Keeping Focused in a World of Distractions

In Psalm 119:15 it reads beautifully, and clearly, "I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways." And then in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Recently I was driving home and came to a stop at a red light. While waiting for it to turn green, I began to casually look around me, to the left, to the right, up ahead of me and even in my rear-view mirror to glance behind me. I was in a state of shock at just how much people were being distracted! By everything from their phones, to garmins, to the insane amount of mental stimulation and information that is bombarding us every second. I really began to ponder the distractions that are all around us, everyday, every waking moment, and in everything we do. It's just "THERE" and those things that are distracting us, are also the very same things that are blurring our vision to what is important! It's taking our attention away from the Lord Jesus Christ. It's taking our attention away from what is meant to be our focus and our priorities. The world barely has any focus left that's worth mentioning. Sure, people are "focusing" on all sorts of things of the world like their cell phones because they don't want to miss a call/text/status update/invites, their friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, entertainment, material possessions, games, internet, hobbies, arts/crafts work, family,,....any number of things that are taking their focus off of the very One that gave us LIFE! He created us. He intended for us to enjoy the life that He gave us and all of the wonderful things in it. He did NOT intend for us to be so distracted with the "things" of this world that we set Him aside, that we lose our focus off of Him and His Kingdom that we project it onto the "temporary objects" and temporary satisfactions of this world. And as I neared my home, I noticed that MY eyes were focused on the Lord!

And it began with a stop light in traffic and one single thought.....but that's how our Lord works His beauty in us! The best advice at this early stage in this article is to be OPEN to hearing His voice, listening to what He is trying to tell you, or show you, and above all, keep your eyes focused on Him! Satan is down here roaming around this depraved world finding all kinds of things to use to distract God's children, to lure them away from Jesus and His teachings. He's roaming around this world to distract the unbelievers too so that they won't be able to hear the knocking at their hearts from the Lord. If Jesus was trying to get your attention, would He be able to break through the noise of our culture and whatever is distracting you? This is a serious hindrance in our society today and for whatever reason, it's so pervasive that many, many people are unaware of what's going on around them, in the world, in their families, in their work places, in their church family, in the Kingdom of our God. I know I can get distracted by the information overload coming at me from the TV, internet, and some of those "areas" that Satan tries to use to lure me away. It's a constant fight but it's a fight I don't mind battling because there was a time when my focus was easily distracted. One of my talents that I was blessed with began to become an obsession rather than what the Lord intended it for. He blessed me with the talent but Satan took my "foolish pride" and made it into an obsession to where that's all that I did, thought about, talked about, and focused on. Satan has a way of doing that with something we know is from God. It became such an obsession that finally someone who I'm pretty sure the Lord knew I would receive it from, told me what was happening, how it was affecting me and my life, and how I was taking something the Lord blessed me with and was allowing the enemy to make it an obsession in order for me to take my focus off of its original intention. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Was that really true? As I sat back and pondered that, prayed about it, and waited for the answer, I was trying to find all kinds of excuses of why I was obsessing. But isn't that our human nature? To justify something that WE WANT?

KEEPING MY EYES ON YOU

Let me first say that a distraction, whatever that may be in your life, is much the same as an obsession. Every obsession begins with a distraction. And remember, every obsession is an idol. It's easy to also say that the Lord is driving us to this obsession, that it's what He wants, what He is calling us to do and that helps us justify our actions by putting it on the Lord. A big mistake! I would find that out later, after I was finally yanked free from my own obsession. The reason I am talking about an obsession and connecting it to distractions is because we live in an extremely busy world. It supplies us with endless distractions and those endless distractions take us away from our faith. When we become distracted from our faith, we ultimately become separated from God. And the trip from distraction and separation is a short one, and very quick! Think of your faith walk as taking a drive. Would you really want to be in a car with a distracted driver who wasn't paying attention to the road and the obstacles? Of course not because you know that all sorts of things can, and will, happen as a result of it! You could miss your exits, run off the road, take a wrong turn, miss the warning signs. It's no different in our faith than driving with a distracted driver. There's all kinds of spiritual distractions taking us on, and down, all kinds of wrong paths and those spiritual distractions will eventually take us far away from God. It's a constant struggle to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and to not become distracted by the passing concerns and things of this world. We are all guilty of this, but we also need to be aware of those distraction and fight the battle against the enemy to keep our eyes focused on Jesus!  If we become aware of what can, and does, interfere with our walk with God, then we can begin to take the necessary actions to prevent them from becoming the obsessions that they inevitably will become. Remember, in Matthew 6:33, it tells us "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Before I go on, let's take a look at a few of the common things that are distractions and obsessions that take our focus off of God and our Faith!
1) Ourselves - Yes. As hard as that is to accept, some people focus on themselves to the point of distracting from their faith! We're human though and we all tend to be very self-focused from time to time, some more than others. We are, by nature, sinful, and if we live by our nature "self" then we won't be able to get close to God. That's why we need to die to ourselves, and live in Christ (Romans 6:11). It's pretty easy to get lost in our problems, our successes, our "me-ness" and our own trials and tribulations, our talents, our gifts, our "self" to a point where we begin to lose sight of God. When we become too focused on ourselves, we are no longer focusing on God.

