Dave’s Monday Blast – November 23, 2015
Last week we began a discussion on Spiritual Drifting. That subtle process whereby we find ourselves adrift from our moorings. Unless we are INTENTIONALLY vigilant, it is easy to become isolated from our spiritual foundations. Although there are certainly many cause factors for “the drift” to occur, the article I read identified five culprits. Last week we examined the first two:
1) A schedule that is out-of-control causing us to be poor stewards of our time.
2) The tragedy of misplaced affections. I use the word tragedy because we are warned that loving the world is an indicator that the love of the Father is not in us.
3) The third cause of Spiritual Drifting is discouragement. Satan uses this weapon of discouragement to drag people away from spiritual activities. When the trials of life cause a person to become discouraged, he often begins focusing on those problems and takes his eyes off of Christ. It reminds me of when Peter walked on the water. He did great until he took his eyes off of Jesus and began looking at the waves beneath Him and the clouds above Him. It is critical for you to know that when life’s clouds grow dark and your trials become fierce, that it is the time to run TO Jesus and not FROM Him.
4) The fourth cause of Spiritual Drifting is abundance. 1 Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s.” We Americans are so fat with our own prosperity that we often make wealth our god and not the true King of heaven. This has also been a recurring theme throughout the entire Bible. People struggle, God blesses them, they become prosperous, and then they depart from God. Ironic isn’t it!
The chances are great that you probably do not feel like you are prosperous. But the reality is that nearly all Americans are extremely blessed and have more abundance than the vast majority of the population of the planet. If you are an American, you are most likely already a “one-percenter” (wealthier than 99% of the world’s population). People of abundance often choose recreation over worship. Why go to church if you could be out golfing, boating, camping, or going to movies or sporting events?
Satan wants us to be prosperous, because our prosperity and abundance often lure us away from our Creator.
5) The fifth cause of Spiritual Drifting is parasitic sins. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…”
Many people begin to drift away from God, because they have sins in their lives that cause them to feel guilt when they show up at church. They feel reluctant to pray or read their Bible when they know they have issues in their lives. Do you have a parasite of sin in your life right now; one that is slowly, but insidiously, “eating” away at your spiritual foundation?
The solution is not to run/drift from God; confess your sin to God who will restore you and make you whole again (1 John 1:9).
That’s good isn’t it! Next week I want to follow up this idea of Spiritual Drifting with 5 Destructive Lies we Tell.
