Going deeper in God

Don`t get distracted!

There are so many things that attempt to distract you from moving into new realms and deeper dimensions of God’s glory. To enter in you must first be determined within your heart that you want God more than anything else.
Your mind must be focused on your priority of seeking God in prayer, and refusing to let go until you know that He has heard your prayer. To be diverted from this mission is to admit that something of lesser value has a higher priority. Not everything from God can be received with just a simple prayer of petition.

There is a spiritual price tag attached to many divine promises. When the price tag is examined we see that the cost is listed as that of persistent faith, fervent prayer, and an unrelenting attitude that refuses to accept defeat as an option. To receive God’s best, He wants our best.
The devil will attempt to get you to be lazy and not pursue the high calling that God desires for you to walk in. This causes former prophesies spoken over your life to continue to sit on the shelf of complacency while time passes on and you wonder in your heart, “Will the prophecies ever come to pass?” It’s all too easy to let the normal activities of life drown out your inner fire. Before you know it you can find yourself in the same position as Jonah. He was on the wrong ship, going in the wrong direction, and functioning in a wrong attitude. The efforts made to justify his self pity before God had drained him of his remaining energy, thus he falls into a hibernation mode hoping that excessive sleep would offer temporary comfort in eluding his convicted conscience.

Get up!

The captain of the ship found Jonah sleeping and said, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up!” His spiritual apathy and refusal to obey God at any cost caused him to become dull, tired, and lethargic at the worst possible time. Sometimes we need Jesus, the Captain of our ship, to boldly say to us, “Get up!” Jonah was God’s chosen vessel for this special assignment. God also has important plans for you that are critical in the work of His kingdom. These works were planned before your birth and they are designed by God to establish blessing in your life and extend a reward into your eternal inheritance.

We must be alert spiritually. If you choose to settle for mediocrity you will never fulfill your God-given potential. You must move out of your comfort zone and step into the faith zone. You were not cut out of a cookie cutter mold. Your fingerprints are unique. No one else in the world has your voice pattern. There is something that you can do in a particular way that no other person can perform in a duplicate manner. If someone else were here who was exactly like you, than what reason would there be for God to bring you on the scene? You are one of a kind.
Before you were ever born or came into existence the Bible reveals that God had already preplanned a wonderful life and purpose for you.

“God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus He has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already prepared for us to do.”
(Ephesians 2:10 Today’s English Version)

Choose life!

God will not force you to step into this divine plan. As the Scripture says, “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live (Deuteronomy 30:19).”

You can wrongly choose today to experience death and curses. Death does not jus refer to dying physically. Although this is certainly an aspect of death, this is also referring to the whole package of death. The effects of death are an outcome of the curse that works in the earth as a byproduct of sin. Therefore “death effects” gain access into your life through the practice of sin, resulting in unfortunate experiences that bring sorrow and misery into your life that God never intended for you to experience.

These “death effects” are listed in detail in Deuteronomy the 28th chapter, from verses 15 and to the end of the chapter. By choosing life you take God’s detour of grace around the misery associated with sin.
Apostle Paul spoke of the tremendous benefits of God’s grace. In response to God’s generous grace, how should we live? He brought forth understanding of our intended manner of living through the following verse:

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)

The word “whom” used in this verse is a personal pronoun. In other words, if you are a slave to sin, then you are a slave to a certain person who behind the scenes is producing death. Who is that person? It is Satan, the devil, who is the person who is behind all sin. To be a slave of sin is to be a slave of Satan.
On the other side of the coin, a slave who chooses obedience is a slave to the person who behind the scenes is producing righteousness. This, of course is speaking of God who grants us righteousness by grace which we receive through our faith, and not by our works.

The Greek word “slaves” refers to a “servile condition” in which a person gives himself completely over to another’s will. This is not referring to those who have what we call “slip ups” or infrequent mistakes. We all have need of God’s grace each day for the errors we make, and for the errors we make that we are not even aware of. But here Paul was letting us know that those believers who abandon themselves over to sin are in reality becoming slaves of the devil. This action then leads to the release and working of the “death package” when the curse begins to permeate into every aspect of one’s life. Instead of a life of victory there is consistent defeat.

In light of this we have divine motivation to “lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1).” As we keep our eyes on the Lord and work with determination and focus we will see the glory of God continue to increase in our midst. Let us pursue Him with all our hearts, and dare to take another step forward in the plan and destiny that He has predetermined for us to possess and enjoy! Choose obedience, choose, life, and be who God made you to be. God is counting on you, and so are many others.

Richest Blessings,

Steven Brooks
Steven Brooks International