2) Things - Our world definitely promotes having "things" and lots OF things. The biggest, most expensive, time wasting "things." There's always a new gadget, electronic device, technological gadget that we're all told we "need" in our lives. These "things" appear to come out weekly these days! The demand is unreal! However, it's so much more important to learn the difference between what we NEED and what we WANT because our "needs" are provided by our Lord and Savior, but our "wants" of the world are provided by the world's leader.....Satan. So, it's when we keep the right perspective on our needs verses our wants, the things in life become far less distracting from our relationship with God. Things in this life are just here for a short time, providing temporary satisfaction, and always providing deeper desires for the next best thing. But God is eternal, His provisions never leave us desiring the bigger, better of things because His provisions fulfill our NEEDS. Our eternal life with Him needs to be our priority.

3) Entertainment - This is probably one of the biggest tools the enemy uses to lure people away from focusing on the Lord! It is so easy to get caught up in the media and entertainment. And when I say media and entertainment, I’m referring to the Internet, TV, movies, music, video games, newspapers, magazines…all of it  We like to be entertained and all of those distracting devices all provide escape from daily life. There's nothing that says we can't provide ourselves a little break from reality by being entertained, but when that entertainment gets in the way of our faith, our prayer life or our church life, then it becomes a spiritual distraction. And a spiritual distraction becomes the obsession that takes us from focusing on the Lord. The media is so dangerous because it's so easy to get consumed up in. Everywhere we turn, some sort of media is right in our face. And the worst part; it’s littered with filth.We need to prioritize what's most important. Should we go see that movie or go to church? If we're choosing entertainment over God, we have given into our distractions. Should we go to a concert or go to a revival? If we're choosing the concert over the revival, we're giving into our distractions. Should we spend most of our free time losing ourselves in our talents or work, or should we spend time in the Word or with friends and family? You get the point.....

4) Pride - There WILL come the temptation to begin to think, "Look at all of this great work (or anything you have accomplished can be added in place of work) I have done!" I can think of two particular leaders in Scripture who had those same similar thoughts…but it really didn't go so well for them! (See Daniel 4:28-33 and Acts 12:19-23)

5) Church/Religion - Believe it or not, these can be HUGE interferences in our walk with God. The main reason I see is that it can easily become too easy to pursue church, and beliefs about God, than it is to pursue God Himself! It's easy to go to church to, well, go to church. But 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. 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!

6) Our hobbies and talents - The dangerous thing about them is that they can consume a lot of our time. They can become who we become as opposed to letting them become just an extension of who we already are in Christ. Just because God gave us a talent or a hobby that we love, doesn't mean it's to consume us. Remember, God gave us our talents and our love in the hobbies we've chosen but it's Satan that takes them and twists them into the obsession and distractions. Our talents and hobbies need to be balanced out.

7) Pleasures - God gives us pleasures, and they are a good thing. But you can also get so busy pursuing pleasures and fun and satisfaction that you forget to pursue God as well.

8) Money - I’m sure you all could've guessed this one would definitely 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 isn't an interference in our walk with God, however, the love of money IS. Matthew 6:19-34 sums it up and although it's long, I believe it's necessary because money in this world's view, is the driving force behind alot of the above distractions. Many people love money more than anything else because money affords them temporary things of this life, from material things to pride, success and fame. The list is endless but let me post the verses and read for yourself what I find a necessity to share with you, my dear readers.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Lamp of the Body
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

