Distractions Designed to Destroy Destiny
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
STORY:- I came across this in my studies on this week and when I read it I knew that this is what God would have me to expound upon on for this message, it’s a story called The Devil’s Meeting:- The Devil called a worldwide meeting of his demons. In his opening address he said, “We cannot keep Christians from going to church. We cannot keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. The important thing we must do is to keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their savior Jesus Christ. Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. “So, let them go to their churches but distract them so that they will not have time to build and maintain an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
“How shall we do this?” his demons replied.
“Keep them distracted with the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,” he answered. “Tempt them to spend, spend, spend and borrow, borrow, borrow to the point that both husband and wife must work in order just to pay the bills and keep them from spending time with their children. As their families fall apart, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of life!
Overstimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice of God speaking to them. Hammer them with the news 24 hours a day. Flood their mailboxes with catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletters and promotions offering free products, services, and false hopes.
“Keep beautiful models in the magazines and on TV so that husbands will believe that outward beauty is what’s important, Keep athletically built men on the TV and in magazines so that wives will not look at the character of their husbands and become dissatisfied with them.
Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children about the birth of Jesus Christ. Distract them with the Easter Bunny and colored eggs so they will not talk about Christ’s resurrection and power over sin and death.
When they meet for spiritual fellowship and worship, bombard them with superfluous rituals and rhetoric that leaves them with troubled consciences and confused understandings. Soon they will become so distracted that they will start working on their own strength, sacrificing their health and family and not seeking God at all. It will work! It will work!”
It was quite a plan so the demons went eagerly to their assignments, trying to distract Christians in the nonessentials of life so that they would have little or no time for God, for their families, and much less time to tell others about Jesus’ power to change lives.
Distractions Designed to Destroy Destiny!
PRAYER:-
SCRIPTURES:- 1 Corinthians 7:35 says “And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction”.
John 10:10 says “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”.
Jeremiah 29:11 says “I know the thoughts I have toward you, thoughts of good and not evil to bring you to an expected end”.
DEFINITIONS:- DISTRACTION is:- Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) defines distraction as follows: Distraction \Dis-‘trac-tion, 1. The act of distracting; a drawing apart; separation. To create distractions among us. 2. That which diverts attention; a diversion. “a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.” 3. A diversity of direction; detachment. 4. State in which the attention is called in different ways; confusion; perplexity.
DESTINY:- the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future. That’s why Jeremiah 29:11 calls this an expected end.
If I were to use a catechism to talk about destiny I would use “What is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy him forever”. As scripture stated in Jeremiah 29:11 That is the expected end or destiny of man to glorify God and enjoy him forever. David said it like this in Psalm 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple”. Destiny
Understand you may excel in certain things in life, you may become a great athlete, or entertainer, discover a cure for cancer or Covid-19, etc., but your destiny is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, those other things are the avenues that God has allowed you to use in order to fulfill that destiny in glorifying him.
UNFORTUNATELY:- We’re a generation that is becoming increasingly conditioned to distractions, and it’s harming our ability to listen to God, think carefully, to be still, to pray, and to meditate upon His goodness and mercy. This leads us into spiritual danger, an evil from which only God can deliver us from Matthew 6:13 says “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…”
IDENTIFYING DISTRACTIONS. The Bible says in 1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world”. This makes identifying distractions easy, they are either dealing either the flesh, the eye, or the pride of life. These are an example of distractions television, books, movies, music, Facebook, phones, illicit sex these are distractions caused by the lust of the flesh and lust of the eye. Some invisible distractions are everyday worries, our strenuous routines, our personal desires and ambitions, these are the pride of life distractions. So identifying distractions are things that appeal to the flesh, the eyes, and the pride of life that cause us or tries to hinder us from reaching our destiny.
EFFECTS OF DISTRACTIONS
1. IMPEDES PROGRESS: - 2 Samuel 20:12 says “And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still”. They were on a mission from the King but when they saw the distraction of Amasa wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road they stopped dead in their tracks. This is what the devil tries to do with distractions in your life and that is to cause you to stop dead in your tracks. Once the distraction was moved out of the way and was covered then the Bible says verse 13 “all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri”. We need to do the same with distractions in our way, cover them by taking our eyes off them and move them out of the way. If you can’t move them out of the way yourself then we need to say the lyrics of the old time song, “Lord don’t move my mountain but give me the strength to climb, Lord don’t take away the stumbling block but lead me all around it”. Don’t let distractions impede your progress.
2. DISTRACTIONS CAUSES US TO DRIFT OFF COURSE: - Just like when you are in your automobile driving down the street and you look at your radio or glance at you phone and you begin to drift into another lane. Matthew 7:14 “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it”. Because of this straight and narrow journey any distraction will cause you to drift off course and end up in a place you never intended to be. Psalm 73:2-3 says “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked”. He was distracted when he saw the prosperity of the wicked. That’s pride of life distractions. He allowed himself to drift of course. Don’t drift off course because of distractions before your find yourself in a place you never intended to be.
