To be a disciple is to follow Jesus, even into the water. Like with Peter, Jesus beckons us, “Come closer to me. Be my disciple and learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I am the only way, so I require you to focus exclusively on me in your obedience.” Peter became distracted. As he sees the wind whipping across the waves, Peter takes his focus off Jesus, and he begins to sink into the water. His obedience is now double-minded, providing a profound object lesson in what happens when we try to serve two masters.
This is how our faith works: We want to walk on water; yet we insist on being able to focus on whatever we want. Sometimes Jesus, sometimes the wind and waves; sometimes Jesus, sometimes our careers and casual pursuits; sometimes Jesus; sometimes “the sin that so easily entangles”.
Today, when we choose to focus on our cares and worries, we elevate them to the same status as the promises of Jesus. Which is more important and which should demand our greater attention? The ability of Jesus to care and love us or the concerns we have about our circumstances? Rather than obeying the commands of Jesus, we demand He tolerate our distractions and double mindedness. We live within a mythology that says we can somehow follow Jesus yet pick and choose what commandments we will obey and when we’ll obey. But, if we want to walk on the water with Jesus, we must hear his directing us, ‘Don’t look at the waves; look at Me.’
“… Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!” Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?” Matthew 14:29-31 (MSG)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, I know you have called me to step out in faith, to place my life in your hand. Father, at times, we know this can be difficult to do. It’s not always easy to follow where you are leading me. Like Peter, I cry out to you, and I hear your gentle voice, “It is me, don’t be afraid.” God continue to give me strength and courage, as I walk through the storms of fear and doubt, knowing that you are right there with. In Jesus name, Amen.
When that guy cat-calls you just to get a reaction, what do you do? You ignore him and keep walking.
When that bully pushes all of your buttons just to make you mad, what do you do? you tune them out and move on.
When somebody tries to convince you of something you know 100% isn’t true, you don’t even give it a second thought before you dismiss the argument.
So why don’t we use this tactic against the father of all lies, a.k.a the enemy that is out to destroy your life? Just don’t engage. As soon as you do, he wins. He is cunning, crafty, and manipulative, and he’s only after your heart. He wants to crush it and mutate it and trample it underfoot until there’s nothing left for God to use.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” John 10:10a
I know this isn’t easy. Trust me, I’m a thinker. Overthinking is my second nature, if not my first nature. I have to think through everything, especially when faced with a conflict. If somebody challenges my opinion, my first reaction is to analyze the entire argument…
What are they saying?
Do I agree or disagree? Why?
What do I think?
How does that compare to what they think?
What is true?
What evidence affirms/denies my argument?
Is there any way there is truth in both arguments?
Why do they think what they think?
Why do I think what I think?
And it goes on …
and on …
and on.
I think you get the idea. By the way, all of that overthinking happens in about 2 seconds. It’s an intense self-interrogation until I think my way into a solution that makes sense to me, so I can feel at peace with what I believe and move on.
Sometimes this is a really useful skill, but the enemy knows exactly how to use it for my deepest undoing. The problem with using the “overthinking tactic” against Satan is that he doesn’t care about logic. His goal is not to convince me that his argument makes more sense. In fact, he doesn’t even care about what he says. He doesn’t even believe the lies himself.
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.”
James 2:19
Satan knows God. He knows scripture. He knows what the truth is, and his goal is to keep you as far away from it as possible. He knows the power that God’s word can have in your life and that terrifies him. He will say whatever it takes to get you to question God and doubt His goodness, and the moment you try to reason with him, you’ve fallen into his trap.
I say all of this because I fall into the trap far too often. The devil uses people near and dear to me to convince me of his lies because he knows it works with almost 100% accuracy. Because their opinion matters so much to me, I will over-analyze their every word and body language to my own demise. Something they say – or don’t say – pricks one of my insecurities (unbeknownst to that person), and the trap has been set. Suddenly, I’m hit with an avalanche of thoughts like these:
“They just don’t care enough about you to ask about your day.”
“You’re stupid for thinking ______ would happen.”
“You’re too dramatic, emotional, etc.”
“It’s your fault that you can’t handle this feeling.”
The first step is to recognize the lie. Now, to do this, you have to know the Truth. No, that’s not a typo. I meant Truth with a capital “T” because you have to know God’s Word, and His word is Truth. Once you start to bury His word in your heart, and begin to recognize his voice, you can more easily discern truth from lies.
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
But it doesn’t stop there! That’s where I made my mistake. I thought, “If I recognize the lie, it will become invalid and it won’t sting anymore.”
False.
Satan is more crafty than that, and he was already one step ahead of me. See, he recognized how I use my interrogation process to reconcile a contradicting thought, so he used it against me. He used it to blur the lines between lie and Truth. So he takes me down this rabbit hole to confuse me and muddle the words of God until I feel so lost, confused, and heartbroken that I can’t even remember what lie got the whole thing started to begin with. He knows how I look for the middle ground to make sense of things, but there is no middle ground between what the devil says and what God says.
So no, it CANNOT end with recognizing the lie. You have to take the next step and make the choice not to engage with the lie. Now, if you’re a thinker like me, this will be hard. Like really, really hard. But you have to choose to look the other way. Change your posture to look toward your loving, protective, jealous, Heavenly Father. Tell the enemy you don’t have time for his games. Don’t try to argue with him and tell him why his lie is a lie and why God’s Truth wins, because he already knows it, and he doesn’t care. He’ll just twist everything around until you find yourself lost in a muddy mess of nothing that makes any sense whatsoever.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18
To sum it up…
Study Truth, that is, the Word of God.
Recognize the lie, which is not the Word of God.
Don’t Engage. Choose to meditate on and dwell in the Word of God.