You Cannot Serve God and Riches
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Distractions of this world are growing exponentially because the more distracted one becomes, the quicker boredom sets in, and that boredom demands a bigger, better, more intense thrill. It's a vicious cycle but it's true. On my drive, when this post was born, I realized just how much I fight them on a daily basis! I've also realized just how much I refrain from those things that I KNOW could cause me to stumble and fall away and to take my own eyes off of Jesus! The Lord has worked with me and in me with many of my own distractions, but as humans with the sinful human nature, distractions will be present. You'll never be able to hear God when your mind is crowded with all those thoughts, worries, fears, plans, and curiosities, or if you always have to have the radio or TV on. I've found that many people can't stand the "silence" and it's a sad thing! Silence is when we can hear the sound of the Lord's voice drowning out the craziness of the day! And if you constantly have your phone against your ear, when God does call, all He's going to get is a busy signal! I don't know about you, but I don't want to miss His call when He's trying to call ME!


All of these distractions are what Jesus was referring to in Luke 8:7 when he talked about the seed falling in the weeds. This verse says that those weeds grew with the seed and strangled it.
Luke 8:7, "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it." Notice that this scenario is a little bit better than the shallow soil because the seed actually sprouts and grows. But the weeds choke it out so it never bears fruit. So many people hear God speak, but as they go on their merry little way, all of life’s worries, riches, pleasures  and distractions choke them, so they are never able to mature. Think about this, if you're always on the go and you can’t hear God when He's trying to speak to you or get your attention, then you're facing the barrier of busyness. Oftentimes, we confuse busyness with productivity and they are NOT the same thing. Some people feel productive if they're busy, but busyness is not always productive. If you keep going and going, but you aren't really spiritually growing, growing, growing, then it's obvious that you are busy, and not productive.

Jesus says distractions are like weeds that grow up in your mind and heart, just as weeds grow in a garden. How much effort does it take to grow weeds? None at all because weeds are a sign of neglect and they grow because of neglect. It's the same with our spiritual walk. When we neglect our time with God, the weeds start to grow in your life and before we know it, they're out of control and strangling out the good growths. So, in order to overcome those destructive weeds, we must learn to overcome our preoccupied minds. 1 Kings 19:12 says that when God spoke to Elijah, it wasn't in a wind or earthquake or fire; it was in a gentle whisper. If you want to hear God whisper to you then you're going to have to learn to be quiet! I will say at this juncture that being consumed with something, whether it be your talent, hobby or any of the number of distractions and obsessions in this world, then your mind is NOT focusing on anything else EXCEPT what you are doing at that moment and when those "moments" consume your day, then there is never any quiet time in your mind! We must learn to be quiet in our spirits as well as in our minds. We must learn to be quiet in our lives so we can focus on Jesus!

 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." The Devil will seek you out in order to take you off course, and his greatest desire is to distract the people of God in any way that he can, and any way that we allow him to. The passage described him as our adversary, who, as a roaring lion seeks to devour us. Have you ever shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with any person, and then all of a sudden, it seems that there are a hundred different distractions or attacks? It could be that the Devil is at work there, trying to shut down the preaching of God’s Word. As born again Christ believers, we are to spread the gospel and be the Light in a darkened world. Our adversary doesn't want us to shine the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ so he will pursue us in any way that he can. We're in a very real battle, and if you truly know the Lord, then your spirit will bear witness with what I am saying here. Just think for a moment, if you weren't so distracted with whatever it was that was keeping you from hearing the Lord's instructions, directions, or pointing you towards doing something in His Kingdom for Him, how you could be used! But instead, you missed that chance. You missed that moment because the enemy was distracting you to the point that you've become consumed and obsessed. It's not a good thought, is it!? 1 John 2:15-17, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. v16) For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world. v17) And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

Remember this - EVERY SINGLE DISTRACTION IS TAKING YOU AWAY FROM THE FEET OF JESUS. We belong at the feet of Jesus; we belong in His presence, that's where we're designed to be. We're living in the age of distractions, an age that is OVERWHELMINGLY designed to replace your place "at His feet" with something else, anything else - GOOD OR BAD. This is sometimes the most subtle trap the enemy will place on the road ahead of you that you will be traveling down, to ensnare you with. It is quite easy to get “caught up” in these distractions, obsessions and ultimately addictions, yet we must only focus on being “caught up” in Christ. Make Jesus Lord over your video gaming, computer gaming, talents, hobbies, relationships, money, movies, books, internet, technology or whatever it is that has you distracted! We should be consumed with the Gospel! We should be consumed with knowing Him, and His blueprint must overwhelm us. It must overwhelm our entire life and the lives of others. Satan WILL try to get us off course and sometimes he will try to make it sound "Christian". It could even be an overemphasis on something good but not God.

