Do Not Divert

I know that I said I was going to post something here on Romans 6, and I will, but first I want to share some things from the Iron Men Breakfast group this morning. Pastor Bill Glover filled in for Pastor Don, who was out of town on vacation. The group continued their study of Nehemiah, and this week we looked at Nehemiah 6:1-14.

When you look at these verses, we see Sandballat and Geshem, spreading a rumor that they have heard, that Nehemiah and the Jews were planning a rebellion, and that is why they were building the wall. Time and time again they try to draw Nehemiah away from the task at hand. Pastor Bill pointed out that this is what the enemy is always trying to do to us. He knows that he cannot have us completely, as we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, so he seeks the next best thing. He tries to divert us to take our attention off of Christ, and the task at hand, and his tactics and methods are numerous.

I know that I am not saying anything that we do not already know, but it is always good to remind ourselves of the enemy’s schemes. First, pride is one way the enemy can get us to take our focus off of God. We can become so confident in ourselves, especially when things are going well, that we lose sight of God and the task at hand. A second method is through various temptations. The enemy knows our areas of weakness and he will tempt us in those areas, in hopes that we will divert our attention and give to the temptation. Lastly, our enemy will use fear to get us to divert our attention. I would argue that this is the most successful tactic that the enemy uses. He will get us to fear what others will think of us if we are obedient to God. He will also try to make us fearful that we will not be able to complete the task at hand.

As Pastor Bill said this morning, we need to be confident in Christ and confident that He has redeemed us and that we are capable in Him. When we are focused on Christ, we do not need to be fearful of anything, as He provides all that we need, and we do not become swelled with pride, as we realize that God is the source of all things that are good. When our eyes and our attention are properly focused, then we will succeed in the walk and plan that God has called us to. But when our eyes and our attention are not on Christ we will veer off the path that is set before us. Just look at Peter, as he took his eyes off of Christ, he began to sink. When we take our eyes off of Christ, we can expect to do the same. So be prepared and recognize the schemes of the enemy, so that you will not take your eyes off of the task at hand.