This Story From The Gospel Of Luke Gives An Excellent Example Of How Doing 'good' Can Distract You From

This story from the Gospel of Luke gives an excellent example of how doing 'good' can distract you from the most important things in life.

Imagine this scene!

Jesus Christ, The Messiah, is in YOUR home and you have a chance to have a private audience with Him! But instead of enjoying that moment you are Obsessed and Obligated to Objectively Organize an Occasion that Occupies your Oftimes. Wow-that’s adding a lot of “Os to GOD, yet this is the trap that is easy to fall into!

You see, in this life we can, and are, easily distracted from God, by doing 'good' — and adding “O-ther things to God that instead are a DISTRACTION, and not the help to God that we think it is.

On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with ENJOYING other GOOD things in life like golf, vacations, movies and other things, but adding that letter 'O' can be a huge distraction from what is truly important. Instead, learn from the lesson of Martha and be careful to not let yourself be distracted by O-ther things in the world. Indeed do good things, either for yourself or for God, but not at the 'o-ccluding' of God from your life.

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I once went white water rafting on the New River Gorge river in West Virginia at the height of the season. Rapids were category 4 with a couple of 5’s (6 is considered unpassable) and while overall it was exciting and even dangerous, one memory in particular stands out.

As our guide was training and prepping us before starting down river, he said there definitely would be times when it would be so rough that it was not uncommon for a crew member to be ejected out of the raft. Sure enough this happened two or three times, and team members instinctively snatched their fellow sojourner, saving them in the nick of time. But it was his last comment that was particularly sobering.

“When in the torrent of vicious water with steep drops and sharp rocks, injury is certain and death a possibility, so if you fall out of the raft, and we cannot retrieve you, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.”

God likewise is warning us that if we get tossed into the tumultuous, unrestrained deep river of sin that the result will be that “…such things are worthy of death.” (verse 32) As today’s three verses caution us, God will not be there to save you and 'YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.'

Friend, never put your life in a place where you move yourself so far away from God that even He gives up on you. It’s not because He wants to, but because “(you) have pleasure in doing them (these things).” (verse 32)

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Back in the late ’60s, there was great strife in our country, and today the level of degree of division and disagreement is even greater that - and that to an even higher and disturbing degree.

With such a high and agitated degree of discord and division in our country, it is very disheartening to see how far we have all fallen from what our founding fathers conceived as a UNION of thirteen separate states to become “The UNITED States.” Their declaration and intention was for a people of all races and religions to live united together under ONE banner and ONE national identity.

Today that national identity is being challenged and threatened to be divided against itself. So what is the answer to this division? It is called faith, BOLD FAITH that despite what forces are working against our national unity that God is with us, and that through fervent prayer for our country we can come together again and rise above whatever corruption and evils that have been hidden by our leaders and for these evils to be revealed.

It isn’t enough to say “I have faith,” because faith is a CHOICE you make, and it takes hard work and perseverance to work it out and live and walk in it every moment of the day. Noah and his family persevered for 120 years when building the ark, Moses did before the Red Sea, Job persevered through his affliction, and Jesus did on the cross.

In this time of trial LET US PRAY with all our hearts for our country, our president, congress, and courts that God’s truth and justice prevail and we will once again be ONE Nation Under God.

Only through the Lamb of God can this be possible!

Hold on, walk and live in FAITH in GOD and PERSEVERE!

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Judas Iscariot walked with Jesus for three years, heard his teaching, saw his miracles, yet despite this came to NOT BELIEVE that Jesus was the mighty messiah that would free the Jews from the tyranny of the Romans. Based on what he believed, he changed his values to not only betray the Jesus that he once followed — and also took money to do so.

At times, we all practice a little bit of 'Judas-think' because we compromise our values in certain situations based on what we (choose to) believe or think.

For example, today having sex along with using strong language by many 'born-again' Christians is not uncommon, yet in both these and other situations when values are NOT based on the foundation of God’s Word but personal beliefs, then thinking and values will always be affected.

2 Corinthians 13:5 puts it this way:

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you actually fail the test? And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test.”

Let’s all carefully EXAMINE OURSELVES that our VALUES are truly based on BELIEF based on the Bible, and not on ourselves.

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Did you know that Jesus added two more commandments to the original ten? Yes, He did! And together they not only point the way to salvation, but they also give us the perfect guideline on living our life now and into eternity.

As Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 “I have not come to revoke The Written Law or The Prophets…but to fulfill them” and this is exactly what these two commandments do!

You see, these 'New' commandments aren’t really new as much as they are a succinct summary of the original ten where the first four speak of HONORING GOD and the remaining six of showing RESPECT to OTHERS.

Likewise, BELIEVING GOD and His promise of salvation in Christ honors God by taking Him at His Word as true, and LOVING OTHERS is the positive opposite of the last six commandments about how we treat others.

So Friend, if you really want to “Obey God,” follow commandments 11 & 12 and you will also have fulfilled all of the law.

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