There are also many doctrines that have only one design - to distract us. I've briefly talked about heresy in a distant post but there are "other doctrines" that will cause you to get your eyes off of Jesus and onto the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You might recognize the terms that it's often called by, a tangent or a rabbit trail. These are the very teachings that introduce SPECULATIONS. This is very important, so please listen carefully. Speculations seem to be very much alive and well and prospering in the Kingdom without many people questioning it. Speculation is a product of the flesh, NOT the SPIRIT. Speculation is just taking something that the Holy Spirit is NOT speaking, or revealing, to you, and bringing knowledge TO it. It tries to fill the vague image of God’s plan with something that is thought to have clarity. It's a vapor and it is temporal. It is NOT eternal nor is it God-breathed! Speculation may seem enjoyable, and tickles the ears of those who only want the "fluff" because it fulfills the need of the Adamic nature to eat from the wrong tree. Theory is a direct result of speculation; meaning that we are prone to guess what God has not revealed. This is idle and unproductive and more importantly will bring us away from the feet of Jesus. God doesn't reveal everything to us anyway. For many reasons, one being He knows it would take our eyes off of Him. He knows it would be a distraction. God has revealed very little about certain topics and as I just mentioned, there is a reason why. God doesn't reveal in Scripture that which He knows will be a distraction away from Him and His plan, this includes heaven. There are many teachings in the church about "heaven and visions" that is NOT scripturally based! Man who wishes to know something not revealed through the Scriptures will claim heavenly visions with detailed descriptions. I've cautioned many of people against all of those "visions of heaven and angel" claims because their descriptions aren't found in the Word, much less line up with the Word! I will take a moment here to do the same warning. Be cautious of all of those claims! Know His Word because if He didn't reveal it to us through His own God-Breathed Word, then there is a reason. I have always said and thought in my spirit that if any of us really experienced a "trip to heaven" we wouldn't be able to handle it! And then to be sent back to earth in this vile, evil and filthy world? That alone doesn't match up with what the Lord God has said throughout the Scriptures! Enough about this because I'll likely write a little more about this topic in another post! If God told us the details of eternity - the actual place, then it would distract, as well as detract, from eternity - the Person of God. Let us be consumed with the Person and give no thought as to the place.

DON'T BE DISTRACTED

Distractions will tug and war in our life until the day of "poured out judgment" - then the tug and war will cease for the people of God. Our world has become a constant feed of information and entertainment. We take our phones with us everywhere we go and some people even wig out if they leave it home by accident. We connect to the internet wirelessly from thousands of locations all over the world. We're constantly fed messages relentlessly from advertisements on nearly every flat surface as far as our eyes can see. And we are bombarded with a 24-hour news cycle. Each bit of information enters our mind with one goal: Gain control of our attention and resources. But instead of allowing it to gain control we need to look to Jesus! The Christian lives begins and ends with looking towards Jesus Christ! A distraction leads to obsessions and addictions and bondage! We seem to be living for the here and now when we really should have an eternal perspective! Other than the spreading of the Gospel and growing in Christ, nothing else really matters in this life. Everything else fades away, is temporary. But we tend to cling to those things of this world. The awards, the successes, the money, the degrees, the distractions are a waste our attention and time, and the life that God has given us, unless they are used to glorify God. They are all prideful, self-centered webs of destruction that Satan seeks to entangle us in, and he is usually successful. Why? Because we allow those distractions to take us hostage. To take our spiritual lives hostage. We ourselves can't untangle the mess that we're in or that we've been in. Only by relying and focusing on God can we get out of it.  Getting untangled is not a one-time event but rather a lifelong battle. And it's a lifelong battle of spiritual warfare that isn't always easy to fight! We MUST put on the full armor of God DAILY and go out into the world armed for His Kingdom! Fully aware. Fully prepared. How effective do you think a soldier would be in the middle of a battle raging war if he was daydreaming about something else? How long would he last on the front lines if distracted? Well, the same principle applies here with spiritual warfare. We can't be distracted with the things that don't matter.

Matthew 6:6, "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." This is a perfect way to overcome and fight distractions! PRAY! I've found myself getting distracted by something and even saying a short, brief prayer gets my focus back onto the Lord Jesus Christ! If we don't conquer distractions, then they will surely conquer us. Prayer defeats the enemy. And the enemy is behind distractions, obsessions, addictions and bondage. We need to get back to the simple things in life, the simplicity of life. We need to want for fewer things, and walk MORE in the Spirit. We need to fill our minds with the Word of God and fill our hearts with praise.

