Distracted Sons
Recently my family and I were watching unthinkable feats of athletic ability on the X Games. Human beings have the incredible ability to hone our faculties, senses and abilities to do unimaginable things. Just think about a time you were blown away by somebody musically, intellectually, athletically.
Incredible abilities can be awakened within all of us if we focus in that direction. Most of us can probably juggle but we simply haven’t focused on trying to learn. When I was about 10 years old our house burned just days after Christmas. All of my new toys were gone as were my old ones. Amazingly during those next few months I learned to juggle, spin a basketball on my finger and several other things that all took place because the distraction of other toys was gone.
How much more capacity exists within our spiritual faculties, senses and abilities? Perhaps if we took distractions out of our lives we would find out just how spiritually able we truly are.
Sin diminishes our lives.
Did you hear about the girl who had lot of candy and the boy who had a bunch of marbles? The girl told the boy if he would give her all his marbles she would give him all her candy. He took his marbles to his room to think about it. He took several of his favorite marbles and hid them returning to the living room to agree to her offer. He claimed he was giving her all of his marbles and watned all of her candy. That night the girl slept soundly as the boy stayed awake thinking to himself, “I wonder if she gave me all her candy?”
Sin weakens our perspective, lessens our capacity and diminishes our dominion. Next week we will focus on understanding this concept about dominion but this week we are looking at the idea of distraction.
“Sin is what we do in our heart when we aren't satisfied w God.” -John Piper
It is a very sobering thought but when we step into eternity we will begin to be introduced to who we could have been, how we could have lived and what we could have done to help others find their way into the eternal purposes of God.
This is much more significant than we realize. If you look at the Bible you’ll find in Revelation 20 where the eternal judgment of God is taking place. Just a few verses later in chapter 21:4 we then read where “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain…” NIV
It struck me when I read this realizing tears and anguish won’t be wiped away until after this judgment takes place. This indicates that we will all be right there together watching friends and family members face this judgment. We will come face-to-face with our distracted lives that neglected to walk in God’s power to reach those who were right there within our reach.
All of us tend to formulate temporal arguments that shortchange us from eternal things. This idea discovered in Revelation 20 and 21 reveals just how important it is for us to understand this!
The issue of sin is not as much an issue of sins as it is an issue of sons. We were all sinners needing a Savior but Jesus didn't die for us because we are sinners. Jesus died because we are sons.
Rom 8:19 For all creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. NIV / KJV actually uses the word “manifestation” instead of “revealed”
We lack power because our souls remain small. If you only watch TV your soul stays small as everything is trivial around you. If you see Jesus you start growing bigger and bigger and little lusts lose their little power as your soul grows bigger. As we gaze at God in his Word and in his presence our soul gets restructured as our God-given purpose is awakened.
When God’s children are awakened to God’s purposes all heaven will break loose in the earth!
We are all in the process of becoming the more exaggerated version of ourselves. This is why the Revelation of Christ within us is so important. Otherwise we become something God never designed us to be.
GP4RL: Get honest about a struggle in your life this week with somebody you know you can trust.
DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR COMMUNITY GROUP LEADERS
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Icebreaker: If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, what three things would you do in the time you had left?
Everybody knows how dangerous it is to text and drive. Texting distracts our focus from the greater purpose of driving in a way that keeps everybody safe. Distractions can be very dangerous.
Spiritually this is the case as well and the enemy will use anything to distract us from the greater purposes of God. When we are distracted by sin we experience we are slowly losing our spiritual focus.
Sin has a suffocating, blinding, numbing, intoxicating and deafening affect on our lives keeping us from being able to reason properly. Air is to the body what prayer is to the spirit. Sin causes us to slowly lose spiritual consciousness without realizing what is going on. We slowly lose the ability to see clearly without realizing our vision is no longer crisp. Hearing the voice of God becomes difficult rather than the ongoing conversation God desires with us.
Discussion Question:
• Identify an area in your life that is a consistent distraction.
• If that distraction were removed, the time it consumed now turned to focus on God - how would your spiritual impact increase in your family and on the world around you?
Revelation 20 explains the eternal judgment that will take place at the throne of God. It is not until after this judgment that we then read the following:
Rev 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain… NIV
Discussion Question:
• What comes to mind when you reflect on the following statement?
We will watch the judgment take place before our tears are wiped away. It is very sobering to realize how stepping into eternity will lead us to the introduction of who we could have been, how we could have lived and what we could have done to help others find their way into the eternal purposes of God.
We tend to formulate temporal arguments that shortchange us from eternal things! The issue of sin is not as much an issue of sins as it is an issue of sons. We were sinners needing a Savior but Jesus didn’t die for us because we are sinners. He died because we are sons.
Romans 8:19 For all creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. NIV
When God’s children are awakened to God’s purposes all heaven will break loose in the earth!
Discussion Question:
• How can we develop a greater understanding of being God’s sons and daughters every day we live?
• Share the impact of this knowledge - what is God speaking to you?
We are all in the process of becoming the more exaggerated version of ourselves. This is why the Revelation of Christ within us is so important. Otherwise we become something God never designed us to be.
GP4RL: Get honest about a struggle in your life this week with somebody you know you can trust.