Christian Living

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 We encounter attractions and distractions every day, but without spiritual discernment, one can be oblivious to the spiritual significance of the activity that is taking place all around us.

Satan, and his Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil, are most effective when their presence and influence goes undetected. Only on rare occasions does the devil personally or directly get involved, such as in the event documented in Matt. 4: 1-10/Luke 4: 1-12.

Satan does not have divine omnipresence, that being the ability to be in multiple places at the same time. He, therefore relies heavily on third parties, such as the serpent in the Garden (Gen. 3: 1), wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7: 15) behind the pulpits, and unwitting people that he has deceived (Rev. 12: 9), to do his bidding (John 8: 44), and to lead unsuspecting souls down the road that leads to destruction.

Peter warned the believers of his day (and us) that, “…Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1Pet. 5: 8 NASB2020).”

Many professing Christians will smirk and roll their eyes back when advancing disciples begin to talk about daily spiritual warfare. Such “Christians” have in their minds images of overt demonic activity recorded in such passages as Matt. 5: 1-15, and or that is portrayed in modern-day horror films, failing to realize that the bulk of spiritual combat, here in the Church Age, is largely a war of words and conflicting ideas that takes place in the unseen and intangible minds of human beings.

It is this denial of the presence of demonic activity that gives a green light for the Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil and their allies to go to work, pursuing the 1Pet. 5: 8 objective of the devil.

Having not ever become much of a threat, their experience with spiritual combat, if any, is usually limited to the low-level variety. No need to use a shotgun when a fly-swatter can do the job.

Furthermore, the devil knows enough to quit while he is ahead of the game. He is usually content to leave professing Christians alone that pose no serious threat to his agenda. He may even choose to promote some with earthly prosperity, giving them and others the impression that all is well with them and their walk with God.

Satan knows he can do nothing about the sealing (Eph. 4: 30) and regeneration (Titus 3: 5) that took place at the moment one was born-again (John 3: 5, 7) and became the recipients of the unearned, undeserved, irrevocable gift of eternal life.

That is, other than to raise doubts in their minds concerning the integrity of their salvation, and to promote the religious commandments of men (Mark 7: 7 NASB2020), as being the necessary means to obtain, retain, or regain salvation and the blessings of God.

It is if and when a born believer reaches the upper levels of spiritual maturity through Biblical discipleship, and he begins to participate in the Great Commission (Matt. 28: 19, 20), that he or she can expect to encounter the more frequent and the more intense forms of adversity associated with discipleship.

Granted, very few individuals will receive the personal attention of the devil, but the Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil that do his bidding, consists of millions of fallen angels, demons, and people that the devil has deceived.

To what extent any given individual soul draws the attention and flaming arrows (Eph. 6: 16) from the opposition, is equal to the level of spiritual maturity that he or she has reached.

Satan’s strategy has ALWAYS been one of deception, and usually begins with one having a conversation or otherwise receiving information or suggestions from the wrong source of information.
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An attraction is anything that can appear to be the means to satisfy a perceived need or desire, be it good or evil, real or imagined.

When the attraction involves sin by what the attraction would have us think, say, or do, the divine response that God requires of an advancing disciple is obvious. If the attractive sin has not yet been embraced, then the divine response would be to resist the devil, or the information and suggestions coming from someone or something doing his bidding, so that he (or his influence) will flee from you (James 4: 7).

If the attractive sin has been embraced, then the divine response would be to acknowledge it for the sin that it is, confess it (1John 1: 9), forsake it (John 8: 11), and avoid it in the future (James 4:7).

If the attraction does not involve sin, the divine response would be to consider if it would advance or would it impede one’s forward progress along the road to spiritual maturity.

Every “opportunity” does not come from God.

Eve had been deceived and was convinced that by the eating of the forbidden fruit, that things would improve for she and Adam (Gen. 3: 6).

Is there room for this new attraction in your post salvation spiritual life at this time, in light of the commitments, obligations, and priorities that you have already set, in keeping with the plan that God has in mind for you? What present activities would be eliminated or compromised to make room for this new attraction?

The answers to such questions is what should determine the source of, and our response to, the attractions and distractions that come our way, and what the end result of our response will be.

We shouldn’t be afraid to make changes WHEN the proposed change (Rom. 8: 29) is coming from God.

We should also know that should we make an honest mistake and take a wrong turn, the indwelling Spirit of God (1Cor. 3: 16) works like a GPS monitoring system that will notify us and set a new course to get us back on the right road.

The devil is a master in the art of spiritual combat, knowing what buttons to press and when to press them for maximum effect.

An otherwise legitimate attraction can become a distraction when it takes the individual away from the plan that God has in mind.
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A distraction (Luke 14: 26) can be anyone or anything that would take the focus of one’s attention away from identifying or executing the individual plan that God has in mind.

Earthly prosperity when in fellowship with God (3John 1: 2) is a wonderful blessing, but earthly prosperity that leaves God or the things of God out of the picture is a slippery slope that can lead to spiritual shipwreck.

“For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world (everything he or she wants), and forfeit his soul (Mark 8: 36 NASB2020 parenthesis mine).”

It matters not (to the devil) if it is through prosperity or adversity, attractions or distractions, that one is led away from the plan that God has in mind.

In closing, when the attractions and or distractions come our way, the questions that an advancing disciple will ask are these:

“Will doing this glorify God, and will it advance or will it impede my forward progress?”

Know that at each level along the road to spiritual maturity, there will be attractions and distraction designed to stop the forward progress of an advancing disciple.

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