Of JOY still going strong... This is Day 15 of Serving Others 31 Days Go here to catch up....
Some services are a minute others are an hour or two and others require a little more time. Remember this is God Given Holy Spirit Led Service for 31 Days. This means I don't dictate how long or where or what the service. I let HIM lead me! We are pretty much half way through this challenge and it has been very teachable for me. When you open yourself up in this way the opportunities do come knocking. Your eyes must be open. Funny thing is once I prayed over it and asked the Lord to lead me, the service was there. This thought spurred many others as to why we don't know about certain services or opportunities. I believe after much internal search, we are busy! I know shocker. It is nothing earth shattering but it is real. Real enough for Satan to keep us busy therefore keeping our eyes unfocused as to where the Lord is leading us. It is like that old saying "you may no be "sinning" but Satan can keep you busy." Ouch! Below is a made up story as to what one author shares would be the conversation between Satan and his workers. It is just one persons perspective and for me an "eye opening" one. Read on my bloggy friends!
Satan's Tactics to Destroy Believers
Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said,
"We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep then from reading their Bibles and knowing the Truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."
"So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ."
"This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"
"How shall we do this?", shouted his angels.
"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent un-numbered schemes to occupy their minds", he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then, borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work and the husbands to work 6 or 7 days a week, 10-12 hrs. a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work."
"Over stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, the VCR, and their CD's going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ. Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hrs. a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogues, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering, free products, services, and false hopes."
"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion."
"Let them be involved in soul-winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family unity for the good of the cause."It was quite a convention in the end. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there.
Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge. Author Unknown "Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." I Corinthians 10:24
Wow! I can totally see this imaginary convention going on with Satan and his evil angels. It is so true that we are so busy these days and don't make the time for the things of eternity. Thanks for the eye opener. I've been so inspired by your series. I've been doing small things here and there for others when the opportunity presents itself. Which is so nice since I had begun feeling useless in the Kingdom due to being overwhelmed with my own life. Now I'm seeing that even if I can't make some big commitment, it doesn't mean that I can't do a single thing to bless others.
ReplyDelete