometimes the duty we have is not as
important as doing something else. We
always need to be flexible! This falls in line
with routines as well. We can have great
motives behind our work, but sometimes
we let the work become more important
then “listening to Jesus”. Listen and be
flexible!
7. Our Hobbies
Hobbies. I love hobbies! I have a huge rang
of them; from playing guitar, and singing, to
video games, sports, andnumerous others.
The dangerous thing about them is that
they can consume a lot of our time. A great
way to keep them in check is to do them
with God in mind! Like worshiping God with
music. Also, we can play video games or
sports, etc. with people to develop
relationships. Having hobbies is a great way
to get yourself into the world to be an
influence…so keep that in mind.
8. Desiring a blessing from God, more than
God Himself.
Desiring a blessing from God, more than
desiring God Himself. I have to be honest,
this is easy to fall into, at least for myself. It
can be so easy to pray for a specific thing
over and over again, but forget about
spending time with God. This would be like
a husband wanting that special “perk” he
gets from wife, without wanting to give any
time to other parts of their relationship.
Remember, its “seek first his kingdom and
his righteousness, and all these things will
be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33), its
not “first seek all these other things”.
9. Our Pastor
Our Pastors! What!? Whats this doing on the
list!?…Well, to your relief, I don’t mean your
pastor exactly (at least I hope not). What I’m
referring to is becoming dependent upon
your pastor. This can be a really deadly
interference in our walk with God. It is not
our pastors responsibility to feed us all we
need to be spiritually healthy…it is our
responsibility. A lot of people fall into the
habit of only giving God Sunday morning.
This would be like only eating once a week!
If we did this, we would be horribly
malnourished! And sadly, this is the case for
many spiritually. Our pastor is a, or should
be, great leader, but he/she should only be
that…nothing more.
10. Ourselves
Ourselves. Us. The last one on the list of
distractions, and possibly the most likely to
distract us. We are, by nature, sinful, and if
we live by our nature, we will not get close
to God. That is why we need to die to
ourselves, and live in Christ (Romans 6:11).
But no matter what we do, there will be a
constant battle within ourselves between
spirit and flesh (Romans 7:15-21). That is
why we need to constantly allow God to
search our hearts, and purify it (Psalm
139:23-24). The first step to overcoming
ourselves is being aware.
So there we have it. A list of 10 common
things that can distract us from God. It is a
constant struggle to keep our eyes fixed on
Jesus, and to not become distracted by the
passing concerns and things of this world.
But if we are aware of what can, and does,
interfere with our walks with God, we can
begin to take the necessary actions to
prevent them. Remember, seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as
well” (Matthew 6:33). |
Re: 10 Things That Can Distract Us From God. by Redoil: 6:28am On Sep 10, 2017 |
Re: 10 Things That Can Distract Us From God. by Ololanla: 6:30am On Sep 10, 2017 |
May God help us |
Re: 10 Things That Can Distract Us From God. by ShobayoEmma(m): 6:42am On Sep 10, 2017 |
Only two things are capable of distracting us from God: money and women. 1 Like |
Re: 10 Things That Can Distract Us From God. by Eldahcee: 7:21am On Sep 10, 2017 |
ohk |
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