Narrow Your Focus in 2023 Devotional Reading June 18, 2023
The prevalent lifestyle of today's Christians is filled with the pursuit of tangible items, financial stability, and information acquisition. The busyness of our lives continues to escalate because we have embraced too many worldviews. We are more concerned about the earthly problems that we cannot resolve than the Second Coming of Christ.
- Too much on our plates—we keep adding responsibilities that eat up our valuable time.
- Too many distractions—social media, political unrest, climate change, future acquisitions of houses and vehicles, economic instability, and social injustices.
- Too little rest and relaxation—we have embraced and adapted to a lifestyle of excessive busyness and noise that eats up our time.
Our present lifestyles have no middle ground! Either we are striving relentlessly to achieve goals or have embraced a lifestyle of leisure, without ever finding a balance between the two. The stressors have increased to the point that someone has recently developed a new worldview—creating a life that resembles a never-ending vacation.
"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ." —Colossians 2:8
We face many roadblocks of spiritual warfare that we do not recognize as keeping us from having a biblical view. Although the apostle Paul gives us the defining characteristics of living in the last days in 2 Timothy chapter 3, we continue our activities of daily living as if our lives will continue forever in this present but temporary earthly habitat.
Reflection: "Am I living a Christ-Centered, Bible-based life?
We hear many biblical concepts that are self-interpreted on social media. Because it sounds credible, we accept it as the Truth of the Word of God. Yes, hearing a 3-minute video is more convenient than attending a Bible-based church service or watching an entire service online. We have lost our tolerance for spending quality time worshiping God.
Yet, the greatest impact on believers is the postmodernism viewpoint. Truth is relative. Your truth is not my truth. How did we progress to develop this lethal mindset? There are hundreds of Christian denominations with opposing viewpoints and interpretations of the Scriptures. People are fed up with the dissension that has arisen in Christianity, so they have developed a standard of truth based on their own concepts.
"Thus, the statement: 'True to you but not for me.' The deadly poison spewed by postmodernism is treating the Bible not something unique or distinct from all other books." https://asburyseminary.edu/elink/post-modernism-its-influence-in-the-church/
False Teaching: Studying the Bible is not relevant to your Christian experience with God.
We have pastors who teach prosperity messages, assume the role of therapists by only focusing on the emotional well-being of their members, or they choose certain Scriptures that promote the false concept that we can give ourselves the Peace that only comes from God.
One of the most striking changes in recent times is the emergence of churches that conduct services led by a team of worship leaders. These services typically last for two hours and are filled with songs of praise and worship that encourage a happy and harmonious life. The study of the Bible has been eliminated from their church services!
We have generations of individuals who are confused and questioning whether or not the Bible is relevant. Satanic influence has greatly impacted the Christian community to accept the premise that studying the Scriptures is optional for one's salvation. Only one in nine Christians study the Bible. Human-made theories have more credibility than the God-breathed, Holy Scriptures!
"…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold…but with the precious blood of Christ…" —1 Peter 1:18-19 [partial verses]
Narrowing our focus to place our relationship with Christ as our priority is a personal decision that God will never coerce us to make. The heart filled with overwhelming love for Jesus strives to fulfill its Christian duty to God.
"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." —Joshua 24:15
We have been given the most precious and free gifts of Salvation and God's love, grace, and mercy. God knew the intense struggle that we would face in the 21st Century—too many responsibilities, distractions, and meaningless worldviews that would result in mental, emotional, and physical fatigue and weariness.
God knew that our time-consuming lifestyles would prevent us from spending quality time praying and studying the Scriptures. Yet the Bible that we fail to study has many precious promises from God that give us hope in a world that is filled with spiritual darkness!
Scripture reading: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know." —John 14:1-4
With determination, we can narrow our focus on Christ, our Savior who loves us and is preparing a forever home in the New Heaven and New Earth! Amen.
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