Chasing Carrots

What has your attention today? Is it stress, money, fatigue, sadness, loneliness, illness, desires or failures? Maybe you've been offended and your emotions are on overload or rejection has broken your heart. It could be blessings or even a job, great relationships and family that keep you too busy or distracted to focus on God.

These are carrots that the enemy dangles in front of us and our natural tendency is to chase after them. How do I know? I've experienced it. There are so many things that fight for my attention and there are even times when I've had a particularly stressful day or I'm tired and not feeling well and I've come into my room to spend time with the Lord and instead of immediately running into His arms to get healed, strengthened and refocused, I chose to waste time on social media or watching television.

We look for distractions to keep us from thinking about what's bothering us... won't that make everything better? The pain in our hearts can be so great that even verbalizing it to Jesus seems too painful.Though we know better, we allow the enemy to steal our time with God! It's a trap and we must stop falling for it if we are serious about our healing, building our relationship with the Lord and growing Spiritually!

Diversion can easily keep us busy all day until it's time to go to bed and the next day we feel worse than the day before and certainly no closer to Jesus. So... tonight... though the distractions took my attention for a moment, I will bring every thought to captivity and I'll just have to go to sleep a little later because I refuse to allow the enemy to win!

Time in the Secret Place is detrimental to my emotional and spiritual health and I cannot function without it! My desire is to grow, press in a little deeper and experience more of His presence on a daily basis. In order to keep moving forward we can not compromise our time spent with Him. It must be priority! Let's become more aware of the diversions in our lives and commit to spend daily time with Jesus NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND US OR WHAT IT WILL TAKE!

2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Proverbs 3: 5-6 (TPT) Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on HIM to guide you, and He will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with Him in whatever you do, and He will lead you wherever you go.

Philippians 2:21 (TPT) For it seems as though everyone else is busy seeking what is best for themselves instead of the things that are most important to our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:10-11(NLT) When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NKJV) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 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.

Matthew 26:41(NLT) Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”