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Joshua 1:8
This is not something that my genius, overthinking brain came up with one day. This is something that the Holy Spirit whispered to me, and by God’s grace alone, I heard it. I was on the brink of yet another panic attack and fearful of going back down that dark road. I was on the brink of forming another unsuccessful argument for why the lie was a lie and trying to figure out a way to outsmart the devil this time, and the Holy Spirit simply said, “don’t engage with the lie.” Of course I tried to overthink and analyze again, but He didn’t relent. He just kept telling me, “Don’t engage with the lie. It’s not worth it. Just keep looking at Me. Lean on the love of your Father instead of your own knowledge for once.” Hey, that sounds familiar, right?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
So go ahead. Give the enemy the cold shoulder. Hit him with the silent treatment. Then you will taste freedom. Remember the second half of John 10:10…
“…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10b
Go live in the abundant life Christ bought for you. The enemy’s lies are not worth your time, precious child of God.
Growing up in the UK, every Sunday we used to gather around the TV to watch an exciting programme called surprise surprise. A surprise is something good that you weren’t really expecting. It’s something that makes you feel special, and lets you know that you are thought about. It brings us joy and lifts our hearts. Good news! God has a surprise for you and wants to overtake you with His goodness.
In the Hebrew, the word “overtake” can also be translated “to catch by surprise.” God wants to catch you by surprise! He wants to help you accomplish your dreams and overcome your obstacles. He wants to amaze you with His goodness and mercy. Every morning you should wake up with the attitude, “I can’t wait to see what God will surprise me with today!”
Today, make room in your heart and mind for what God wants to do in your life. For all of the blessings and favour that will come your way, keep an attitude of faith and expectancy. Let God surprise you with His love, and overtake you with His blessings and miracles!
“If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you…all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you…” (Deuteronomy 28:1—2, AMP)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, I open my heart and mind to You right now. Father, surprise me, fill me with Your goodness and overtake me with Your blessings. Almighty God, I honour You and invite You to use me to be a blessing to others, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
It’s so interesting how easy it is to procrastinate (put things off). We plan on doing something and we have good intentions, but we just keep on putting it off till later. We say, “one day, I’m going to start exercising. One day, I’m going to get my finances in order. One day, I’m going to forgive that person who hurt me.” The problem with this kind of thinking is that “one day” never comes. There will always be some reason to keep delaying it.
Right now, is there something in your heart that you know you need to do? Maybe God has been dealing with you on a particular issue, and you keep putting it off. You think, “as soon as I get through this busy season, then I’ll spend more time with my family. As soon as the price of gas goes down, then I’ll start tithing. As soon as my child gets out of diapers, then I’m going to get my family back in church. As soon as I stop doing bad stuff I’ll get baptised.”
Today, I want to remind us all, good intentions don’t equal obedience. Someone once said the road to destruction is paved with good intentions. The quicker you do what you feel down in your spirit, the happier you’re going to be. Don’t let unfinished business keep you from God’s best. Step out, obey His voice, and walk in the blessings He has for you!
“I made haste, and did not delay to keep Your commandments.”
(Psalm 119:60, NKJV)
Pray With Us Yahweh, thank You for Your patience and grace towards me. Father, today I rebuke procrastination in my life. Search my heart, show me the way to go. Let my obedience overtake my good intentions. God, I choose to obey Your voice quickly, and honour You in all that I do, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.
A special word from the Lord, from Pastor Ray Patrick
If you want to make enemies, try to change something. Change, no matter what scale it is on, can be a source of stress and anxiety for many. However, it’s common for change management practitioners to view resistance to change as an irrational barrier to progress. Another school of thought is that resistance to change is a social process that can strengthen changes and help to eliminate undesirable change.
The fact remains that change is necessary in all organizations. But, it is the way change is initiated which can so greatly vary. It can be forced upon companies by outside forces or just come from a realization that the company may be falling behind the times. In this way, change management might be quite beneficial to an organization. Organizations that have learned how to transform themselves through effective leadership and strategic control are more likely to survive and prosper. The dilemma is that most people hate change and love it at the same time and what they really want is for things to remain the same but get better.
The good news is that God has a plan for your life to prosper. If we trust in God and allow the change to grow us to become more like Jesus Christ in how we respond and act, then we are promised that all things will work together for good for those who love Him and keep His commandments!
The following thought-provoking quotes relate to change management including resistance to change, acceptance and change strategy.
“One of the reasons so many celebrities keep going in and out of rehab is that they leave out the critical element to lasting change: God.” – Unknown
“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” — Niccolo Machiavelli
“Change has its enemies.” — Robert Kennedy
“He who rejects change is the architect of decay.” — Harold Wilson
“Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.” — Samuel Johnson
“The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.” — Charles Kettering
“God supplies everything you need for successful change, and when you make changes with his help, it says changed.” – Unknown
“It is always easier to talk about change than to make it.” — Alvin Toffler
“It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out nor more doubtful of success nor more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new order of things.” — Machiavelli
“The path of least resistance is the path of the loser.” — H. G. Wells
“When you feel weak in the face of change, God is omnipotent, or all-powerful. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” the Bible says. (Romans 8:31, NIV) Knowing the invincible God is on your side gives you tremendous confidence.” – Unknown
“Paralyze resistance with persistence.” — Woody Hayes
“Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed – the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day.” — Frances Hesselbein
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday’s logic – Peter Drucker
“The rate of change is not going to slow down anytime soon. If anything, competition in most industries will probably speed up even more in the next few decades.” — John P. Kotter
“Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers, and business.” — Mark Sanborn
“If you want to make enemies, try to change something.” — Woodrow Wilson
Don’t make change harder than it has to be. Do it the right way. Ask God for help.
