Except when you are at the store and wanting some quarters, change can be one of the harder things to get. Change of mind… easy, change of habit… quite a bit harder, change of heart… almost impossible without outside intervention. We often resist change because we can feel it is a diminishment of ourselves (we are so perfect after all). It can be too hard, so why try (I caaaaannn’t syndrome. We used to have a parrot that lived in an apartment below us. At one time in it’s life it was was within earshot of a daycare center, one of it’s main cries became the “I caaaaannnn’t” call of a spoiled little brat. Before we left we added a little laugh to it’s repartee. Milea loves to be tickled!)
It can be depression, anger, lust, hatred, arrogance and the like that is a stronghold and seeks to dominate, control and trap us into a diminished state of life or even take it.
The good news is… it is really not that hard to see these things GO and not come back. Trying to get rid of these in the natural can be hard to nasty to deal with. I know people that get saved and addictions and habits fall away instantly and others that seem to struggle for years. Personally there are areas that I can control and change by my will, but I know others that swear that are doing well to change their underwear (don’t get me wrong, there are areas that I have had in my life that were too big for me to handle or control).
Are you ready for change? If not, you might as well quit here and go check your Facebook status and get on with your life as you know it otherwise get ready for some fun…
The remainder of this blog post and the next is what I have experienced personally and is not theory. Have you ever driven down a road and saw something to the side that got your attention to the point where your eyes looked at it for four or more seconds? If you are not fully aware, of your steering, when your eyes come back to the road most of us will find that we have veered in the direction of the object we were previously looking at. It is the same in our personal life, the object that we pay attention to is the thing that we veer towards. By concentrating on a habit, condition or a heart’s leanings you may be able to slightly corral the manifestation of it but the festering sore that lies beneath continues on. By staring at it with our eyes and/or mind we make it a thing of affection, goal or destination or even idol.
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The word looking in this verse has the meaning “considering attentively”. One of the versions of the Bible says “fixing your eyes on Jesus” in today’s language I think we could say “super-gluing your attention on Jesus”. He is to be our focus, drive, attention getter not our circumstances, illnesses habits or flaws. Where are your eyes or your attention today?
Project fixation coming next time. (You may in the meantime may want to read or reread the posting “under the influence…” that was posted a week or two ago.)
excellent teaching thank you
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