1 John 2:16, "For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world." Basically, the things of the world are a major distraction from the things of God. A distraction is anything that prevents us from giving our full, undivided attention to something, or someone, as we should. As is the case of a Christian, a distraction would be anything that takes their attention and desire away from God and His plans for their life. A distraction tends to cause the perfect plan(s) of God for an individual's life to be delayed or even aborted. Time sensitive things, which need to be accomplished, can often be missed altogether due to those distractions. God's Kingdom operates on time, and when we allow distractions to engage our time and attention, more than we should, we often miss God's perfect timing concerning people, things, and events. Distractions take up time and energy that could be better spent somewhere else, doing something else, and being with someone else. The enormous drain on our productivity can be substantial. If our time is occupied with distractions, with things, with stuff, with obsessions, then something or someone is being neglected from having the benefit of our time, money, talents, and attention. Being proper stewards ultimately demands that we avoid all distractions that would otherwise rob us and keep us from being as productive for God as we possibly can, and also to others. Mark 4:18-19, "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, v19) and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful."

The Greek word for distraction is aperispastos; it means to draw away. Distraction is a drawing away of one's attention from an original position, goal, purpose, plan, direction, association, or interest. Joshua used this very strategy against the men of Ai. Joshua 8:15-19, "And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. v16) So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. v17) There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued Israel. v18) Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city. v19) So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to set the city on fire." The devil is using the very same exact strategy against you and me. He wants to draw you away from your city of strength. He might even lead you to believe that you're doing good and actually winning the war, but before you realize what's even happening you could easily find yourself too weak to resist the concentration of forces that he has set against you. We must remember the apostle Paul's instruction to us, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood" in Ephesians 6:12.  What we must understand is that our battle against the world is fundamentally a battle against, as Paul says in Ephesians 6:11, "the schemes of the devil."

In order to fight distractions we first must acknowledge the distraction for what it actually is....a distraction. To acknowledge the distraction you should follow the biblical guidelines that tell us to take every thought captive found in 2 Corinthians 10:5, "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," Let Jesus be the focal point of your life. Focus on Him, seek His face, and talk to Him through prayer! Philippians 3:13-14, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, v14) I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  We have been given the ability to overcome. 1 John 4:4, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. If we are to overcome, if we are to be everything that God intends us to be than we must give ourselves to the reading and applying of God's Word. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! We must read God's Word because the power to overcome comes from God.

Here are 4 ways the Bible tells us to avoid distractions:
1) Focus on doing God’s work. Luke 4:14-15, "Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all." Overcoming the testing from Satan will end up strengthening us in Jesus in the power of the Spirit. He began His gospel ministry with power and acceptance. We shouldn't look for testing from Satan, but at the same time, we shouldn't be afraid of it either. He is not allowed to do anything that hasn't went through the Father's hands first. If we follow the examples of Jesus and overcome distraction from Satan, we'll become stronger, more focused, better equipped, and more effective witnesses for the Lord like Jesus did.
2) Focus on only serving God. Luke 4:8, "And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’" While Satan tried to mislead Jesus into worshiping power, splendor and glamour like most people in this fallen world do, Jesus brought the focus back around front and centered it on God. Christians must be sure of their one focus for their life, God and God alone. In James 1:8, James told us clearly that a double-minded man is unstable in all things he does.
3) Focus on the right path. Luke 4:4, "But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” Satan tried to mislead Jesus into focusing solely on His need for food, but Jesus pointed out that the higher path of life is to also focus on the word (promises) of God.
4) Focus on faith in, not test God. Luke 4:12, "And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’" Very early in the journey to Exodus, the Israelis repeatedly tested God’s power and love in His provision of their needs. Moses also gave them a stern warning in Deuteronomy 6:16, "Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah." The most important weapon to defeat distraction is to focus on the faithfulness and power of God, instead of playing tricks to see if God is real or not.

Isaiah 26:3, "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You." The mind can be easily manipulated. Like those in the advertising industry, the enemy carefully crafts his messages to hit his chosen target - our minds, when it comes to prayer and communion with God. Ephesians 6:17-18, "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints..." 

I don't want to be a distracted driver. I want my eyes on Jesus and focused on Him! How about you?! Are YOU distracted?



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