3. DISTRACTIONS CLOSE OFF COMMUNICATION WITH GOD. Luke 10:39-40 “And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word But Martha was cumbered (distracted) about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me”. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Jesus’ teaching, but Martha was distracted with much serving.” She was distracted from spending time and communication with Jesus. Don’t get so distracted by things that we fail to communicate with Jesus. Don’t get so distracted that you fail to pray. So many times were feel you don’t have time to pray. But I am reminded of a song that says “Just a little talk with Jesus tell Him all your troubles, He will hear your faintest cry and answer by and by”. Talk with me Lord while I’m on this tedious journey I want Jesus to talk with me.
4. DISTRACTION DEVOURS THE WORD. Genesis 3:1&4 “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die”. When we allow distractions to catch us we fall victim to adulterated word and end up spiritually naked, stripped of power, authority, strength, believing false doctrines, tossed by every wind and doctrine all because we were distracted. Once distracted, you’re an easy target to believe lies. When you are distracted it is easy for the devil to assures you that the Bible is outdated and unrelatable to you and life in general.
5. DISTRACTIONS KEEP US FROM GROWING AND LIVING SPIRITUALLY: - Paul prayed that the young church in Colossae would be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so they could walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. This would require them to say no to whatever distracted them from seeking Christ above all else. When we are distracted, we start to walk in a direction that is not in accordance with the Word of God. When we are distracted, growth is affected so we must make sure that we are not distracted.
6. DISTRACTIONS CAN KEEP US FROM SALVATION. Matthew 13:1-23 teaches us that one of the reasons God's truth does not take root and grow is because the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the Word that has been sown. Distractions causes God’s word to get choked out of your life. The word not being rooted doesn’t give you solid ground to stand on. Then we find ourselves missing out on salvation because we let everything in the world choke out our life.
7. DISTRACTIONS CAUSE YOU TO BE IN A SPIRITUAL DOWNWARD SPIRAL. 2 Samuel 11. What started as an distraction for King David grew into a full blown sin. David saw Bathsheba from his roof top taking a bath and the Bible say she was very beautiful, so Lust of the eye distracted him. He had a desire for her that burned deep inside him, now we have lust of the flesh. This lust of the flesh distraction caused adultery that adulterous affair caused her to become pregnant. Then he tries to cover it up, but it does not work like he planned. So, he now commits conspiracy, and murder all because he allowed himself to be distracted. The old saying sin will take you were you never wanted to go and keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay and cost you more then you ever thought to pay all because of distractions.
HOW TO DEFEND AGAINST DISTRACTION
1. REALIZE YOU’RE IN A SPIRITUAL BATTLE 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Ephesians 6:12 says “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”. The devil is persistent and never gives up. Just as determined as he is in his pursuit to distract us we must be also to overcome his distractions. We must put on the whole armour of God in order to be able to stand verse 13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” 2 Corinthians 10:4 says “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds”.
2. TAKE A WARRIOR STANCE. A warrior stance is a fighter’s stance that filled with determination and purpose. Psalm 144:1 says, “Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight”. Romans 8:37 says “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us”. The old song said “We are soldiers we have to fight although we have to cry, we have to hold up the blood stained banner we have to hold it up until we die.
3. REMEMBER that the blood of the lamb (Jesus’) and the word of your testimony (what you profess) are how you conquer the enemy Revelation 12:11 says “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death”.
4. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says “Pray without ceasing” Luke 21:36 says “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man”. We can’t walk this life without Christ; therefore, Why not pray?
5. TURN AWAY from distractions. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”. but from some things that have been distracting you from being focused on the things God has for you.
6. STAY FOCUSED. Psalm 121:1-3 says “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber”. Look to the hills from whence cometh our help.
CLOSING:- Distraction causes undue pressure to conform to the world and not the Word. Pressure from the world causes us to strive to achieve, to be successful, to promote self-esteem, to outshine the other person or to keep up with the Jones’, this distraction causes anxiety and stress which will lead to sickness. The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”. We must not become distracted by undue pressures of life.
Distractions will cause you to become caught in a downward spiral of sin and degradation misery and shame.
The most dangerous problem in distraction is in being distracted from God and our tendency to shift our attention from the greatest Object in existence to countless lesser ones. The Bible calls this idolatry.
We must remember Jesus has already defeated Satan and the World. Colossians 2:15 says “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it”. John 16:33 says “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”. John 5:4 says “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith”.
We must be like the man in 2 Samuel 20 and move the distraction out of our way and keep on moving forward.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
